This 12th VIDES International Congress deepened, through conferences, workshops, parallel events on specific themes and presentations of good practices, the general theme, "Culture of Reciprocity, Foundations of the Common Home. Youth, Protagonists of Change."
Specifically, the Congress developed three thematic nuclei:
- "Young VIDES living in reciprocity: our being in the contemporary as VIDES."
- "Young Protagonists in Change - Foundation of the Common Home."
- "Acting in networking from the perspective of integral ecology by focusing on gestures of solidarity and solidarity economy."
All this, in order to develop in young people the capacity for a critical and participatory reading of the culture of reciprocity in contemporary reality; to strengthen the conviction that today's cultural change changes the cultural, social, and political role of volunteering; and to increase the operational capacities of the VIDES volunteer as a protagonist of this change.
On the first day, the work of the Congress included the welcome messages from the various authorities present and a specific look at the reality of the organization, between the present and the future, with the report of VIDES President, Guido Barbera, and the Director-General, Sister Annecie Audate, who was also the moderator of the Congress.
Three Magisterial Lectures were the features of the following days:
"The Depth of Salesian Charism as Spirituality and Methodology of Action of the VIDES Volunteer," was proposed by Fr Rossano Sala, SDB, Director of Note di Pastorale Giovanile, already appointed by Pope Francis as Secretary of the Synod of Bishops for Vocational Discernment.
"Living the culture of reciprocity in this time of great violence and relational precariousness" was the theme developed by Sister Pina Del Core, FMA, appointed by Pope Francis as Consultor of the Congregation for Institutes of Consecrated Life and Societies of Apostolic Life and Professor of Developmental and Orientation Psychology at the Pontifical Faculty of Educational Sciences "Auxilium," of which she was Dean for 9 years.
"Young protagonists in change (designing, implementing, planning). The culture of togetherness" was the theme Claudia Cassano and Maurizio Cei, VIDES Volunteers for several years, educators and direct witnesses of youth protagonism, spoke about.
There was no shortage of moments of shared spirituality, recreation, and fraternity, as with the "Feast of the Peoples," of art and culture, with Sunday, July 3, dedicated to the visit to Rome, and of solidarity, with the round table dedicated to the Ukrainian emergency.
The days of the 12th VIDES International Congress enabled those who attended to acquire new knowledge about the culture of reciprocity, grow in their sense of belonging to VIDES, develop new operational strategies to be applied in different cultural contexts, and will foster the spread of hope in the different realities of action of the organization, through a multiplier effect that begins with VIDES volunteers to involve other young people, active citizens, and civil and ecclesial society.
For more information, visit: www.vides.org
