(ANS, Roma) – The General Council session began on 26 October. As is customary at this time of year, the Councillors offer their ‘goodnight’ to the members of the Sacred Heart community at Salesian Headquarters. On the evening of 27 October, Fr Rafael Bejarano, General Councillor for Youth Ministry, delivered his address.
Sectors and the Oratory approach
Fr Bejarano began with the Constitutions. Articles 26–48 deal with the recipients of the Salesian mission, the Oratory criterion and model, and the settings in which young people gather. The General Regulations (Articles 1–31) describe the young people to whom the Salesians are sent and then the individual sectors in which Don Bosco’s Preventive System takes on its Oratory form.
There are six YM sectors: oratories and youth centres, schools and vocational training centres, universities, social works, parishes and shrines. These are described in the Salesian Youth Ministry Frame of Reference (Chapter VII, 2014 version). Each Province develops them according to its own context.
A task stemming from the General Chapters
The Councillor explained that cross-sectoral areas are tasks entrusted by the General Chapters, in particular from GC23 to GC29. They do not expire, as they respond to the reality of young people. They appear in the Frame of Reference and in operational pland (OPP, SEPP). ‘The work we do in Youth Ministry,’ he emphasised, ‘is not the invention of a single Councillor or Rector Major, but the path charted by the Congregation itself. The cross-sectoral areas are not developed independently of the sectors, but within them.’
Sector offices
At world level, the General Council Manual describes the offices that make up Youth Ministry:
• Education Office: schools, universities and vocational training centres.
• Proclamation Office: parishes and other activities, including areas related to evangelisation.
• Integral Human Development Office: social works, advocacy, integral ecology and active citizenship for socio-political engagement.
Advocacy is coordinated by a team of six people worldwide. It represents the Congregation in various forums and promotes its socio-political influence. Provincial, inter-provincial and regional networks also play an important role in advancing these areas.
Upcoming events
Fr Bejarano noted that the International Missionary Volunteering team has been at the Generalate since last Saturday. This team was established in 2018 to reflect on and support volunteering initiatives across all Provinces. It comprises lay people and Salesians from every region, who are leaders in these initiatives.
On 28 October, the meeting of European project planners begins, with around 110 participants. Discussions will focus on major European projects currently underway, particularly in two areas: vocational training (VTC) and social works, where Europe currently offers significant opportunities for development. Cross-cutting themes must also be present in these projects, as they cannot be realised without advocacy, safeguarding and integral ecology.
The Councillor expressed his gratitude to the lay people and Salesians who work with such enthusiasm, as well as to the networks involved. He thanked the community for listening, as it is not always possible to explain everything within the community.
Source: ANS – “Agencia iNfo Salesiana”