Fr Attard therefore began the day's work with his SSM confreres by offering them five proposals to overcome the challenge of sharing the Salesian charism in the current context. They were:
- living profound and clear Salesian and Gospel convictions;
- taking care of ongoing formation;
- living and loving the "new territories";
- seeing to 360º listening to young people, others and ourselves;
- knowing how to be prophets, striving to read the present in order to shed light on it.
For his part, the Provincial of SSM, Fr Fernando García, continued by expressing his satisfaction that the educational centres are really a muscle that gives strength to the Province. He recalled the significant moment that SSM is experiencing in the reconfiguration of its works, which requires moving to a new organisational model based on distributed leadership, on the intrinsic union between management and charism and on caring for the living presence of Salesians in schools.
"The meeting continued with information and discussion on important issues such as formation, innovation, the global educational pact, the protection of minors, new laws and requirements in the field of work, vocational training and internationalisation; and with moments of common reflection on leadership and quality; without forgetting moments of celebration and conviviality which help to strengthen ties and gather strength for essential work such as animating our educational communities", explained Fr Óscar Bartolomé, Provincial Coordinator of Schools.
Fr Attard's Extraordinary Visitation began on 3 October at the Salesian house in Aranjuez, a work structured in two settings: the Loyola school, which covers all stages of education, and the Las Aves youth centre, open to all children and young people in and around Aranjuez. Las Aves offers leisure activities and during the week has an Educational Attention and Compensation Centre (CACE) for students who need support and help, always in coordination with the school.
During his visit, the Extraordinary Visitor, in addition to meeting every Salesian in the community, had the opportunity to meet with the Director of the youth centre, the school management team and to have a personal interview with each of the pedagogical directors and with the administrator of the centre.
He also had a meeting with the pastoral team, with the home educators, with the Salesian Family and with the Council of the Educative and Pastoral Community (EPC). He also celebrated the Eucharist and during the three days spent in Aranjuez he was always in charge of offering the "Good morning" to the students at different educational levels. For him, it was an intense journey into the reality of Aranjuez, including times of prayer and rest, which ended with a meeting with the community on Thursday, 5 October.
Without interruption, on the afternoon of the 5th, he began his visit to Parla, which lasted until the 7th. In addition to the meetings with the Salesians in the community, in the same afternoon he met the Salesian Cooperators. On Friday he had the opportunity to meet the pastoral team at the work and the educational community of the Valora Social Platform. The afternoon was dedicated to the parish, with moments of sharing with catechists, representatives of Caritas, those responsible for the pastoral care of health and the Salesian Cooperators. He ended the day with a meeting with the youth centre's leaders. The fraternal agape that concluded the visit was also accompanied by the Provincial Secretary, Fr Luis Onrubia.
The visit continues over these days, from Tuesday 10 to Thursday 12, in the Domingo Savio community in Madrid.
All information, news and a selection of photographs are available on the web page: https://www.salesianos.es/visita-extraordinaria-de-d-fabio-attard
