The International School of Formation in Accompaniment and Leadership, promoted by the Augustinian Recollects, forms this 2025 its first generation of graduates. A unique proposal in the Church that puts the Augustinian heart at the service of accompaniment.
Accompanying from the heart
“The In Imum Cordis School focuses on two fundamental themes: accompaniment and leadership,” explains Friar Javier Monroy, General Councilor of the Order. It is not about forming leaders from authority, but from service:
“A leadership for others to grow, a leadership to evangelize” .
Inspired by Augustinian spirituality, the formators recall that to evangelize is “to be with people, to journey with them, to live life with them”. To accompany means to be incarnated in reality, like Christ, and to share the joys and wounds of those who seek God.
A pioneering and synodal master’s degree in the Church
The proposal is unprecedented: a two-year formation that combines theory, practice and personal work. Javier sums it up clearly:
“The objective is to form the person of the companion. The idea is that everything I need to know about the other person, I am going to work on myself”.
The master’s degree is developed in collaboration with the Lumen Gentium University of the Primate Archbishopric of Mexico, which guarantees a solid academic support and a broad ecclesial horizon.This guarantees solid academic support and a broad ecclesial horizon.
The modules address topics such as family of origin, spiritual growth and active listening. Each participant is accompanied by practical exercises and undergoes a process of personal therapy. It is a demanding but deeply transforming school.
An Augustinian heart open to all
The In Imum Cordis School is not reserved only for religious: it is open to parish priests, seminarians, formators, religious sisters, lay people involved in hospitals or movements, and even couples accompanying canonical processes. “Our spirituality touches the hearts of so many people so that they can grow and help others to grow”.
Javier reminds us that accompaniment is a gift that transcends the Order:
“Everyone can take aspects of Augustinian spirituality for their own growth towards God” .
Looking to the future
This year will see the graduation of the first generation of accompaniers trained at the School, while the second is still in progress and a third will begin in September. The seed has already sprouted: an international community convinced that to accompany is to evangelize and that leadership is exercised from humility and closeness.
In the words of Fr. Javier Monroy, the In Imum Cordis School is “an offer that we give to the Church that does not exist”. A courageous bet of the Augustinian Recollects to live today the charism of always: to walk with a restless heart with others, in search of God.
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