03/03/2020

GOOD NIGHT GC28

PROVINCE OF SAINT LUKE, VENEZUELA

Good Night Message

1. I share with you our joy. We are a province with 150 SDBs; 64% of them are Venezuelans by birth and 30% are confreres who came as young missionaries from Spain and Italy, who now have an average of 50 years of presence in Venezuela. The other confreres come from the following countries: Colombia, Vietnam, Syria, Poland, Congo, Madagascar, El Salvador and Mexico. The average age of the confreres in the province is 57 years. We have 42 young brothers in initial formation. It is comforting to note that in recent years vocational perseverance has increased.

Our Province offers a wide range of services. We form 22 communities with different works that we manage with the laity and some works entrusted to some group of the Salesian Family. Our Apostolic Presences are located among the working class where they provide pastoral educational services in parishes, schools, vocational training centers for young people who are not in school, youth centers and oratories.

A significant expression of our province is the missionary presence among the indigenous people of the State of Amazonia: there are four communities that carry out the pastoral work proper to that area. We also have a presence in another state, the Zulia State, where we work with indigenous people, a more creolized population.

In addition to these missionary presences, there are two 'programmes' that the Salesians of Venezuela carry out with great satisfaction, in response to the challenges of the preferential choice: the Network of Professional Training Centres called 'Youth and Work' for young people who are not in school; and the Network of Don Bosco Houses for children and adolescents at high risk. These works have become the most important dimension of the Salesian mission among the poorest.

As far as the ‘Youth and Work’ Programme is concerned, although the number of young people attending has recently decreased due to the complicated situation in our country, it is still considered a concrete response to young people who have abandoned their studies or for those who work without a qualification. There are more than 3,000 young people; if they were not in our Centres, they would have been easily taken in by delinquency or unemployment. On the other hand, the Network of Don Bosco Houses maintains a stable number of children and adolescents; at this moment it receives a renewed impulse thanks to the solidarity made possible through projects financed from abroad.

2. I would also like to share with you our concerns about the situation in the country, which is very complex. In order to understand something of the present moment, so bad, that we are facing, we have to go back to the middle of the last century. Since its beginning in 1953, our democratic practice has not been properly educated in citizen participation. The exercise of elections with a view to alternating government was marred by corruption and the offer of flattering promises that were immediately implemented. From the outset, we have lacked solid formation in political participation with the control and co-responsibility of the good citizen.

The natural riches that God has given our land with the potential of oil and the many high quality minerals, we have paradoxically converted them into a factor of progressive impoverishment. While we have prioritized geological work, we have progressively neglected agriculture, textile production and our great tourist potential. The micro-enterprises of private origin that could arise in those alternative sectors, have been cancelled out by the great economic interests - we call them 'roscas' - spoiled, moreover, by that social evil, which also afflicts Venezuela, corruption.

The economic situation has become very complex. The oil boom of the 1970s has not been exploited for the benefit of the entire population and its demands for sustainable development. We have financial indicators that would not be allowed in any smart calculation. It is sufficient to cite, as an example of reference, the case of our monthly minimum wage: two dollars (2.00 USD); if we add the food coupon granted by the regime, a coupon equivalent to one dollar, we arrive at three dollars per month (3.00 USD).

The socio-economic consequences of this situation are easily understandable: the progressive impoverishment of a people that, rich in values, with a precious cultural identity around the family, with dedication to work and various arts, with a special sense of humor proper to the Caribbean, is now in a situation of alienation. We feel alienated from ourselves: it is something like an exile because, without leaving our geographical space, we are living outside of our culture. In this way we can understand the social deterioration that we are experiencing, with the phenomenon of emigration that affects us and the countries to which we emigrate, especially the neighboring countries of Latin America.

In such a social, economic and cultural context that is so complex, even the political exercise of the parties has progressively weakened, to the point that it has been deprived of its real importance in the life of the nation. This situation of political weakening was taken advantage of by the ideology of the so-called "Socialism of the XXI century", which since 1998 has entered and taken over our requests for government, with an alleged social revolution that, in fact, represents a different form of oppression, made even worse by the criminal practices of those who at this time usurp the power and government of the country.

-Consecrated Life in Venezuela gives a clear witness of prophecy with its presence of charity especially in the fields of education and health, and with pastoral accompaniment in the midst of poor communities. I believe and I can say that Consecrated Life in Venezuela, respecting the charisms and the different forms of response to the challenges of the new evangelization, has become a corporate witness of fidelity to Christ in the face of such challenging social and pastoral problems. The religious who had to leave the country did so for health reasons and not because they were no longer happy with their vocation or because they wanted to abandon the mission entrusted to them. Led by our Episcopal Conference, the Consecrated of Venezuela, we take synodal steps - walking together - in the construction of a Venezuela according to the Kingdom of God.

3. I share our major challenges. At this difficult time in history, the strength of our fidelity is at the heart of the challenge, which awakens us from the hibernation and discouragement that it would like to take over. We are called to be witnesses of hope, patient sowers of a solid democracy starting from the Gospel of Christ, the Good Shepherd, with the pedagogy and spirituality of Don Bosco, who in his time faced similar challenges and offered a preventive response to his young people and to society in transition towards the new Republic that was emerging.

We face the most urgent challenges, such as giving an initial response to hunger, food and medicine shortages. In the field of formal education, it is a challenge to ensure the quality of the different agents - students and teachers - at all levels of study; maintaining the structures is another serious problem. The problem is so complex that at certain times it seems to obscure what is really the most important challenge, namely: the transformation of a people according to God. From social disorder, discouragement, anarchy, the practice of corruption, to the permanent practice of solidarity, with sustainable socio-economic development, in the exercise of justice and democracy.

4. Let us now highlight some of our good practices. The situation so serious and pressing has awakened solidarity and patience for good; we are learning forms of inter-institutional collaboration with actions developed through corporate alliances implemented among families, among neighbors, among organized civil groups, among Congregations. It is a real school to learn to share solidarity actions, which activate responsibility, because otherwise we run the risk of favoring the attitude of a people who get used to beg. We are learning to give quality to the interventions required by the option for those most in need: for example, the services offered with "solidarity pots", cooperative savings, pharmacies in the sector, legal assistance.

Your prayer, your contributions and your suggestions are all welcome; they will help us to continue our efforts to offer the best services, those that God expects of us for that part of his people: the people of Venezuela.

Good Night!

Translation from Italian – don Patrick Anthonyraj Alexander