austraLasia 1224
Guidelines released for Salesian Studies in initial formation
ROME: 5 August 2005 -- A long-awaited set of guidelines for Salesian Studies in initial formation has been forwarded to those in Provinces with direct responsibility for this area. The guidelines, which also includes indication of a set of texts for each phase, constitute a frame of reference based on the Ratio and have been approved ad experimentum until July 2009.
The General Councillor for Formation, Fr Francis Cereda, makes the point that these guidelines are intended to be applied gradually, since the circumstances throughout the Congregation are varied and it will not be possible to apply everything everywhere and all at once. He urges provinces to to carry out what they can as well as they can, bearing in mind now the direction clearly outlined, and endeavouring to make some progress each year. The guidelines' implementation implies a number of other important choices such as preparation of teachers, translation of texts, some knowledge of Italian and so forth.
The guidelines cover the stages from Prenovitiate through to specific post novitiate formation of Brothers and Priests. It is intended that they be consecutive in application, and for the postnovitiate and specific formation stages, the intention is that they carry a two credit weight per semester in Salesian Study Centre academic programmes. There is no suggested credit level for prenovitiate and novitiate stages.
For the English-speaking world, the challenge will now be to have as many of these basic text resources in English. They are divided, in most stages, into Salesian sources and other commentary or study texts. The good news is that for the prenovitiate and novitiate stages, the source texts are already in English, and some are in process of being reprinted in updated version: Teresio Bosco's Don Bosco (the title in Italian adds: a new biography), Brocardo's Don Bosco, Deeply Human, Deeply Holy (the 1985 edition is in English - there is a new 2000 Italian edition), The Memoirs of the Oratory, The Biographical Memoirs, Constitutions and Regulations, Project of Life and a commentary in AGC 312 by Fr. Viganò, as well as several texts of Salesian hagiography. The real challenge will be to get the several copious volumes by Peter Braido into English and Peter Stella's texts reprinted for Postnovitiate and specific formation stages.
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Guidelines released for Salesian Studies in initial formation
ROME: 5 August 2005 -- A long-awaited set of guidelines for Salesian Studies in initial formation has been forwarded to those in Provinces with direct responsibility for this area. The guidelines, which also includes indication of a set of texts for each phase, constitute a frame of reference based on the Ratio and have been approved ad experimentum until July 2009.
The General Councillor for Formation, Fr Francis Cereda, makes the point that these guidelines are intended to be applied gradually, since the circumstances throughout the Congregation are varied and it will not be possible to apply everything everywhere and all at once. He urges provinces to to carry out what they can as well as they can, bearing in mind now the direction clearly outlined, and endeavouring to make some progress each year. The guidelines' implementation implies a number of other important choices such as preparation of teachers, translation of texts, some knowledge of Italian and so forth.
The guidelines cover the stages from Prenovitiate through to specific post novitiate formation of Brothers and Priests. It is intended that they be consecutive in application, and for the postnovitiate and specific formation stages, the intention is that they carry a two credit weight per semester in Salesian Study Centre academic programmes. There is no suggested credit level for prenovitiate and novitiate stages.
For the English-speaking world, the challenge will now be to have as many of these basic text resources in English. They are divided, in most stages, into Salesian sources and other commentary or study texts. The good news is that for the prenovitiate and novitiate stages, the source texts are already in English, and some are in process of being reprinted in updated version: Teresio Bosco's Don Bosco (the title in Italian adds: a new biography), Brocardo's Don Bosco, Deeply Human, Deeply Holy (the 1985 edition is in English - there is a new 2000 Italian edition), The Memoirs of the Oratory, The Biographical Memoirs, Constitutions and Regulations, Project of Life and a commentary in AGC 312 by Fr. Viganò, as well as several texts of Salesian hagiography. The real challenge will be to get the several copious volumes by Peter Braido into English and Peter Stella's texts reprinted for Postnovitiate and specific formation stages.
_____________________
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