(ANS – Roma) – Among the official initiatives announced by the Rector Major for the celebration of the bicentenary of the birth of Don Bosco is an International Congress on Salesian History. In the month of July the first preparatory phases were set in motion with the appointment of the Coordinators and the organising Committee for the Congress. The project will involve both Salesians and Daughters of Mary Help of Christians.

In the month of July, the Rector Major sent a letter to the members of the organising Committee informing them of their responsibility, and indicating the names of the Coordinators and the theme and dates of the Congress. The members are Salesians and Daughters of Mary Help of Christians, scholars and experts in history, educational method and spirituality. They were chosen by Don Chávez in agreement with Mother Yvonne Reungoat, Superior General of the Daughters of Mary Help of Christians.

The theme of the Congress will be ‘Development of the charism of Don Bosco’ and it will take place at the Salesianum in Rome from 19 to 23 November 2014. "The word ‘charism’ will be taken in its widest sense, not only theological but also sociological and cultural. It will be studied together with the word ‘development’", explains the Rector Major in his letter to the organising Committee. "It will be a Congress of an historical nature, and the content will be treated using historical methods."

The reference frame for the opening and especially the conclusion of the symposium, suggests the Rector Major, will be the charism of Don Bosco in action: "The development of the charism cannot be understood without an awareness of its actual presence in various geographical areas."

A working structure has been organised to plan the Congress and bring it about: a Steering Committee and three Research Groups.

The Steering Committee is made up of Don Francesco Cereda, General Councillor for Formation, Sr Piera Cavaglià, Secretary of the FMA General Council, and coordinators chosen by each of the three Research Groups.

The Salesian History Group: Frs Bruno Bordignon, Miguel Canino, Graciliano Gonzalez, Francesco Motto and Zimniak Stanisław, and Srs Grazia Loparco, Maria Felipa Nuñez and Maria Concetta Ventura.

The Salesian Educational Method Group: Br Marco Bay, Frs Francesco Casella, Carlo Nanni, José Manuel Prellezo, Vito Orlando and Michael Vojtas, and Srs Ausilia Chang, Rachele Lanfranchi, Elena Rastello and Piera Ruffinatto.

The Salesian Spirituality Group: Frs Aldo Giraudo, Morand Wirth, Joe Boenzi and Jack Finnegan, and Srs Sylwia Ciezkowska, Anita Deleidi and Martha Seide.

The Steering Committee will hold its first meeting on Saturday 8 October at the FMA Generalate (Headquarters) in Rome. By this date the three Research Groups must have chosen their coordinators to take part in the Steering Committee.

The three Research Groups, who have been invited to plan their own programme of meetings, have already been given some work to do: choosing their coordinator and secretary and specifying the historical period, a sub-title for the Congress and the area of their research.

At the end of his letter the Rector Major asks the Steering Committee to carry out one of the resolutions of the 26th General Chapter concerning Salesian sources: "The Rector Major with his Council will see to the publication of a collection of the principal Salesian sources."

Published 10/8/2011