Religious and a group of lay people from all the nations of the Region participated, together with the team representing the groups: SDB, FMA, Salesian Cooperators, Association of Mary Help of Christians (ADMA), Past Pupils of Don Bosco and Past Pupils of the FMA, Volunteers of Don Bosco DB, Volunteers with Don Bosco, Sisters of Charity of Jesus, Sisters of the Queenship of Mary Immaculate, Daughters of the Queenship of Mary Immaculate, Sisters Handmaids of the Immaculate Heart of Mary. Everyone felt welcomed with great warmth by the Province of the Southern Philippines, under the guidance of Fr Godofredo Atienza, Provincial Delegate for the Salesian Family.
“Walking together as a Salesian Family” was the common horizon that gave perspective to the meeting, as it had been in similar regional meetings held in previous weeks in Buenos Aires, El Salvador and India.
Here too, we started from a vision of the reality of the life and mission of the Salesian Family in the Region, presented by Bro. Dominic Duc Nam Nguyen, SDB, World Delegate for Past Pupils and Salesian Cooperators; then we reflected on the challenges posed by the reality of the Region, led by Father Francis Gustilo; on the animation and accompaniment service in the light of the Charter of Identity of the Salesian Family, Sister Leslye Sandigo and Sister Lucrecia Uribe, General Councillors for the Salesian Family and World Delegate for the Salesian Cooperators of the FMA respectively; while on the necessary correlation between Youth Ministry and the Salesian Family, Fr Miguel Angel García Morcuende, General Councillor for Youth Ministry, offered a reflection in an intervention in which SDB Youth Ministry Delegates from the Provinces in the Region also participated.
The program also included time to share the many best practices in mission and shared formation in the Provinces and to explore the identity and mission of each of the participating Groups.
The meeting was led by the Secretariat team and coordinated by Fr Joan Lluís Playà, Central Delegate of the Rector Major for the Secretariat for the Salesian Family. It was an “extraordinary and historic” meeting, in Fr Playà’s words, “in which all those responsible for the animation and accompaniment of the Salesian Family in the Region met in a climate of communion, deep spirituality and keen interest in the development of the sense of family in all Groups, in view of the mission in favour of the young and the poorest...”
“The reflection shared between those responsible for Youth Ministry and those responsible for the animation of the Salesian Family undoubtedly contributed to this” said Fr Playà. “A precious time that calls for a new fruitfulness in both spheres. We must not forget that the Salesian Family Groups are the result of a quality Youth Ministry (this has been the case since the time of Don Bosco) and that their members collaborate (and can collaborate even more) in Youth Ministry projects because young people are the missionary focus of all the Groups.”
