EAO Good Night Talk (57)
Valdocco, Turin, December 1, 2018
Listening is always the first step – Cagliero11!
Dear Friends and Salesian Family members,
Heartfelt greetings from Valdocco, this time gathered here for the biennial encounter of ‘Project Europe’ with the Rector Major, his Council and all 30 SDB provincials of the old continent. It is a good opportunity to bring a year filled with ‘listening and accompaniment’ to this Salesian mother house. For us, too, opportunities for listening have been abundant:
Listening to many of our lay mission partners regarding GC28’s question: ‘What kind of Salesians for the young people of today?’ Listening as the first step of accompaniment of the young, as the Rector Major’s Strenna 2018 asked of us. Listening to many confreres, lay mission partners and young people during the extraordinary visitations to five countries in our region: Timor Leste, Indonesia, Thailand, Laos and Cambodia. Also most inspiring was the October Synod on ‘Youth-Faith-Vocation Discernment, when we witnessed the consistent listening of Pope Francis and other Synod Fathers to the youth.
This month we also remember the 10th anniversary of the first issue of ‘Cagliero 11’ – the Salesian missionary animation monthly newsletter. Cagliero11 has published more than 120 Salesian missionary vocation stories from all five continents from December 2008 until December 2018. Ten years of SDB listening to missionaries, probably the most frequently and most widely translated Salesian animation tool today: in our EAO region alone, we can read Cagliero11 in English, Chinese, Japanese, Korean, Thai and Vietnamese.
What the story of Cagliero11 telling us? First of all that it is a very humble format (one A4 sheet), an inspiration drawn from the former FIN missionary animation bulletin ‘Mt 28:16’, published in Manila between 2007-2009. Secondly, Cagliero11 brings an attractive missionary style of storytelling, asks us to pray for the missions and presents many concrete missionary models. Thirdly, Cagliero11 is a simple invitation to real and practical missionary animation on the 11th of each month.
Cagliero11 takes the name of the first Salesian missionary, Cardinal John Cagliero (1838-1926) and invites all Salesian Family members to be inspired by our origins, by the missionary DNA of our family. Listening to catechumens, listening to young missionaries, listening to our brothers and sisters who are involved in the initial proclamation of Jesus with their humble life witness, is good medicine that helps us to leave our comfort zone today, as always!
Before you go to sleep today, just browse or slowly read one page of Cagliero and share it with your friends! Good night!
Fr. Václav Klement, SDB
EAO Regional Councilor
to humbly contribute to the new face, header art, in December 2016,
when I was in La Pisana.
More years to Cagliero11!
From Brasil, Brother J.