EAO Good Night Talk (6) Pampanga, September 4, 2014
‘No English – no Vocation’?
The first historical encounter of Salesian text translators!
During the past two months on my animation visits around EAO I was able to meet many confreres in Myanmar, Thailand, Laos, Cambodia and in the Northern part of the Philippines. I’m trying to listen: thanks for sharing daily life witness and mission for the young, your joys and challenges! It's a good opportunity to reconnect to the dynamics of growth of the Salesian Charism in each province. Various provincial and local events around 16th of August marked the opening of the Don Bosco’s Bicentenary. Different provincial pilgrimages to the holy places of Don Bosco (groups from FIN, CIN, GIA and Mongolia) showed our love for our Father.
For me personally those five days spent with Pope Francis in Korea remain as a daily inspiration and strong motivation to reflect again and again on his ‘Joy of the Gospel’ (Evangelii Gaudium). In attachment you will find a solid study guide of Evangelii Gaudium published by Word and Life (FIN, Manila, Fr. Sal Putzu). Thanks a lot!
“No English – no Vocation!” – is the criteria of the Jesuits in the East Asia Pacific Region which covers basically the same provinces and countries as our EAO Region. Also during our recent Manila - Paraňaque formation houses Curatorium meeting with six provincials and three Delegation superiors, a significant portion of time was dedicated to English language standard improvement. Yes, as a Region in 2005 we chose English as our common language and we can see that long term strategies help improve the standard of English. Yes, there is good improvement noticed in all 10 EAO provinces.
On the other side of the language variety in our Region is the need to share our Charism within the local cultures and Churches. The role of the ‘Translator of Salesian texts’ will be highlighted through the first historic encounter next October 9-11. The message of the Rector Major (in attachment) for the participants and their respective provincials says a lot! About twenty participants from Mongolia, Korea, Japan, China, Thailand, Cambodia, Indonesia and Vietnam will work out some strategy for translator formation and methods. We consider this service as very important ministry for the future and inculturation of the Salesian education and evangelization, for our formation in most of the EAO provinces! Formation and support of quality translation ministry of Salesian texts might be one of the best gifts for Don Bosco's 200th birthday! Let’s contribute sections in the different EAO languages to the Salesian digital library (sdl.sdb.org)!
With a grateful heart to all confreres who have contributed and are contributing to the spread of Don Bosco’s Charism through their patient and constant translation or simultaneous interpretation from 1906 until now!
Yours in Don Bosco,
Fr. Václav Klement
Regional councillor EAO
