For the Salesians of Don Bosco and for all those working in Salesian centers, there is a permanent fixture: the oratory. In fact, the Salesian Constitutions offer an encouraging view on pastoral work and it, indeed, stated that "Don Bosco lived a typical pastoral experience in his first oratory, which for the young was a welcoming home, a parish that evangelizes, a school that leads to life, and a courtyard where to share friendship and joy."
To continue to "revive the fire" of Salesian courtyards and accompany the paths embarked and started upon by the communities, formative projects have been made available by the communities, projects elaborated with the Youth Ministry team, spaces which have become a model of inspiration, a space for reflection and choice, so as to continue working in the style of Don Bosco. These projects are:
- Courtyard Mamma Margherita
- Oratory Courtyard
- Valdocco Courtyard
- Dreams Courtyard.
As part of the Plan for Formation and Accompaniment led by the provincial Youth Ministry team, the Province of Southern Argentina (ARS) has reflected on the practices of community participation and animation starting from Pastoral Theology.
Carolina Bacher presented the theme "Fostering the management of the Spirit". "Pastoral care corresponds to following God's intervention in history. When we think of an institutional ministry ... what is said is that we are trying to discover the presence of God through those institutional frameworks, through spaces and locations, and the space of the Salesians is the courtyard."
Faced with an infinite number of pastoral models - the traditional model, configured around the cult itself, the community model, focused on the area of koinonia, the evangelizing model, which gives priority to actions around the kerygma, or the liberating model that gives the priority to diakonia - one wonders: in what pastoral model can the pastoral practices of Don Bosco and the Salesians be placed?
For Salesians, without a doubt, the pastoral model of Don Bosco is valid: the courtyard as a place for personal encounter with young people.
