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(:nl:) Salesiani cooperatori

Note: this invites both translation and comment. JBF

"....And that brings me to the name change. I think we could definitely benefit from a change, but “Salesians ASC” doesn’t have the right ring to it at all. In this part of the world the name, Cooperator, has always had to be explained – “cooperating with” and “working alongside” have quite different connotations in English. Tomorrow I’m going to have a meeting with the pastoral assistant in one of our Salesian parishes about planning a couple of evenings for the purpose of interesting parishioners in the Salesian Cooperators (please pray for their success), but one comment she made when I saw her a couple of weeks ago was, “Do we have to use the term Salesian Cooperators?”,

For a few years now we’ve been emphasising the fact that the Cooperators are one of the three principal branches of the Salesian Family along with the SDB’s and FMA’s and that they ought to be autonomous (though, of course in union with the others). The idea of “extern Salesians” carries this sort of implication and is in keeping with Don Bosco’s vision, but again the term doesn't sound right and probably has negative overtones. “Lay Salesians” would be much better, but others among the twenty odd recognised branches of the Family could claim that they are lay and Salesian. Perhaps this needs to be the next big debate in the English speaking world – we may come up with something suitable be the time the Statutes and Regulations cease to be '''ad experimentum''' in six years’ time. BP (UK)

"At New Rochelle provincial house we've been talking--at table at least--about the change from "Salesian Cooperators" to "Cooperators, Salesians." Frankly, it strikes us as meaningless, as well as awkward, in English. Someone has said, "Well, why not also 'Salesians, priests' and 'Salesians, brothers'?" In prepping austraLasia news items for our Web page, I've tried "Cooperator Salesians." Obviously the intent behind the change is not meaningless. What the RM has to say is fundamental, and that's what needs to be stressed to SDBs, FMAs, and ASC". -- Mike Mendl (Though in fact that change, were it to even happen, linguistically speaking, would be Salesians, Cooperators, not the other way around JBF)(:nl:)