SALESIAN COOPERATORS Don Bosco 1815 1888 was a

SALESIAN COOPERATORS

Don Bosco (1815 -1888) was a practical and enterprising man, an untiring and creative worker who committed all his energies to a vast project of apostolate for the human and Christian education of the young. Certain of having been called by God to this mission, he founded oratories and schools: both technical and academic; found work for the young and stipulated contracts lest they have their rights transgressed; produced and distributed good Catholic literature; and gave his all for the evangelization of the common people and those in the Missions.

In order to realize his apostolic project, he not only founded one Religious Congregation (the Salesians of Don Bosco) and one Institute of Sisters (the Daughters of Mary Help of Christians) but involved, from the very start of his work, also many lay persons, men and women, whom he wished to be collaborators in his mission and in his spirit, united in a stable association: the Salesian Cooperators.

He traced out a rule of spiritual life, simple but rich in substance. A charac-teristic spirit, the Salesian one, which expresses and underlines in a particular way some Gospel values: strong pastoral charity, youthful dynamism, sense of Church, family spirit, optimism, and joy. A spirit that becomes even an educational method: the method of goodness (or the Preventive System), founded on the pedagogy of love, of reason, and of the supernatural resources of Faith.

Catholic lay people or members of the Diocesan clergy, who, attracted by the figure of Don Bosco, live the same charism of the Society of St. Francis de Sales in the world and are called to cooperate in the mission of the salvation of the young, above all, of poor and abandoned youth.

They live their faith in their own secular reality, in communion, and in the life of the Center, with the other Associates and in constant dialogue with the Delegates.

from the Project of Apostolic Life: “To commit oneself as a Salesian Cooperator is to respond to the Salesian vocation, gift of the Spirit; undertaking in a specific way to live the Gospel and to participate in the mission of the Church. ” (art. 2)

In particular, the activity of the Salesian Cooperator is carried out in the different structures of secular life which offer greater possibility of involvement: ØIn civil, cultural, socio-economic, and political arenas, especially when they have a strong incidence on the education of the young and the life of the family

Ø in the Church, offering responsible collaboration “to the Bishops and parish priests”, especially in the parish community;

ØIn places animated by the Salesians of Don Bosco, by the Daughters of Mary Help of Christians, or by other Groups of the Salesian Family, especially in Oratories, Youth Centers, and schools.

Regions ITALIY- MIDDLE EAST- MALTA: 15 Provincial Councils IBERICA: Portugal and Spain: 7 Provincial Councils EAST ASIA AND OCEANIA: Australia, China, Philippines, Japan, Indonesia, Korea, Thailandi Vietnam: 9 Provincial Councils SOUTH ASIA: 11 Provincial Councils AFRICA AND MADAGASCAR: 12 Provincial Councils INTERAMERICA: Antilles, Canada, Haiti, Mexico, Central America, United States: 9 Provincial Councils SOUTH PACIFIC CARIBE: Bolivia, Colombia, Ecuador, Perù, Venezuela: 6 Provincial Councils LATIN AMERICA CONO SUD: Argentina, Chile, Paraguay, Uruguay: 8 Provincial Councils BRAZIL: 6 Provincial Councils CENTRALE AND EASTERN EUROPE: Croatia, Poland, Slovakia, Slovenia, Hungary, and others: 10 Provincial Councils CENTRAL AND WESTERN EUROPE: Austria, Belgium, France, Germany, Great Britain, and Ireland: 7 Provincial Councils

The Association, in fidelity to the will of the Founder, has a flexible and functional structure on three governing levels: vlocal vprovincial vworld Such an organization insures the efficacy of its action in its territory and openness to the universality of communion and mission. (Stat. § 34)

World councillor Formator SDB Delegate Treasurer FMA Delegate Secretary LOCAL Coordinators PROVINCIAL Coordinators WORLD COUNCIL S D B P r o v i n ci al s F M A P r o v i n ci al s

They feel themselves in living communion with the other groups o f the Salesian Family

PATHS OF HOPE 1. Knowing and deepening the spirit of the Project of Apostolic Life 2. Improving the organization at all the levels of the Association 3. Animating the Regions Transversal lines: • Communication • Sense of belonging

Ask for a heart full of goodness, constancy in work, wisdom in discernment, courage to witness to the sense of Church, and missionary generosity for all the members of the Salesian Family. Obtain for us from the Lord the grace to be faithful to the special covenant that the Lord made with us, and, guided by Mary, Help of Christians, help us go forward with joy, together with the young, on the path that leads to Love. Amen.