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Executive Summary |
East Asia - Oceania Region
Conclusions of the study of the Region made by the General Council
in the intermediary session from 10 - 19 October 2005
The skeleton General Council, in the intermediary session held from 10 -19 October 2005, examined the situation of and future prospects for the East Asia-Oceania Region. The study of the report presented by the Regional Councillor enabled an awareness of the first steps taken by this Region set up by GC25, to identify the challenges which have emerged. It also enabled the Council to propose some working guidelines to help with the consolidation and development of the Salesian charism in the Region.
The Region, about to celebrate the centenary of the arrival of the first missionaries in China - Macau (1906), the longest-standing of the presences in this area, is actually spread over 20 countries with many relatively recent presences. Over the past 40 years, the ten circumscriptions of the Region have altered their state of belonging at least 4 times. GC25’s choice of creating an autonomous Region appears to be responding better to the needs of the different Provinces, Vice provinces and Delegations.
In the first 4 years of this new Region we saw many advantages in being able to accompany the individual circumscriptions more closely, and in coordinating the whole. The first Team Visit, in 2005 (Hua Hin - Thailand) was a decisive event, during which a true sense of Region, a growth in cooperation, and a clear wish to have coordination were achieved, all expressed through the Vision - Mission statement.
Looking at the situation of the Salesians in the different realities in East Asia - Oceania, one immediately becomes aware that the confreres are ‘missionaries of the young’, and of the need they have to live their consecrated life as missionaries ‘inter gentes’. The Catholic Church, and as part of it Consecrated Life and the Salesian Congregation, is living immersed in an Ocean of diverse peoples, ancient religions, and cultures which are profoundly religious in their roots, but not Christian.
This makes a commitment to inculturation more pressing, in order to implant Salesian life in various contexts, with a Christian and charismatic identity and paying attention to cultural diversity. At the same time, its being a minority amongst these populations requires Salesian presence in the Region to take up a decisive commitment to making the confreres’ and communities’missionary spirit grow, and to developing the missionary dimension of the Salesian vocation.
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1.1 I. The Region’s challenges |
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Taking account of the multicultural and pluri-religious context of Salesian life in the Region, and the specific contribution of our Charism and mission, we have identified the following challenges during the Team Visit and in Council discussions.
A) We highlight three main challenges to the spiritual and charismatic dimension:
at the cultural level: the risk of secularism and materialism in an environment sensitive to religious reality, which demands not only the service, but also the witness of a profound experience of God: MYSTICAL;
at the personal level: the temptation to seek social status, reducing Salesian life more to a ‘state of life’ than a ‘project of life’;
at the institutional level: a weak and merely formal sense of belonging to the Congregation and of adhering to its directions, showing up in, amongst others, a weakness of initial formation due to precarious formational circumstances, and a scarcity of Salesian study centres, as well as application of the Congregation’s pastoral model.
B) We highlight three main challenges to the pastoral and evangelising dimension:
at the cultural level: the tendency to individualism, expressed in a lack of courage in facing up to difficulties which arise from the situation of being a minority amongst non-Christians;
at the personal level: an exaggerated activism that turns us into secular professionals but not consecrated persons, and a meagre preparation for inter-religious and intercultural dialogue;
at the institutional level: resistence in responding to changes in life and working style in order to be more significant and effective in our service and to be closer to poor young people: SERVICE:
C) We note three main challenges to the religious life and community dimensions:
at the cultural level: difficulty in expressing our religious consecration through a more visible and credible witness to the Gospel, aware that we have been called to bring about a strong cultural impact through the Christian faith: PROPHECY;
at the personal level: the temptation to justify cultural elements which do not sit properly with the Salesian project of life;
at the institutional level: the urgent need to redmiension works in some provinces to guarantee an experience of community life and to give quality to what we offer pastorally and educationally.
D) We have identified two main challenges to the way the region functions:
coordination at regional level: the isolation of some presences, geographical distances, languages, social, cultural, ecclesial vocational differences which make it difficult to achieve a deeper, more effective and practical exchange;
animation at regional level: the lack of a regional centre which could be an element of integration, coordination and an impetus for provinces in different areas of Salesian life and mission: formation, youth ministry, Salesian Family, social communication, missions, economic sector.
We can take on all the challenges out of the need to build up and enliven a truly missionary and inculturated spirituality which helps us to avoid the danger of activism, middle-class thinking, lack of charismatic identity; to surmount the dichotomy between life and faith, between being and doing, between evangelical counsels - mission – community life; to incarnate Don Bosco more in East Asia-Oceania.
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2 II. Action directions |
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To respond to these challenges, first of all we feel the need to reaffirm the four directions for action indicated at the Region Team Visit in March 2005:
1. The primacy of spiritual life
The key to personal, community and provincial renewal, and a consequent missionary thrust, is total consecration to God and total self-giving to young people, expressed through the spirituality of the “Da mihi animas, coetera tolle!”. For this to happen we need:
To strengthen the spiritual life of the confreres and communities, especially ensuring lectio divina, community celebration of the Eucharist, the examen of conscience, time for study and perspnal reflection, the sharing of faith and spiritual life and ministry, some opportunities for praying with young people.
Carrying out the community and personal project of life, following Don Bosco’s example and indications from the Congregation.
Seeing to the role of the Rector who plays a decisive part in this process of renewal and relaunching, as the one who has first responsibility for spiritual and pastoral animation.
2. Planning mentality
A planning mentality is the main avenue today for working together as brothers and for effectively carrying out the mission, because it helps to create communion, and because it privileges animation, clarifies choices for governing and obliges us to evaluate This mentality:
Is expressed in the various provincial projects (POI, SEPP, Formation plan); local projects (Salesian community project and local SEPP); personal project.
This is made actual through provincial and local animation and government, which seeks to move the different projects from paper into real life.
3. Our commitment to formation
In order to accompany the process of inculturation of the charism and to foster spiritual renewal, pastoral updating and pedagogical competence, all Provinces, communities and confreres need to see to their initial formation and enter into a situation of continuing formation.
Inculturating initial formation by means of
actualising Salesian study programmes and preparing teachers (UPS);
looking after candidates to Salesian life, paying attention to a knowledge of their family and life history, and through a good aspirantate experience; strengthening of the prenovitiate;
study of Don Bosco, of his charism, his pedagogy, his spirituality
reinforcing interprovincial collaboration; looking at the expression of the charism in local cultures; need for the study of English; study of religions and formation to inter-religious dialogue; setting up Salesian study centres for philosophy and theology.
Giving attention to continuing formation:
at the personal level: acquiring a mentality of, and having the time for, reflection and personal study: readings in spiritual, Salesian, educative and pastoral subjects;
at the community level: community day, library, community project;
at the province level: seeing to different groups, especially of rectors, and confreres in their quinquennium.
4. Growing in a sense of common endeavour for the mission
Vision
During the Team Visit the East Asia-Oceania Region felt the need to set out its ideal, its ‘vision’, which it expressed in these terms:
“The Salesians recognise the East Asia-Oceania Region as a communion of Provinces, creatively faithful to the charism of Don Bosco and collaborating effectively between themselves to become evangelisers of the young, especially those who are poorest”
To make this ideal a reality, the EAO Region chose the following programme as its ‘mission’:
inculturation of the Preventive System in the different provinces;
cooperation in bringing about common projects in formation, youth ministry, Salesian Family, social communication and other services;
greater depth and reinforcing of mutual communication, including the use of English as the Region’s lingua franca.
Reinforcing the sense of common endeavour in the Region means the following issues are especially important:
at province level:
making frequent and opportune use of the social communications media to reinforce a sense of belonging to the Congregation and the Salesian Family;
getting regional commissions to function through annual meetings, especially the formation and youth ministry commissions.
at regional level:
sharing competent personnel and financial aid for interprovincial formation houses: especially for the Philippines, the specific formation of priests and brothers;
collaboration in the Mission ad gentes with personnel for China Services and to consolidate other more recent missions in the Region;
improved use of information media, such as the regional web site www.bosconet.aust.com and effective sharing by means of austraLasia link;
setting up a process to bring about a ‘Regional Formation Centre’, beginning with a mobile team of experts in Salesianity and formation;
Promoting a sense of solidarity between provinces to confront the personnel problem in some provinces and the lack of adequate financial means in others.
at the Congregational level:
defining approaches and specific interventions to accompany some provinces in difficulties, thus helping to take up the directions offered by recent General Chapters GC23 and GC24 and the redimensioning of works;
supporting the expression of the Salesian charism in local cultures: translation, research, preparation of experts - teachers of Salesianity, formators.
Rome, 18 October 2005
