The theme of this year’s General Assembly (GA) was “Making it real,” and it referred to Don Bosco’s dream of 9 years ago. Based on some words of this dream, the representatives of the youth, the SDB and the FMA had the opportunity to discuss and reflect upon youth protagonism in the activities in the different countries of the continent. The venue, the former Benediktbeuern monastery, now owned by the Salesians of Germany, was the perfect place for this General Assembly as it showed all participants how many different ways there are to fulfill Don Bosco’s dream: Youth groups, school camps, a college, hospitality for young people and volunteering are some of the aspects that helped to make each of us feel at home. In addition, this year we had the opportunity to welcome Ukraine and Lithuania to the General Assembly for the first time, which shows that the Salesian Youth Movement is not a close circuit, but an open family in which everyone finds a place.
As the main theme was "Youth Protagonism in Society", the youth themselves – especially the members of the Small Team – led all the moments of the General Assembly, making all participants aware that being a protagonist means being actively involved in planning, organizing and preparing all aspects of an event, no matter if it is big and/or challenging. The inputs given to the participants expressed the personal experiences of all participants. They shared positive and negative aspects, difficulties, joyful moments and problems in their daily work in schools, youth centers and oratories in Europe. Through testimonies, workshops, moments of prayer, activities and even simple snack and coffee breaks, the participants had the opportunity to exchange their ideas, delve into Salesian spirituality and perhaps find solutions to some of the problems that affect their local and national realities.
The General Assembly is also the place where the members of the Small Team – the coordinating body of the Salesian Youth Movement in Europe – are elected. This year we had the pleasure of welcoming on board Alba, Weronika and Maria, who come from Spain, Poland and Slovakia respectively. We also warmly thanked Kasia (Poland), Iva (Croatia) and Giuseppe (Italy) who have completed their mandate.
Personally, in these two years of service as a member of the Small Team, I have witnessed how the Salesian charism can be brought into various aspects of daily life and translated into amazing projects, events and activities that always have the salvation of youth as their ultimate goal.
During the General Assembly, which takes place in a different location each year, – participants have the opportunity to get to know the host country, this year Germany. The German provinces of both the Salesians and the Salesian Sisters were happy to welcome us all and made every effort to make our stay in Benediktbeuern as pleasant as possible. The German SYM provided some volunteers to welcome us there and prepare meals for us, organized a table soccer tournament (again, Spain won!) and offered us a German cultural evening with a spiritual guided tour, a typical Bavarian meal and fun games, which was enjoyed by all!
See you next year in Slovakia, where the local SYM is preparing to welcome us!
Giuseppe Oriani
SYM Europe Small Team member 2022-24
