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Avvio_del_sito_web ITA.docx  (ITA)

Dear Father Provincial,

Dear Delegate for Youth Ministry,

 

We would like to kindly greet you as we prepare to to relive the Paschal Mystery, which sheds the light of hope upon the whole of our existence, even its most complex and painful aspects. Holy Week will again set before us this mystery of salvation in the evocative rites of the Easter Triduum.

 

One of the subject matters on which the Department of Youth Ministry focused its work between 2015 and 2018 is the topyc of the family, as requested by the two Synods on the pastoral challenges of the family (2014 and 2015) and the 27th Chapter General (2014). This is why, in 2014 we started a continous and forward-looking journey of study and reflection activities, consisting in a number of stages in which we are and will be gradually involved:

 

1st stage: Study of the family contexts in all regions, through a number of study sessions involving all the Delegates for Youth Ministry, which were organized with the help of qualified experts from different regions (September 2015 - February 2016).

 

2nd stage: Creation of an international study group, which outlined the main emerging issues  and drew a realistic and detailed analysis of challenges to the family. The creation of this group was based on the study of the different contexts, which was carried out during the first stage (March 2016).

 

 3rd stage:  Analysis of the provincial and local context, through a consultation addressed to all Provinces: a Questionnaire that the Provincial Councils used to share information on their pastoral work and on the support they provided to families in their area (June - February 2017) .

 

4th stage:  Organization of the International Congress on Youth and Family Ministry (from November 27th to December 1st 2017), which will  be held in Madrid, Spain. It will aim at further studying the current guidelines on the family set by the Church and the Congregation, sharing challenges and educational and/or pastoral opportunities, as well as creating new fora for reflection and action within the education and ministry community.

Today March 28th The Congress website www.symfamily17.org is open for pre-registration:

https://www.symfamily17.org/?lang=en

 

The Congress will be a forum for participation and representation of all the Provinces of the Congregation. As to the choice of participants,  a set number of people and their profile have been identified so that congress sessions and proceedings can advance smoothly. This is why participants include lay people and religious people of our society, who are involved with families in the field of salesian youth ministry,  so that they will able to help promote and strengthen various pastoral processes in favor of the family, as topyc and recipients of our ministry. A specific number of participants has been set for every Province  (in the "participants" section of the web page you may find this data).

 

Provinces insted of single individuals will manage the registration process to make sure participants meet  their Provinces’ criteria. 

 

Please find below the most important dates leading up to the General Congress, to help you prepare for it.  

 

- March 28th - July 31th 2017: registration , enrollment and payment period.

- 1 August - 30 September 2o17: registration to activities (panel of "good practices" and training workshop or "Mini Course") and registration.

 

We entrust to the Holy Spirit and to Mary the path leading up to the Congress, its development and its outcome. May it be a moment of grace leading us to make the family a fully-fledged priority within our  educational and pastoral work. May families be helped and supported  in every education and  ministry community. May the topic of the family be a high working priority of the whole salesian Society.