EAO Provincials meeting in Moresby

PORT MORESBY: 6th March 2010 -- The Provincials of the East Asia-Oceania Region conclude their meeting today in Port Moresby. They commenced on 2nd March.  Not only has the Regional, Fr Wong been present, but also the Missions Councillor, Fr Klement and the Formation Councillor, Fr Cereda, at least for the earlier part - he then went on to the Australian Province and is currently in Fiji at the Formation Community in Nakasi, Suva.
Meetings of this kind cover a wide range of topics, and one could expect that at virtually mid-term between the 26th General Chapter and the next in 2014, consideration has been given to follow-up from GC26, especially since many provinces are now engaged in the mid-term Provincial Chapter preparation or immediate followup.
One of the matters dealt with, this too being an issue from GC26, has been the attention given to the Salesian Brother vocation. Provincials considered a range of possibilities, including sharing this aspect of formation with the South Asia Region (or setting up a specific centre within the EAO Region in Manila), and setting up a specific formation team to this end.
Other matters taken up by Provincials included meetings for school and training centre delegates over the course of the next several years (specifically in 2011 and 2013), the pilgrimage of Don Bosco's relics through the region, an issue which also needs to take into account local sensitivities with regard to relics (Casket or statue), and the international meeting in Rome in October 2010 on Fr Rua.
With regard to this last item, and just for general information: the Desramaut book on Rua (which in English will bear the title 'Fr Rua') has been translated; final touches are being made to the translation at the moment. The text will be handed to Bangalore Province by 14th March and they will proceed to its subsequent printing almost immediately.

Assembly of Delegates – PNG-SI

PORT MORESBY: 2nd March 2010 -- The Rectors and the Delegation Council members of the PNG-SI Delegation met in Assembly from 7th to 13th February, 2010 at the Emmaus Retreat Centre, Port Moresby, Papua New Guinea.
The meeting commenced with Benediction and a Prayer Session imploring the blessings of God in understanding how best we are to respond to deal with the needs of the youth in these two demanding Melanesian countries.  In presenting the State of the Delegation Address to the confreres,  Fr. Raffy Galve sdb, Delegate, highlighted the need to live our missionary commitment, lay collaboration, vocation promotion, formation and community life.  Lack of personnel and updating were also highlighted.
The members worked hard on the different documents and did their best to fix time lines and measurable outcomes.  Understating attitude and culture were stressed.
The members also had time for recreation and purchasing much needed supplies for their institutions.
On the last evening – a lengthy piece of tapa cloth, (traditionally made from bark and imprinted with local designs, most often in brown) draped around the room was cut off and given to each of the houses.  Taking it back to their houses in the different provinces, the Rectors symbolically take all that they have committed themselves to during the week-long discussion.
Port Moresby is also the focus of additional important meetings for the Region, involving all Provincials, the Formation Councillor, Missions Councillor and Regional Councillor.

 Going online in a big way!

    - English
    - Italian
    - Spanish
    - French
    - Portuguese

 And given that this particular approach is gaining ground with people who like to show off their glossy magazines, you may be interested in looking at this link from Slovakia. In fact it is the same Company (Salesians, Bratislava) who produced the 'Salesians 2010' magazine, but this time they have focused on Salesian Slovak missionaries, of whom some are active in the EAO Region.  They employed a professional photographer, as you will quickly see, and the text is in Slovak and English.