(ANS - Medellín) - On 13 February, John Jairo Gómez Rua, Provincial of the Medellín Province, Colombia, accepted the ISO 9001:2008 certificate which accredits the Medellin Province of St. Louis Bertrand as a quality religious community. The Province was already a pioneer in giving quality certificates for parishes throughout Latin America. For the Bicentenary of Don Bosco (1815-2015) as a gift to Don Bosco and to the youth of the country, it aims to have all its works certified.

The process of ISO 9001 certification has been going on since March 2010, following a decision taken on this issue by the Provincial Chapter. Up to now the province has already achieved recognition for 10 of its 11 professional training institutions - some with up to 12 certificate programs, and 14 of its 15 schools, according to the International Standard ISO 9001:2008. In addition, three of the five institutions with programmes of child protection are certified according to the rules of the standard NTE 001:2012 of the Colombian Institute for Family Welfare (ICBF).

The Mary Help of Christians parish at Tuluá, Valle del Cauca, was the first parish to be certified in all of Latin America, according to ICONTEC, the Colombian Institute of Technical Standards. A month ago the St. Francis de Sales parish of Medellín received the certificate of quality, the second in Colombia and the first in the Archdiocese of Medellín to do so. Currently two other Salesian parishes are involved in the certification process.

The Salesian community in Buenaventura led the way in the implementation of the 001:2012 ICBF Technical Standard for Companies. Ciudad Don Bosco Medellín and the Don Bosco Training Centre in Cali were the first in their respective cities to achieve the standard.

At the moment, the centres for the protection of children are working on the implementation of the ISO 14001 Environmental Standard and the ISO 22301 Continuity of Business Standard, with assistance from the provincial services.

The award ceremony was attended by the Provincial, the Rectors of the Salesian Houses in the Province, the lay staff of the Provincial House, representatives of the various groups of the Salesian Family, the post-novices, officials of ICONTEC and also the Spanish Salesian Fr Ángel Astorgano, Secretary General of OIEC, the International Organization of Catholic Education based in Brussels.

The award of the Quality Certificate to the Medellin Province reflects the combined effort and commitment of the Salesian Family for the welfare of young people and for the salvation of their souls.

Further information is available on the website of the Medellin Province (COM) on its YouTube DepCOM.

Published 19/02/2014