Salesian Provincial Mission Offices Meet in Rome

Salesian Provincial Mission Offices Meet in Rome

(ANS – Rome – October 19, 2023) – A meeting of the directors, managers, and officials of the Salesian provincial mission offices began on Thursday, October 19, at the Fraterna Domus retreat center in Sacrofano, on the outskirts of Rome. The event, scheduled until Monday the 23d, will bring together around 80 Salesians and lay people from all across the Salesian regions. All of these people are involved in various ways in a central service for the Congregation and its missionary realities.

Promoted by the Missions Department, the meeting is led by the general councilor, Fr. Alfred Maravilla, and organized by Fr. George Menamparampil, coordinator of the Salesian mission offices. The meeting’s theme is "Dare to Share." It began on Thursday evening with the welcome to the participants, the official inauguration, and the initial moments of informal exchanges to facilitate networking.

In Friday morning, the 20th, Fr. Maravilla will introduce the proceedings with a report on the identity of the Salesian mission offices. In the afternoon Filip Lammens, the director of Via Don Bosco, based in Brussels, will deliver his keynote address aimed at exploring the Salesian potential in the international mobilization of resources.

On Saturday, Jan Resutik, from the Slovakian NGO Savio, will highlight the need for digitalization and the continuous improvement of the processes at every mission office. He will present a relevant software to serve as a single platform for all of the Salesian mission offices.

The final fundamental report of the meeting will be offered on Sunday morning, October 22, by Fr. Eric Mairura, who has been appointed as the new general coordinator of the Congregation’s mission offices. He will address the Salesian perspective on developmental works.

But besides these presentations, the structure of the meeting will also incorporate discussions in small groups on various topics addressed in the general sessions. Sharing of 5 good practices adopted in various parts of the world (by provinces of Central America, Southwest Africa, India Dimapur, and Indonesia, and Burma) will also have its slot. Time would also be dedicated for workshops/mini-courses that will delve into aspects of great interest to all those present, such as the interaction and relationship to be developed with benefactors, or the techniques and advantages of networking.

One of the specific objectives of the event (which takes place 4 years after the last such gathering, in 2021) will be the development of a detailed roadmap with all the steps to be taken in the years to come. In fact, this will occupy the culminative part of this gathering.

Salesian Missions of New Rochelle is represented at this meeting by Fr. Mike Conway and Fr. Gabriel Stowowy.