austraLasia #2747
It's Michael Rua's moment
Johannesburg and Rome: 28 October 2010 -- Fr Francois Dufour, Superior of the Southern African Vice Province, dropped a short note the other day, pointing out that the Michael Rua School in Johannesburg, appropriately situated next to the Bosco Youth Centre (the two names go together through time and space today as once upon a time), would be losing its priest-principal at the end of the year under government legislation which determines that once you have turned 65, that's it! Fr Dino Miotto has been principal for 17 years and he may be the last Catholic priest principal in South Africa according to our correspondent. Fr Dino is much loved, much respected. He will not be replaced by a Salesian. Other provinces in the English-speaking world have already taken the step of replacing top school leadership in many instances with zealous, competent and men and women working within the Salesian ambit, to guarantee, with the help of the 'animating nucleus' as we are wont to say, the Salesian quality and spirit of the school. We wish AFM a successful search and a little help from the saint after whom not only the school is named but the Vice Province as well.
So it's 'Rua Day' tomorrow, and a year's celebrations culminate in a Congress in Rome that many have prepared for and the Rector Major, in particular has wanted. There are 234 attendees, according to the final list, 17 of whom come from EAO, and given that there are 33 Salesian Sisters on the list we could say that there's a round 200 SDBs who will be attending.
Given such a broad attendance from around the Salesian world, and given also some of the stimulating and indeed novel (new content, new discoveries, e.g. the Vatican Secret Archives) material, it seems a great pity that the material is largely available only in Italian. That appears to have been a strategic choice, though it's not sure what 'strategy' might be involved! Certainly no requests were made for translations and given that many of the verbal presentations are backed by a 24-29 page written document, it would have required several months work to translate 24 separate addresses of the kind.
But let's not cry over spilt milk. If you go (in English!) to the Rua pages on sdb.org - assuming of course you are a registered user, which every Salesian should be, but we can't do it for him - you will find a deal of useful information. The programme has been translated into English, and two of the early addresses also, because they seemed, at least to this writer, to be particularly valuable ones and worth doing anyway. Fr Francis Motto's "two personalities, two inseparable names" is available in English as also the address from an official of the Vatican Secret Archives. And given that there are a couple of other presenters from countries which use English, one might hope they would have their bit in English as well or at least a copy in that language. It also has to be assumed that in due course translations of the entire set of presentations will be requested and accomplished for the benefit not just of English speakers but Spanish, French, whatever. What we do know is that Fr Nesty Impelido (FIN) been pressed into service as a simultaneous interpreter for the event. That's good news.
The latest word from Bangalore is that the 'Life of Fr Michael Rua' (from the Desramaut original in French) has been published. We had obviously hoped that copies might arrive here, and no doubt they will, but in the meantime you could find a last-but-one corrected version on SDL in the Rua collection, as you will also find all his letters, all 6,000 of them! In that collection too, if you are looking for some pics or a prayer service for the Feast, go to the 'titles' tag and check out especially the D-V group.
And - happy feast day!
Click here to comment on this item, or here to assist with Glossary. You will need to enter 20eao02 when asked for a password.
_________________
AustraLasia is an email service for the Salesian Family of Asia Pacific. It also functions as an agency for ANS based in Rome. For queries please contact admin@bosconet.aust.com . Use Bosconet-wiki to be interactive. RSS feeds - just go to Bosconet, click on austraLasia 2010 in the sidebar. You will see the RSS orange icon in your browser address bar - add it from there. Or be interactive with the EAO blog Cetera Tolle. Avail yourself of the Salesian Digital Library at http://sdl.sdb.org
It's Michael Rua's moment
Johannesburg and Rome: 28 October 2010 -- Fr Francois Dufour, Superior of the Southern African Vice Province, dropped a short note the other day, pointing out that the Michael Rua School in Johannesburg, appropriately situated next to the Bosco Youth Centre (the two names go together through time and space today as once upon a time), would be losing its priest-principal at the end of the year under government legislation which determines that once you have turned 65, that's it! Fr Dino Miotto has been principal for 17 years and he may be the last Catholic priest principal in South Africa according to our correspondent. Fr Dino is much loved, much respected. He will not be replaced by a Salesian. Other provinces in the English-speaking world have already taken the step of replacing top school leadership in many instances with zealous, competent and men and women working within the Salesian ambit, to guarantee, with the help of the 'animating nucleus' as we are wont to say, the Salesian quality and spirit of the school. We wish AFM a successful search and a little help from the saint after whom not only the school is named but the Vice Province as well.
So it's 'Rua Day' tomorrow, and a year's celebrations culminate in a Congress in Rome that many have prepared for and the Rector Major, in particular has wanted. There are 234 attendees, according to the final list, 17 of whom come from EAO, and given that there are 33 Salesian Sisters on the list we could say that there's a round 200 SDBs who will be attending.
Given such a broad attendance from around the Salesian world, and given also some of the stimulating and indeed novel (new content, new discoveries, e.g. the Vatican Secret Archives) material, it seems a great pity that the material is largely available only in Italian. That appears to have been a strategic choice, though it's not sure what 'strategy' might be involved! Certainly no requests were made for translations and given that many of the verbal presentations are backed by a 24-29 page written document, it would have required several months work to translate 24 separate addresses of the kind.
But let's not cry over spilt milk. If you go (in English!) to the Rua pages on sdb.org - assuming of course you are a registered user, which every Salesian should be, but we can't do it for him - you will find a deal of useful information. The programme has been translated into English, and two of the early addresses also, because they seemed, at least to this writer, to be particularly valuable ones and worth doing anyway. Fr Francis Motto's "two personalities, two inseparable names" is available in English as also the address from an official of the Vatican Secret Archives. And given that there are a couple of other presenters from countries which use English, one might hope they would have their bit in English as well or at least a copy in that language. It also has to be assumed that in due course translations of the entire set of presentations will be requested and accomplished for the benefit not just of English speakers but Spanish, French, whatever. What we do know is that Fr Nesty Impelido (FIN) been pressed into service as a simultaneous interpreter for the event. That's good news.
The latest word from Bangalore is that the 'Life of Fr Michael Rua' (from the Desramaut original in French) has been published. We had obviously hoped that copies might arrive here, and no doubt they will, but in the meantime you could find a last-but-one corrected version on SDL in the Rua collection, as you will also find all his letters, all 6,000 of them! In that collection too, if you are looking for some pics or a prayer service for the Feast, go to the 'titles' tag and check out especially the D-V group.
And - happy feast day!
Click here to comment on this item, or here to assist with Glossary. You will need to enter 20eao02 when asked for a password.
_________________
AustraLasia is an email service for the Salesian Family of Asia Pacific. It also functions as an agency for ANS based in Rome. For queries please contact admin@bosconet.aust.com . Use Bosconet-wiki to be interactive. RSS feeds - just go to Bosconet, click on austraLasia 2010 in the sidebar. You will see the RSS orange icon in your browser address bar - add it from there. Or be interactive with the EAO blog Cetera Tolle. Avail yourself of the Salesian Digital Library at http://sdl.sdb.org
