The 30 people who attended from Croatia, Italy, Poland, Spain and Slovakia were joined by Fr Josè Pastor Ramirez, World Delegate, Fr Enrico Peretti, Delegate for Italy, Fr Ivan Zitnansky, Delegate for Slovakia, and Fr Jesus Guerra, Delegate for Spain. Under the guidance of the Vice President of World GEX Angel Gudiña they considered the three main pillars of the formation of a Past Pupil – being, doing and communicating - according to a special programme aimed at a genuine human, Christian and Salesian development.
On the first day the systematic plan for the three year programme was presented and in the evening there was a pleasant social gathering.
On the following day Friday 8 April, Fr José Pastor Ramírez developed the topic “The identity of the Don Bosco Past Pupil: a challenge and a commitment”. In his talk the World Delegate made the point that they were Past Pupils of Don Bosco and not of the Salesians and spoke about the value of belonging to the Past Pupils’ ’Association, to the Salesian Family and to the Church; he also emphasised the importance of being involved in politics and the various areas of civic life. Divided according to languages they then reflected in groups on the current challenges to be faced.
In the afternoon the representatives of the different countries spoke about their own activities and then Dr. Rein Meus, Secretary General of the “Don Bosco Youth Net” spoke about the possibility of European funding for National and International meetings.
On Saturday 9 April, Fr Jesús Guerra spoke about “Leadership and the profile of the leader in general” emphasising the importance of the ability to lead and to coordinate, the formation of the others involved in the work and the importance of group work and of sharing ideas with a team. This was followed by Angel Gudiña who spoke about some practical aspects of the role of the leader.
On Sunday there were group meetings to put into practice what had been learned the previous day and discussion among the groups from the different countries. Sunday Mass presided by Fr Enrico Peretti with the other Delgates present concelebrating brought to meeting to a close.
During the three days the group were also able to visit the Sanctuary of Our Lady of the Poor at Banneux and to enjoy the hospitality of the Salesian community in Liege, led by Fr André van der Sloot, who is also the Delegate for the Past Pupils of Southern Belgium.
The II Annual Meeting will take place between 15 and 18 March 2012 iin Venice.
Published 11/04/2011
