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(ANS – Prague) – With the purpose of re-vitalising missionary dynamism in Europe, Salesians, Daughters of Mary Help of Christians (FMA) and representatives of some groups of the Salesian Family are meeting together in  Prague between 4 and 10 November for “Study Days on the Salesian Mission in a frontier situation and that of the first Christian proclamation in Europe today”.

Taking part in the event are 14 Salesians and 17 FMA from the 3 European Regions, two representatives of the Salesians-Cooperators and the Volunteers of  Don Bosco. The Coordinators are  Fr Václav Klement, Councillor for the Missions and Sr Alaíde Deretti, Councillor for the Mission “ad e inter gentes” of the FMA.

In view of the focus of the days, the  programme includes moments of formation and discussion, with round table reports, and also time for spiritual reflection, with “lectio divina” in the morning, personal reflection in the afternoon and Mass in the evening. The days aim at examining more deeply the quality of the witness to and the first proclamation of Christ  in the Europe of today, in order to identify the theoretical basis and the practical process for the missionary formation of  the Salesians and the FMA dedicated to this specific area of mission.
 
Yesterday,  Thursday 4 November, the meeting officially opened with a welcome from the local communities and the presentation of the method of work. Today the first session was led by the Councillors for the Missions, Fr Klement and Sr Deretti, who gave a first assessment of the current situation regarding the First Proclamation in Europe. Afterwards in group work those taking part compared the work undertaken by the dioceses and the communities of the Salesians and the FMA in order to re-launch a missionary approach in Europe, and thus indicate good practice and also the weak points. The session led by  Fr Montisci  and Sr Colosi on “What sort of first proclamation of Jesus Christ in Europe?” will conclude activities for today. 

In the next few days other sessions will deal with witnessing to Jesus in the context of post-modern and secularised Europe, with the challenges and the opportunities for the proclamation in  the territories where Catholicism finds itself facing other Christian confessions or other religions.

These study days are examining an extremely relevant question facing the Universal Church. The subject of the proclamation and of witness in the Old Continent has recently been emphasised by Benedict XVI, who for this purpose has established  the new Pontifical Council for “New Evangelisation”.
 
Published 05/11/2010