Anne Barry-Murphy, coordinator of the Presentation Brothers Associate Movement, visited Trinidad last week.

Ms Barry-Murphy, from Ireland, was here to launch a new phase of development for the Associate movement. Associates are lay people who meet regularly with the Brothers for prayer, sharing and involvement in ministry. There are eighteen Associates in Trinidad.

Anne Barry-Murphy

“The Trinidad Associates are engaging in a process which is leading them to re-shape their future in the areas of prayer, service to those in need as well as training and development.  In addition they have been examining ways of extending membership of their group”, said Ms Barry-Murphy.

“I am here to encourage them in this process”.  “I’m delighted with the dynamism of the Associates here. Seeing people engaged in bringing about the Kingdom of God is a powerful witness in 2007”, she added. “The inspiration of Blessed Edmund Rice, the founder of the Brothers, is reignited all over the world when people respond to the needs they see in their own localities. I’m very happy to see this happening here in Trinidad.”

The Associate movement is one of several lay groups which has developed in recent years. These groups, together with the Brothers, form what is known as the Presentation Family.

Other groups include Communio Edmund Rice which provides young people with an opportunity to meet, share faith and get involved in an outreach activity. René Wihby is the co-ordinator of the Communio Edmund Rice group in Presentation College in Chaguanas.

 In Presentation College, San Fernando, Lawrence Jaggassar is responsible for a First Communion and Confirmation programme. First Communion takes place on April 26, with eight boys receiving the sacrament, while Archbishop Edward Joseph Gilbert will confirm 52 students in the school on May 4.

Ms. Barry-Murphy also stressed that 2007 is a special year for the Brothers as they open two new missions. In June, three Brothers will begin an education project among the Roma people of Slovakia. In the autumn, a new mission will be opened in Nigeria involving the construction of a new school.

For more information on the Presentation Brothers Associates in Trinidad contact Juliette Wihby at 657-9557 or visit www.presentationbrothers.com.

For further information on the Presentation Brothers please contact Br Robert Fanovich at fanrob38@hotmail.com

Notes:
1. The Presentation Brothers are an international, Catholic religious congregation of brothers working in St Lucia, Trinidad, Ireland, England, Slovakia, USA, Canada, Ghana and Nigeria.
2.   The Presentation Brothers were founded in 1802 by Edmund Rice. In 1996, Pope John Paul II placed Edmund on the road to sainthood by declaring him Blessed.
3. The Presentation Brothers opened schools in Grenada in 1946, in St Lucia in 1947, in Trinidad in 1948 and in Barbados in 1958.