Libro SYMFAM 2018 (EN) V3.Indd

YOUTH MINISTRY AND FAMILY MINISTRY YOUTH YOUTH MINISTRY andFAMILY ACTS OF THE INTERNATIONAL CONGRESS MADRID, 27th November - 1st December, 2017 SALESIAN YOUTH MINISTRY DEPARTMENT ACTS OF THE INTERNATIONAL CONGRESS OF THE INTERNATIONAL ACTS Diseño gráfico: ARTIA COMUNICACIÓN Ilustraciones: JAVIER CARABAÑO Propiedad reservada al SALESIAN YOUTH MINISTRY DEPARTMENT SEDE CENTRALE SALESIANA Via Marsala, 42 00185 Roma YOUTH MINISTRY andFAMILY PRESENTATION FR. ÁNGEL FERNÁNDEZ ARTIME X Successor of Don Bosco. I am pleased to present the Acts of the International Congress on Youth Ministry and Family that was held in Madrid from 27th November to 1st December, 2017. The reflection on Youth Ministry and the Family has been part of our journey as a Congregation in the preceding General Chapters. The idea of an International Congress was born in 2014, in response to the two Synods of Bishops convened by Pope Francis on the pastoral challenges of the family (2014 -2015), and the General Chapter 27 of the Salesians of Don Bosco (2014). Therefore, in 2014, the Department for Salesian Youth Ministry initiated a pro- gram of study and continuous reflection with a vision of the future, which con- sisted of a series of stages in view of the Congress: the study of family contexts in the seven Regions of the world in which the Salesian Congregation is present, the creation of an internal study group, the analysis of the provincial and local context through a questionnaire. In this Congress, through the presence of some 300 participants from around the Salesian world, the gift of the Salesian charism was deepened in the four conferences that were offered, in the various workshops and in the presentation of 21 good practices; all this offered us a ‘photography’ of the commitment of the Congregation in favor of the family in the various educative and pastoral processes. I found a true family atmosphere, and a great willingness to learn and share. I trust that this spirit and this experience will be repeated in the different local 6 contexts so that the richness lived and shared in this Congress will come alive at the local level. I also take this opportunity to thank Father Fabio Attard, General Councilor for Youth Ministry, who has guided this journey. A special word of thanks to the members of the Department for Youth Ministry in Rome and to the members of the General Council of the Salesians of Don Bosco who participated. I also thank the Provincial and the members of the Salesian Provincial Council of the Province of Madrid, Spain, ‘Santiago el Mayor’ for all the availability and facilities given. I am grateful for the representation of the Province of the Daughters of Mary Help of Christians in Spain, and the participation of members of the Salesian Family and many others, favoring the success of the Congress. I would like to conclude by reminding you that the Congress is not the culminat- ing event of this journey. In fact, it is part of a long journey and process in which we will continue to open spaces for discernment on Youth Ministry and the Family. To this end, common strategies will be established in order to increase the impact of our actions, and the construction of an educative-pastoral action with families will be materialized, in more incisive and fruitful ways, always within the framework of Salesian Youth Ministry. I am sure that these ‘Acts of Congress’ will be an effective instrument in our journey of Youth Ministry and Family. With my affection and desire for all blessings from the Lord. 7 INTRODUCTION YOUTH MINISTRY AND FAMILY REFLECT, SHARE, BUILD FABIO ATTARD SDB General Councillor for Youth Ministry of Salesians of Don Bosco THE HEART OF THE MATTER: the family, a rich and complex reality The Salesians of Don Bosco, through their Youth Ministry Department, have chosen to focus their efforts in the 2015-2018 triennial session to the theme of the family, in keeping with the Church’s two recent Synods on this topic. In its 27th General Chapter, held in 2014, the Salesian Congregation insisted on the family’s key role in society and in the education of the next generation. The fundamental physiognomy of the family, because of the numerous economic, social, juridical and political transformations it has undergone, has been dramatically changed. At the root of all these changes is the emergence of a new culture of family, and with it, the need to develop a new approach to the pastoral accompaniment of families. For Salesians, the family is an active protagonist in our pastoral outreach, a subject with its own identity and unique mission, actively involved in the building up of the Church and society. In fact, it can rightly be said that the family is a unifying focus of our pastoral work. For this reason, the Youth Ministry Department wishes this reflection to be a process that is collaborative, a process that proceeds in stages and which offers 8 concrete action steps, a process which brings together the various contexts of the world-wide reality. In order for this process to be truly collaborative, a number of phases have been set forth, which will be addressed in turn. In each of the phases, various experts with different areas of competence will be invited to address the theme of the family. In so doing, we hope this process will produce concrete results which will be useful to each Provincial and Local community in making their own choices on how to approach family ministry, but which will also support the decisions we must all take by providing a useful framework built on the thorough analysis of this multifaceted question. The first three phases represent the premises and the foundations on which the International Congress will stand, with the goal of making it a conclusion of sorts to this extended process of reflection. eeA multifaceted international snapshot (September2015 - February 2016) eeTowards a realistic and detailed synthesis of the world of the family (March 2016) eeStudy of the local Salesian context to prepare an action plan (June 2016 – February 2017) eeFacing the facts and planning for the future (November 2017) 9 PHASE 01 A multifaceted international snapshot From September 2015 to February 2016, the family was examined through a sociological and educative lens at the regional level (Table 1). These study days examined, under the leadership of qualified experts from the various geograph- ical regions around which our Congregation is organized, the multiple dimen- sions of the reality of the family. Six speakers presented their documented field research, offering us valuable insights from the perspective of sociology and politics, with their implications on pastoral ministry and pedagogy, thus laying the foundation for an attentive reflection on the constitutive elements of the modern family and on the challenges to be addressed. Drawing conclusions from such a multifaceted snapshot of the family in the world today is no easy task. Nonetheless, the conclusions from this encounter allowed us to identify a number of assumptions which provide a robust platform for further study, as well as a positive balance sheet regarding the substantive importance of the family. Among the most urgent observations are the following: eeon the one hand, the threats which destabilize the family are not only of an economic nature, but are above all of a symbolic nature, namely, cultural and anthropological, as they call into question the family’s very identity and function (the threat of gender ideology, the portrayal of the family in some media, the increased instability of spousal commitment and the fragility of the family as an institution, and issues of a sociocultural nature); eeon the other hand, there is a heightened value attached to personal freedom, and greater importance attached to the quality of inter- personal relationships within marriage, the promotion of the role of women, responsible procreation, and child-raising. The participants of these six encounters where the provincial delegates for youth ministry from all the regions worldwide. From their observations and the reflections we shared with them, a double challenge emerged: eeto create and promote a new culture of the family, with both social and educative implications. Where the family is perceived and 10 valued as it truly is, namely, a social entity in its own right, with an extraordinary function that is not only economic and nurturing, but also cultural and educative, the family can be a life-giving source of solidarity between one generation and the next, and a source of various forms of community life; eeat the same time, it is necessary to promote effective pastoral-educative strategies to support the family in its role as the fundamental building block of society and as the primary educator of each new generation. PHASE 02 Towards a realistic and detailed synthesis of the world of the family On March 19 and 20, 2016, a study group was convened. Participants were: Marcelo Faran (Equator), Alberto Martelli (Italy), Hubert Pinto (India), Miquel An- gel Garcia (Youth Ministry Department Team), Fabio Attard (General Councillor and Youth Ministry Department Team leader), Gustavo Cavagnari (Argentina), Rossano Sala (Italia), Mario Olmos (Youth Ministry Department Team), Renato Cursi (Youth Ministry Department Team), Daniel Garcia (Youth Ministry Depart- ment Team) and Virginia Cagigal (Spain). This international team, having studied the reality on the family in various contexts outlined in Phase I, identified the major questions currently challenging

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