Thai Binh, Vietnam, 28 February 2017 -- The last full day of 2017 Animation visit in Vietnam (February 26) was a good opportunity for the Rector Major to wrap up the feelings and share some pointers to the future of Salesian Charism in this beautiful country. After a busy with 4000 Youth Day participants in Thai Binh, there was the third and last meeting with the Salesians of Vietnam in the chapel of the Pastoral Center.
Fr. Angel expressed his gratitude and admiration for his Salesian confrere - bishop: 'I was deeply touched and admire the Salesian heart of Bishop Peter De - with the open door Church compound welcoming everybody to the footbal field. I felt really at home... I appreciate this open Oratory as a model for every Salesian presence in Vietnam!'
In this way the Successor of Don Bosco met already 250 Vietnamese Salesians in one week. As a fruit of daily interaction and dialogue with many of them his final words on February 26 have a special taste of deeper insight, appreciating especially the whole carefully planned program of this week with a good quality - three Salesian confrere meetings, three Salesian Family and four Youth meeting and especially the three specific encounters with the confreres and formators: Prenovitiate and Novitiate; Postnovitiate and Theologate.
"Now i know your province better: We have a very dynamic province, working essentially with the poor youth, with simple not sophisticated presences. A province, thanks to God is young, growing with vocations. A province with more than 300 SDB, average age of 42 years, with two beautiful traits - a great value of 60+ Salesian Brother vocation and great missionary generosity with the whole Congregation!"
"Put all you energies into the mission for the poor youth of Vietnam, with a special concern to develop our presence in the Northern part of your country, strengthening our presences with more and committed confreres - a missionary outreach for the Salesians concentrated so far in the South!"
"Since the main works are parishes, we need to make all them truly Salesian parishes: missionary, open to the common people and the young, reaching out with education services also the non-Christian youth around us!"
"I'm enthusiastic with your mission and family spirit! Keep on animating your confreres with always new enthusiasm - it's contagious! Never be tired of animating with enthusiasm!"
"Take care about the fraternal life in your communities, take good care about the person of each Salesian! The danger of clericalism as often points Pope Francis also to the religious is one of the greatest dangers in the Catholic community today - take this temptation seriously!"
"We were born for the young, never forget that young people are at the center of our heart and of our life! Take seriously the two most frequent questions of the young in our meetings - about the education to the use of social media and about variety of issues blurred by the present society value confusion like: solid preparation for the marriage, how to face many consumerist society temptations or how to live more authentic Christian life".
Wonderful hospitality of Salesian Bishop and his seminarians was concluded in a family manner after a dinner and good night talk with a symbolic gift of two footballs! On February 27th the Rector Major left from Hanoi to the first Team Visit in South Asia, Chennai.
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