In Europe, the pastoral activity of our communities has shifted from an almost exclusive engagement in education to a much more varied series of pastoral programmes: parishes, educational missions and chaplaincies, animation of specific groups and presence in the new poverties. This latter option is lived-out amidst immigrants and, for a community in Italy, in the welcome and care of patients terminally suffering from AIDS.

In Latin America our presence in education is still remarkable. Over 14,000 young people attend our 15 colleges, 12 of which are in Argentina and Paraguay. In these countries there is a truly apostolic movement of young Betharramites, the JUBE: Juventud Betharramita.

Also, the parochial ministry is present everywhere. In total we are entrusted with 14 parishes, many of them in Brazil. We are mainly present in urban, marginalised districts like Santiago del Estero in Argentina, Ciudad del Este, San Joaquin and La Colmena in Paraguay and Sao Paulo and Belo Horizonte in Brazil.

In Africa and Asia the presence of Betharram is relatively recent. Our mission in Thailand started in 1952 after a 30-year presence in China. We have been in the Ivory Coast since 1959, in the Central African Republic since 1986 and in India since 1995. Our presence in these countries was our response to the appeal of the Church for a first evangelisation: the mission ad gentes.

Without counting the young professed in temporal vows (on their way to final profession with the Congregation), 28 religious are now engaged in these two continents.

Their pastoral activity covers three main areas:

• Aid to the local clergy.
• Response to human needs through the creation of adequate structures: schools, dispensaries - even a countryside hospital in Central Africa and a centre for the prevention of prostitution in Thailand.
• The welcome and formation of many young people applying for religious life. At present, in the three existing houses of formation (Adiapodoume in the Ivory Coast, Bangkok in Thailand and Bangalore in India) there are 30 professed and many postulants.