Report Oasis, 18^th October 2023

Bro. Mike Mbato

The presentation today, titled “The style of leadership of our founders”, was given by Br. Daru. The session started with an opening prayer which the facilitator prepared in a booklet form. The facilitator began with some psychological and physical exercises to warm up our body and mind. Referring to the coat of arms of Msgr. Louis Rutten our Founder as a symbol of leadership, Bro. Daru said the symbols (e.g. ducks) on the coat of arms reflect various aspects of faith and spirituality, such as adaptability and resilience, self- cleansing and purity, symbol of Holy Spirit as well as a symbol of migration and journey. 

There are two categories of leaders: leadership by birth, and those created by society. According to him, some leaders are born with leadership characteristics, while others are created by society. He then posed the question: In which of the two categories of leaders do our Founders belong to? 

Participants discussed the question in pairs. At the end, majority of them think our Founders belong to both categories; in other words, they were both given the gifts of leadership at birth by God. However, the situation of their time also influenced their style of leadership. Thus they were called by God from the very beginning of their life, and further inspired by the underprivileged situation of people at their time, to carry out their mission.  

The facilitator then added that the style of leadership of Msgr. Louis Rutten was mainly pastoral, apart from what is mentioned above. He described Msgr Rutten in the following words: 

A man with simple thoughts. Although he could afford a good school he never became much of a scholar. He was a priest of a new generation, the generations after the French revolution, who detested any neutrality in religious matters. He could not work as a parish priest and was assigned as a curate with special task of teaching the poor children the Catechism (MfM p. 26). While studying in the seminary and especially after becoming a priest, his zeal to move from his comfort zone, out of himself, never subsided. Like a burning flame the missionary impulse continued to push him out of himself to meet children, young people, those suffering for various reasons. He was a special man! Even though he was the son of a rich family he become a shepherd of the outcasts. He felt always compelled to do good.

Apart from the efforts he made for the young outcasts, the pastoral leadership style can also be identified in the way he started the FIC Congregation. His motif for founding the brothers’ congregation was to assure the continuity of the work he had started. Founding a brothers’ congregation was part of his responsibility over his flock. In a nutshell, pastoral leadership comprises nurturing, protecting as well as thinking about the future. This insight brought the day’s activities to a close.  The day was concluded with the usual Eucharistic celebration and later recreation, organized by Bro. Ge, the only participant from Chile.