By Fr. Ariel Macatangay, SDB

Bomana, Papua New Guinea -- “What Kind of Salesians for Melanesian Youths of Today?” This is the theme for the first Provincial Chapter of the Salesians in Papua New Guinea and Solomon Islands, held in Port Moresby, in March 2019

In his convocation letter to all the Salesians, the Rector Major, Fr. Angel Fernandez Artime asked for the contributions of young Salesians to suggest proposals for drafting a new profile for the Salesians of today.

PGS Delegate for Formation, Fr Ariel Macatangay included the topic of the Salesian Profile as part of this year’s seminars for the Salesians in Quinquennium and in Practical Training.

Scheduled two weeks before the Provincial Chapter and close to the celebration of the Salesian Family Day in Port Moresby on March 23, the Quinquennium Seminar took place from 21 -22 March, while the Practical Training Seminar on March 24 25.

Both seminars had four confreres participating in each. The confreres in quinquennium consisted of three priests and one lay Salesian, coming from Papua New Guinea, Vietnam and Congo. The four practical trainees came from India, El Salvador, Indonesia and Japan.

Both groups agreed with the top three from the six aspects of Don Bosco proposed by the Rector Major, and chosen by the local communities of the Vice-Province, in order of priority: 1) Man of profound faith, 2) Apostle of the young always faithful, always flexible and creative, and 3) Apostolic passion for youth.

Among the choices suggested for Salesians to be men of profound faith, the Salesians in quinquennium proposed to re-emphasize the centrality of the Eucharist in a way that young people can participate and be inspired.

The Practical Trainees, being closer to the current generation of youths, focused more on the aspect of Don Bosco’s apostolic passion for youth.

Fr. Gilbert Pano, in his second year as a Salesian Papua New Guinean priest and newly assigned as Economer at Don Bosco Araimiri, shared this, “What I like most is the sharing of the confreres, that I get to know the difficulty and challenges one is experiencing and comparing to my own.”

Br. Philip Neri Tsutsumi, a second year practical trainee from Japan and also assigned at Araimiri, expressed his appreciation by saying, “Every time I join this meeting, it encourages me. In my community, I am alone, but when we gather here, I can notice I am not alone. The other brothers also are struggling.’ After I leave this PGS Vice-Province, this connection will continue and encourage my vocation journey.”

Br. Jorge Chorro, a practical trainee from El Salvador summarized his experiences by stating, “We have all recognized that it has been a blessed and necessary moment to evaluate the path done and define new purposes to continue our Salesian journey.”

Both groups also had opportunities for fraternal bonding among themselves, with a chance to have dinner and watch a movie at Vision City, the only mall with cinema in Port Moresby.

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