(ANS - Lisbon) - In September and October "Edições Salesianas" and "Fundação Salesianos" in Portugal organized the seventh programme of "E-vangelizar". This year the motto was: "Mercy: discover and share the tenderness of God." It is a pastoral training programme which is unique in the country. It offers participants a variety of workshops to choose from.

by Claudine Pinheiro

As in 2014, the organization planned the event in three centres, in three different dioceses: Mirandela, in the diocese of Bragança-Miranda, had 100 participants in ten seminars; Porto, where 500 people were able to choose from thirty-four workshops; and Estoril in the Patriarchate of Lisbon, with 400 participants and thirty different themes.

“The workshops cover different topics and areas of interest” says Fr Alberto Rui Almeida, director of 'Edições Salesianas'. Catechists are different from each other and they proclaim the Gospel in different contexts, so we cannot offer the same training to all. Participants can design their own training course and find answers to some of their training needs."

From psychology to music, from liturgy to the arts and from social networks to group dynamics ... the workshops are varied. They last seventy-five minutes each and they are a challenge for trainers who, in the time available, try to impart a specific practical skill. According to Fr David Teixeira, SDB, who led a workshop on "The parables of mercy" in Porto and Estoril, "it is critical to help participants develop a mental image of the subject we are working on. It is not a question of providing a ready-to-use scheme, because this system does not work in all situations and participants must be able to adapt what has been learned to the community in which they are evangelising."

The team of speakers is not the same at all locations and is composed mostly of lay people, which, according to Don Almeida, is "a clear and positive signal that the education ministry is not reserved to priests. Some of the speakers are leaders in Salesian houses, but others come from outside our centres."

Music is held in high regard in this event and the courses in Porto and Estoril include concerts of Christian music.

Considering the positive impact of this initiative and the desire of the Salesians to contribute to pastoral formation in the Church in Portugal, it is expected in the future to replicate the event in other places.

Published 29/10/2015