Spain - SYMFAMILY17: "A good youth ministry will help form young people to be strong, supportive and able to love"
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01 December 2017

(ANS - Madrid) - The Special Secretary for the Synod of Youth, recently nominated by the Pope, Salesian Fr Rossano Sala, completed the cycle of talks at the Salesian International Youth Ministry and Family Congress, SYMFAMILY17, held in Madrid from November 27 to December 1.

Fr Rossano Sala, who also directs the magazine "Note di Pastorale Giovanile", emphasized that the very theme of the congress was at the center of the Church's concerns, located chronologically between the Synod for the Family, the publication of "Amoris Laetitia",  and the forthcoming Synod of Youth. The interest of the Church made itself explicit at the congress via the presence of Alexandre Awi Mello, Secretary of the Vatican Dicastery for the Laity, the Family and Life, and the participation, on the morning of November 30, of Raúl Tinajero Ramírez, Director of the Dicastery of Youth Ministry of the Bishops' Conference.

Professor Sala, for whom the family spirit "is a transversal dimension of all the Salesian pastoral", spoke of the Salesian vision of the theme at the center of the Congress: "We are convinced that a good youth pastoral shall contribute to the formation of young people who are strong, supportive and able to love. This is a fundamental condition for keeping families solid, faithful and happy."

 

Fr Sala recalled, as the pastoral task the Salesian Congregation is taking on, the words of Benedict XVI, spoken in 2008 to the participants in General Chapter 26: "In the education of young people, it is extremely important that the family is an active subject. The predilection for and commitment to young people, which characterizes the charism of Don Bosco, must translate into a commitment similar to the involvement and formation of families. That is why your youth ministry must open, with decisiveness, to family ministry." Youth and family ministries that cannot walk along parallel paths.

The family, co-responsible for the mission

In youth ministry, and especially in preparing for marriage intended as vocation, the family has a role that is important and sees it as a protagonist. For the Salesian, families can contribute to the formation of young people through their own experience: in affective education, and through youth groups in the presence of families animating such meets. He concluded ,"if the specific vocation of the family is love, generation and education, it is logical that these are specific family contributions to enriching the Pastoral Educational Community." And he emphasized the importance of considering families as co-responsible for the Salesian mission.

The penultimate day of Congress ended with Mass presided by Alexandre Awi. In his homily, the Secretary of the Vatican Dicastery for the Laity, the Family and Life, commented on the Gospel and the episode of the multiplication of bread loaves and fish, which he said was: "a Salesian episode", as the Apostle Andrew realized,  "what the good was that the young man had to offer; the same as what Don Bosco would do. " From there, accompanying him to Jesus, the miracle.

Father Awi Mello emphasized that in this synodal journey, "young people are at the heart of the attention of the Church, the Pope and the Salesians. And he warned that "the Synod on the young passes, but the Salesians remain." Commenting on other evangelical passages, he pointed out that "placing young people at the center means placing the family at the center," because it is impossible to "separate these two centralities" because "the family is the source, the path, and the goal of youth."

Follow the developments of # SYMFamily17 at:

Twitter:      @Symfamily17

Facebook:   Symfamily17

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Flickr:        www.flickr.com

Video: Ponencia Dr. Peña

Video: Ponencia P. Fabio Attard 

Video: Ponencia P. Rossano Sala 

 

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