The so-called "Salesian compass" is a tool, in the form of a booklet, created two years ago to facilitate those responsible and animators of Salesian educational centres to take stock of what characterises it: because in a Salesian school the goal is to form "responsible, active, critical and supportive citizens" and the young person must always be considered in his or her entirety: that is, taking care of the intellectual and manual dimension, but also the spiritual, emotional, physical and artistic ones.
In the organisation of an institute, school or Vocational Training Centre, in organisational management, in teaching, in activities and even in administration and finance, what kind of Salesian house is being formed? This was the question that guided La Crau's work.
To help participants share their experiences and their deepest convictions, relating them to the reality of what happens in each of their houses, the works were marked and directed by three "inspiring" figures: Fr Joseph August Arribat, founder of the La Navarre house, recognised as Venerable by the Catholic Church; Mary Domenica Mazzarello, co-founder of the Daughters of Mary Help of Christians (1837-1881), and of course Don Bosco (1815-1888).
Then it was the time for discussions, debates and sharing, to bring out the points of reference that still unite the educational teams today around what is known in the network of Salesian centres as the "Salesian Eductive and Pastoral Project" (SEPP).
The dialogue on the various points was fuelled by the representatives of nine Salesian houses: the Carlhian-Rippert primary schools (Briançon), the Don Bosco centre in Nice, the Nazareth institute (Nice), the Don Bosc institute (Saint-Cyr-sur-Mer), the Bon Accueil day centre (Toulon), the Sévigné school-institute (Marseilles), the Pastré-Grande Bastide institute (Marseille), the Don Bosco high school in Marseilles and the centre hosting the event, the Saint-Joseph secondary school in La Navarre (La Crau).
All these institutions together involve about 8,200 students, from kindergarten to the post-secondary level.
This strong time of comparison and discernment – and also of conviviality and spirituality, in the Salesian way – was prepared by the Formation and Protection Service, under the coordination of Christophe Cortes, Director of the Saint-Joseph institute in La Navarre, and his colleagues.
