by Fr. Thomas Pallithanam, SDB
Fr. Fabio Attard, General Councilor for Youth Ministry, convened the meeting, which was attended by Fr. Guillermo Basañes, General Councilor for Missions, Fr. George Menamparampil, from the Missions Department in Rome, Fr. Timothy Zak, Provincial of the U.S. East-Canada Province, Fr. Mark Hyde and Jaime Correa from Salesian Missions in New Rochelle, Fr. Thomas Brennan, who has been the Salesian representative at the U.N. since 2005, and Fr. Thomas Pallithanam, newly appointed Salesian representative to ECOSOC.
Nearly nine hours intense deliberations over the two days, guided by Fr. Attard, went into the finalization of the document that defines the purpose of this Salesian presence: its vision, mission, priorities, areas of intervention, and the relationship of the U.N. office with various other structures within the Congregation. The deliberations were also intended to facilitate the transition process from the old representative, Fr. Brennan, to the new one, Fr. Pallithanam, at ECOSOC.
Even as Frs. Attard and Basañes kept the focus of the discussions on fashioning the Salesian Framework document, Fr. Brennan with his years of experience brought into the drafting of the document the ethos of the U.N.
They finally have an “almost finished” draft document that builds on the strong foundation laid by Fr. Brennan, to be presented to the General Council for its approval and adoption as the authoritative document to guide, inspire, and make effective the future Salesian presence at the United Nations.
