Chapter 4
SALESIAN YOUTH PASTORAL MINISTRY WORKS AND SERVICES IN DIFFERENT YOUTH CONTEXTS
Introduction
The SEPP operates in a particular area “in a variety of ways, which depend in the first place upon the actual needs of those for whom we are working” (C 41), in the contexts in which we are living, above all in areas of poverty economic, political and cultural.
For this reason, “we carry out our mission chiefly in such works and activities as make possible the human and Christian education of the young, such as oratories and youth centres, schools and technical institutes, boarding establishments and houses for young people in difficulty”, parishes and mission residences, specialized centres of pedagogical and catechetical expertise, retreat houses. We work in the social communication sector and in every other kind of work which has as its scope the salvation of the young. (cf. C. 42-43)
Through this plurality of works and services the unity, and at the same time, the richness of the salesian project are evident. Each work and structure makes its own specific contribution to the whole and helps to realize the oratorian criterion of article 40 of the Constitutions, namely: “for the youngsters a home that welcomed, a parish that evangelized, a school that prepared them for life, and a playground where friends could meet and enjoy themselves”.
To express this unity of the Salesian Youth Ministry Project in an area and in the local church with clarity, the different works and services which make up the salesian presence in a specific area need to organize themselves with a shared and complementary vision, based on:
the local or provincial salesian community which animates the presence, safeguarding its salesian identity;
the council of the work as the central animating body which brings together SDB and lay people (GC24, 160-161; 171) .
This demands that between the different works and services there are:
some shared educational and pastoral “lines” and criteria of action,
some structures of coordination and collaboration,
a spirit of communion and sharing of resources.
It is the responsibility of the Provincial with his council - bearing in mind the situation of the province and of the harmony of the different educational contexts, in dialogue with the local salesian community - to decide on the concrete manner to bring about this relationship and the practical ways that the EPC can function (cf. GC24, 169).
In this chapter the most important characteristics of these works and services in which salesian youth pastoral ministry as expressed in the SEPP is carried out, are presented.
Above all, the more organized and traditional works and structures are presented, such as the Oratory-Youth Centre, the school, the technical institute and the parish.
Afterwards, other works and services which are an attempt to contact young people and meet the new challenges that they present. Among these we pay special attention to services for young people in difficulty.
Many of these new educational and pastoral presences and young people are also found in traditional works, and represent a sign of their powers of renewal and pastoral preparation.
I . THE ORATORY-YOUTH CENTRE
1.The originality of the salesian Oratory.
We are considering the Oratory as a work in its own right which these days carries out the salesian mission in the area of informal education, that is with greater freedom and more spontaneity than in a formal educational institution.
Historically the Oratory was the first work set up by Don Bosco which then gave rise to all the others.
The fundamental aspects of the salesian Oratory-Youth Centre are found in Don Bosco’s activity and its evolution with regard to other models and institutes.
The original inspiration.
Don Bosco’s Oratory, which took its name from an already existing ‘institution’, was different from those which had gone before or those contemporaneous with it.
It is the changes brought about by Don Bosco himself which still demonstrate even today the special features of oratorian pastoral ministry. These changes are basically six in number.
*From providing a “service” of catechism to a presence, participation in the life of the young person with his needs and problems.
*From “part time” to “full time” filling the whole of Sunday and extending into the week days through personal contacts and activities.
*From a catechetical limited programme to a potentially integrated educational and pastoral programme of games, other forms of youthful expression such as theatre, music and song, school groups…are some of the elements of these programmes.
*From an institution based on adults to a community of boys centred on participation of youth, being together, open to all.
*From the centrality of the programme to the centrality of the individuals and inter-personal relationships.
*From a parochial character to a missionary outlook, open to young people who did not even know what parish they belonged to, and who did not see in the parish a reference point either for their religious life or for their human problems.
1.2 The new current situation
With the evolution and extension of Don Bosco’s activities, the ‘inspirational’ principles are not changed, nor are the characteristic features, but the social and educative situations and the phenomena which have changed the youth condition require their updating.
Some manifestations are:
The ‘birth’ of a new concept of free time which is taking centre stage in young peoples’ lives, in quantity, in pluriformity of possibilities and resources, with new educative possibilities or the emptying of the person (consumerism) has now become a cultural phenomenon.
New places for education and agencies have arisen: the growth of sport, of youth tourism, of music, means of social communication, increase in belonging to cultural, social, recreational, religious groups…offer new possibilities for the involvement of young people.
Even in schools there are concerns about many extra-curricular activities which are outside the strictly academic topics, with greater involvement in the locality and with a variety of free time activities.
The gap between young people and the church has increased, as between the life of young people and educational and pastoral institutions which have difficulty in providing adolescents and young people with a significant gospel message.
1.3 Towards a new synthesis.
The reflections made at the General Chapters XX, XXI, and XXIII offer agreed principles that the Congregation has arrived at. According to these, the Oratory-Youth Centre should be understood as a reality expressed in practice in a variety of ways, but with some essential characteristics.
° A totally welcoming place open to a great variety of young people, above all those on the margins, in a wide area, with a great variety of opportunities and degrees of belonging, characterized by the involvement of young people and personal relationships of such ‘significance’ that make it a place of reference and of outreach for the youngsters inside.
° A programme of missionary evangelization aimed primarily at young people on the margins to offer them, through the awakening and deepening of their questions about life and companionship, a way of education to the faith adapted to their situation and sensitive to the ecumenical and inter-religious climate in which they are living.
° A Christian presence in the world of youth and in civil society (frontier work between the religious and the civil, the secular and the ecclesial) capable of supplying significant educational and evangelical answers to the challenges and the most felt needs, especially those which apply to those on the margins, and also capable of promoting a context of openness – inter-cultural, inter-racial, ecumenical and inter-religious.
2. THE EDUCATIVE PASTORAL COMMUNITY OF THE ORATORY-YOUTH CENTRE.
2.1 Characteristics of the EPC of the Oratory-Youth Centre
The educative pastoral community (EPC) of the Oratory-Youth Centre has its own particular characteristics which arise from its own nature which places it in a atmosphere of freedom, characterized by a welcoming approach, friendly relationships and the active participation of the young people themselves.
2.1.1 An incisive presence in the world of youth
The EPC of the Oratory-Youth Centre, as the animating subject of this community dynamic, has these characteristics:
a great capacity for approaching and sharing the world of young people, open to their questions and needs;
flexibility and creativity to adapt more and more to the variety and spontaneity of the oratorian environment;
but at the same time with a clear and agreed knowledge of its aims and the ideals which foster unity of criteria and the convergence of action, avoiding individualism;
a welcome for and attention to the individual, going beyond merely formal relationships;
plenty of opportunity for involvement and the exercise of responsibility by the young people themselves;
sensitivity to a presence in the local area, open to positive collaboration with educative and pastoral activities present there.
2.1.2. The active presence of young people in the EPC of the Salesian Oratory-Youth Centre
The Oratory is an educative pastoral structure ideally suited to promoting an ever more intensive participation in the life of young people. We open a dialogue with the boys from the first meeting, to encourage them, involve them ever more and gradually make them co-responsible for the activities and the groups which they choose.
The EPC of the Oratory-Youth Centre ought in a particular way to ensure structures for participation capable of offering to young people the widest possible responsibilities alongside the adult educators.
2.1.3 The EPC inserted in the Church and open to the locality.
° The Oratory and the Youth Centre are particularly important occasions and places, even though not unique, to approach and to evangelize young people in a collective pastoral ministry.
Many Oratories-Youth Centres belong to a parish or constitute the presence of the Church in a pastoral area.
Their active role in the Church will show itself in mutual recognition. For this it is important:
To ensure that the salesian educative pastoral ministry project of the Oratory is in agreement with diocesan pastoral policies in order for it to be an important programme of Youth Pastoral Ministry.
To have its own place of responsibility in the organizational structures (Pastoral Council of the parish, and/or the area), bringing its own awareness and concerns about youth.
To share in initiatives, discussions, educative and pastoral projects with the parochial communities of the area, fostering mutual enrichment.
° The Oratory-Youth Centre is a also a missionary presence directed towards the world of youth; for this reason an oratorian community ought to be in dialogue with the social and educational institutions of the zone or city.
Here are some significant activities in this regard:
being familiar with the area;
contacts and agreements with regard to collaboration with other social and ecclesial bodies working in the area;
occasions of open doors and availability for activities in the area, which are in harmony with the aims of the centre;
creative efforts of planning and programming and of projects on behalf of the locality;
joining together with other organizations which collaborate in youth pastoral work.
2.2 Animation of the EPC in the Oratory-Youth Centre.
Since the EPC of the Oratory-Youth centre is a very open body in which many participate it needs a systematic direction which guarantees a clear and secure salesian identity in the continuing adaptation necessary to the changing requirements of young people, and a systematic educative process which gives a unified structure to the multiplicity of programmess and experiences.
2.2.1 Some fundamental features of this animation:
Organize the large number of young people in different smaller groups of activities and formation according to their interests; promote the widest possible exercise of responsibility by the young people in the context and the life of the Oratory; encourage participation in the youth associations around the SYM.
Extend the co-responsibility of adults who know how to share with young people in a context of friendship, educative projects and an experience of family and community. Their presence is an important stabilizing and mature element in the shared life of the Oratory. Among the adults, whose presence we consider important in the Oratory-Youth Centre, we list the adults who have special leadership roles, the parents of the boys, especially those who want to collaborate in the educative process, and the members of the Salesian Family.
Cultivate the formation of lay educators and young leaders, investing people and resources in a continuous effort at the christian and salesian educational formation of the educators and above all of the more mature young people who are capable of carrying responsibility as school animators, leaders, through courses, retreats, meetings, etc…
Encourage the presence and the significant involvement of the Oratory-Youth Centre in the local area and in the local church, giving special attention to those on the margins and young people at risk The EPC should be aware of the situations of disadvantage in the locality, and also of the social and church networks operating in the area; promoting practical initiatives for youngsters where they are to be found, especially in areas deprived of services and educational facilities which respond to their needs and interests, in this way becoming more involved with others in promoting and providing initiatives and services, also through volunteers, in a generous spirit.
2.2.2 Structures of Animation and government
Although everyone may be involved in the process of animation, there are some particular tasks which it would be well to mention.
a) The Salesian Community
The animating centre of the Oratory-Youth is the entire salesian community. All the confreres in the house, not only those in charge, are responsible for the salesian identity, for bringing together adults and young leaders in the EPC, for their ongoing formation, to be open to and involved in the local area and the local church.
This animation comprises:
The example of fraternal communion and friendly welcome to young people.
The provision of faith and prayer experiences shared with them.
Active involvement in setting up and periodically assessing the local SEPP.
The sensitive openness of the community to the local social situation.
b) The Director of the Oratory-Youth Centre
He should model himself on Don Bosco at the Oratory: vocation, affability, competence in working with young people, apostolic spirit, capacity for sincere direct relationships with the helpers, and an encouraging presence among the young, creativity and boldness in planning new initiatives and communicating enthusiasm, concerned about the united activities of the team and its growth in Christ.
In profound harmony with the salesian community he:
promotes the SEPP –formulated, put into operation and assessed together with the entire EPC,
coordinates all those who are working in the Oratory, the different groups and committees,
fosters their links and collaboration with other bodies working in education and in the world of youth in the area and in the local church,
ensures the involvement of the Oratory-Youth Centre in the Christian parish community.
c) The leaders, adults and young people
The role of the leaders as an integral part of the EPC consists in:
being a reference point for the boys and young people, living the values they propose, accepting a vision of man and woman according to the gospel and committing themselves to realizing it progrssively in their lives;
living the youth situation, from the inside, devoting time to being with them, sharing and appreciating what they like and encouraging their growth to full maturity;
leading the Oratory-Youth Centre project through their exercise of responsibility and coordination of the different groups and planned activities, in such a way that the young people themselves take the lead;
fostering relationships between individuals and between groups, in a listening atmosphere and showing respect for all;
working in teams, and remaining open to a continuous process of formation.
This leadership takes place in the context of a voluntary and freely given service. If for some more onerous or professional work, especially in connection with group activities legally recognized in the Oratory, a suitable fee or a work contract is appropriate, it should always be arranged according to the law, and with total honesty. One should try to carry it out according to the spirit of voluntary service, which goes beyond the agreed terms, in order to be always available for the young people and their needs.
d) The Oratory Council
The roles of leadership thus described are combined in organizations. Among these we consider the Council of the Oratory-Youth Centre or the Council of the EPC of the Oratory (cf. GC24, 161). important
Its composition and functioning are according to schemes and criteria which are flexible but also stable, according to the directives of the Provincial and his council (GC24, 171).
Its responsibilities therefore are:
to promote and assess the annual pastoral plan according to the various requirements which arise from the youth situation and the guidelines of the SEPP;
to coordinate the various educational programmes of the associations and groups, and ensure the coordination and integration at appropriate times of human development, evangelization, catechesis, liturgical celebrations and charity and missionary commitments;
to foster associations of salesian groups, the exchange of information and coordination between the different groups and associations;
to maintain close links with the local area and with all those who are working in youth education, encouraging schemes and projects adapted to situations of marginalization, young people at risk and religious indifferentism;
to help with the religious and ‘professional’ development of all the members of the EPC though a systematic formation plan.
Within and dependent upon the Council, groups and committees with particular tasks with regard to the major sectors of activities can be set up. Among these it is important to have a pastoral committee and a finance committee.
3. THE EDUCATIVE PASTORAL PLAN
The plan which the young people are offered in the Oratory-Youth Centre provides them with the possibility of having a genuine Christian youth experience which helps them to understand and to enjoy the world and to judge it in the light of the gospel; to become ever more aware of themselves, of others, of being adults among adults in society and in the church; to live their own youth with enthusiasm and to construct a programme of life inspired by the gospel. This kind of plan comes into being with a central programme and with particular opportunities according to the particular interests of the young people.So, through the different opportunities for joining in that arise, each young person can find a place for himself in the project depending on his own level of growth.
3.1 The contents of this project
This project evolves in three complementary stages.
3.1.1 Gathering young people together
The first element of the salesian Oratory-Youth Centre project is its capacity to involve young people so as to arouse in them a sense of the meaning of life, to elicit questions, to bring out whatever the young person has within him that is religious, by tradition, environment or family.
This gathering together occurs through:
° An open environment with planty of projects and activities suited to the varied interests of the
young,
° The efforts of the leaders to get to know them and invite them in,
° A personal welcome and belonging to a group that actively involves them,
° Looking out for opportunities for meeting and personal dialogue.
3.1.2 An educational experience
This bringing together of young people leads on to a project of personal and free creativity and of socialization which develops the positive resources of individuals and groups, promotes a process of growth in different personal dimensions according to the values of Salesian Spirituality.
This experience presupposes:
A multiple and varied project (sporting, recreational, cultural, social) which covers the more significant aspects of the life and the development process of young people;
Participation in the planning, realization and revision of the activities of the oratory community through different groups and committees;
Gradually getting to know each other, mutual esteem, a capacity for cooperation and sharing;
The experience of solidarity, and of generous service to others, according to age and development;
Times of formation through the experiences of the daily life, on educative, cultural and social. Topics.
3.1.3 A process of evangelization
The development of this experience opens the way to a faith project which leads to a personal meeting with Christ and expands into a journey of growth in the faith, towards a search for Christian identity according to salesian youth spirituality and a vocational choice.
This gospel project ought to be:
Missionary, according to the level of those furthest away, which awakens interest and the wish to begin the journey,
Positive, starting from life, according to the hopes and needs of young people,
Rich and varied in proportion to the possibilities and the rhythms of the maturing process,
Consistent and demanding, towards a systematic and progressive growth, as far as a Christian vocational option.
3.2 Fundamental channels
° The group
The Salesian Oratory-Youth Centre chooses the life of groups and salesian-style associations as a basic educational experience.
It offers a structured plan of different groups and associations according to the interests of the young people around whom it is organized: spontaneous groups that bring out the born leaders and immediate interests, and groups with their own structures and formation programmess (sports groups, cultural and social groups, religious formation and development groups, missionary interest groups, internal training groups, etc……)
In these groups we encourage:
The development of a sense of belonging to the combined environment of the EPC of the Oratory and the SYM,
Openness to the more immediate and superficial interests leading to more serious interests and even to taking on a commitment of service to others both inside and outside.
The acceptance and appreciation of life experiences of the group itself and the surroundings, leading to the awakening of a search for new experiences which help to deepen the religious questions and questions about the meaning of life.
A process of formation ever more systematic and explicitly Christian,
An association of the groups to increase the capacity to create communion, create solidarity, produce and spread a culture of dialogue and comparison with other cultures present in the area, to participate in civil life and in the service of youth.
° Activities
Activity is the special opportunity in the Oratory-Youth Centre just as lessons are in a school.
Activity is also the channel of communication between the group and the greatest number. It prepares, proposes, ensures continuity and progress; the large group takes part, is enriched, matures.
In every activity we seek to:
Respond to a need in the life of young people, discovering and developing their intrinsic educational possibilities,
Establish formation aims according to the SEPP of the Oratory-Youth Centre emphasizing those of more importance
Coordinating and opening up to other places and organizations in the area so as not to lose sight of the overall picture.
The most frequently found activities in the Oratory-Youth Centre are games and sports, both the spontaneous and the organized, music and the theatre, camping and youth travel, study or work camps etc…
It is important that all these activities are brought together within the life of the Oratory-Youth Centre, that they are coordinated and that common times together are encouraged.
° Experiences of service and solidarity
We think that the opportunities of the Oratory-Youth Centre are expanding by providing services that the maturing process of young people require, and that the local areas ask for: help with school or study; vocational and professional guidance, evening courses, advice centres, social initiatives on behalf of the area etc…
These services respond to:
the requirements of those most in need;
the inspiration of the gospel and the particular salesian content and way of getting involved;
the actual possibilities of the personnel.
Bibliographical sources for further reading.
FLORIS F. - DELPIANO M., L'Oratorio dei giovani. Una proposta di animazione, LDC, Leumann (Torino), 1992.
VECCHI J., (a cura di) voce Oratorio in ISTITUTO DI TEOLOGIA PASTORALE, Dizionario di Pastorale Giovanile, LDC, Roma 1989, pp.615-621.
II. SALESIAN SCHOOLS AND PROFESSIONAL CENTRES
1. The ‘originality’ of Salesian schools and professional centres.
1.1 Salesians in schools
The salesian school originated in the Valdocco Oratory in response to the needs of the young people of that time and became part of an overall plan for the education and evangelization of youth especially those most in need.
The school field has developed greatly in the Congregation in response to the needs of the young people themselves, of society and of the church until it has become a movement of well qualified educators on the educational front.
We consider the school as the preferred cultural medium of education in which one can give a systematic response to the needs of those growing up; as a determining institution in the formation of personality, because it transmits a view of the world, of mankind and of history (cf. CS 8); and as one of the most important ways of fostering human development and the prevention of marginalization.
We recognize the fundamental value of the school as a setting where the gospel throws light on culture and provides an effective integration of the educational process and the process of evangelization. This integration makes it an important educative alternative in today’s pluralistic society.
We involve ourselves in education and evangelize through the school, bringing the pedagogical patrimony handed on by Don Bosco and developed by subsequent tradition. (cf. GC21, 130)
In this task, the current social, political and cultural situation, the new directives regarding scholastic reform in different countries and the current situation within the schools themselves, with the interaction of many and sometimes opposing legal, financial, working and didactic aspects, present new complex difficulties and challenges to which we try to respond with a higher quality of educational, professional and specific expertise, faithful to our charismatic identity.
1.2 Salesians in Professional Centres.
In a way similar to the school, the Professional Centre has its origins in Valdocco: in his pastoral and educational choice for needy boys Don Bosco was very concerned about the world of work and its more urgent problems (the transfer of young people to the city, their lack of preparation for industrial work, exploitation, abandonment). Very quickly he organized small work shops in the Oratory which then became the schools of ‘arts and trades’, and in Don Rua’s time, the professional schools. At the same time he helped the young people to find work, and to prevent them being exploited obtained work contracts for them. This service and training was to bear fruit in the vocation and presence of the Salesian Brother.
Profession/Technical training became the hall mark of the Salesian Congregation and one of the most frequently sought in society. At present we have a great variety of Schools and Centres for professional/technical training both formal and informal.
Like Don Bosco, the Salesians are convinced that with this kind of work they help working class youth not only to prepare themselves to join the work force in a creative manner, but also in their total development. In this way they foster a human and gospel view of the world of work.
Our constantly developing technological society and the situations within these centres present some problems and challenges in the fields of technology, finance, law and education, to which we need to respond courageously with higher educational standards, faithful to our identity and charism.
1.3 Some fundamental aspects of salesian schools and professional centres.
Salesian schools and professional centres are two formal formation structures which have their own distinct characteristics but are also closely connected. There is no real salesian school which does not prepare for work, nor is there a genuine salesian professional centre which does not also take account of the steady acquisition of culture.
The main features of the salesian schools and professional centres could be described as follows:
1.3.1 It is an efficient and professional education centre.
It provides a high quality educational and cultural programme,
emphasizing the educational aspect rather than the merely instructional;
giving continuous and critical attention to cultural concerns;
with an educational structure which encourages educative interaction rather than being limited to a repetitive teaching method;
where the young people are at the centre, and their needs the focal point; supporting and guiding them individually towards their life’s plan;
offering a human and gospel vision of work;
with continually updated professional competence.
1.3.2. An educational centre inspired by gospel values, which provides a programme for growth in the faith
It has a marked Catholic identity expressed above all through the witness of the teachers, in the programme, in its internal organization and in comparison with other educational programmes and institutions (cf. CS. 66)
It provides a programme of pastoral education, open to the values of multireligious and multicultural environments, which
organizes all its activities in the light of a Christian view of reality, in which Christ is the centre (cf. CS 33);
directs its cultural and methodological programmes according to a vision of man, of the world and of history inspired by the gospel (cf. CS 34);
promotes openness to and reflection on religious and transcendent experience;
rethinks the gospel message, accepting the impact of the language and the questions posed by culture.
It assists the building up of a faith community, which can be the inspiration of the process of evangelization (cf. CS 53).
It is in communion with the Church and creatively implements its guidelines.
1.3.3. It is an educational centre which has the salesian spirit and educational method:
The salesian school and professional centre achieve the final objective in the style, the spirit and the method of Don Bosco (GC21 131).
Animated, directed and coordinated in the oratorian manner;
Seeking to create an educating family, putting at the centre the young people who feel themselves at home there (C. 40);
Emphasizing the personal approach in relationships, founded on trust, dialogue, joy and responsibility;
Concerned with the whole life of the young people, the educators taking part in what interests the youngsters, promoting free time activities such as theatre, sport, music, art;
Educating through evangelization and evangelizing through education, that is harmonizing in a single entity human development and the Christian ideal;
Preparing them to face up creditably to family life, to work, to social commitments, to church life.
1.3.4. It is an educational centre with a conscious social dimension:
Our schools and technical institutes aim to contribute to the building up of a more just society, one worthy of man:
Promoting a systematic social education of their students;
Concentrating on the professional training of the young people and guiding them as they enter the world of work;
Becoming centres of animation and cultural and educational services for the improvement of the environment; emphasizing those subjects, courses, and programmes which reflect the needs of the young people of the locality (cf. GC21, 129,131);
Adopting a close and supportive approach by being available, and making the place available, and offering opportunities open to all, and by collaborating with other educational and social institutions;
Promoting alternative cultural models: a culture based on life, open to generosity and cooperation; a culture which encourages openness to God.
1.3.5. It is an educational centre for the people open to those most in need.
“A salesian school should be for poorer people: this should be reflected in its siting, its culture, its curriculum and its choice of students. Services to meet local needs should be provided, such as courses for cultural and professional training, literacy and remedial programmes, scholarships and other initiatives.” (R. 14)
For this reason our schools and professional centres:
Are located by choice in working class districts and give preference to the most needy;
They are open to all social classes of people (GC21 131);
Avoid every kind of discrimination and only look for acceptance of those values which the SEPP proposes;
Emphasize the criterion of catering for all rather than selecting the best;
Seek to create the “economic” conditions which make for equal opportunities.
2. THE EPC IN SALESIAN SCHOOLS AND PROFESSIONAL CENTRES
The establishment of the EPC in the school and in the professional centre requires agreement on aims and ideals on the part of all those involved (cf. CS 59). They direct their energies to setting up the EPC, which is at the same time the subject and the context of education.
2.1 Tasks of the EPC in the school and in the professional centre.
In recent years there has been an attempt to move from the institutional to the community model of the school; from the responsibility for education in the hands of a few specialists dedicated to it (religious, teachers…) to the active involvement of all those who have an interest in the educational process. The EPC is the new subject of educational responsibility.
In the chapter devoted to the EPC its characteristics and basic functioning are proposed; now we will develop the specific characteristics of the EPC of salesian schools and technical institutes.
Cultivate educational professionalism through well prepared ongoing formation:
The EPC of the school and the professional institute need to harmonize the necessary professional competence and formal scholastic structures with the typically salesian family atmosphere.
This implies:
fostering among all those involved a sharing of the educational values expressed in the SEPP; by means of discussion and reflection moving from agreement on fundamental human values to explicit Christian values and objectives;
achieving a planning programme formulated, shared and evaluated with the involvement of everyone;
ensuring a systematic process of ongoing formation for all the members of the EPC to update their educational, teaching and salesian skills, and develop their educational and Christian vocation;
obtaining the good functioning of different bodies, fixing their particular tasks and the areas for decision making of the different elements of the educative community, ensuring the appreciation of and respect for the different roles and responsibilities.
animate systematic educational procedures through:
an appropriate educational method and planned educational procedures;
a close connection between the pastoral, educational, and teaching aims;
a constant review of the educational value of the programmes in the individual subjects and cultural areas ;
good quality in teaching methods and educational activities;
providing quality professional and personal guidance;
systematic assessment of the educational results obtained in the light of the objectives set out in the SEPP;
encourage relationships in the style of the preventive system, which foster:
the regular and adequate exchange of information between the different departments and levels of the EPC;
the helpful presence of the educators among the young people encouraging the involvement of the adults in the activities of the young people;
relationships based on trust and dialogue between the teacher and the young person, between the management and departments, between the staff and the students in teaching and educational activities;
a just, efficient, and effective management, always attentive to the needs of individuals.
Develop a special relationship with the parents and families of the young people:
encouraging their collaboration in establishing the overall educational objectives, in economic and material support for the school and in the evaluation of its effectiveness;
fostering a systematic programme of formation and educational qualification;
ensuring times for dialogue and meetings between them and other members of the EPC.
Establish criteria and strategies to deal with the complexities of legal, and economic
situations and relationships with the government, etc., which can influence the achievement of the salesian educational and pastoral objectives.
Become actively involved in the cultural, educational and professional dialogue which is taking place in the locality and the local Church.
Trying to offer positive suggestions;
Setting up regular contacts with the business world to help with the just insertion of the young people in the world of work and with their ongoing education.
2.2 Structure of involvement and responsibility
These structures are aimed at providing the conditions for an ever greater communion, sharing and collaboration between the different elements of the EPC at the service of the cultural and professional, the human and Christian formation of the young people.
These structures vary in different countries according to their scholastic legislation, and so each Province should identify the appropriate practical arrangements, and most suitable ordering of responsibilities, but always bearing in mind:
° The Rector of the Salesian community, who according to our charismatic identity, in the EPC, is the promoter of unity and guarantor of salesian identity. (GC24, 172);
° The Pastoral Coordinator who together with his team animates evangelizing activity, ensuring its serious integration in the teaching and educational process;
The role of the Council of the EPC, - as indicated by GC24 171 – can be filled by one of the already existing bodies according to the guidelines of the province
3. THE EDUCATIVE PASTORAL PROGRAMME IN SALESIAN SCHOOLS AND PROFESSIONAL CENTRES.
3.1 The educative and cultural dimension as the focal point
The cultural and educative aspect determined by the evangelization project is at the centre of the pastoral education programme of schools and professional centres. This requires that:
° a person is formed from within, freeing him from influences which could prevent him from living his vocation to the full, and enabling him to expand his creative capabilities;
° their teaching programmes are based on a particular understanding of the human person, who
forms his conscience through the search for truth and the interior acceptance of it;
develops a responsible and creative freedom through the knowledge and choice of good;
grows in the capacity for relationships, solidarity and communion with people based on the recognition of the dignity of the individual;
qualifies himself for historical responsibilities, based on a meaning of justice and peace.
° the ethical and religious aspect of man is emphasized and developed, accepting in this way the transcendent, and being open to accept the special message of Christ.
° a cultural role is achieved capable of facing up to the aspirations and living situations of young people today, with the experiences of mankind, expressed in a cultural tradition.
° a journey of education to the faith is fostered through the example of the community and a variety of projects.
3.2 The priority of the educative and cultural role.
The salesian school and professional centre base their educational and cultural role on these priorities:
* Providing an integrated education rather than merely instructing or imparting knowledge
* offering a vision (values, meaning, needs expressed through the curriculum) which makes the young people:
- aware of the problems of today’s world, in the first place those of their own environment; conscious of what is involved;
- constructively critical regarding the explanations and solutions proposed;
- and capable of arriving at an understanding of humanity, the world and history.
* helping the young people to acquire the technical and professional skills which will make them competent and efficient especially in their work
* forming attitudes or relatively stable structures in the personalities of the young (self esteem, sociability, involvement, self confidence, solidarity, a sense of responsibility, openness…) which allows them to act with freedom and guides them towards the critical understanding of reality and supportive attitude towards people, and towards an openness to the transcendent;
* enabling the young people to understand the different languages, and the means and forms of expression on which communication is based, as well as the possibility of enriching themselves culturally and thereby contributing to their development.
3.3 The evangelizing perspective of the Salesian School and Professional centres
The educational and cultural commitment of the schools and centres is inspired by the Gospel and directed towards evangelization; this aim is expressed in various priorities:
The salesian school and professional centre try to help the young person to make a synthesis of faith and culture.
To achieve this they offer a programme of openness to the transcendent and of education to the faith which:
takes young people where they are and is committed to support and guide them to take the necessary steps towards the fullness of humanity they are capable of ;
gives special attention to those at the bottom of the pile and to the poorest, using simple and easily understood language in a welcoming environment, and in a family atmosphere;
adapting themselves to the pace of each, giving particular attention to the first steps of the different
stages of development (cf. GC23 102-111).
To those already open to the Christian faith, they plan a programme of progressive growth towards Christ, the perfect man, according to the four areas proposed by GC23, that is
- human maturity;
- a genuine encounter with Jesus Christ;
- a deep sense of belonging to the Church;
- a commitment to building the Kingdom (cf. GC23 112-116).
For those from other religions, they offer a programme of support in the growth in religious sense and in their openness to the transcendent
3.4 The principal aspects of the project:
a) The educative environment
We intend to create a community and scholastic environment filled with the spirit of the gospel of brotherly love and freedom in which , even before having any really clear ideas, the young person will be able to have an experience of his own dignity, and will be enabled to speak with God (cf SC 55) because aware of His presence and His activity through Christian witness and examples
For this to happen it is necessary
- to establish educational relationships and create a favourable climate based on the reasonableness of the requirements, on the appreciation of the value of daily life and of charity as an educational method of guidance and growth;.
- to foster experiences which draw together the daily experiences of school life:
the duties of study, research and work;
meeting other people and joining in common activities;
personal discipline and that required by the school arrangements;
respect and care for the equipment, furnishings and buildings in the school;
the consciousness of belonging to a EPC;
some experiences of solidarity and collaboration in the case of hardship, marginalization and injustice.
b) Teaching and technical instruction
The structured programmes of the different subjects are provided as knowledge to be acquired, truths to discover, techniques to master, questions and values to assimilate; this is helped by clarity in the curriculum, teaching methods, and above all in the cultural concept on offer.
This implies:
reorganizing the wealth of details around certain key concepts, so that the fundamental questions which science and culture are proposing to answer become clear;
continually comparing the knowledge acquired by the young people with their understanding of their personal and social experience:
emphasizing the kind of human experience that underlies the different disciplines helping the young people to accept, appreciate and assimilate the human values involved in the facts presented and reflected on;
accepting and encouraging questions about meaning, and taking them as far as it is possible to go;
opening them up to a universal culture, putting them in contact with the experiences of different people and the heritage of values shared by the human race.
c) Teaching-educational method
We select as a method the personalization of the projects and mutual collaboration. Therefore:
.We adopt an active teaching style, which develops in the pupils the ability to discover and develop habits of creativity and autonomous cultural growth;
.We foster an appropriate combination of individual and group work;
.We favour inter-disciplinary activities through which the different subjects provide links with each other;
.We value not only the final results but especially the human development process which takes place, the ability to learn and through study to arrive at self-sufficiency in cultural growth;
.We use as much as possible a total communication method (words, images, sounds, audiovisual aids, body language, etc…) within the process of interactive communication.
d) Orientation towards a professional approach
We consider it important to plant in the school, and even more in the professional centre, the roots from which professionalism will grow. Everything must lead to the development of one’s own work with growing competence and with real satisfaction, with an understanding of one’s limits and with respect for the work of others, well aware of the complementary nature of the work done together and of its importance for social growth.
e) The evangelization of knowledge, technology and education:
The salesian school and professional centre strive to establish a lively dialogue and integration between knowledge, education and the Gospel. In the varieties of understandings and view points, in the different religions, it presents a reference to Christ and his Gospel as the criterion for discovering and establishing the values which direct a person towards the fullness of life.
For this:
.They help in discovering the deep coherence between the faith and the values which culture follows;
.They point out the role of the Gospel in culture (highlighting the genuine expressions, regenerating and transforming those aspects less human) and the value of culture with regard to the Gospel (incarnating the gospel message, and helping in a deeper understanding of it);
.They help to understand the reality of work and of technology according to gospel values;
.They seek to develop culture as capable of communion, of service and of responsibility towards others, and not as a means of self-assertion and self-enrichment (cf. CS 56);
.They foster the attitudes which predispose the young people to a vital understanding and a response in harmony with the Gospel.
f) Religious teaching:
Religious teaching normally forms part of the teaching programme, considered as a basic element in education;
.It helps the young people to discover the religious dimension of human life, and to seek the ultimate meaning of life and to direct themselves towards a conscious and free choice of living with commitment and integrity;
.It offers a positive and open vision of Christian doctrine and assists the explicit proclamation of the Gospel;
.It promotes a critical and positive dialogue with other areas of knowledge and with other religions;
.It awakens the desire for further education to the faith within the bosom of the Christian community.
g) Complementary activities and freetime projects:
An integral education needs to complete the scholastic programme with other activities. The salesian school and technical institute provide plenty of opportunities for free time and playground activities (artistic, recreational, sporting, cultural….) tending to become full-time schools.
Among these freetime activities there are some more directly related to evangelization such as:
° activities offered to all; activities including instruction, guidance and practical exercises which seek to sow gospel values in all the young people;
.brief daily meetings suitable for everyone or for groups (“good mornings” etc.)
.activities at special times of the liturgical year and in preparation for the sacraments (e.g. celebrations,);
.meetings and days of recollection
° Projects for those who want to go further:
.sacramental preparation;
.days of recollection;
.liturgical celebrations with special groups…
* Group activities:
The salesian school and professional centre provide the opportunity for the guidance of different groups (study, cultural, recreational, artistic, community service, volunteering, Christian knowledge, vocational guidance, Christian commitment…) finding in them special occasions for education and evangelization
h) Educational and vocational guidance
In all the educative activities we aim to develop and bring alive a plan which is realistic, directed towards others, which overcomes everything which alienates man from his vocation and reduces his stature:
with regard to his affective-sexual life (state of life);
in his place in society (work);
in his social and political choices;
in the final and total meaning of his existence.
The psychological, pedagogical and professional guidance department assists in this.
According to the level of faith and to age the school helps to discern the signs of the call of God to a special state of Christian life. It is important to look after the young leaders and volunteers.
Even though all the educators are available for personal chats, there should be some people more available for this; those who provide psychological guidance will assist in this too.
i) The educative project
All the preceding elements and aspects referred to should be translated into a project (EPC of the school or Centre) realized and animated according to a “professional” educational project – basically didactic, to achieve an integrated and organic programme.
Bibliographical sources for further reading
CENTRO SALESIANO REGIONAL (a cura) Proceso educativo salesiano y culturas emergentes. Actas encuentro latiniamericano de estudio. Cumbaya – Ecuador 15-25 mayo 1994. Grafias modelo, Cayambe 1994
DICASTERO PER LA PASTORALE GIOVANILE SALESIANA- NANNI C. (ed.), Scuola salesiana e profezia in Europa.. Atti del Convegno Europeo della Scuola salesiana, Editrice SDB, Roma 1996. L’opera scolastica salesiana, pp. 7-14. . Documenti conclusivi, pp. 163-170.
VAN LOOY L. – MALIZIA G., Formazione professionale salesiana: Memoria e attualità per un confronto. Indagine di campo, Roma, LAS, 1997.
In particolare si segnala:
Parte Prima:
Cap. 1: PRELLEZO J.M. (ed.), Dai Laboratori di Valdocco alle Scuole Tecnico-Professionali Salesiane. Un impegno educativo verso la gioventù operaia, o.c., pp.19-51.
Cap.2: MALIZIA G. - SARTI S. - PIERONI V., Il quadro teorico e l'indagine sul campo, o.c., pp. 53-92.
Parte Terza:
Cap.7: SARTI S., Il Sondaggio in Africa e Madagascar, o.c., pp.195-215.
Cap.8: CALIMAN G., Il Sondaggio sull'America, o.c., pp.217-236.
Cap.9: PURAYIDATHIL T., Il Sondaggio sull'Asia/Australia, o.c., pp. 237-259.
Cap.10: MALIZIA G. - PIERONI V., Il Sondaggio sull'Europa, o.c., pp. 261-279.
Parte quarta:
Cap11: VAN LOOY L., Un bilancio in prospettiva di futuro, o.c., pp.283-340.
VAN LOOY L. – MALIZIA G. – Formazione professionale salesiana. Proposte in una prospettiva multidisciplinare, Roma, LAS, 1998
DOMENECH A. La Pastorale Giovanile Salesiana e il mondo del lavoro. ACG 368 settembre 1999
ZANNI N., Educazione tecnica.. Formazione professionale, In FSE/UPS, Dizionario di Scienze dell’Educazione, LDC/LAS/SEI, Torino 1996, pp. 368-369; 438-440.
THE PARISH ENTRUSTED TO THE SALESIANS
1. THE ORIGINALITY OF THE SALESIAN PARISH
Don Bosco’s apostolic concern, which is always alive in salesian hearts, the renewed idea of the parish as the presence of the Church in a particular territory, and the pastoral needs of local Churches, have led the Congregation to a much greater involvement in parish ministry. In the Regulations the parish is explicitly included among the works in which our mission is realized, “responding to the pastoral needs of the particular Churches in those areas which offer us adequate scope for service to the young and to the poor” (R 25; cf. C 42). The salesian commitment in the parish sector is expressed through the parishes entrusted to the Congregation and through the missionary parishes.
1.1 The parish, the presence of the Church in a specific territory
The Second Vatican Council presents the Church as:
- the sign and instrument of communion of a group of people brought together and united by the initiative of the Spirit; united through faith in Christ and through the sacraments; it shares in the gift of Trinitarian life in love, and in service in the communty.
- service, the leaven of the Kingdom in human history; it is sent to the world to proclaim Jesus Christ as its salvation, and to make him present by words and work;
- enriched by the Spirit’s gifts, in so far as its members, individuals and groups, have been enriched by the Holy Spirit with different vocations, charisms and ministries, all at the service of the growth of the Body of Christ in history and for its mission in the world (cf. GC24, 61-68).
The parish, as a visible expression of this Church, has the following characteristics:
- a community of the faithful animated by a single Spirit, capable of bringing together all the many different human characteristics found in the universal nature of the Church: a community of the faithful who live the diversity which is open to various charisms, respecting the different stages of development and the various phases in the journey of growth in the faith; which expresses and realizes itself in a special way through the celebration of the Sunday Eucharist
- in a diocese: a cell of the local Church, presided over by priests in the name of the Bishop, in communion with the other parishes of the diocese;
- in a particular place: making the Church present in a specifically defined territory;
- with a global mission: it accompanies the faithful in the education and growth of their faith throughout their lives;
- communal character: it is a communion of different communities, expressed and realized in a special way in the Sunday Eucharist;
- missionary: it is open to the evangelization of those who are lapsed, and collaborates in the proclamation of the Gospel "ad gentes".
- open to the local community: it welcomes everyone for the simple reason that they have all been created by God in His image and are children of God.
1.2 The salesian parish, the presence of the Church in a territory with the salesian charisma.
The Congregation with its charism for the young and the poor brings to the local Church its own charismatic style for the direction and animation of a parish. Our Constitution and Regulations and the documents of the GC20 and the GC21 concentrate this contribution in some specific traits which distinguish a parish entrusted to the Congregation:
- for the attention it gives to young people, especially the poorest. This preferential choice is linked with an attitude rather than a project, and is a dynamic option in all expressions of the parish community;
- it is sited in a working-class area with an adequate field of service (R 25; GC21,141. 407);
- it is animated by a religious community committed to the building of a Christian community which is closely united, welcoming, available, and open to human and Christian growth;
- it has a pastoral project with the characteristic style of evangelizing by educating and educating by evangelizing, in line with a particular spirituality and pedagogical method (the preventive system) and hence works at integrating evangelization and human development;
-with a pastoral commitment which considers the Oratory and Youth Centre as an essential part of the pastoral plan;
-with emphasis on systematic catechesis for all;
- with a concentration on the development of each one’s vocation;
- with a missionary outreach towards those lapsed, especially the most needy young people in their own environment and in places where they gather. (cf Reg. 26)
2. THE PARISH AS A COMMUNITY (THE EPC OF THE PARISH).
What characterizes the parish is that it is a part of the universal Church in a particular place, and the face of the Church that people see close to their own homes where they live: it is the community of the faithful.
“When Salesians are called by the Bishop to the pastoral care of a particular zone (…), they take on before the Church the responsibility of sharing with the laity the creation of a community of brethren, united in love, to listen to the Word, celebrate the Lord’s Supper, and proclaim the message of salvation” (SGC 416).
This is also one of the fundamental characteristics of salesian pastoral work, shared communal responsibility and the building of the community (cf. C 35. 44. 47).
2.1 Some criteria
° Living as a parish like a community of communities presupposes a network of genuine and open human relationships: more a centre for meeting and dialogue than a structure for religious services.
* Living as a parish implies being in communion with Christ; it is the place where a faith that is lived and shared is celebrated.
* Living as a parish means being in communion with many people both within and outside the parish.
This means:
-giving effect to the various initiatives by aiming at communion among persons in order to build the kingdom.
- living this communion while living in the world, as signs and leaven for the human community and the transformation of the kingdom;
- planning its organization by promoting a shared responsibility among all who have accepted the faith, for the service of those to whom the ministry is directed.
- linking up with other social and educational “agencies” present in the locality
2.2 Aspects of this community option
° The experience and testimony of the fraternal life of the salesian religious community as a expressive sign of the Gospel is extraordinarily effective for the building of parochial communion.
° The salesian community as the animating nucleus of the parochial Christian community commits itself to building, encouraging, and making visible the community of the faithful in the proclamation of the word, in the celebration of the sacraments, and in service to the parish community. In this effort of animation of the Christian community the formation of the laity is fundamental, even to the extent of the parish becoming a centre of Christian formation for lay people.
° The organization of the parish community in groups and subgroups in which there can be greater communication, more intense commitment, more realistic participation, and a visible relationship between all the groups and the community: for promoting ecclesial brotherhood, with special attention to the Salesian Family and the Salesian Youth Movement.
° A communal programming and realization of the mission, through:
a unified and organic pastoral project (the “parish project”);
drawn up, realized and verified with the active participation of all, through councils and assemblies.
° Openness to all and a presence in the locality to strengthen communion in the human community of the area.
2.3 Responsibilities and structures
2.3.1 Some Criteria
° Organic unity of parish ministry
The parish gathers together the People of God with its rich variety of vocations, charisms and ministries. It promotes the development and communion of all these in the service of the mission.
The salesian parish enriches this communion with its own charisma. The Salesian Youth Spirituality and Don Bosco’s preventive system must orientate and characterize the convergence of the various charisms and services present in it.
° A community sharing responsibility
The structures must facilitate and advance the shared responsibility of all the faithful in the common mission expressed in the pastoral project;
They must also strengthen the practical communion of all concerned, and the convergence and complementary nature of the individuals, activities and structures around this same pastoral project.
° Unity of the salesian project in the area and in the local Church
When the salesian parish is in an area with other salesian works (oratory or youth centre, school, hostel, etc.), it promotes with them a special kind of sharing, collaboration and dialogue, for the realization together of a unified pastoral work in the area developing the one salesian mission.
° Openness to the local Church and to the Province
The salesian parish lives its pastoral activity in the Church on the basis of its own charisma. The service offered by the parish helps the Salesians to experience with greater intensity their membership of the local Church and their links with it; but at the same time it offers a specific collaboration enriched by the salesian charism and by a special love for the young.
For this reason the salesian parish must have as its terms of reference the pastoral directives of the diocese and the SEPP of the Province.
2.3.2 Main responsibilities and structures
a. “The responsible agent of the salesian parish, that which gives it life, is the religious community” (GC21, 138). The parish is entrusted in the first place to the salesian religious community, The latter, therefore, recognizing the responsibility which the Code of Canon Law places on the parish priest:
- follows the pastoral directives of the diocese, adding to them the rich characteristics of our own pastoral charism;
- promotes the formulation of the SEPP in the parish and gives effect to it;
- accepts responsibility, with the parish priest, for the formation and spiritual animation of the faithful and of the laity as a pastoral mission;
- guides members of the Salesian Family, and in particular the Cooperators, in being the first collaborators of the parish priest.
b. The Rector of the salesian community has a specific obligation as the one bearing the first responsibility for the apostolic activities of the community; he fosters the unity and salesian identity of the community and encourages the confreres to share the responsibility for giving effect to the parochial pastoral project (R 29). For this reason he is a member of the pastoral council of the parish.
c. The Parish Priest is the one immediately responsible for the parochial mission entrusted by the Bishop to the Salesian Congregation. For his people he represents the Bishop, but at the same time represents the Congregation.
He fosters the formation of the parish community, presides over it and has direct responsibility for it.
In collaboration with his salesian community he promotes the salesian characteristics in the pastoral project of the parish.
d. The Parish Council, the expressive sign of communion and participation in the parish, in accordance with the prescriptions of the Code of Canon Law and the guidelines of the local Church, takes up the functions assigned by the GC24 to the Council of the EPC or of the work (GC24, 160. 171).
e. Various committees and consultation groups which animate the different areas of activity in line with the parochial SEPP; among these, special importance attaches to the team or committee for the animation of youth ministry, which is usually coordinated by the assistant priest who directs the oratory or youth centre (SGC 432).
f. The parish assembly, the expression of the meaning of Christian community and shared responsibility; it realizes the EPC in the parochial environment.
3. THE EDUCATIVE AND PASTORAL PROJECT OF THE SALESIAN PARISH
3.1 The Salesian Parish: centre of evangelization and of education to the faith
To develop a pastoral work of evangelization means giving the parish a missionary slant, not being satisfied with simple welcoming and celebration of the sacraments but making it a centre for the spreading of the Gospel.
3.1.1 Its significance
In the effort to evangelize an area, the salesian parish follows a criterion and takes its inspiration from a fundamental option: the practical combination of evangelization, development and education; it proclaims the Gospel and presents the person of Jesus from within man and human problems, as an element of transformation and change of less human situations into the fullness of man in God. This fundamental choice operates through the project (SEPP) which becomes the working instrument of the parish.
3.1.2 Characteristic traits of the evangelizing work of the salesian parish:
° It fosters the process of the humanizing and development of individuals and the environment:
- it shares the preoccupations and concerns of the parishioners and throws a Christian light on the daily life and temporal affairs of the community and the area;
- it establishes a close dialogue and collaboration with the educative institutions present in the area;
- it promotes the Christian formation of conscience and develops in the Christian community an attitude of solidarity and commitment in the face of situations of poverty and emargination;
° It offers a method of evangelization, aimed especially at the lapsed, and of catechesis which is:
- continuous and systematic, with a process of education to the faith at different levels, but pays particular attention to post-adolescents and adults (cf. GC23, 116-157);
- embodied in daily life: it enlightens with the Gospel the various situations of life (profession, family, social life, political, etc.);
- it initiates families to the Christian education of children, beginning with baptismal catechesis.
° It promotes a liturgical and sacramental life which leads to and deepens a personal and communal contact with Jesus Christ:
- by fostering a process of education to prayer and Christian celebration;
- with special attention to the elements which favour a true experience of God;
- centered on the sacraments of the Eucharist and Reconciliation;
- encouraging the full participation of the faithful;
- tailored to the life of the community and to youthful sensitivities;
° It demonstrates the values of Salesian Spirituality, emphasizing its lay and youthful dimension (GC23, 158-161; GC24, 89-100).
° It fosters the vocation of the faithful, and especially of the young, by:
- directing and accompanying the development of Christian life, with special attention to the preparation of parents as educators of their children;
- presenting to everyone the various vocations in the Church, with special reference to the salesian vocation;
- taking special care of animators and those responsible for associations and movements, young adults and engaged couples, in the process of the maturing of their vocations;
- suggesting a specific vocation to those young people who seem more disposed to the religious and priestly life and to the lay ministry.
° It promotes the formation of the Christian community:
- by offering group activities to all the faithful and especially to the young adults,
- with many different possibilities,
- facilitating their taking the lead,
- and fostering the quality of the group-life and openness to the locality.
3.2 The Parish with a priority option for the young
The parish embraces the sum total of the people of God who live in a specific territory.
While keeping in mind that it is a whole community of persons interdependent in their human and Christian growth, the salesian parish opts primarily for the young, and especially the poorest of them.
3.2.1 Its significance
The partiality for the young is in the first place an feature and centre of interest to the whole parish community and its pastoral work; it is expressed in a variety of different initiatives. It is a pastoral work which:
° chooses the area of education, keeping in mind in all its activities and programmes the total maturing of the person;
° promotes an attitude of close attention to the world of youth, and mixes with it;
° provides the opportunity for the active participation of the young people themselves, and promotes their contact and dialogue with adults.
3.2.2 Perspectives
° To develop in the parochial Christian community a special attention to the world of the young, a positive attitude and interest and a better knowledge of their concrete problems in life.
° To make the parish a meeting-place for dialogue between the different generations and a focus for religious questions and the search for meaning.
° To offer the young the possibility of education to a truly missionary faith:
- which gives pride of place to the poor and those on the margins;
- matches the rate of progress of the young;
- is realized in community;
- towards the discovery of a personal vocation and Christian maturity (cf. GC23, 102-111).
3.2.3 Courses of action
What resources can be made available in a salesian parish to reach these objectives? In what direction should efforts be made? What elements should be promoted and developed?
° A salesian community with a youthful vocational outlook: a salesian parish is not a place of retirement from the world of the young, but another form of being present among young people. To live this kind of life supposes in the SDBs of the parochial community:
- a positive and cordial presence in the world of youth;
- a systematic and deep understanding and pastoral concern for the youth of today, with;
- the will and stamina to be present and engage in dialogue in occasional or regular meetings.
° A parish community with the ability to be open to the young and to educate them. This implies:
- fostering a climate of joy and optimism;
- developing a systematic Christian formation of adults so that they can become models for the young;
- providing places, occasions and initiatives for meetings and dialogue between young and older adults;
- giving special attention to young adults and promoting their formation and sharing of responsibility in parish life;
- motivating, supporting and helping parents and other educators in the community to be competent in their educative mission.
° A youthful environment of education and evangelization: the Oratory or Youth Centre (cf. R 26):
- as a place of meeting with a concrete formation programme (cf. Oratory and Youth Centre environment);
- as a centre of fostering in the locality missionary initiatives of enquiries, meetings and dialogue with those far from the faith;
- organically linked with the parish pastoral programme.
° Ecclesial groups and movements and youth communities, especially those suggested by the SYM:
- plurality of possibilities within the SEPP;
- formative concern for evangelization;
- special attention to the animators.
° Openness to the locality and its various possibilities for education and evangelization (schools, large youth gatherings, social projects etc.), and to the new places for youthful social gatherings, through collaboration with other educative and social institutions.
Suggestions for further reading:
SCABINI P. (ed.), Parrocchia, in ISTITUTO DI TEOLOGIA PASTORALE - UPS, Dizionario di Pastorale Giovanile, o.c., pp. 654-667.
VIGANO E., La Parrocchia Salesiana come collaborazione alla pastorale della Chiesa particolare con la ricchezza di una vocazione specifica, in: La Parrocchia Salesiana come collaborazione alla pastorale della Chiesa particolare con la ricchezza di una vocazione specifica. Atti Convegno dei Parroci (Rome-Pisana 14-18 October 1991; Como-Salesianum 20-24 October 1991), Rome 1992, pp. 119-296.
WORKS – SOCIAL SERVICES FOR YOUNG PEOPLE IN DIFFICULTY
The option for poor youngsters, abandoned and at risk, has always been at the heart and life of Don Bosco’s Salesian Family from the beginning right down to the present day. It has occasioned responses everywhere in a great variety of structures and services according to the educational choices inspired by the preventive sysetm.
The new situation of today’s society challenges us to find new responses. Poverty has become ever more prevalent to an extent which makes it a tragic dimension of the lives of many individuals and communities, a large proportion of them youngsters, until it is now a global social reality. We may also refer to new kinds of poverty and hence to new kinds of emargination – social exclusion; among these we are particularly concerned about those which compromise the possibility of the growth of young persons, and which lead many of them to distress and in some cases to deviancy.
Our vocation as Salesians will not allow us to remain at ease in the face of a situation like this, which we find today not only in the Third World but indeed everywhere. It prompts us to commit ourselves to providing some response to the more urgent situations of youngsters in difficulty (GC21, 158; GC22, 6. 72; GC23, 203-214).
Within the context of the Provincial SEPP we respond in different places to this commitment:
in all our works and foundations, through a new style of presence and acceptance of everyone, an integrated educational service centred on the individual, especially those most in need, on social formation and the promoting of a culture of solidarity, and on a commitment for justice and the transformation of society (cf. C 33).
In spite of these efforts, many of those for whom we aim to work by preference (the poorest and most needy) find themselves in situations of fierce social exclusion and disadvantage which require on our part a more particular presence in response to their needs (works – social services on behalf of young people at risk); in these particular works aimed at providing educational openings, acceptance , and support towards a cure, we offer them practical help, in a process of integrated growth. Everywhere creative solutions are being provided according to the situation: with various works for children living on the streets, abandoned, orphaned, youngsters with family problems, young prisoners or those in trouble with the law, or with drug-addiction, for young school dropouts, for young people from dangerous areas, for immigrants, refugees, displaced ethnic minorities.
1. THE ORIGINALITY OF THESE WORKS - SOCIAL SERVICES FOR YOUNG PEOPLE IN DIFFICULTY
Many of these works and services present new models from a pedagogical and salesian standpoint and require professional training, specialized programmes, and collaboration with other civil institutions. In these works too the better forms of lay participation and of volunteer work are being developed.
This reality demands of us that we make the salesian identity explicit in our efforts to meet and prevent the various forms of distress, and to share this specific element with the laity so as to build with them a salesian educative project.
The following are the fundamental elements of this identity:
1.1 A family environment animated by a community
Young people at risk, the majority of them with family problems, need a family environment where they can find a favourable atmosphere and conditions for the rebuilding and reorientation of their lives, where they can live in a spontaneous and educational relationship, and dialogue in freedom and inter-dependence, so as to grow together in solidarity, shared relationships and mutual service.
This environment needs community animation, in which the SDB community together with lay educators has an indispensable role as the animating nucleus.
1.2. The choice of education
Poverty and emargination are not merely a purely economic phenomenon, but “a reality which touches individual consciences and challenges the mentality of society. Education is therefore a fundamental element for their prevention and suppression, and is also a more specific and original contribution which we, as Salesians, can provide” (Letter of Rector Major, Fr J.E. Vecchi, ‘He had compassion on them’, AGC 359).
We educate starting from personal convictions and motivations, with affability and a personal rapport of cordiality and dialogue, an unconditional acceptance which awakens self-esteem and the awareness of personal dignity and worth.
1.3 The preventive criterion
A very important aspect in these works and services is the preventive criterion which tries to avoid making negative or deviant situations any worse, to make people capable of autonomy and of the responsible management of their own lives, and to change social and cultural situations which are at the root of emargination.
Depending on the kind of youngsters these works cater for, some of them provide direct activities for their rescue or re-education. We know that rescue interventions are not our specific field of work, but “the educative strength of the preventive system becomes evident also in its capacity for rescuing boys who have been abandoned but who still preserve some seeds of goodness” (GC22, 72). Don Bosco presents his system as the most suitable for the re-education of boys who have already been delinquents or otherwise seriously emarginated.
1.4 A social – political dimension
The salesian response to marginalization – the exclusion of young people necessarily has a social and political dimension; in this sense, these works and salesian services promote a culture of concern for others, of sobriety, of availability and readiness to share selflessly, in a work which is very open, of acceptance and support for whoever has need; and they collaborate in the transformation of the very real situation of social exclusion, and the building up of justice, peace and protection of the environment
1.5 A gospel inspiration and deliberate evangelization.
The whole of our educational commitment is inspired by the gospel and aimed at opening young people up to Christ.
In these works and services the aim is not only to meet the problems and primary needs of those to whom the work is directed, but to help them to develop all their personal resources towards their human and social development, open to religious and gospel values.
With this educational action, salvation is proclaimed and brought about by including a gospel image in every element of the work, and by sharing with the youngsters a project and journey of faith as far as they are capable of such things.
1.6 Professionalism and a sense of vocation.
Educational activity of high quality requires a professional approach linked with a deep sense of vocation as much in the individual educator as in the whole community.
This sense of vocation makes the educators sensitive to the individuality of each young
person, especially the poorest, and inspires them with greater motivation to a systematic and appropriate training to confront with expertise the complexity of the situations of disadvantage, to manage effectively the long and complex educative procedures of recovery, and to work in close collaboration with professionals.
2. THE EDUCATIVE AND PASTORAL COMMUNITY IN THESE WORKS - SERVICES
Through the Oratory Don Bosco wanted to offer abandoned youngsters a true family where they could develop and prepare themselves for life; this is why he considered the community so important.
In all our works, but especially in this kind, we must overcome “the excessive individualism which led to some of these works being considered the private concern of individual confreres who were responsible for their foundation”, and move towards “a greater integration of initiatives and of confreres working together in the provincial project” (VECCHI J., o.c.).
2.1 Characteristics of the EPC in works-services in the sector of youthful distress
In the organization and growth of these works,-services the EPC fosters family life through:
A familiar style of life and organization, in which everyone (starting with the educators themselves) shows human qualities, i.e. contact with and closeness to the youngsters, familiarity, availability, assistance, kindness, etc Not only does one work for the poor young people but one does so in union and solidarity with them.
A clear knowledge of the characteristics of our particular approach on the part of all the animators, especially the lay ones, lived with professionalism and a sense of vocation
. This demands on their part:
- a continual deepening of the motivations underlying the options made , and a renewing of the values of the preventive system which inspire them;
- the preparation necessary for applying the project in a professional manner, in the complex situations of need, working as a team and in close collaboration with other professionals, such as social workers, psychologists, doctors, lawyers;
- acquiring a more accurate knowledge of the youth situation in the world of social exclusion- emargination, and of the prevailing culture in the given area, and managing efficiently the long and complex educational recovery processes;
- an ongoing study of the preventive system, so as to practise it in daily life;
continued formation in the social dimension of charity and how to realize it in this kind of work (GC23, 209-214), and in the spirituality of poverty.
The active involvement of all, especially the youngsters themselves. This experience will be a school for them as regards both the process and its outcome, in the sense that they themselves become educators of the young in either the present work or in another of the same kind.
A clear definition of the tasks and responsibilities of the different organisms and functions within the work, encouraging their complementary collaboration. Clarity is needed also in the definition and management of programmes and financial arrangements with regard to other civil or ecclesial institutions to which reference must be made
Structures and methods adapted to the situation of young people and their social and family involvement; with trust in Providence, ensuring that the young people and their education are the primary consideration; open to collaboration and to links with other similar works and institutions.
Some practical criteria to be kept in mind with respect to the EPC in works of this kind:
Above all the setting up and the experience of the EPC itself, even though it may be small and flexible, according to the criteria approved by the Provincial and his Council;
The elaboration and realization of the SEPP with the participation of all, following the guidelines of the SEPP of the Province;
A rapport of communication and help with the other works of the Province, by developing a series of complementary projects and network of activities;
A systematic linkage and interrelationship with families, with the local area and its institutions, with specialists (on a professional or voluntary basis), and with other institutions or associations working in the same field, promoting at the same time both autonomy and interdependence.
3. THE EDUCATIVE AND PASTORAL PROJECT IN THESE WORKS-SERVICES
3.1 The purpose of our project
3.2 Important aspects of our project
▪ To offer “young people in special difficulty” a process of integral growth in which they can confront distress, develop their positive resources and become good Christians and upright citizens; in more concrete terms:
- to offer them solutions to their primary needs, especially for survival and safety, so that they can get back to normality with self-esteem and overcome attitudes of dependence;
- to promote their cultural and technical qualification for normal insertion into family life, work, and the social and political arena;
- to help them to experience and personally assimilate the educative and evangelical values of autonomy, freedom, responsibility, love, service, self-control, tolerance, etc.;
- to help them to discover and experience the loving and fatherly presence of God in their lives, and to accompany them with patience and confidence in their progressive opening to the Christian faith.
▪ To help them to create a new mentality and culture “which will give rise to changes of vision and criteria through gestures and actions… It is a matter of promoting a culture of one's neighbour, of sobriety…, of availability and free sharing, of justice understood as attention to everyone's right to a dignified life and, more directly, to the involvement of persons and institutions in a work of broad prevention, and of acceptance and support for those who have need of it” (VECCHI J., He had compassion on them AGC 359 p. 33.).
▪ To make concrete their sharing in a liberating commitment for justice and peace, by helping to build a society more worthy of man (C 33):
committing ourselves to combating the social, political and cultural exploitation of young people (children – teenagers – youths) and of the weakest;
- speaking out, prophetically, on their behalf;
- helping in the transformation of the present society which is structurally unjust (‘structural sin’);
- training young people to “the social dimension of charity”
3.2 Characteristics of our educative and pastoral project in these works:
3.2.1 It is integral and organic:
The project starts from an attitude of welcoming and keeping close to these youngsters in difficulties so as to initiate an educative process for the development of the innate good within them, namely their intensely human resources which coincide with evangelical values, helping them to become positively integrated into their own social environment and preparing them for a meeting with Jesus Christ (GC23, 291-292).
This project, realized in many ways and at different times according to the needs of the individual youngster, offers specific and often rapid responses to their needs and problems.
The witness of the educators and of the educative community, the welcoming family atmosphere, the defence and advancement of personal dignity, become a proclamation of Christ and his saving design, and an offering of freedom and fullness of life.
3.2.2 With an educative and preventive slant:
Our educative project, though providing assistance and social protection, does not consist only in the material help which is offered (meeting an emergency or solving a passing problem), but goes to the root of the situation to discover the real causes, so that action can be aimed at the transformation of these roots.
Prevention, therefore, is not only a means of alleviating distress, or preventing its effects. It is rather systematic activity in the social network: on behalf of young people who live in situations of disadvantage of any sort (in at risk situations, victims of such situations, or in those which are described as “deviant”) on behalf of society itself or its institutions, or procedures. Its influence can be felt at a strictly educational level (individual persons), at a cultural level (the maturing of a new social mentality), and at a political level (the exercise of power for the common good).
3.2.3 With patient animation, of a gradual and professional kind:
The situation of youngsters arriving at these works, and our preventive style ensure that on the part of the educators the development of the project proceeds:
- with realistic hope and optimism, deriving from the loving kindness of the educators, which manifests our faith in education and our conviction concerning the humanizing force of Christ’s grace;
- at a gradual pace consistent with the educative process, which can meet each individual where he happens to be, and stimulate his personal and community growth in line with a process suggested by the SEPP of the work;
- and in a professional manner, i.e. with educators who possess not only the salesian identity but also the preparation necessary for this service.
3.2.4 Which becomes also a process of transformation for the area and the social here and now:
At the same time that it prepares and helps youngsters to become conscientiously inserted into the locality, the educative work of these foundations must promote a transformation of the mentality of the neighbourhood itself and collaborate in the enhancement of the social here and now. As we continue to reflect on the reality of poverty and emargination which surrounds us on all sides, it must exert an influence on the environment in which the young people live, and especially on families, and give rise to a systematic collaboration between the various institutions and educators working there.
3.3 Courses of action:
Although every work will tailor its own activities according to its particular circumstances and possibilities, here we can suggest some progressive courses of action which need continual attention:
Regarding the area:
- ongoing analysis of the situation identifying the challenges this presents;
- propose or initiate specific interventions,
- collaborate with other institutions in the formulation of educational, family, youth and urban policies, capable of preventing or overcoming the structural causes of disadvantage;
- make the deliberate choice to concentrate on the weakest - especially young people.
With regard to the young people present in the work-service:
● Get closer, be interested in finding out more about the situation of the youngsters, and share their interests in their world;
● Offer them a family welcome in the salesian house; this breaks down barriers of diffidence and awakens the desire to begin an educative process.
● Propose practical courses of actions in line with needs and availability, e.g.:
- answers to the need for survival: food, home, bed, health care etc.;
- answers to the need for security: a home that welcomes them, keeping close to them, loving kindness, etc.;
- interventions of a restructuring or salvaging kind (if needed);
- answers to the need for growth relationships: helping the youngsters to develop a normal rapport with themselves and with others (a healthy common life with their companions and all the members of the EPC, and with the various elements that are at their service -- sense of belonging).
● Begin more systematic and demanding courses of action towards a process of integral growth:
- study and school (sometimes informal): initiation into knowledge and culture;
- technical formation: training for work at some trade;
- free-time activities, accompanied by the educators (sport, music, theatre, art, reading, etc.);
- possibility of guidance towards a trade or profession, and educative pastoral dialogue with educators; and the possibility of talking - for their Christian and vocational guidance
- participation in local events and celebrations.
- experiences which lead from small to greater tasks;
- the possibility of joining in group activity – belonging to movements;
- getting to know their religious world and offer them experiences to stimulate the growth of their religious dimension;
- religious teaching;
- first Christian thought: good morning, good night, days of reflection, etc.;
- catechesis: for first Communion, for Confirmation, etc.;
- celebrations in the house or participation in those in the parish or other places;
- possibility of joining in group activities and movements;
- formation of Christian animators.
Guide them in the development of the social dimension of charity
● Help them to become normally inserted with independence - freedom and responsibility into social life, their family of origin, the family of which they now form a part, work, social commitment, etc.
● Accompany them in the development of their family, social and Christian life, and in their experience of employment.
● Offer a specific formation to make them capable of being educators in their turn of other youngsters in difficulty.
Suggestions for further reading
FERRAROLI L., Disagio, Emarginazione, In FSE/UPS, Dizionario di Scienze dell’Educazione, LDC/LAS/SEI, Turin 1996, pp.304-305; 371-372.
MASINI V., Emarginazione, In FSE/UPS, Dizionario di Scienze dell’Educazione, LDC/LAS/SEI, Turin 1996, pp. 371-372 .
DICASTERO PER LA PASTORALE GIOVANILE SALESIANA – UPS/FSE, Emarginazione giovanile e pedagogia salesiana, LDC, Turin 1987. The whole volume is useful, but especially:
VECCHI J., Salesiani ed emarginazione giovanile in Europa, pp. 78-96, and the conclusions of the three seminars in 1996:
Europa e Nordamerica. Le conclusioni, pp.142-145; America Latina.. Le conclusioni, pp. 290-293; Asia e Pacifico. Le conclusioni, pp.400-401.
VECCHI J., Si commosse per loro. Nuove povertà, missione salesiana e significatività. In AGC 359, pp. 3-36.
VECCHI J., Il nostro impegno per ragazzi e giovani a rischio. In Dossier PG Esperienze a confronto., N. 2, 1987, pp.63-70.
DICASTERO PER LA PASTORALE GIOVANILE SALESIANA – VIS Ragazzi di strada. Meeting internazionale, Roma, 7-11 dicenbre 1998, Roma, SDB, 1999.
SEPSUR, La familia salesiana y la evangelizacion de los mas pobres. Curso regional de Pastoral juvenil, Resistencia – 26 al 30 de julio de 1999. CUADERNOS DE PASTORAL JUVENIL – 37
DBYA – INDIA (a cura di M. C. George) Don Bosco national Forum for street and working children/youth (DBNF-SWC/Y), New Delhi DBYA, 1998
DICASTERO PER LA PASTORALE GIOVANILE SALESIANA – DBI, Don Bosco 2000. Lotta alle nuove povertà e all’esclusione sociale dei giovani in Europa. Atti del Seminario di cooperazione europea dei responsabili nazionali del Movimento Don Bosco, Benediktbeuern, 04-08 gennaio 2000, Roma, SDB, 2000.
DBYA - India (a cura di M.C. George), The Young at Risk, New Delhi, DBYA, 2000.
DBYA - India (a cura di M.C. George), Consultation on The Young at Risk, New Delhi, DBYA, 2000.
NEW OPENINGS FOR PASTORAL WORK AMONG THE YOUNG
In the face of the new needs of youth, the shortcomings of the present type of institutions for providing an adequate response become clear. There is a growing gap between the adult world and that of the young; a human, cultural and religious partition, which renders difficult any real dialogue and communication between their fundamental terms of reference and those of adults. Despite the substantial organizational efficiency of structures and the practical commitment of educators, there is a certain inability to cope with this new situation.
In our present complex and pluralist society we are witnessing the advent of new sites for the education of the young, of new models and life-styles which attract young people in general: one may think of the parallel school of the mass-media, the large numbers that gather in the interests of music and sport, tourism, the new forms of social and ecclesial commitment, the vital area of free time, and new opportunities for personal identification.
One of the more extensive and all-embracing ways of being present among the young is the Salesian Youth Movement (SYM)
1. THE SALESIAN YOUTH MOVEMENT
1.1 The Salesian Youth Movement – a special expression of Don Bosco’s pedagogy.
The desire to get together, to form groups, the attraction of communities was an experience in Don Bosco’s life that seemed to arise spontaneously, an expression of his temperament which was naturally inclined towards being open to people and making friends. Bringing young people together in groups is an indispensable factor in the kind of preventive and popular project that Don Bosco wanted to establish (cf AGC 294, 17)
Through a number and variety of youth groups and associations we want to ensure a high quality of educational presence in the situations where young people want to get together, and to guide them towards a meaningful experience of the life of the Church.
1.2 The Salesian Youth Movement among Movements in the Church
Among the fruits of the renewal which the Holy Spirit has inspired following Vatican Council II are the Movements in the Church, which are “providential expressions of the new springtime brought about by the Spirit” (John Paul II, 31.5.98)
“The term (Movements) is often used about realities which are different among themselves and sometimes for a canonically recognised grouping. If on the one hand this certainly cannot exhaust or limit the rich variety of these bodies raised up by the lifegiving creativity of the Spirit of Christ, on the other hand, however, it does give some indication of a concrete ecclesial reality, to the participation – mainly by lay people – in a journey of faith and Christian witness which bases its own pedagogical method on a specific charism given to the person of the founder in a particular way and in particular circumstances. (John Paul II, Congress 4)
Among these new forms of the life of the Church, the Spirit has raised up in the Salesian context the Salesian Youth Movement.
1.3 Characteristics of the SYM.
The Salesian Youth Movement (SYM) is one of the more extensive and all-embracing ways of being present among the young.
It is a movement with an educational character offered to all youngsters, to enable them to be subjects and protagonists of their own human and Christian growth with a missionary slant, open also to non-members, willing to play an effective part in the local area and to be positively involved in the local Church.
The youth groups and associations which, while maintaining their organizational autonomy, identify themselves with salesian spirituality and pedagogy form implicitly or explicitly the Salesian Youth Movement..
1.3.1. Elements of identity of the SYM
The identity of the SYM is characterized by two elements:
reference to salesian youth spirituality (SYS) and salesian pedagogy:
the person of Don Bosco, initiator in the Church of a practical way of Christian life (the SYS) and of an educative praxis (the preventive system), is the unifying focal point for all the groups and associations;
linkage between the groups:
this is expressed in the sharing of certain values and basic ideas through the coordination of shared initiatives, which become effective occasions for dialogue, comparison, Christian formation and youthful self-expression (cf. GC23, 275-277).
1.3.2. Fundamental options of the SYM
The following elements are made concrete through certain important choices:
The educative option, which puts the emphasis on the process of growth of each individual, a process it offers to all youngsters, especially the poor and those who remain on the margins, with the intention of accompanying them to the fullness of Christian life (holiness). The attention of the educators is directed to the person of the youngster rather than to the structures of the group.
The ecclesial and group option, which opens the way to group experience and the wider experience of communication, sharing and collaboration, and transforming them into an experience of Church.
The formative option, which always gives priority to the process of integral and ongoing growth of those to whose service the various initiatives and activities are directed.
The apostolic option, which commits the young people to form themselves for the selfless service of others, by sharing, deeper friendship, and celebration together.
The civil option, so becoming an instrument of social experience and formation, and an effective presence in society at the level at which youth policies are decided.
These choices become translated into some practical elements which guide the lives of the groups forming the movement:
the variety of groups and associations in accordance with the interests of the young, with particular attention to those more suited to poorer youngsters; without basic groups there can be no SYM;
a process of community experience around the person of Don Bosco and the values of the SYM; this reference to Don Bosco and to the values of his spirituality are the point of convergence and source of inspiration characterising all the groups and associations which have the SYM as their focal point;
the apostolic commitment of young people among the youngsters themselves; SDB, FMA and the youngsters together, in the service of the Church and of society;
the animators, who live and make their own the salesian commitment in groups and associations;
meetings and festivities, as moments of communication, formation and life experience.
1.3.3 Elements for the animation of the SYM
Although specific circumstances may differ widely, some aspects of animation are fundamental:
Promote a provincial and interprovincial coordinating organisation with the participation of the young;
Plan a formation project offered to the different groups and associations as a focus for their own formation plans;
Consider the formation of animators and educators the key issue of the movement;
Create a network of information and linkage between the different groups and associations, and also between them and other groups and associations in the Church and in the locality (meetings, news-sheets, combined initiatives, etc.);
Consider Salesian centres as places for spiritual and Christian enperience and projects;
Consider the delegate for youth ministry with his team as the overall promoter of the SYM;
1.4 The areas of involvement and commitment of the SYM
The characteristic features of the SYM are manifold and express the variety of the salesian project for groups. Thesy are to be found in different ways in various kinds of groups that we shall briefly describe.
*The aspect of acceptance and welcome: this is a matter of loving the things that interest the young people (sports, recreational activities etc.) in order to involve them in a life project, to educate them not individually, but within a group, in relationships, in discussion, collaboration and sharing with families and with society;
* The aspect of human formation which develops their creativity, their ability to plan, their capacity to achieve results, to dream and create, to communicate through the mass media, etc
* The aspect of cultural social and political formation, which focuses especially on understanding the situation in the local area, on social and political involvement based on values of solidarity: development, peace, justice, globalization, ecology etc.
* The aspect of religious and Christian formation which commits the groups and associations to give particular attention to the religious and Christian message which is their specific purpose and priority, to accompany the young people in their religious development and in the process of education to the faith.
1.5 The great youth gatherings
Youth encounters are an important element of the SYM, as being effective occasions for communication between different groups, and the exchange of the ideas and values of salesian youth spirituality.
In recent years these large gatherings have been increasing in number. Over the period of a year many provinces have days in which dialogue between all the youthful components of the SYM is intensified.
A festive atmosphere is a characteristic of these meetings, but the educator must pay attention also to their content; overall they should be a proclamation and powerful relaunching of the educative and pastoral project.
For this reason it is necessary:
- to see to it that in the variety of items and expressions there is a real convergence of the contents on what concerns the quality and effectiveness of the educative and evangelizing project;
- to make the encounter part of the overall educative process of the groups, with suitable preparation and subsequent follow-up which relates this experience to everyday life;
- to ensure the preparation and participation of a proportionate number of animators, especially young ones, who are aware of the objectives being aimed at.
2. NEW EDUCATIONAL EXPRESSIONS AND SERVICES
Throughout the salesian world new environments, services and works have been developed to meet the requirements and the need for contact and presence in the world of youth. This need includes the following, though the list is not exhaustive:
- associations and services in the field of free time, e.g.: sport, tourism, music, theatre, etc.;
- the volunteer movement in its various forms;
- specialized services in the area of Christian formation and spiritual animation (retreat houses and centres of spirituality);
- programmes for vocational animation (guidance communities and programmes, vocational camps, etc.);
- work among university students (university hostels, pastoral care of students, etc.)
- other forms of presence in the mass media, and in the specifically missionary pastoral ministry, which are fostered by the Departments of Social Communication and of the Missions
2.1 Characteristics of the new kinds of presence.
. All these new forms of presence are flexible works and services, capable of adaptation to changing needs with greater freedom of action and initiative; they make greater use of the possibility of communication with the natural environment of the young, rather than the stability of a fixed setting; they give priority to spontaneity and freedom of participation, to the centrality of the person rather than to structures and projects; it is relatively easier to involve young people in them, because they know that what they are doing is in their own hands; they develop a bond between various realities and work in cooperation with other institutions and services in the local area, trying to offer a global response to situations. They are, therefore, expressions of a new kind of effective presence in the world of youth, and efficacious instruments of response to the new educative and evangelizing needs.
2.2 Criteria for a salesian identity
But at the same time these new educative opportunities are exposed to certain dangers, which can lessen their educative and evangelizing efficacy as, for example, a certain individualism in their management, a weak and ill-defined identity, a vagueness about relationships and projects which makes continuity of the educative process difficult to maintain over a long period.
It is desirable, therefore, to present some elements and criteria which can help in the orientation of these new forms of work and to link them positively with traditional forms within the provincial project. Here are some of them:
clarity about the salesian educative and pastoral objectives;
openness to the permanent criterion of discernment and renewal: every activity and work is “for the youngsters a home that welcomes, a parish that evangelizes, a school that prepares them for life, and a playground where friends can meet and enjoy themselves” (C 40);
realization by the community, to whom the mission is entrusted (C 44);
integration in the provincial project through ongoing cooperation and collaboration between the different educative and pastoral works and services of the Province (C 58).
3 SERVICES FOR ANIMATION IN THE FIELD OF FREE TIME
3.1 The salesian educative and pastoral value of free time
The free-time activities of sport, tourism, culture, music, theatre, etc. are realities which bring together many youngsters, even those normally aloof, who want to satisfy their typical interests; they are to be found in all our works.
This kind of educative activity is considered nowadays of great social value and preventive importance; it is a new way of recreating the oratorian environment brought about by Don Bosco at Valdocco: for him the playground was the place he liked most for educative and pastoral activity.
3.2 Characteristics of the animation of free time activity
In the salesian world there is a great variety of initiatives, groups and associations which develop the salesian educative and pastoral plans in these settings with a plurality of styles of action, forms of organization, and numbers of participants. But in all of them there are some common elements which characterize their identity:
the central place of the young person in the work of education and in all the activities and projects;
group experience as a primary educative option essential for integral human development;
free time as a period unhindered by the conditioning of consumerism and available for the expression, pursuit and development of youthful interests;
integral personal and social formation of boys and young people, using the development of their interests as a means to fulfilling their educative requirements;
educative style of animation;
participation and leadership role of the laity, especially of the youngsters themselves;
active presence in the locality, to offer a project for individuals and for society inspired explicitly by the Christian vision and educative system of Don Bosco.
3.3 Criteria and practical guidelines
Integrate all these groups and associations for free-time activity (sport, tourism, etc.) into the educative and pastoral process which fosters:
. the discovery and development of the positive forces, values and resources which the youngster has within him;
. the provision of positive educative experiences, e.g. friendly meeting, joy of sharing, effort to attain an objective, self-discipline, ability to be creative, etc.;
. deeper demand for and interest in a greater human and Christian experience, with involvement eventually in an explicit process of human and Christian growth.
Link the active role of the youngsters (which always remains central) with the active and effective presence of the educators in their midst, so as to create together a family atmosphere which will produce personal relationships, in themselves a sign of the Gospel and a witness to it.
Develop the organization needed for the educative and pastoral process and for an effective presence in social life. These activities need structures and organization which are efficacious and challenging, and also an important source of funding; this gives them a certain influence and power, but is also a temptation. For this reason great attention must be given to:
. the selection of those responsible and their formation, making sure they share the criteria and objectives of the SEPP which are integrated in the EPC;
. the criteria for the distribution of money, with priority to the more educative aspects at the service of youngsters in most need;
. the choice of projects for collaboration and of partners.
Facilitate in the various groups and associations the sense of belonging to a broader and more integral project and educative environment, to overcome the danger of narrow-mindedness. This presupposes:
. getting the animators and those in charge of the various groups and associations which form part of a salesian work to become members of a single EPC, and to feel responsible as a group for the educative environment;
. promoting experiences of sharing, collaboration and openness to other groups through mutual exchange of information, occasional meetings and celebrations together, collaboration in common initiatives and activities, shared formation, etc.;
. fostering a certain exchange and sharing of goods for the benefit of the whole.
4. THE SALESIAN VOLUNTEER MOVEMENT
4.1 A developing experience
In carrying out the salesian mission through the Salesian Youth Pastoral Ministry we are encouraging both the spirit of the volunteer movement (service, solidarity – the social dimension of charity, selflessness, availability in the face of people in difficulty…) and the volunteer movement itself (all the particular forms of organized educative volunteering) so that it might be experienced in each of our educative pastoral communities (EPC).
In recent years a multiplicity of volunteer groups and associations has developed in the Provinces, and especially of volunteer youth groups in the SYM. The GC24 recognized the reality of the volunteer movement as a new style of openness to one’s neighbour, especially in the fields of poverty and emargination, as a challenge to injustice and rampant selfishness, a significant vocational option and a valid confirmation of the educative process of the young with the SDBs (cf. GC24, 26).
The salesian volunteer movement of the young is also an important indication of the richness and prodigious expansion of Don Bosco’s charism and youthful leadership in the dedication and commitment to pastoral work and human advancement.
There exists a great plurality of ways of working as a salesian volunteer: in the province or in mission territories; voluntary social work among the poor; educative work as animators, or by direct evangelization; long-term (a year or more) or short-term; social service in place of military service (for conscientious objectors, where the law permits), etc.
Many Provinces are studying the volunteer movement, with a view to adopting a plan for including it in the organic pastoral plan of the province. Through the Departments for Youth Ministry, the Salesian Family, and the Missions, the Congregation has prepared a general code of practice for the animation of this experience.
4.2 Identity of the salesian volunteer movement:
In the light of this document and of recent experiences, we can refer to the following characteristics:
The lay and youth characteristic: the salesian volunteer is a lay person, man or woman of legal age, who after adequate preparation places himself/herself at the disinterested service of the young and the working classes, giving prior attention to the very poor in line with the salesian mission, and for a specified time.
The educative characteristic: it promotes a competent, creative and ongoing response to emerging needs, with initiatives of education and human advancement.
The social and political characteristic: in collaboration with civil and ecclesial institutions, it proposes an action with a view to the transformation of society and the removal of the causes of injustice.
The gospel characteristic: it involves commitment to a life-style inspired by the Gospel; it accepts the Christian option of educating by evangelizing and evangelizing by educating, and fosters the missionary dimension.
The salesian community characteristic: it involves team work in community within an organized structure, practising Don Bosco’s preventive system with an oratorian heart, and drawing inspiration from salesian youth spirituality.
4.3 The salesian volunteer movement in pastoral work for the young
The volunteer movement provides youth ministry with a way for rediscovering the values of the salesian origins, for starting up new pastoral activities, and for giving specialized attention to young adults open to solidarity, even though their motivations of faith may still be weak. It offers the possibility of dialogue and collaboration with other educative agencies with a view to the social advancement of the very poor.
Youth ministry provides the volunteer movement with an overall maturing process and specific formation programmes. It offers the possibility of living salesian youth spirituality and criteria for an effective apostolic activity.
It puts the volunteer in contact with a rich educative and preventive tradition (the oratorian heart) and in communication with other youth experiences - ecclesial and civil. In this way it helps the volunteers to live their baptismal vocation and accompanies them in their discernment and specific vocational option in the Church or in the Salesian Family.
4.4. Animation of the salesian volunteer movement
For its direction the movement needs a concrete and systematic animation process, which in turn requires:
Promoting the sensitization of the SDBs and community:
- knowledge of and openness to the values of the volunteer movement and its importance in the salesian mission;
- cordial acceptance of the volunteers in their own project, respecting their lay identity;
- collaboration for the drawing up and practice of the provincial plan of promotion and animation of the movement inserted in the educative and pastoral project (cf. GC24, 126).
Fostering the community experience of the volunteers:
- by promoting their experience of the salesian family spirit with the SDBs and other collaborators;
- through the daily education to the acceptance of other people, of working together, of the communication of life and the sharing of faith;
- by offering daily moments of communication, of prayer, of relaxation, and also opportunities for participation in areas of responsibility within the educative and pastoral community or the salesian community;
in different ways in line with the kind of volunteer work, its duration, the state of life of the volunteers, their number, and the presence or otherwise of a Salesian or other member of the Salesian Family.
Caring for their formation through:
- systematic contact with a salesian community learning to live and act in line with the criteria of the salesian educative system;
- direct knowledge of the reality, sharing and reflection with regard to situations, deepening of motivations, and programming and realization in common;
- personal follow-up which guides each volunteer in the maturing process;
- the group to which they belong, with a concrete programme of general and specific formation;
- some specialized formative experiences (work camps, committed vacation periods, brief foreign experiences, etc.);
- a clear vocational perspective, either as a committed lay person in the Church or the Salesian Family, or in the religious or priestly life.
Developing some instruments of animation in the local and provincial community.
The responsibility for animation and coordination at provincial level lies with the Provincial Delegate for Youth Ministry and his team, through a person in charge of this particular sector. This person:
- promotes the volunteer movement, sensitizing the confreres and laity in its regard;
- sees to the formation of the volunteers according to a provincial plan;
- coordinates, in agreement with the delegate, the different initiatives of the volunteer movement in the province;
- maintains communication with the provincial delegates for the missions and for the salesian family;
- preserves links with other Provinces , and with civil and ecclesiastical bodies;
- supports those who come back to the province after experience of volunteer work abroad.
The person responsible for the volunteer movement at local level, in agreement with his counterpart for pastoral work, animates and coordinates the promotion and formation of volunteers in every salesian work.
Promoting also a form of coordination at interprovincial, national or regional level by organizing (if possible) Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs) which, in collaboration with other institutions of the Church and society, support the formation of volunteers, the development of projects of human development by the placement of volunteers, and the search for public or private funding.
5. SPECIALIZED SERVICES OF CHRISTIAN FORMATION AND OF VOCATIONAL MINISTRY
The young are looking for spirituality, especially the older ones and the animators. In the SYM an effort has been made to deepen and share the values of salesian youth spirituality to the extent explicitly called for by the GC23.
The GC24 endorsed the conviction that spirituality is the source of communion between SDBs and laity and has proposed salesian spirituality as the central element of the process of formation.
In the light of these expectations, the last ten years have seen the rise in the Congregation of various initiatives of services of Christian formation and of education to spirituality, such as retreat experiences, schools of prayer, houses of spirituality, centres of pastoral and catechetical formation, Sanctuaries, etc. These initiatives have also a strong influence on vocations; nowadays a vocation can come to maturity in a young person only if he lives a deeply embodied spirituality.
These services constitute a new form of salesian work among the young, which is becoming ever more necessary and urgent.
5.1 Services of Christian experience and formation (retreat houses, spirituality centres, schools of prayer, centres of pastoral and catechetical formation, etc.)
To give greater quality and consistency to these initiatives it is desirable that they be set up in line with certain criteria:
Ensure the presence of a team of SDBs and other members of the Salesian Family; organize the house or centre not just as a place of hospitality but as a community or team of persons who welcome, accompany and share with the young people one and the same spiritual experience.
Provide a precise programme of deepening spiritual pedagogy, with various projects and levels according to the needs of the different groups who use the house; overcome the simple offering of isolated initiatives so as to present a specific process of spiritual initiation and greater depth.
Give special importance to the pedagogy of prayer and listening to the word of God; offer experiences of prayer, of listening to the word, and of participation in the sacraments in line with the values of salesian youth spirituality; attend particularly to the aspect of initiation and accompaniment, to help the young participants gain a true lived experience in a personal form.
Offer all the young people the possibility of a personal dialogue with a Salesian or animator during their presence, and of a systematic follow-up if they so wish.
Always develop the vocational theme, helping the youngsters to live their lives in the presence of the Lord and his plan of salvation.
There exist also other pastoral services, less directly connected with a specific salesian work or institute, either in the local Church (e.g. SDBs working in the pastoral vocation work of the diocese, or following non-salesian movements) or in non-salesian places (e.g. in charge of the formation of the educators of a particular area). Pastoral services of this kind should be taken up in agreement with the Provincial and should be consistent with the provincial SEPP.
5.2 Vocational services and communities
In an effort to find new ways of pastoral work for vocations, some experiences of animation and vocational guidance have been started and consolidated (“come and see” communities, centres for vocational guidance, etc.), which in general offer young people the opportunity of gaining concrete experience of the salesian life and mission, of systematically sharing and acquiring a deeper knowledge of the vocational theme and a more detailed follow-up.
It is important to ensure in these services:
the presence of a salesian community which is open and welcoming, and which provides an effective vocational witness for the young, an experience of fraternal life and salesian mission, and a systematic accompaniment to the vocational maturing process of those involved;
a close relationship and collaboration with the other communities of the Province in their responsibility for vocational animation in line with the provincial plan;
specialized participation in initiatives of pastoral animation, with special attention to the vocational dimension;
collaboration with the vocational pastoral centres of the local Church and of other religious institutes.
5.3 Sanctuaries
A Sanctuary is a centre of popular spirituality which can be of considerable importance in evangelization and in the process of education to the faith of the people and also of the young.
Many of the Sanctuaries in our care are significant centres for the development and experience of salesian spirituality: centres for the spreading of Marian devotion, like the Sanctuary of Mary Help of Christians at Turin and very many others all over the world; places of communication and sharing of the salesian spirit through the figure of Don Bosco; centres of revitalization of Christian life through the liturgy, the Eucharist, the sacrament of Reconciliation, and prayer; reference points and places of pilgrimage for individuals and groups, large and small.
This means that we must see to it that the work of the Sanctuaries is of high quality and based on a pastoral project which is strongly motivated and effective for the evangelization of people in general and of youth groups in particular. In any renewal the following aspects should be kept especially in mind:
the quality of the welcome given, which gives to those who are estranged from religion the possibility that they will be listened to, understood, and encouraged to develop the seed of faith which has led them to the Sanctuary;
a strong proposal of evangelization, which opens visitors to a meeting with Jesus Christ and his Gospel through an experience of conversion; for this, time and possibility for prayer and the sacraments, especially reconciliation, must be provided;
opportunity for dialogue and serious spiritual follow-up; the Sanctuary can become an important means for the Christian maturing of many youngsters in their vocational search;
A dynamic and creative synthesis between evangelical quality and the language and sensitivity of popular devotion; between religious practice and the preoccupations, hopes and needs of the family and of the communal and social lives of the people.
6. PASTORAL WORK IN THE UNIVERSITY WORLD
The new demands of Youth Pastoral Ministry lead us to be ever more open to the needs of young people, among whom university students form a considerable part as animators, volunteers, catechists, collaborators, etc. But youth ministry among them and, still more, pastoral work in the university world and that of culture offers new possibilities for the development of our mission to the young:
- The period of youth has become longer, and university studies are now accessible to young people from working-class families; the entire category of university students is now in a situation which makes students more abandoned and at risk.
- Our presence is called for by the principle of educative continuity, which requires educative follow-up to be prolonged beyond the years of adolescence.
- It facilitates the care and formation of vocations in both a wide and more specific sense, and for this the university world is a privileged place.
- University campuses are also places of pastoral importance which enable us to offer a valid contribution to the world of culture, of education and of work, and to provide a synthesis between faith and culture.
6.1 Different levels and kinds of work
Pastoral work in a university setting develops at three closely related levels:
- as pastoral care of university culture, i.e. attending to the evangelization and Christian animation of university culture on its own account, and also with a view to a personal and communal synthesis of faith and culture, and of culture and life;
- as pastoral care of the students themselves and the rest of the university personnel, fostering their Christian formation and human development;
- as a dimension of youth ministry and overall pastoral work, which makes us aware of the fact that a consistent group of young people, to whom our pastoral activity is directed, are actually still in this condition even when we meet them in other contexts.
These educative and pastoral perspectives shape the different practical expressions of salesian work in the university field. They can be placed in three groups:
- university institutions managed by the Congregation;
- hostels or other places of residence for university students;
- various services of pastoral animation, e.g. university chaplaincies and similar parish or diocesan structures specifically directed to university students.
6.2 Frame of reference
Pedagogy of the communal environment
It is one of the deep convictions of the salesian spirit that formation takes place primarily through the environment and the atmosphere prevailing in it. In work of this kind the environment must have certain specific characteristics:
- an environment of quality, from a human, cultural and evangelical standpoint, capable of arousing and promoting in young people interests and experiences of high calibre;
- which call for responsibility and common participation, and the personal commitment of the students themselves;
with a plurality of different projects (recreational, cultural and religious) suited to their real personal needs.
Pedagogy of cultural mediation
Our educative and pastoral work in the university context should train the students:
- to integrate knowledge with the overall formation of the person;
- to be open to multiple levels and forms of approach to reality, that of scientific and technical rationality or of economic efficiency and productivity, and those of analogical and symbolic reasoning;
- to engage in intercultural dialogue;
- to develop the ethical dimension of knowledge and profession, through a critical assessment of the pursuit of knowledge, and the search for the fundamental elements of culture as the particular field for dialogue between faith and culture and for a synthesis between culture and life;
- to a systematic and interdisciplinary dialogue with the faith, through a Christian mentality.
Pedagogy of commitment and confrontation with the particular cultural, social and ecclesial reality
It is important to avoid a separation between the search for meaning in the intellectual and subjective sector, and the social and communal practice, to avoid the risk of falling into individualism and the obsessive search for a success disconnected from personal and communal life. This is particularly serious when it is a matter of young people with particular personal abilities and with special tasks in society and in the Church. For this reason we have to foster:
- an education to ethical and civil responsibility and to social and political formation;
- the provision of experiences of the volunteer movement and of selfless service to the community and the local area;
- active participation in initiatives or projects of a cultural, social or religious kind;
- insertion in and collaboration with other organizations and with civil and ecclesial structures operating in the neighbourhood and the local Church.
Pedagogy of personal accompaniment and follow-up
At this period of life the young university student needs help to be clear in getting Christian and human values more deeply rooted in life, and in seeking in the right direction for adult values. This means that we must:
- offer the possibility of accompaniment through friendly availability, interpersonal rapport, gradual approach, and discernment of concrete situations and their possible improvement;
- point out different vocational paths in life, to help him/her to become aware of his/her vocation and mission in society and in the Church.
Suggestions for further reading
On the Salesian Youth Movement
DICASTERO PER LA PASTORALE GIOVANILE DELLA CONGREGAZIONE SALESIANA, Il Movimento Giovanile Salesiano come espressione della Spiritualità Giovanile Salesiana. Atti del Convegno Europeo di Sanlucar la Mayor 1992. Rome 1993.
BOSCO G.B., Il Movimento Giovanile Salesiano. In DICASTERO PER LA PASTORALE GIOVANILE, Il cammino e la prospettiva 2000. Documenti PG 13. Rome 1991, pp.123-147.
DICASTERO PER LA PASTORALE GIOVANILE SALESIANA, Gruppi giovanili salesiani. Dossier PG Esperienze a confronto 6. Rome 1990.
Volunteer Movement
DICASTERI PER LA PASTORALE GIOVANILE, PER LE MISSIONI E PER LA FAMIGLIA SALESIANA, Volontariato e maissione salesiana, Roma 1985.
DICASTERO PER LA PASTORALE GIOVANILE, Esperienze di volontariato salesiano. Dossier PG 10. Rome 1995.
DICASTERO PER LA PASTORALE GIOVANILE, Formazione al volontariato salesiano. Dossier PG 11. Rome 1996.
DICASTERO PER LA PASTORALE GIOVANILE, Giovani come tutti, ma… Testimonianze di volontari. Dossier 12. Rome 1996.
The three dossiers present interesting experiences and material.
SEPSUR, Voluntariado juvenil, En “Cuadernos de pastoral juvenil – 36” mayo 1998
Centres for vocational animation
DICASTERO PER LA PASTORALE GIOVANILE, Pastorale vocazionale salesiana. “vieni e vedi”. Dossier PG Esperienze a confronto 4. Rome 1989.
PER LA PASTORALE GIOVANILE, Salesiani…Come… Perché?… Dossier. Esperienze a confronto 5. Rome 1989.
With some enlightening experiences and some indications and criteria for activities..
Work in the university field
NANNI C., (a cura) Salesiani e pastorale tra gli universitari. Rome 1988.
