Julia Mayer, MEL Representative – District Central Europe
On May 19th 2020, Brother Peter Magač, coordinator of the Slovakian Sector, was appointed Auxiliary Visitor of the District of Central Europe by the Superior General, Brother Robert Schieler.
Brother Peter Magač has been a Brother for the last 25 years. During his novitiate, he spent two years in Austria, in our schools in Fünfhaus and Strebersdorf. Afterwards, he returned to Slovakia to complete his teaching degree in physics and chemistry and started teaching at our school in Rača. He is often asked why he decided to join the De La Salle Brothers. Growing up in a very religious family, he on the one hand developed the wish to improve Catholic schools in Slovakia very early, and on the other hand he did not want to become a priest. He quickly found his vocation as a De La Salle Brother and has become an important member of the Institute and a key figure in our Lasallian school in Bratislava since 1994. Even today he still teaches computing, chemistry and physics there and is also the administrator of our middle school. He lives in Rusovce, a borough in southern Bratislava, together with another Brother. Two other Brothers live in our school in Rača.
As Auxiliary Visitor he now supports our Brother Visitor Vicentiu Ghiurca when the latter is prevented from exercising his office. After having been a member of the most important structures of the District for the last ten years and also coordinator of the Slovakian sector, he knows the realities of our District very well and will surely make an important contribution to the strengthening of the Lasallian educational mission as our new Auxiliary Visitor.
The entire District of Central Europe is made up of seven countries (Austria, Czech Republic, Germany, Netherlands, Hungary, Romania, Slovakia), the northernmost part in the Netherlands being 1800 km away from the southernmost part of our District in Romania. In total, five different languages are spoken in the District of Central Europe, more than 4,100 students attend our eight schools and are taught by 700 teachers and educators. The province of Central Europe is part of RELEM and consists of four sectors: Austria (including Hungary and the Czech Republic), Netherlands, Romania and Slovakia. The District is in close contact with the schools in Germany, which are now managed by the Diocese Augsburg. 44 Brothers live in the District.
