Organised by the Salesian Youth Ministry in both countries, the participants, mostly leaders in Salesian Youth Centres, will visit, from 30 July to 8 August, the most important Salesian sites for the birth of the Salesian charism, reflected in the life and work of Saints John Bosco and Mary Mazzarello. Some of these places are in Barcelona (which Don Bosco visited), but, above all, in the Becchi, Mornese, Chieri and Valdocco, Turin (the latter in Italy).
The objectives of the meeting are to encourage Christian life by meeting with Jesus through the experience of Catholic life that Don Bosco, Maín (Mary Mazzarello) and the young people of the first oratory had; to propose the figures of the young saints who flourished in Valdocco and Mornese as inspiration for the evangelical life project itself; and to live a sense of Church from the notion of youthful involvement and charismatic communion in tune with the entire Christian community as it journeys to the synod.
The starting point will be Barcelona, with the opening of the meeting this coming Saturday, 30 July. Don Bosco visited Barcelona in April-May 1886, two years before his death. The route will continue, after a long bus journey through France, through Piedmont in Italy. The young people will stay at Colle Don Bosco in the Becchi, the place where John Bosco was born in August 1815. From there they will travel to Chieri, in whose seminary the founder of the Salesian Congregation was formed as a priest, and to other towns and cities significant in his life. They will also pass through Mornese, the homeland of Mary Mazzarello, co-founder with Don Bosco of the Institute of the Daughters of Mary Help of Christians. Valdocco will be the last destination of the youth pilgrimage, to visit the first Salesian oratory and the Basilica of Mary Help of Christians in Turin, as well as the city itself, places where Don Bosco carried out his mission among young people.
In addition to the Salesian places and saints, participants will meet and listen to the words of the Rector Major, Ángel Fernández Artime; the Superior General of the Salesian Sisters, Chiara Cazzuola; the Councillor for Youth Ministry for the Salesians, Miguel Ángel García Morcuende; the Councilor for Youth Ministry for the Salesian Sisters, Runita Galve; the Regional Councillor for Mediterranean Europe, Juan Carlos Pérez Godoy; the Provincials of Spain, Fernando García (SSM) and Fernando Miranda (SMX); the Provincial of the Salesian Sisters in Spain, Charo Ten, and the Director of the National Salesian Center for Youth Ministry (CNSPJ) of Spain, José Miguel Núñez.
As in the previous editions in 2018 and 2022, the young participants will have a mobile app to access all the information on Campobosco. The app (Google Play - App Store) has been developed by Carlos Magán, a leader at the Salesians Atocha Youth Centre in Madrid, an engineer in Telecommunications.
In the app for this edition, the young participants have the possibility to enter a travel notebook with different sections: an introduction which puts this Campobosco 2024 into context; a chronological section of history, with the highlights of Don Bosco, Mary Mazzarello or the Salesians and Daughters of Mary Help of Christians; a section of materials (with the meaning of the day and evening prayer from the opening day to the closing day); a folder of visits which specifies the places that are visited in this youth meeting; another section of schedules, so that no young person is‘ distracted ‘; a space in which reference is made to internalising things learned; and, finally, a section of hymn, with the lyrics of the official hymn for this meeting: "I will give you a Teacher".
With this initiative, participants do not need printed material to be able to follow the meeting. In addition, they can configure the app to receive alerts that remind them of the activity they touch at any given time.
The Campobosco organisation says that this is a great believing event enabling young people to play an active role.
"The Campobosco meeting is always a gift. The experience profundly affects those who participate, encouraging an inner journey to the roots of our Salesian charism that further strengthens what we are and do in each of our Houses. Visiting the places of our origins stirs our hearts and brings us back to our roots, which remind us of who we are and who we are called to be in the Church and in the world. The experience leaves no one indifferent and certainly marks a before and after in the Christian life of the young people who are involved in it."
The pastoral teams hope that "this meeting will be an experience of encounter with the Risen Jesus for its participants, and for all the people who accompany them, that will encourage us to become more involved in the exciting Salesian mission. Going to the origins of the lives of Don Bosco and Mary Mazzarello has to help us see that everything is the work of God, that they felt the call to give their lives for young people, and that now this call is addressed to us. Campobosco has always been a time of pastoral revitalisation for the Provinces and each of the Houses involved. The hope is that it will be the same again."
It is “a unique experience within the processes of growth and maturation in the faith of our young people. It is not an isolated event but a special moment of encounter with self, with others and with God, with the Salesian style towards Christian discernment that we all have to carry out. Going back to the origins of the charism, to the living experience of Don Bosco and Mother Mazzarello, is an extraordinary opportunity to discover believing and vocational paths that guide one's life. It has been prepared with great enthusiasm and with the involvement of many people, in a great team, which has been working for many months. There is no doubt that it will be an extraordinary experience."
As has been usual in previous editions, Campobosco 2024 will have an anthem, a hymn that will give the entire youth meeting a voice. The hymn responds to the motto chosen for the event: "I will give you a Teacher" and begins like this: If we always walk with you, my heart will no longer fear. If you look at me, I will say yes. Take my hand and lead me to dream. The hymn has been composed by the The Tree of Zacchaeus music group, who will also participate and set the tone musically in this important meeting at the Salesian pastoral level.
Campobosco is a multitudinous meeting organised by the Salesian youth ministry of Spain and Portugal in which the young participants travel through the land where the Salesian charism was born, the land of Don Bosco and Mother Mazzarello, as a way of understanidng their spiritual experience and their believing response.
Fourteen editions have already been held, since the first in 1981 in Mohernando (Guadalajara). Already in the third edition, held in 1986, for the first time they toured the Salesian holy places in Italy, gratefully returning the visit that the Turin saint made in 1886 to Barcelona, two years before his death.
The be there have been editions in1988 (commemorating the centenary of the death of Don Bosco), 1991, 1994, 1997, 2001, 2004, 2007, 2010, 2014, 2018, 2022 and the current one, in 2024. Since then it is estimated that more than 8,250 young people have participated in this Salesian experience.
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Fonte: Salesianos.info
