(ANS - Rome) - There are 3200 km of border between Mexico and the United States with 23 checkpoints. This is where one of the largest migrations in the world takes place. For this reason, on Thursday 20 March, the Provincial of Mexico-Guadalajara, Fr Cleophas Murguia Villalobos, and the Provincial of USA West, Fr Timothy Ploch, gave a shared Goodnight.

There are many practical examples: undocumented Mexicans who are being repatriated; immigrants who decide to return to their countries of origin; migrants who come to the border town with the intention of finding a job or entering the United States. It is a situation that is described as opportunity for Mexicans and a danger for Americans.  It is an area of ​​illegal trafficking of drugs, weapons, money and people, where the consequences of social and political tensions between the two nations are felt.

The situation of violence and insecurity in recent years constitutes a real challenge. This has led the Salesians to launch proposals for education for peace, social integration, drug prevention and combating the spiral of organized crime.

The Salesians are present in the poorer areas and on the outskirts of the border city. Since the Frontier Project  was started in 1987 thirteen oratories and two community centres have been opened. The Salesians are collaborating in six parishes (one of them in the USA). They run  a school with three levels of study, and a welcome centre for migrants and the destitute. These are all initiatives  that are in accord with Salesian tradition in offering programmes of education, evangelization and human development.

The Salesians are living in an authentic missionary context, where they try to bring people to an encounter with Jesus, to recover and deepen their faith and the authentic expressions of popular piety. Also, from the beginning they have promoted volunteering: young people have come from California and Texas, from Austria, Spain, Italy, Czech Republic, Colombia, Argentina ... for which the Salesians deserve to be thanked. There is very strong practical collaboration between the groups of the Salesian Youth Movement of the two provinces.
Following the Team Visit to the Inter-American Region in El Salvador in 2011, the Salesians have been studying a proposal to create an international community and to improve cooperation with the Salesian Family and the laity.

" As Sons of Don Bosco the dreamer, we are optimistic about the social impact of our Salesian presence in achieving better living conditions for everyone, especially for the young people of the two nations. We believe we can offer them the hope of a future that is more fraternal, more just, more humane, and an opportunity to participate in building the Kingdom announced by Jesus in the Gospel."

Published 24/03/2014