(ANS – Rome) – The Acts were recently published of the seminar on the Salesian Missions Offices, held in  Bonn, Germany, from 26 to 28 November 2012. They provide an overall view of the commitment of Salesians in the field of the Missions, and will provide inspiration and material for reflection and animation.

The text was distributed by the Missions Office in Madrid and is available in the Salesian Digital Library (SDL). It has also been published in paper form in English and Spanish by the DIN Impresores of Madrid. This volume is the 56th publication of the Department for the Salesian Missions. It has 276 pages and contains a mini-CD with the texts of the seminar and a power-point presentation.

About forty people from thirty provinces, from five continents, took part in the seminar. They drew up a plan for the development of the Missions Offices between now and 2015. The practical conclusions are available in five languages – English, Spanish, Italian, Portuguese and French. The seminar proposed the integration of the Missions Office with the Organic Plan of each Province (POI). It asked for the Directors and their collaborators to receive formation in the missionary vision of the Church and the Congregation. It drew attention to the need to work together in harmony (synergy) and to use a common Salesian terminology. All of these proposals are geared towards producing a true and proper System of Salesian Missionary Solidarity.

“By now, together with the Planning and Development Office (PDO), the Missions Office has become an almost indispensable instrument for the support, strengthening and expansion of the Salesian mission, both in developed countries and those still on the way to development,” says the Rector Major, Fr Pascual Chávez, in his presentation of the Acts.

Fr Chavez expressed the hope that ”the publication of these Acts, which contain clear criteria for the development of the provincial Missions Office (art. 24 of the general Regulations), and the many good practices gathered from the five continents, will be of great help to provinces that have just started a Missions Office. I ask provincials and their councils to develop this instrument in each province for the benefit of a more united, efficient and sustainable Salesian Mission.”

The text is already on its way to all the Salesian provinces in the world.

Published 28/05/2013