The sharing of best practices, environmental activities and awareness campaigns created a venue to:
- allow the coordinators to be familiar with what’s happening and get in touch with the right people in their respective Salesian localities;
- and enrich and inspire each other on how to animate the Salesian eco-movement and involve more young people to be active stewards of the Common Home.
The second agenda of the meeting was to put a collective effort as one region in preparation for the World Earth Day on 22 April 2021 with the theme “Restore the Earth”. Truly moved by hope, various suggestions and ideas were solicited from the Eco team members and still in the process of discussion. This first concrete eco-solidarity in the region hopes to boost up awareness and formation among our Salesian youth and help them live the spirituality of ecological conversion in a Salesian way.
In his address, Fr Nguyen Thinh Phuoc emphasized the Salesian way of bringing our youth into this direction: “We are evangelizers. We tackle these issues not only on human perspective but mainly from faith perspective. That’s why we have to read Laudato Si' carefully and be connected with the creation”. He also shared, “From the Congregation perspective, we are implementing the line of actions according to the Rector Major’s guidelines related to our eco groups and have discussed during the Provincial meetings, among the Economers and many more. In the next meeting of the General Council, these issues will be brought up into discussion to see how the regions are moving and animating. I’m very happy that in the EAO Region we have been doing a lot of things and overcome language barriers. Thanks to Fr. Vaclav Klement, SDB to set up this one very effectively.”
He finally affirmed everyone and uplifted them with these words: “The system is very fluid. Continue the movement no matter how little it is, and may this movement become a tree for everyone to benefit.”
Taichi Miranda
