On the weekend of 10-11 June, the Salesian Cooperators (ASC) Iberian Regional Advisory Council (Spain-Portugal) was held in Madrid. It brought together the coordinators of the six Provinces of Spain and Portugal, the ASC Delegates from the Salesians and the Daughters of Mary Help of Christians, the Regional Executive Secretary and several guests, for a total of 37 people.
The Regional Advisory Council usually takes place twice a year and, in general, it is always an event filled with convivial fellowship, in which to share inter-provincial experiences, make progress in the apostolic task that is then developed in each local centre.
Saturday was the most intense day. To begin with, all the points and proposals of the "Criteria for the animation and functioning of the Regional Advisory Council" document were discussed. It will be approved at the next Regional Congress (2024).
The three-year project was then presented as working material for the Provinces: “Plan Llama”. A program whose title already indicates being called (Llamados, in Spanish) and being flame (Llama) that gives off light and heat. The activities of the three-year period, in fact, focus on the call to walk together, to be leaven and light. In addition, they are a preparatory plan for the 150th anniversary of the Association (2026) with a view to a renewal of apostolic zeal and the witness of Salesian life among young people. And even earlier, in view of 2024 and the bicentenary of Don Bosco's Dream at Nine Years of Age, the process proposes to renew the life of the ASC in a creative and original way, through the eight Beatitudes.
Saturday 10 June also provided a formation session on Pope Francis' encyclical Laudato Si', which is another direction to work on for the three-year period; and other topics were also discussed, such as the choice of the venue for the next regional meeting, which will have the task of addressing the next six-year period in the Region.
On Sunday, however, the financial situation of the Region and the Salesian Cooperator program for the Youth of the World (CSJM, in Spanish) were evaluated to strengthen financial solidarity in the Association at all levels.
On the last day, Fr Juan Carlos Pérez Godoy, Councillor for the Mediterranean Region, and Salesian Cardinal Cristobal López Romero, Archbishop of Rabat, Morocco, were also in Madrid for the ordinations of five Salesians that took place the previous Saturday.
The weekend ended with the Eucharist on the Feast of Corpus Christi, celebrated by Fr Pérez Godoy, and with a community lunch in the company of Cardinal López Romero, a fitting end to thank and renew our strength to face the exciting journey that lies ahead.
Enrique Navarro,
ASC
https://www.infoans.org/en/sections/news/item/18254-spain-salesian-cooperators-iberian-regional-advisory-council#sigProId054d1711da
