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4991(I)_Sharing the wisdom from Europe Encounter of Salesian Brothers

Europe Salesian Brother Encounter 2019 - Barcelona

January 27, 2019

Barcelona, Spain, 21 January 2019 -- Between January 17 and 21, the Salesian House of Martí Codolar in Barcelona hosted the European Encounter of Salesian Brothers dedicated to the deepening of the figure of the Salesian Consecrated Vocation. Almost 40 Salesian brothers from the two Salesian regions of Europe participated. Main speaker was the Rector Major emeritus Fr Pascual Chávez. The whole encounter was organized by the Formation Sector (Fr. Ivo Coelho, General Councilor)

I guess this encounter had two main goals:

Make known among the Salesian Brothers of Europe the future Center for the Specific Formation of Brothers in Europe, based in Barcelona. It served to Recruit the candidates for next year. The house is ready and the Brothers saw the place and the possibilities.
Great formation talks prepared by Fr. Chavez about the Salesian Brother, from the rich Salesian heritage of past 150 years. Fr. Pascual presented the Salesian Brother in a modern way - his challenges, tasks, mission, role and opportunities. The talks of Fr. Chavez are available on the Boscolink:

Don Bosco, our Model
The Salesian Brother
World Situation today
Don Bosco, a SOCIAL saint (world of Work)
The Salesian Congregation in Europe
Vocation and Formation at the service of the MISSION
Profile of the Salesian Broth

After his talk we had group sharing everyday trying to answer some relevant questions prepared by the speaker and then the answers were brought to the general assembly. All together we were 36, two Salesian priest and 34 Salesian Brothers, including also four participants of the EAO Salesian Brother Congress in Vietnam: Br. Jean Paul Muller, Fr. Ivo Coelho, Br. Geza (Hungary) and Br. Hoan (Vietnamese missionary in Belgium)

Saturday afternoon we enjoyed a guided visit to the Cathedral of SAGRADA FAMILIA (Holy Family) and our Salesian church in the TIBIDABO Hill - two special monuments of Barcelona. There we had dinner on that day. Due to the absence of Fr. Silvio Roggia (funeral of his mother) I was acting as translator.