Providing animation to the government of a Congregation that has over 14 thousand religious, hundreds of thousands of collaborators and millions of young beneficiaries is not a trivial matter. For this reason the Rector Major meets twice a year, for a lengthy period of time, with all his first collaborators of the General Council: to listen, to evaluate, to discern, to nominate, to offer indications and guidelines, to decide.
Scheduled for this summer session are:
- the accompaniment of recently appointed provincials in the orientation course dedicated to them;
- the appointments of four Provincials (Colombia-Bogotà, India-Mumbai, Italy-Sicily and the Northern Philippines) and of the Superior of the Africa-Ethiopia Vice-Province;
- the sharing of reports on as many as 10 Extraordinary Visits (Brazil-Campo Grande; Spain-St James Major; India-Bangalore; Ethiopia; South Philippines; United States-East; United States-West; Austria; Hungary; Italy Piedmont and Valle d'Aosta);
- the semester report of the Sector Councilors (Formation, Youth Ministry, Social Communication, Missions, Economy);
- the sharing of mission support and the destination of new missionaries;
- the discussion of economic issues.
Attention and care will also be reserved for the study of various specific themes, ranging from the preparation of the 28th General Chapter (GC28) to the Strenna for 2020; from Salesian personal accompaniment to the Provincial Bursar Manual; from the redesign of the formation communities in the Africa-Madagascar region to the advancement of the project to enhance the Salesian sites and places; up to the post-Synod perspectives on young people and the update on child protection.
There will also be the moments of spirituality and sharing, such as the week of spiritual pilgrimage for all members of the General Council in the Holy Land, between the end of June and the beginning of July; and the fraternal meeting with the General Council of the Daughters of Mary Help of Christians.
