Follow up of the International Congress on Family Ministry (Madrid 2017)

By FIN Provincial Circular n. 15

Manila, the Philippines, 3 April 2018 -- From November 27 to December 1, Fr. Joel Camaya, head of the Family Ministry Team of the Province, together with two of the team members Fr. Edwin Soliva and Mr. John Villafania, joined Salesians and lay delegates from around the globe to participate in the Salesian International Congress on Youth Ministry and Family organized by the SDB Sector on Youth Ministry led by Fr. Fabio Attard. During the meeting, there was time for prayer, for plenary conferences, sharing of best practices, participation in mini-courses, and meetings by regional groups. In the name of the 18 participants from the EAO region:

“What are the challenges that result from the journey that the Congregation made so far?” our EAO region gave the following response:

Minimal contact with families

As Salesians, we see that when we do our work, it is always a direct contact with the young people. We seldom deal directly with the families of our young people and thus, we lack the awareness of the reality of their families. The parents are also busy.

Distance

One specific situation may also be shared by many others: in some countries the geographical distance of the young from the families (and thus, the distance of the Salesians also from the families) such that family ministry would be difficult to practice. There is also the cultural distance of the Salesians from the families of the young since many of the Salesians are missionaries and therefore can be out of touch with the context of the family. The parents also entrust their children to the Salesians that they do not anymore mind how their sons are. There is indeed little collaboration.

When to become a prophet

There is also the challenge to strike the balance between tolerance and being a prophet. When do we correct what is wrong? TO MOVE FROM THEORY TO PRACTICE. We have a lot of ideas about families from the documents of the Church and the Congregation. Are all these practicable?

Desire of the Young to stay more in the school (or with friends) rather than the home

Many times, the home becomes the place in which the young people like staying the least. They prefer the school and friends.

The heterogeneity of families

Do all of us in the world define “family” in the same way? There are different concepts around the world. We have to be clear about our definitions of “family.” As a Congregation, we cannot dictate what the nature of family should be. In family ministry, we have to bring the charismatic heritage to each local setting. One help would be: how does one feel about his family?

The EAO delegates in the Madrid Congress 2017 presented the following challenges that may serve well as the focus of the different provinces of the region:

1. To get the parents to be part of our Youth Ministry in pastoral planning and in the accompaniment of our young people.
2. To focus on youth vocation ministry in our work with young people, keeping in mind that an essential task of Youth Ministry and Family is for the young to discover their vocation.
3. To include in Salesian formation a basic training on how to work with the families of young people.
4. To rethink our structures (timetable-spaces) and paradigms in order to facilitate working with families.
5. To embrace Family Ministry as an integral part of Youth Ministry, as a new frontier in all the Provinces, reechoing the fruits of the Congress on Youth Ministry and Family.

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