Brotherhood in the business world, is it possible?

An online evening was proposed on December 1, 2020 by the missionary axis « Responsible in society » on the theme of fraternity in the business world. The leaders met with François Prouteau, president of Fondacio, around Pope Francis’ encyclical « Fratelli tutti ».

« Brotherhood in the business world, is it possible? » It is around this question that 62 managers, managers and leaders aged 30 to 86 met for a web-meeting on Tuesday evening December 1, 2020.

This evening was animated by the responsible axis in society and was the occasion for a plenary session in videoconference around François Prouteau, president of Fondacio, for a teaching on the encyclical All Brothers « Fratelli tutti » of Pope Francois .

The evening began with a time of prayer around the Gospel of Matthew (12 46-50): “Jesus answered him: Who is my mother, and who are my brothers? « .

How, in the footsteps of Saint Francis, live as a brother?

Tuesday’s meeting reminded us that the company is a human adventure, made up of women and men gathered to serve and act for the same purpose. We are invited by the Pope to be actors of fraternity in our businesses which are open to the world.

Teaching by François Prouteau around the encyclical

François Prouteau also addressed the link between paternal love and brotherly love. Fraternal love appeals to human relations of equality and reciprocity, to dialogue step by step, and to infinity. Paternal love helps in the begetting of each human being: to become oneself in relation to the other and like another. Like another, this means that identity is always in the process of becoming, that we are fundamentally altered by others who make what we are and become, and also like the Other who is the Son of the Father: « God s ‘is made man so that man may be made god’ (St Irenaeus, hær. 3, 19, 1). There is a single love that is expressed in different types of expression and that the figures of the “father”, the “son” and the “brother” highlight.

This dynamic of love brings us together and invites us to give the best of ourselves as two sides of the same reality, which is that of love to allow the other to become himself and to grow. As leaders, it is up to us to develop these spaces and these times to live fraternity. François ended with a concrete example. Managing in truth is rooted in a singular experience: God is fraternal love, where love and truth embrace each other.

Be a « school of fish » type organization

This is what Henri-Pierre de Rohan Chabot taught us during his 35 years of commitment to the Fondacio. Brotherly love is the compass that transforms companies-whales into schools-schools of fish where each is connected to the others in a current of love and truth. It is the very image of fraternity. We are, each one of us, fish moving forward in the current of the Holy Spirit because fraternity, through the trust it allows, promotes the spirit of love and Truth. The more we will enter into the fraternal relationship, the more we will promote this spirit of love and truth because confidence will be there and it will be possible to love and to be true.

Henri-Pierre de Rohan Chabot highlights five levers to promote this:
– Marveling at the person in a true way
– Trust and give time to the relationship
– To serve
– To love each other (as I loved you)
– Leave the person free from the relationship

Participatory work according to Fondacio’s pedagogy

After a time of solitude, the participants met in small groups to reflect on how to live this fraternity in our companies and what we felt called to do next around the following questions:

1/ Do I personally feel like I embody a “brother” attitude in my company? Do I have the impression of experiencing fraternity in the workplace?

2/ In the company, are opportunities or places offered and developed to allow exchanges in truth?

3/ What invitation do I perceive and what does it commit me to?

The word « company » should be understood in the broad sense, i.e. all workplaces (companies, associations, administrations, etc.)

The evening ended with the following words:

« God our Father, Creator of the Universe and of every human being working in our company, in your company, help us to spread your word where we go, both at work, which is our daily livelihood, and in our business relationships with our customers and suppliers who are, like us, your sons and daughters. » Extract from a prayer by Jean-Robert OUIMET (Canadian businessman who died in 2018)