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Newsletter for Salesian Missionary Animation
A Publication of the Mission Department for the Salesian Communities and Friends of the Salesian Mission
The PDMA
is the missionary sentinel
of every Province
D ear friends,
This period after the General
Chapter has been one of intense work in the General
Council and also in the Missions Department. It was a
very rich time of sharing and planning, which helped
us to understand anew the meaning and responsibil-
ity of the Councillor for the
Missions in the Congregation at
the present time.
An item that was strongly
requested by GC27 and on which
the General Council has worked
hard during this Summer session,
is that of collaboration be-
tween the various sectors of
the central government
(Formation, Youth Ministry, So-
cial Communication, Missions
and Economy).
With regard to the For-
mation Department we have
already made an immediate stra-
tegic decision. The Missions De-
partment will be present at the next annual meeting
of the Province Delegates for Formation in each re-
gion. These will take place between September and
November 2014. The objective is very clear: to see
how well the recent guidelines of the Congregation
on the Missionary Formation of the Salesians of Don
Bosco (Rome, 2013) have been received and studied,
and to ensure their implementation in each Prov-
ince.
Another opportunity for collaboration be-
tween the sectors will be the regional meetings of
the Province Delegates for Missionary Animation.
These will take place in the second half of 2015,
2017 and 2019. The first and the last meeting of
this six-year period (2015 and 2019) will be held to-
gether with the Province Delegates for Youth Min-
istry .
In all this we came to a very clear convic-
tion: if anything is to change or be re-launched in
the Provinces in reference to the missionary dimen-
sion, it depends in large part on the Province
Delegate for Missionary Animation (PDMA). With his
ability to take on this valuable ministry with zeal,
intelligence and courage, the PDMA is the missionary
sentinel of every Province!
We want to be in constant contact with
every PDMA. For this purpose, Fr Jose Anikuzhikattil
will be the contact person for the Province Dele-
gates for Missionary Animation of the two regions of
Europe (Mediterranean and North-
Central Europe) and those of Af-
rica. Fr Alfred Maravilla will be
the contact person for the Region
of East Asia-Oceania and the two
regions of America (InterAmerica
and Southern Cone), while I will
keep contact with the Province
Delegates for Missionary Anima-
tion of South Asia.
Now we want to offer a few brief
but very strategic and important
reminders to every PDMA:
♦ the distribution of Cagliero
11, for which Fr Alfred is directly
responsible, and its translation
into the different languages of the
Province;
♦ encouraging the participation of the members
in the various missionary formation courses
(UPS, Shillong e Quito);
♦ Organising the Salesian Mission Day in the
Province;
♦ the distribution and study of the valuable ma-
terial of the Study Days on the Initial Procla-
mation of Christ of the previous six year pe-
riod. This material has already been printed
and sent to all the Provinces.
Let us remember in our community prayers
the members of the 145th Salesian missionary expe-
dition. They will have the Course for New Missiona-
ries from September 3 in Rome and in the Salesian
holy places. It will conclude on September 28 with
the giving of the missionary cross by the Rector
Major in the Basilica of Mary Help of Christians at
Valdocco!
Fr. Guillermo Basañes SDB
Councillor for the Missions
