Juanita Silva, regional head of formation, welcomed all the participants, followed by Martín Calderón, World Councillor for the Region, who also addressed some words to the participants. Antonio Boccia gave his presentation.
The fundamental subject was developed in 4 parts: the first concerned Don Bosco's Dream at nine years of age, and highlighted the real and unattainable figure of Don Bosco, highlighting the sense of impotence he experienced and the difficulties and challenges he faced; he then referred to Salesian lay involvement, speaking of the Synod of Bishops on Synodality and the role of the laity in the Church and the Salesian Family; the third part was inherent in the charism, vocation and secularity: it was here that Boccia recalled how the layperson belongs to three entities: Christ, the Church and the world; finally, the presentation closed with a reference to the 150 years of the Association of Salesian Cooperators, to be prepared and lived according to three verbs: remember, renew and relaunch.
At the end of the presentation, a participant from Guatemala and one from Mexico expressed their reflections on the subject, then Juanita Silva led a brief discussion, inviting the speaker, the ASC World Councillor for Interamerica and the two regional Delegates of the Daughters of Mary Help of Christians and the Salesians of Don Bosco – Sister Aracelly Mayorga and Father Manuel Gómez respectively – to identify the challenges to be faced as an Association.
After each of them offered their response to the plenary session, some upcoming appointments were recalled: Friday, 8 December at 2 pm (UTC+1) there will be time for prayer; instead, in April 2024, the Second Regional Meeting of Salesian Young Cooperators is scheduled in Guatemala.
The digital event on 26 November, organised by the Regional Executive Secretariat, was attended by more than 150 people connected through Zoom, and others via Facebook from the 13 countries that make up the region, as well as Salesian Cooperators from other countries. The meeting on this occasion was offered in Italian, with translations in English, Spanish and French.
You can review the live broadcast on the SC Interamerica Facebook page.
