austraLasia 1112
Philippines: Salesian psychologist places
Ratio under developmental spotlight
MANILA: 20th April 2005 -- In
what is certainly a contribution from a much-needed perspective, Fr
Lazaro Revilla, long-time Salesian missionary in the Philippines, has launched a
scholarly work on the first three chapters of the renewed Salesian Ratio (the
more complete term for which is The formation of the Salesians of
Don Bosco).
Entitled
Incarnating the Christmas Story, Fr Revilla's work has put the
first three chapters of the Ratio under the spotlight of document analysis, and
more specifically an analysis based on the Values Inventory work of Dr Brian P.
Hall and Fr Benjamin Tonna. In effect, the investigation into the Salesian
Ratio by this means aims to identify the 'master story' that appears to lie at
the basis of the Ratio and the Salesian formation process.
At this stage just three chapters have been
analysed. This is partly based on the belief that the first three chapters
are sufficient to offer a firm lead into the values Salesians believe they are
incarnating through their formation process, but also because the analysis
involved is complex and, of course, costly.
Fr Revilla situates the values identified
within a framework reflecting development structures of over eighty human
development models. In an earlier discussion on his work, he indicated
that the analysis has been interesting not only for the values it has discovered
to be present, but also for those which are not part of the Ratio's
choice.
More than a hundred guests attended the
launch at the Don Bosco Technical Institute in Manila. They included
people from the academic community, Religious involved in formation and
Salesians and lay partners.
Fr Revilla has been a Salesian for 50 years
and a priest for 40 of those. His work helps celebrate these milestones in
his own life while offering a more wholistic perspective to Salesians
generally. He holds a Doctorate in Psychology and a Masters in
Theology.
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