Cohort A of the Lasallian Induction CPD 2026 in Malta

The first cohort of the 2026 Lasallian Induction CPD (Tier 1) completed the seven-day programme at the La Salle Retreat Centre in Mellieha, Malta, from 22 to 29 July. Participants came from Lasallian schools and centres across the District and the wider Lasallian Region of Europe and the Mediterranean, including colleagues from Jerusalem.

Held annually in Malta since 2012, the Induction CPD is intended for staff who are relatively new to the Lasallian mission and who want a grounding in where that mission comes from and what it asks of them. Formation sessions on Lasallian heritage, spirituality, and pedagogy ran across the week, alongside visits to Mdina, the citadel in Gozo, the hilltop sanctuary with its cave painting of the Madonna and child, and the World War Two air raid shelters.

Several participants travelled directly from the end of the school term. A participant, described the journey out as a leap of faith made with no time to prepare, and the moment on the flight when that changed. “Even before I landed here in Malta, my mind quietened as I watched a silver ball encircled with whisps of cloud transform before my eyes into a glorious golden sunrise. I remembered I was in the holy presence of God.”

The presence of colleagues from Jerusalem shaped much of the week. Their accounts of living and educating in difficult circumstances gave the group a more concrete sense of what the Lasallian commitment to the poor asks of a school today.

Participants also noted how quickly the group came together. Writing a week after the session ended, Brother Daoud described arriving to find himself welcomed from the first moment. “Although we came from different countries, cultures, schools, and ministries, we quickly became one family, a true Lasallian family,” he said. “Through our conversations, prayers, reflections, laughter, shared experiences, and moments of fraternity, strong and meaningful bonds were created among us.”

The week closed with an activity in which each participant stood in turn and said, “I am Lasallian.” Brother Daoud returned to that moment in his reflection. “It was not only a sentence,” he said. “It was a declaration of identity, belonging, commitment, and mission.” Looking around the room, he added, he could see the future of the Institute in the people standing in it.

Cohort B runs from 19 to 26 August at the same venue, with the same programme delivered in full.