He reached the community on Saturday 26 October at 4.00 PM and was warmly welcomed by the Rector and the community. Visvadeep, Bengaluru, is an international institute dedicated to imparting scientific knowledge and professional skills in Faith Formation, Youth Ministry, and Liturgy to laypeople, religious, and priests from across the country and abroad.
The institute provides an atmosphere conducive to the integral formation of students. Through its educative and formative processes, participants are equipped to carry the incarnate love of God to various settings, especially in bringing the gospel to the young.
From 1980 to May 2024, Visvadeep has trained a total of 6,908 participants. Many of our past students now serve the Church and religious congregations as youth directors, catechetical directors, and liturgical animators.
At the start of the Visitation, he read the reports of the previous Provincial Visitations and the Extraordinary Visitations; the Salesian Educative and Pastoral Plan of the community (SEPP); the House Council Reports; the Community Meeting Report; Minutes of the House Council meetings and House Assemblies; the Mass Register; and the Annual Budget of the House for 2024-25.
During the days of visitation he met the Salesians of the community individually to assess and evaluate the life of the community.
In his opening address to the Salesian community, he stressed the need of deepening Salesian Charismatic identity. He noted that the institute offers an interdisciplinary curriculum and a wide range of subjects, providing students with a scientific foundation for each topic and a current, integrated perspective on their studies. Students are helped to integrate faith and life, vocation and mission in the Church, and the dialogue between religion and culture.
He appreciated the fact that through pastoral practice, students had the opportunity to carry out their studies in the context of the prevailing social, cultural and religious reality. However, he spoke of the need to offer the Youth Ministry and Faith Formation program to a broader group of priests, religious, and lay people by making the program available online, so as to reach out to the English-speaking world, particularly for those who are unable to attend in person.
On Monday 28 October, he met the domestic staff (lay collaborators), the members of the Salesian Family who are staying and studying in the institute, and the 8 young boys, students of Don Bosco College, who reside in the community. In the evening, he had a very fruitful moment of interaction with the entire student community.
On Tuesday 29 October he met the House Council of Visvadeep at 5.00 PM and gave the concluding conference to the Salesian community at 6.00 PM. In the good night talk at 8.15 PM with which he officially concluded the visitation he invited all to have a filial devotion to Mary Help of Christians.
Fr Gildasio Mendes left for Don Bosco Renewal Centre after breakfast on Wednesday 30 October. “Thank you Fr. Gildásio and we appreciate you for bringing Don Bosco alive in our midst” a Salesian from Visvadeep wrote.
https://www.infoans.org/en/sections/news/item/22608-india-general-councillor-for-social-communication-visits-visvadeep#sigProId762f6134c1
