Conversation with

A Conversation With...

Brother Dennis Malloy is the “Brother Visitor” or Provincial of DENA, the District of Eastern North America.

Earlier this year, you visited De La Salle Collegiate. What are your impressions of De La Salle?

This was my second or third official visit. I visit each ministry at least once every three years and our Auxiliary Visitor Brother Charles Kitson visits in the interim years. De La Salle is a wonderful school, with a very diverse student population. I first visited three years ago, just before Christmas, and saw a variety of activities taking place. There was an evening music program, a rich offering of athletics, art programs, worship. DLS is a very vibrant, very balanced discover their gifts whatever they are.

What does it mean to be a Lasallian Catholic school?

A school can only be Catholic through the local bishop or religious institute. De La Salle is Catholic and Lasallian because it is part of the worldwide Institute of the Brothers of the Christian Schools. Your Catholic nature and

Lasallian identity do not depend upon Brothers being present in the schools. The Board of Trustees holds your Catholic nature and Lasallian spirit in trust for the Christian Brothers and for De La Salle. The President, who the school. DLS has made something for all young people to

Board hires and the Brothers approves, is hired to be the Mission or Apostolic leader of the school and to actively engage others in our Lasallian Catholic mission.

In our schools, the poor and the working class are at the heart of our mission. In the last 25 years, we have had a tremendous change in the socio-economic diversity of our schools, and now have students from different backgrounds. They get to know one another as brothers. Our mission is to give our students an excellent education and to develop in our students a heart for justice and a very personal relationship with God. Not unlike other schools, all Catholic education costs money. Recently, our Mission Assembly, which meets every three to four years, looked at how we keep our Lasallian schools strong, with a human and Christian education, starting with the poor and working class. An authentic Lasallian Catholic education is affordable to families. There’s definitely a struggle all the time to do this.

Responsibilities of the Brother Visitor

According to The Rule of The Brothers of the Christian Schools, “the Brother Visitor is the guarantor of the unity and vitality of the District. He is the one primarily responsible for the District and for its leadership. He exercises his authority as a major superior in accordance with the norms of Canon Law, Institute legislation and the directives of the District Chapter.” (The Rule, article 142) In these roles he is responsible for the animation and guidance of both the Brothers and their Partners-inMission in the life of the District and its ministries, particularly those which are canonically a part of the Institute of the Brothers of the Christian Schools and through the Institute their Catholic nature and Lasallian identity are derived. It is particularly his role to see that ministries are authentic to the Lasallian charism and mission “to give a human and Christian Education to the young, especially the poor, according to the ministry which the Church has entrusted to it.” (The Rule, article 3)

Br. Dennis Malloy

The Brothers have used the term “Together and By Association.” What does that mean?

St. John Baptist de La Salle himself recognized that the Brothers cannot do this alone. The early Brothers, with their limited resources, limited knowledge, and no technology transformed French education in their day with little more than “ingenuity, innovation, and collaboration with others.” Our colleagues are teachers and researchers; counselors and social workers; administrators, and IT professionals; youthcare workers, court representatives and community outreach workers; nurses and development professionals; secretaries, finance and business officers, facilities managers, cooks and coaches and, of course, chief administrators, serving 28,000 students. It means that we work together at our local ministry level but also by association with all Lasallian ministries within our District of Eastern North America (DENA), the larger Region of North America, the worldwide Institute and the universal Church. We are always a part of something larger than ourselves. Our collective commitment to the poor, working, and middle classes is unrivaled and sustained through the creative and heroic efforts of our trustees, presidents, and benefactors.

What’s the role of the Board of Trustees in carrying out the Lasallian Mission?

The Institute, through the District of Eastern North America (DENA), is responsible, along with the Board of Trustees, and the President, to carry out the Mission of St. John Baptist De La Salle, and to maintain the Catholic Lasallian identity of the school.

DLS is blessed to have a board with a chair, Dr. John Moore, who “gets” the Lasallian Catholic mission and is a missiondriven leader.

Several schools in the DENA district have lay presidents. How do the Brothers view the current trend of appointing lay partners to chief administrator positions?

In the last 25 years, we’ve offered formation programs to grow the teachers, counselors, and administrators in our schools into positions of mission leadership. This is a

About DENA

The District of Eastern North America (DENA) is a community of over 300 Brothers of the Christian Schools and more than 5,000 Lasallian partners and associates. Together, DENA sponsors and operates more than 30 ministries, including two universities and 19 secondary schools, in the Northeast region of the United States and Toronto, Canada. Brothers and Lay Lasallian Partners are also present in Districts overseas in Ethiopia, Jamaica, Kenya, Nigeria, the Palestinian Territories, the Philippines, and Rome. The New York District, which is the District which originally staffed De La Salle, and for many years St. Joseph High School, merged in September 2009 with the Baltimore and Long Island/New England Districts to form DENA.

wonderful moment in the life of the Church. We’re seeing the fruits of Vatican II, the recognition that the church’s mission is the shared responsibility of all of the baptized, “The People of God,” in the words of Vatican, not just the responsibility of priests and religious. We have partners in our schools who are as passionate about Lasallian education as the Brothers. The only difference is vows.

You’ve met our new President, John Knight?

DLS is blessed to have John Knight as President of DLS. He has a long history of Catholic education. I think he’s a good fit, the right person at the right moment. I couldn’t be happier or more comfortable with his leadership. The President has to be the faith leader of the community. Every decision needs to be based on the mission and giving a Christian education to young people. It doesn’t matter if you are Lasallian or Jesuit or Franciscan. At the end of the day, one mission of the church is to fulfill God’s Mission.