Exploring Salesian Youth Ministry: A Historical Overview

1. Salesian Youth Ministry Exploring the Document Salesian Youth Ministry

2. BACKGROUND AND CONTEXT Salesian Youth Ministry

3. THE DOCUMENT SALESIAN YOUTH MINISTRY A BASIC FRAME OF REFERENCE Salesian Youth Ministry

4. Initial Reflections • Provides a comprehensive overview of the Salesian mission • Provides a language for discussion and reflection • Presumes a collaborative, community-based context • Presumes a dynamic understanding of charism Salesian Youth Ministry

5. Nature of the Document • Its purpose is to offer a systematic compilation • It draws from work of 30+ years of revision and reflection • It is an instrument of study Salesian Youth Ministry

6. STRUCTURE • Part One – Fundamental Elements • Salesian Youth Ministry • Salesian Educative-Pastoral Project • Salesian Educative-Pastoral Community Salesian Youth Ministry

7. STRUCTURE • Part 2 – A Working Model • Applies the basic framework to a variety of different contexts of Salesian Youth Ministry • ORATORY or YOUTH CENTRE • SCHOOLS and TECHNICAL TRAINING CENTRES • PARISHES • SERVICES TO YOUNG AT RISK • NEW FORMS OF SALESIAN MINISTRY Salesian Youth Ministry

8. SALESIAN YOUTH MINISTRY • SYM is characterised by: • Experience of Don Bosco and the Oratory • Preventive System • Salesian Youth Spirituality • Salesian Youth Ministry Salesian Youth Ministry

9. DON BOSCO AND THE SALESIAN MISSION: A HISTORICAL FRAME OF REFERENCE Inspired by the Holy Spirit, Don Bosco was acutely aware that God called him for a unique mission on behalf of poor young people. Salesian Youth Ministry

10. The mission to which God called Don Bosco is characterised by • Its focus on the young, especially the poorest of them • Don Bosco’s realisation that his mission was to reveal the love of God to poor young people • A style of ministry particularly suited to his mission: the approach of the Good Shepherd • Other people sharing in the mission to evangelise the young Salesian Youth Ministry

11. The Mission Continues • God continues to call many others to carry on and share in Don Bosco’s educative and pastoral mission for the total well-being of young people, especially the poorest Salesian Youth Ministry

12. PREVENTIVE SYSTEM • Don Bosco’s mission and life project, shared by the Salesian Family, find their expression in a specific style of life and action, the Salesian spirit, centred on pastoral charity and characterised by that youthful dynamism which was revealed so strongly in Don Bosco and at the beginnings of our Family. • The Salesian spirit is embodied and manifested in the spiritual and educative experience of Don Bosco in the first Oratory at Valdocco. He called it the Preventive System. It is a rich synthesis of: Salesian Youth Ministry

13. PREVENTIVE SYSTEM • A spiritual experience • A proposal for evangelising the young • A pedagogical methodology Salesian Youth Ministry

14. A Spiritual Experience • Centred in the love of God • An encounter with God in the young • Educative relationship based on pastoral charity Salesian Youth Ministry

15. A Proposal for Evangelising the Young • Encountering the young where they are • Recognising the gifts of the young and developing their positive resources • Priority to the poor • Organised experiences of faith • Offering a particular form of Christian life and youthful holiness Salesian Youth Ministry

16. A Pedagogical Methodology • Will to remain with the young • Unconditional acceptance • Preventive criteria • Centrality of “Reason, Religion and Loving-kindness” • A positive environment rich with opportunities Salesian Youth Ministry

17. SPIRITUALITY AT THE ROOT OF SALESIAN YOUTH MINISTRY • Appropriate for young people • Daily life as the place of encounter with God • Paschal spirituality that delights in activity and encourages hope • Christian life as a journey Salesian Youth Ministry

18. SPIRITUALITY AT THE ROOT OF SALESIAN YOUTH MINISTRY • Personal relationship with Jesus through prayer, Word and sacraments • Communion with the Church • Responsible service • Marian spirituality Salesian Youth Ministry

19. SALESIAN YOUTH MINISTRY • Is a participation in the ministry of the Church • Through the gift of the Salesian charism it enriches and brings this action to the world of young people. • It is the way of living out the Salesian mission with Don Bosco’s spirituality and Preventive System • Serves the Church’s mission of evangelisation Salesian Youth Ministry

20. SALESIAN YOUTH MINISTRYKey Characteristics • A Decisive Choice: The Young, Especially the Poorest • The Task: To Educate by Evangelising and to Evangelise by Educating • A Community Experience Salesian Youth Ministry

21. SALESIAN YOUTH MINISTRY Key Characteristics • A Specific Style: Animation • Holistic Pastoral Work: Unity in Diversity • A Significant Presence in the Church and in the World Salesian Youth Ministry

22. A DECISIVE CHOICETHE YOUNG, ESPECIALLY THE POOREST • Don Bosco consciously chose the poorest, those at risk, those who live on the margins of society and of the Church. • He sought them in the places where they were to be encountered, proclaimed the Good News to them, accepted them, recognised and respected what they had within, journeyed with them and adapted his pace to theirs. Salesian Youth Ministry

23. Don Bosco’s Choice • Don Bosco adapted his work to suit his young people. • It was aimed at helping them to grasp the richness of life and its values, at preparing them for life in this world and making them aware of their eternal destiny. • The Salesian ministry is youthful – not only because it is primarily aimed at young people – but because its style and perspectives display a youthful quality. Salesian Youth Ministry

24. A Way of Ministering The choice of this ministry calls for a special way of looking at reality and a special way of reacting to it. Salesians learn to understand reality from the standpoint of the young and: • are sensitive to all that promotes the education and evangelisation of the young or that endangers their welfare; • are attentive to positive aspects, new values and possibilities that emerge; • develop an attitude of listening, dialogue and empathy for the young. Salesian Youth Ministry

25. Practical Implications • Aware of different situations of poverty and social exclusion • Understand educational institutions • Aware of other factors influencing the young • Aware of young people’s attitudes towards religion and the Church • Understand local culture • Familiar with the youth condition Salesian Youth Ministry

26. The Task: To Educate by Evangelising and to Evangelise by Educating • Salesian Youth Ministry emphasises the profound relationship between educative activity and evangelising action. • The entire educative process is directed towardsopenness to God and conformity to Christ. • The process contributes to each young person’s growth in freedom and responsibility with Gospel values and Christian inspiration. Salesian Youth Ministry

27. Education and Cultural Sensitivity • Salesian Educators • Proclaim the Gospel with educative and pedagogical realism • Cultivate an operative faith in the young • Are committed to dialogue with the cultural milieu in which young people live • Strive to implant and cultivate fundamental values, criteria for judgement, and models of life that conform to the Gospel Salesian Youth Ministry

28. OVERVIEW Salesian Youth Ministry

29. COMMUNITY EXPERIENCE • Community experience is a characteristic of the apostolic work and educative style of the Salesians. • Community is subject and agent of pastoral mission • Salesians lead young people to an experience of the Church by having them share in the life of a community • Family spirit, personal relationships, mutual trust between educators and young people, fostering youth groups and youth leadership – these elements are characteristic of the Salesian style of education and evangelisation Salesian Youth Ministry

30. COMMUNITY • Community is composed of many groups and always has young people at the centre • The Salesian religious community • Members of the Salesian Family • Lay people sharing in the spirit and mission of Don Bosco • Others who admire Don Bosco; his work, mission and spirit Salesian Youth Ministry

31. A SPECIFIC STYLE:ANIMATION Animation “means giving life to a work which raises questions, gives motives for hope, brings people together, prompts collaboration, and gives rise to an ever more fruitful communion for the realisation together of a plan of life and action in line with the Gospel.” (Juan Vecchi) Salesian Youth Ministry

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34. Fundamental Convictions and Practical Options • Trust in the individual and his/her inclination for good • The liberating power of educative love • Openness to each and every young person • The active presence of educators in the midst of the young Salesian Youth Ministry

35. HOLISTIC PASTORAL WORK: UNITY IN DIVERSITY • These various elements combine to form a holistic and unified approach to Salesian Youth Ministry, that has a single goal: “the all-round welfare of young people and the world in which they live” and which is a significant presence in the Church and in the world. Salesian Youth Ministry

36. A Significant Presence in the Church and in the World • The community lives and acts as a meaningful presencein the Church and in the world • As part of the Church community • As a significant presence of the saving action of God in the social and political community • As a presence of the Church in a pluri-religious and pluri-cultural context Salesian Youth Ministry

37. SALESIAN YOUTH MINISTRY • Historical Experience • Preventive System • Youth Spirituality • Youth Ministry Salesian Youth Ministry