Mestre, Italy - February 2023 - On February 4, the third and final session of the VIIth Provincial Chapter of the Northeast Salesian Province (INE) was held at the Salesian Work of Don Bosco in Mestre. The two previous working sessions were held in Turin-Valdocco from October 14-16, 2022, where the themes of reflection to be addressed were outlined, and in Mestre, from December 27-30, 2022, intensive work on the drafting of the final text, starting with the contributions of the various working commissions. The general objectives of the work planned by the Chapter were: review of the implementation of GC28 and the choice of steps to be taken for the next three years; the approval of the INE Training Plan; and the approval of the INE Economic Directory. Among the novelties of this Chapter was the active participation of youth and laity, in fact - in addition to the 70 Chapter members participating by right and elected by the Salesian communities - 20 laity, 4 representatives of the Salesian Family and 7 youth also participated as invited guests, who made an excellent contribution in terms of fraternity and reflection on the issues. The last session saw the final vote on the documents prepared by the different commissions. In summary, the final work reports the desire of the Salesians of the INE Province to be more and more evangelizers and companions of young people in a secularized context, capable of living a true fraternity in the works in which they meet, taking care of religious identity and co-responsibility in the Pastoral Educational Community as best they can. For this reason, it is also important to implement choices that lead to downsizing and redesign of the works.

Fr. Emanuele Zof
INE Social Communication Delegate