Posted July 14, 2008

Ireland - Murdered Salesian commemorated at Drogheda Annual St Oliver Pilgrimage

(Drogheda) - This year the annual Pilgrimage to St. Oliver’s Shrine in Drogheda commemorated the death of Drogheda-born Salesian Fr. Declan Collins, who was murdered in South Africa in 2002. Each year thousands of pilgrims visit St. Oliver Plunkett’s Shrine in St. Peter’s Church, Drogheda, in the Archdiocese of Armagh, to venerate his Relics and to learn about his life story. Pilgrims pray for the sick and troubled, for family and friends. They fittingly turn to St. Oliver, who was martyred for his faith in a time of political, religious and social turmoil, to pray for his intercession concerning conflict areas at home and abroad.

The newly appointed Apostolic Nuncio to Ireland, Archbishop Giuseppe Leanza, and His Eminence Seán Cardinal Brady, Archbishop of Armagh joined the Saelsians in remebering this slain missionary. Fr, John Horan, Irish Salesian Provincial, the Mayor of Drogheda and members of Drogheda Borough Council were also among the particiapnts in the meorial services. The homily at the concluding concelebrated Mass was preached by the murdered Salesian’s novitiate classmate, Fr. John Campion, S.D.B., Rector of Milford, Limerick. Fr. Declan’s widowed mother Monica and members of his family were present at the ceremony.

Italy – In memory of Fr. Braga, loved by China and the Philippines

(Sondrio) – Fr. Carlo Braga, a Salesian missionary in China and in the Philippines until his death on January 3, 1971 was commemorated in Tirano, in the Province of Sondrio, Italy  July 5-6, 2008.

On the evening of July 5, 2008, a presentation on the life and work of Fr. Braga in China and the Philippines was offered to the public, in the municipal theater of Tirano, the town where the Salesian Missionary was born. Fr. Carlo Socol, S.D.B., from the Hong Kong Province and Bishop Capelli from Gizo, Solomon Islands spoke respectively about the time spent by Fr. Braga in China and in the Philippines. Cardinal Zen, S.D.B. spoke of his personal experiences with Fr. Braga who had welcomed him to the Institute in Shanghai when the Cardinal was just 12 years old. The Cardinal had been struck by the kindness, friendliness, and devotion to duty of the Salesian missionary. He siad that Fr. Braga “was understood by the Chinese not because he knew their language well, but because he spoke the language of the heart.” Fr. Braga took part in the priestly ordination and first mass of the Cardinal in Turin in 1961.

Sudan – The presence of the F.M.A. in Darfur

(El Daein) – The first foundation of the Daughters of Mary Help of Christians (F.M.A.)was established in the region of Darfur, in Sudan, in early June 2008. Sr. Anita Edayuramvelil, originally from the Bombay Province, Sr. Maria Goretti Puthempurailkkel, from Bangalore, and a Sudanese Sister are now settling in at El Daein. The small community will be engaged in health and education activities on behalf ofyoung people, especially the girls.

Salesian Fr. Vincenzo Donati wrote to Mother Antonia Colombo a year ago requesting that she send some Salesian Sisters to Darfur to respond to the urgent health and education needs of hundreds of young girls and babies there.

The Sisters were able to begin their work in El Daein thanks to the involvement of the Bishop of Darfur, to the willingness of the F.M.A. Indian Provinces to provide Sisters, and the support of the Jesuit missionaries in the area. The El Daein comunity is part of the Our Lady of Hope Province of the Daughters of Mary Help of Christians which includes Sudan, Ethiopia, Kenya and Tanzania.

United States - Salesian Youth Leadership Conference

(Watsonville, CA) The 33nd annual Salesian Youth Leadership Conference (SYLC) in the San Francisco Province concluded on June 22, 2008. Over 120 youth and adults participated in the week-long formation in leadership and Salesian youth spirituality.

The conference explored the province theme prompted by this year’s Strenna: With Hearts on Fire, Act with Justice! Teach Love. Speak love. Be love. Through general sessions, small group work, games, communal life and prayer the participants learned key principles of leadership and arrived at a deeper understanding of how their personal gifts can help transform the world.

On the fifth day, participants in the annual Salesian Educators Seminar (SES) came to SYLC for a dialogue session in local community groups. This yearly session is a strategic step towards forming youth leaders and educators in a shared commitment to the needs of youth in their communities and neighborhoods. The session ended with a commissioning of the SES participants, who in solidarity with their youth leaders at SYLC, concluded their five day seminar.

On the last full day of SYLC, Br. Al Vu, S.D.B., the Province Youth Ministry Delegate, led participants through a process of reflection by which they arrived at personal mission statements. They retraced steps they had taken during the week, remembering the principles, values and gifts by which they live and lead. Open to the Spirit within, they wrote mission statements which many youth then shared with the SYLC community. The week concluded with many hearts on fire, quite ready and open fo teach, speak and be love on behalf of those most in need.

Slovakia – 8000 young people at the 2008 LUMEN Festival

(Trnava) – The 16th LUMEN gospel music festival was held June 6-7, 2008 at Trnava and attracted  over 8,000 young people from Slovakia and other central European countries. The Festival, organized by the Salesians, the Salesian Youth Movement and the Salesian DOMKA Association in Slovakia, is one of the biggest gospel music events in the country. It is hosted in collaboration with the city of Trnava, and this year for the first time the Festival was held in two different venues: in the city center and in the recently opened municipal amphitheater.

The theme Light in the City reflected the Christian values of joy, good citizenship, and witness. In spite of the heavy rain on Friday evening, the young peoples’ enthusiasm and joy were not dampened. On that evening, the Gospel Group Delirious? from Great Britain performed.

Many young people also took part in the masses and penitential services arranged during the two days. The two evenings of music were broadcast by satellite by the Slovakian Catholic Station TV LUX. Feed-back shows that they were also followed in China and in Iceland.

Papua New Guinea - Re-opens ’miracle’ school

(Araimiri) - Bishop Paul Marx of Kerema Diocese blessed and re-opened the Dominic Savio Primary School in late May 2008, after it was closed for four years, due to poor infrastructure and staffing, calling it a miracle school. And it certainly is that for the plantation children from Herehere, Ova`a, Ovahuhu, Lakkavu, Hiru, Lovehoho and Huiva villages.

Fr. Peter Baquero,S.D.B., Rector of the Araimiri community and the Don Bosco Technical School there, Fr. Robinson Parappilly, S.D.B., Pastor to the Kearu people, the tribe to which most of the children attending the school belong, and the Diocesan Education Secretary, Mr. Tony Malaisa expressed their great joy on the school’s reopening . There were thousands of well wishers and children participating in the event. The re-opened school will accommodate 250 children, with the aim of helping them to grow up to be good Christians and honest citizens.

Fr. Robinson felt that the most important need for the place was a good elementary school. "Children of the district who have grown up out of school have tended often to become adults without fear of God or man, some even turning to rascalism and drugs", he said. `Rascalism` is the PNG term for young people who drift into the urban areas and join gangs.

 The school is now a permanent structure, built with the help of people from the villages and funded by the Salesians. "We have spent more than 40,000 Kina (approx. $15,000) on the infrastructure and we are proud to invest this money for the benefit of the children in the Kearu area. With the help of the Government and education department we hope to improve the living standards of the people and especially of the children and youth", he added.

Germany – 24 young volunteers

(Bonn) – During  a ceremony on June 13, 2008, held in the Salesian parish of St. Winfried in Bonn, 24 young people received their missionary mandate before departing for Africa, Asia and Latin America. The families and friends of the volunteers and the collaborators of the Salesian NGO Jugend Dritte Welt and Don Bosco Mission Office prayed with the volunteers during the commissioning ceremony.

The young volunteers, who are between the ages of 19 and 25, were prepared for their work through a training program that began last November and included  a series of seminars at Jünkerath, Heiligenstadt, and Bonn. “We have learned  a lot about Don Bosco and his educational system and about some of the problems we could meet in a foreign country and a foreign culture,” said Margareta Schneider. She will be ministering in a Youth Center run by the Daughters of Mary Help of Christians at Betafo in Madagascar.

“You are ambassadors who will bring together the wisdom, the experience and the values of a different continent,” the Salesian Mission Director Brother Jean Paul Muller, S.D.B. told the young people.

The young volunteers will complete their preparation with another seminar in the next few weeks.

United States – FMA accreditation at the United Nations

(New York) - On June 6, 2008, the request from the Institute of the Daughters of Mary Help of Christians  (F.M.A.), for accreditation at the Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) of the United Nations received a favorable reply.

The recognition allows the Daughters of Mary Help of Christians to be present as an Institution at meetings called by the United Nations and opens the way for new opportunities of involvement by the Office for Human Rights in Geneva. The Salesian Family now has more representation on the world stage; the Salesians and the Daughters of Mary Help of Christians can make the voice of poor and abandoned young people heard also at this international level.

Those behind the ECOSOC recognition of the F.M.A. have been: Sr. Phyllis Neves, Provincial of the Eastern Province of the United States, Fr. Thomas Brennan, S.D.B. representative at the UNO, Sr. Maria de los Angeles Contreras, Councillor for the Salesian Family and Sr. Bernadette Sangma, the F.M.A who prepared the application.

Myanmar – The long march continues

(Yangon) – Forty five days after cyclone Nargis hit Myanmar, the Church and the groups of volunteers organized by the church, continue their efforts to cope with the emergency situations caused by the natural catastrophe.

Thousands of people are returning to their homes, or at least to where they once stood, and are finding out about the disappearance of their friends and acquaintances. The country people are also returning to their ordinary work trying to plant a crop as quickly as possible. The river Ayeyawady, too, is returning to its banks, and as the water recedes, the bodies of  those whose lives it took are revealed.

“It was a hard month for the Church,” Archbishop Charles Maung Bo of Yangon says, referring to the work done by the Catholics following the emergency. During this time every parish became a center from which food and other necessities were distributed. In many instances the work was able to be accomplisded due to the collaboration of Buddhist monks.

The Church in Myanmar is doing everything possible to provide for the needs of the families so that the children can take up their schooling again, providing seed for sowing and ensuring psychological and spiritual help for the victims.

According to Archbishop Bo, it will take at least two years for the area affected by the cyclone to return to normal life. The primary concern at present is to provide aid for those most in need: building shelters and accommodation for the homeless, and providing for the distribution of seeds for produing crops, and starting small projects.

Bangladesh – On the way to a new Salesian foundation

(Dhaka) – From May 15th to June 7th, Fr. Francis Alencherry, former Councillor for the Missions and in recent years Coordinator for the Africa Madagascar Region, visited the dioceses of Khulna, Mymensingh, and Rajshahi in Bangladesh to identify a place for a new Salesian foundation.

At the end of the 26th General Chapter, Fr. Chávez spoke of opening a new frontier for Salesian Pastoral activity in Bangladesh and announced that Fr. Alencherry would take up this effort.  The new foundation that the Salesians are preparing for in this country actually marks a return of the Salesians.

In 1928, the Salesians began working in what is today the territory of the diocese of Khulna, with a variety of pastoral activities in a good number of parishes. They remained there until 1950.  After the partition of India in 1947, and with the creation of East Pakistan, the Salesians gradually handed over their apostolate to the Missionaries of St. Francis Xavier and moved to the diocese of Krishnagar. East Pakistan became the independent state of Bangladesh in 1971.

The Bishops of Bangladesh are eager to have the Salesians in their dioceses and have invited the Sons of Don Bosco to open a ministry to offer a good education to the people living in the rural districts. They are especially interested in establishing secondary schools and colleges. The Salesians are being asked to take special care of the young people so that they can become true leaven for the transformation of society, and to engage directly in evangelization.

Poland - A bridge with Zambia

(Warsaw) -  A group of six young people from Zambia will spend almost a month in Poland, hosted by the Salesian Missionary Center in Warsaw.  They have been accompanied by four Salesian Sisters, two native Zambians and two from Poland who have worked in Zambia for 24 years. The visit will be from May 22 to June 23, 2008.

A highlight of the visit was the gathering of missionaries, volunteers, and ‘parents’ who are part of the Distance Adoption Program for Zambia. This gathering took place at the Salesian Missionary Center in Warsaw on May 24th, the Feast of Mary Help of Christians. The Distance Adoption Program has enabled young people in Lusaka to study in the City of Hope, and Don Bosco School in Luwingu.  The group visiting Poland is composed of young people from these centers, and it was the first time they could meet adoptive ‘parents’ face to face.

The visit has enabled the Zambian youngsters to contribute to mission animation in various parts of Poland, as they visited Salesian centers in Warsaw, Krakow, Gdansk, and elsewhere.  They have been speaking in schools and parishes about life in their country and of their dreams.  Polish children have been fascinated by the musical talent and joy of the Zambian youngsters.

Italy – “Foyer-Lakay” for street children

(Turin) – Turin is preparing to celebrate its patron, Saint John the Baptist, with a public concert, to be held in the evening of June 23, 2008 in Piazza Vittorio, promoting the Don Bosco in the World Foundation in collaboration with Prime Time Promotions. Italian and foreign singers will be performing during the concert, hosted by Massimo Giletti and Sonia Grey and broadcast by RAIUNO.  

The event, Concert for Street Children, is intended to draw attention to a solidarity campaign for street children in Haiti, especially for the Foyer-Lakay project organized by Salesian missionaries. In this center, the Salesians want to provide accommodation and care for at least 300 street children in Port-au-Prince giving them a home, a school, and work.

On the day of  the concert, June 23rd, there will be  a press conference in the late morning in the Turin City Hall. The concert and the whole project of Foyer-Lakay will be introduced by Fr. Attilio Stra, S.D.B., who has worked in Haiti for a number of years. 

Italy - In the words of someone working with the street children

(Rome) In an interview available on the Don Bosco in the World Foundation site, Fr. Stra, the founder of the Lakay center, gives a brief account of the presence of the Salesians in Haiti. At the invitation of the local authorities, the Salesians arrived in Haiti in 1936. They devoted themselves to vocational training schools and the oratory, winning the esteem and trust of the people because of the quality of the education they offered and their enthusiatic presence among the people. In addition, he said, “Soccer was brought to Haiti by the Salesians.”  One foundation that did not succeed in Haiti, though, was an agricultural school.

Tracing the history of two hundred years of exploitation that have led to the current socio-economic situation of the country, Fr. Stra described the rapid and unchecked concentration of the population in the cities that has led to huge slum areas over the past decades. Since any type of infrastructure is lacking, the people struggle for survival. Their only hope often comes from the money that relatives who have managed to emigrate are able to send back home. These remittances amount to a thousand million and a half dollars, equal to a third of the G.N.P.

The poor economy, instability in families, and the spread of violence leads youngsters to look to the streets for a place to live. “The street becomes their family, their home, where the enjoy themselves, … and often, it is where they die,” Fr. Stra said.  He indicated that the capital, Port au Prince, there are 3 to 4 thousand street children.

Fr. Stra, helped by another Salesian and by about fifty lay people, has developed a careful plan to respond to the situation and help these youngsters. The first step is making friends and takes place on the streets where they meet and get to know the youngsters personally. “It is mainly a matter of listening to them,” the Salesian missionary said. “Only in extreme cases do we intervene.” The second step is the playground, a place to meet where the youngsters are free to come and go and be away from danger. “Here there is water for them to wash up, games to play, and some informal classes to help them begin to learn to read and write. And above all there are people here who show an interest in them, talk to them.”  If it is posssible and/or advisable, attempts are made to reunite the children with their families. Lakay, the house, is the final stage of the program.  At this point , the youngsters can go to school, learn a trade and become part of a group. Then the last step is to try to get them to take their place in society with a job that will make them self-sufficient.

Belgium - Don Bosco Youth-Net releases new websites

(ANS – Brussels) - Don Bosco Youth-Net (DBYN) has a new website: www.donboscoyouth.net. In addition to providing general information and news on the network, the website offers 3 resource databases. One presents a full overview of the activities of the network. The accommodation database has a listing of over 120 Don Bosco houses that young people can rent for their activities (cf. www.donbosco-accyp.net). The toolbox database is full of documents, manuals, and activities that youth leaders and organizations can use in their youth work. There is a service to which users can subscribe that allows them to get information tailored to their personal interests and needs and have it sent directly to their e-mail mailbox.

Don Bosco Youth-Net (DBYN) is an international network of Salesian youth work offices and youth organizations that work in accord with the Salesian Charism. At present, the network is made up of 13 member organizations from 13 European Union member states. It links over 1,000 employees and 17,000 volunteers who work with over 150,000 children and young people.

DBYN also released an online T.V. channel: www.youtube.com/dbyntv. It is used to post reports of its past activities.

RMG – World Consultative Committee for the Missions set up

(Rome) – Fr. Vaclav Klement, the new Councillor for the Missions, has announced the formation of a World Consultative Committee for the Salesian Missions and has planned its first meeting. The new organization has been created in response to discussions that involved Provincials, Provincial Delegates for Missionary Promotion in the Provinces, and the other two Councillors for the Salesian Mission, Fr. Fabio Attard (Youth Ministry) and Fr. Filiberto Gonzalez (Social Communication).

The committee is made up of some Salesians and lay people, experts in the various areas of missiology, missionary formation and development. Bishop Jesús Tirso Blanco, S.D.B. of Luena is one of the members. Several representatives  of the Departments for Youth Ministry and Social Communication were present for the discussion as observers.

The objectives of the World Consultative Committee for the Salesian Missions are:

• To accompany the missionary animation of the Congregation, offering assessment, research and study guidelines, and aids for constant updating;
• To provide a permanent consultancy service for the  missionary animation of the Congregation, particularly for the Department for the Missions;
• To collaborate with the Department on a permanent basis through studies and personal suggestions.

There will be an on-line work session  in preparation for the first meeting that will take place at the Salesian Generalate in Rome September 29th to October 2, 2008. Similar to the two World Consultative Committees for Youth Ministry and Social Communication, this body will hold on-line meetings and gatherings in Rome in alternate years. It is intended that the members will be able to make their own contributions and exchange their opinions on various topics and decisions that affect the mission work of the congregation.

The Department for the Missions would like to let people know that an animation kit for the  2008 Salesian Mission Day Domisal is avaialable: Educating for Life – HIV/AIDS: the Salesian Response. The kit can be requested directly from the office of the Department and is also is also available on the sdb.org site.

Colombia – XIV Seminar at Ciudad Don Bosco

(Medellín) – The Orquesta Sinfónica Infantil y Juvenil de Medellín performed a concert to conclude the XIV Seminar at Ciudad Don Bosco at Ciudad Don Bosco in Medellín, June 19-20, 2008. The focus of the seminar was: Educational and Pedagogical Alternatives for Children and Young People who have been Denied Their Rights. In particular, the right to education was examined because education is seen as providing children and young people a means to escape from the poverty that deprives them of a better future.

Statistics shared during the seminar indicate that the vast majority of youngsters in Columbian society, about 95%, are excluded for the school system due to behavioral, emotional, or family problems, or through neglect, abandonment, or rejection.

The Ciudad Don Bosco Seminar was attended by educators, professionals in youth issues, representatives of public bodies, NGOs, educational institutions, universities and experts who shared their own experiences and made suggestions to guarantee the rights of the young.

Ukraine – Thank you Fr. Hoppe

(Odessa) – June 27–29, 2008, coinciding with the Solemnity of Saints Peter and Paul, the Salesians  celebrated their 50th anniversary of ministry in Odessa and commemorated Fr. Tadeusz Hoppe, S.D.B., the pioneer of the Salesian work in the city. A new tombstone was blessed and placed at Fr. Hoppe’s grave by Bishop Bronislav Bernacki of Odessa.

Missioni Don Bosco – Media Center in Turin produced a documentary on Fr. Hoppe’ s life and work that was shown after the graveside ceremony. This was followed by several testimonies given by people who had known the Salesian pioneer. They spoke movingly of various incidents from his life and spoke about him as a person and a priest.

Fr. Hoppe arrived in the Ukraine city in 1958 while Stalinism and atheism were the dominant societal forces.  The churches were closed and the Cathedral had been converted into a sports hall. Slowly, Fr. Hoppe began to work under cover setting up networks of people and carrying out small activities. As the years went by, and with the political changes brought about by  Gorbachov’s  Perestroika in 1991, the Salesians were able to expand their work and confreres from Poland joined Fr. Hoppe in his work. Fr. Hoppe died on November 10, 2003.

The Salesians in Odessa – an important Ukrainian city and port on the Black Sea, where Catholics are a minority – are present in a parish, a youth center, a university hostel. Additionally, they guide youthful offenders and manage a nursery school.

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