April 4, 2010, the Feast of Easter

Letter from the Councillor for the Missions and the Councillor for Youth Ministry

We are pleased to jointly offer our warm Easter greetings, with the most sincere good wishes, to all the Salesian confreres confident that the Risen Lord walks with us on the roads of the world.

It is a cause for joy to us to introduce the aims of the 24th Salesian Missions Day (SMD).

We hope that through the activities of the SMD 2011, all Provinces can benefit from the missionary enthusiasm of young volunteer missionaries, and the communities that welcome and accompany them in their experience.

Following the publication of the manual “Voluntary Service in the Salesian Mission" (Fr. Antonio Domenech and Fr. Francis Alencherry, Rome, 2008, SDB) as a result of the 2006-2007 Regional seminars, we want to offer some examples of good practice to encourage us in this field. We hope that the SMD in 2011 will also be in the Provinces a clear indication of that coordination of the Salesian Mission desired by the GC26 (n.115).

What are the objectives of the Salesian Missions Day 2011?

1. First of all it aims at making known and sharing the different models of Salesian missionary voluntary service through some meaningful experiences: testimonies from the volunteers and from the Salesians who train or accompany them in the missions; different experiences of groups and volunteer movements around the world. The focus of 2011 is directed to America - especially the three experiences in Ecuador, Mexico and Brazil - through the example of model volunteers, like Sean Devereux (+1993 in Somalia), as well as significant steps taken by some Provinces that can inspire all Provinces (cf. the Province of Ecuador since 1968) [communicative aspect].

2. Then its aim is to help in either the improvement in quality of missionary voluntary service or the starting up of the missionary volunteer movement in the Provinces who are just beginning. In the CD for the SMD which accompanies the videos, you will find a wealth of material offered by some thirty Salesian Provinces with their programmers, itineraries, courses and training material for voluntary service: from the planning stage to the evaluation of its apostolic commitment. SMD aims at encouraging a reflection at Province level regarding our models of the youth situation in voluntary service. [training aspect]

3. It aims also at helping the Salesian communities to be more open both in accepting and sharing their lives with the young volunteers, as well as in promoting voluntary service among our young people; underlining the positive results of voluntary service such as mutual enrichment as well as vocations and missionary enthusiasm. By sharing some of these experiences we learn to deepen the educational and pastoral value of voluntary service, in order to overcome the difficulties which arise in this regard. Recognizing, therefore, that in some missions we could hardly imagine our work without the support of the volunteers.
4. It aims at helping and accompanying a vocational journey before, during, and after the experience of missionary voluntary service. Vocations which are the results of Salesian missionary voluntary service are becoming more frequent in all continents. Listening to the observations of the young Salesians who come from this experience helps us to trace the possible paths to be followed in the Provinces who embark on this journey. Voluntary service offers young people a valuable opportunity to be disciples and apostles, to live their lives as a gift to share.

5. It wishes to focus more on the creativity of the Provinces, rather than on financing a specific project as in the previous years. In fact there are many and diverse ways of helping the volunteer programme at the inter-Provincial level, such as, for example, the formation of volunteers. (The guidelines indicated in the materials for the SMS can be of inspiration in this regard).

We conclude by thanking of all the confreres and young volunteers involved in the preparation of materials, especially those who are making a daily contribution to process of missionary voluntary service. As a sign of the close collaboration between the three Departments of / for the Salesian Mission, we thank especially the Department for Social Communication and Don Bosco Media - Eurofilm of Turin because, without their networking, undertaken with dedication, we could not have presented all of this to you.

With our special greetings, imploring the assistance of Mary, the Mother and Help of Christians, for all the young missionaries

Fr Vàclav Klement, Councillor for the Missions

Fr Fabio Attard, Councillor for Youth Ministry