Introduction

The SEPP is realized in a particular area "in a variety of ways, which depend in the first place upon the actual needs of those for whom we are working" (C 41), in the contexts in which we are living, above all in areas of economic, political and cultural poverty.

For this reason, "we carry out our mission chiefly in such works and activities as make possible the human and Christian education of the young, such as oratories and youth centers schools and technical institutes, boarding establishments and houses for young people in difficulties." (C 42) "In parishes and mission residences, .... In specialized centers we make available our pedagogical and catechetical expertise in the service of the young. In retreat houses…" (C 42) "We work in the social communication sector." (C 43) "…and in every other kind of work which has as its scope the salvation of the young." (C 42).

Even though there are a variety of settings, the unity, and at the same time, the richness of the Salesian project are evident. Each work and structure makes its own specific contribution to the whole and helps to realize the oratorian criterion of article 40 of the Constitutions, namely: "it [Oratory] was for the youngsters a home that welcomed, a parish that evangelized, a school that prepared them for life, and a playground where friends could meet and enjoy themselves". (C 40)

To express this unity of the Salesian Youth Ministry in an area and in the local church with clarity, the different works and services which make up the Salesian presence in a specific area need to be organized with a shared and complementary vision, based on:

• the local or the provincial community which animates the presence, safeguarding its Salesian identity;
• the council of a particular work as the central animating body which brings together SDBs and lay people (GC 24, 160-161; 171).

This demands that in the different settings there be:

• some shared educative and pastoral approaches and criteria of action,
• some structures of coordination and collaboration,
• a spirit of communion and sharing of resources.

It is the responsibility of the provincial with his council (bearing in mind the situation of the province and of the consistency of the different educational contexts, in dialogue with the local Salesian community) to decide on the concrete manner of bringing about this relationship and the practical ways in which the EPC can function (cf. GC 24, 169).

This chapter presents the most important characteristics of these works and services in which Salesian youth pastoral ministry is carried out concretely through the SEPP.

First the more organized and traditional works and structures are presented, such as the Oratory-Youth Center, the academic school, the technical school and the parish.

Then there the other works and services which are an attempt to contact young people and meet the new challenges that they present. Among these we pay special attention to services for young people in difficulty.

Many of these new educative and pastoral presences among young people are also found in traditional works, and represent a sign of their capacity for renewal and pastoral efficacy.

I . THE ORATORY-YOUTH CENTER

1. The originality of the Salesian Oratory

The fundamental aspects of the Salesian Oratory-Youth Center are found in Don Bosco’s activity and its evolution with regard to other models and institutes.

1.1 The original inspiration.

Don Bosco’s Oratory, which took its name from an already existing ‘institution’, was different from any that existed earlier or contemporaneously.

It is the transformation brought about by Don Bosco himself which demonstrates even today the special features of oratorian pastoral ministry. These changes are basically six in number:

• From merely a "service" of teaching catechism to a presence and participation in the life of the young person with his needs and problems.
• From "part time" to "full time" filling the whole of Sunday and extending into the week days through personal contacts and activities.
• From a limited catechetical program to a potentially integrated educative and pastoral program; games and other forms of youthful expression such as theatre, music and song, the school , groups...are some of the elements of this program.
• From an adult-centered institution to a community of boys/girls centered on participation of youth, being together, and having an openness to all.
• From the centrality of the program to the centrality of the person and inter-personal relationships.
• From a parish mentality to a missionary outlook, open to young people who did not even know what parish they belonged to, and who saw in the parish neither a reference point for their religious life nor for their human problems.

1.2 The current situation

With the evolution and extension of Don Bosco’s activities, the inspiring principles are not changed, nor are the characteristic features. However, society, education and other phenomena have changed the condition of youth. Hence the need for updating.

Some manifestations of these changes are:

• The ‘birth’ of a new concept of free time is taking center stage in young peoples’ lives.
• Free time, resources and possibilities are plenty. It can enrich or leave a person empty (consumerism) and has come to the point of becoming a cultural trait.
• New places and agencies for education have appeared: possibilities for sports, tourism, music, mass media, increase in the opportunities for forming of cultural, social, recreational, religious groups, etc. These avenues offer new possibilities for the involvement of young people.
• Even in schools many co-curricular activities which are outside the strictly academic routine are now offered. This promotes greater involvement of the young in the locality with a variety of free time activities.
• The gap between young people and the Church has increased, as between the life of young people and educative and pastoral institutions which have difficulty in providing the young people with a significant gospel message.

1.3 Towards a new synthesis

The reflections made at the General Chapters 20, 21 and 23 offer points on which the Congregation has arrived at a consensus According to these, the Oratory-Youth Center should be understood as a reality that can exist in a variety of forms, but with some essential characteristics:

• A totally welcoming place open to:
  • a great variety of young people, especially for those who are aloof, from a wider area,
  • with a great variety of opportunities and degrees of belonging,
  • characterized by the leadership given to young people, and
  • with personal relationships of such ‘significance’ that make it a place of contact and of reaching out for the youngsters already inside.
• A program of missionary evangelization aimed primarily at young people who are aloof in order to offer them, through the awakening and deepening of their questions about life and companionship, a journey of education to the faith adapted to their situation and sensitive to the ecumenical and inter- religious climate in which they live.
• A Christian presence in the world of youth and in civil society (frontier work between the religious and the civil, the secular and the ecclesial).
• capable of supplying significant educative and evangelical answers to the challenges and the most felt needs, especially of those which apply to those who are aloof, and
• also capable of promoting a context of openness - inter-cultural, inter-racial, ecumenical and inter- religious.

2.1 Characteristics of the EPC of the Oratory-Youth Center

The Educative and Pastoral Community (EPC) of the Oratory-Youth Center has its particular characteristics which arise from its own nature which places it in an atmosphere of freedom, characterized by a welcoming approach, friendly relationships and the active participation of the young people themselves.

The EPC of the Oratory-Youth Center, as the animator of this community dynamic, has these characteristics:

• a great capacity for approaching and sharing the world of young people, open to their questions and needs;
• flexibility and creativity to adapt more and more to the variety and spontaneity of the oratorian environment;
• but at the same time with a clear and agreed knowledge of its aims and the ideals which foster unity of criteria and the convergence of interventions, avoiding dispersion and individualism;
• welcoming and caring for the individual, avoiding merely formal relationships;
• plenty of opportunity for involvement and the exercise of responsibility on the part of the young people themselves;
• sensitivity to a presence in the local area, open to active collaboration with educative and pastoral initiatives existing there.

2.2. The presence of young people in the EPC of the Salesian Oratory-Youth Center

The Oratory is an educative and pastoral structure ideally suited to promote an ever more intense participation of young people. We begin a dialogue with the boys/girls right from the first meeting, to motivate them, involve them ever more and gradually make them co- responsible in the activities and the groups which they choose.

The EPC of the Oratory-Youth Center should pay special attention to organizational structures so as to offer the young people the widest possible responsibilities alongside the adult educators.

2.3 The EPC inserted in the Church and open to the locality.

• The Oratory and the Youth Center present particularly important occasions and places, though not the only ones, to approach and to evangelize young people through a holistic youth ministry.
• Many Oratories-Youth Centers belong to a parish or constitute the presence of the Church in a pastoral area.
• Their insertion in the Church will show itself in a mutual sense of belonging. For this it is important:
  • To ensure that the Salesian Educative and Pastoral Project of the Oratory is in agreement with diocesan pastoral lines in order to be a significant program of Youth Ministry.
  • To be inserted in a responsible manner in the organizational structures (Pastoral Council of the parish, and/or the area), and bringing along one’s own sensitivity and concerns about youth.
  • To share initiatives, discussions, Educative and Pastoral Projects with the parish communities of the area, fostering mutual enrichment.
• The Oratory-Youth Center is a also a missionary presence directed towards the world of youth; for this reason an oratorian community ought to transact with the neighborhood and dialogue with the social and educational institutions of the zone or city.

Here are some significant activities in this regard:

• coming to know the area;
• contacts and agreements with regard to collaboration oration with other social and ecclesial bodies working in the area;
• occasions for making our precincts available for activities in the area which are in harmony with the aims of the center;
• creative efforts of planning and programming of projects for the good of the locality;
• joining with other organizations which collaborate in youth ministry.

2.4 Animation of the EPC in the Oratory-Youth Center

Since the EPC of the Oratory-Youth center is an open body in which many participate, it needs a systematic animation which guarantees a clear and certain Salesian identity as it adapts to the changing requirements of young people. It also requires a systematic educative process which gives unity and clarity to the variety of proposals and experiences.

2.4.1 Some fundamental features of this animation:

1. Organize the large number of young people into different smaller groups for activities and formation according to their interests;
2. promote the widest possible exercise of responsibility by the young people in the context and the life of the Oratory;
3. encourage the participation of the youth in associations around the SYM.
4. Increase the co-responsibility of adults who know how to share with young people, in a friendly way, the educative projects and an experience of family and community. Their presence is an important element that brings stability and maturity in the life of the Oratory. Among the adults, whose presence we consider important in the Oratory-Youth Center, we list those who have special leadership roles, the parents of the boys, especially those who want to collaborate in the educative process, and the members of the Salesian Family.
5. Take care of the formation of lay educators and young leaders, investing people and resources in a continuous effort at the Christian and Salesian educational qualification of the educators and above all of the more mature young people who are capable of exercising responsibility through training programs for animators and leaders, courses, retreats, meetings, etc.
6. Encourage the presence and significant involvement of the Oratory- Youth Center in the area and in the local church,

• with special attention given to those who are aloof and young people at risk.
• For this the EPC must become aware of the normal and disadvantaged areas in the locality, as also of the social and church networks operating in the area;
• promote practical initiatives of looking for youngsters where there are, above all in the areas deprived of educational facilities corresponding to their needs and interests. This may lead to the greatest involvement of the young as part of the ongoing coordination for the promotion of initiatives and services run with others.
• To set up and run this animation, also through volunteers, who do it freely.

2.4.2 Structures of Animation

a. The Salesian Community

The animating center of the Oratory-Youth is the whole Salesian community. All the confreres in the house, not only those in charge, are responsible:

• for the Salesian identity,
• for gathering together adults and young leaders in the EPC,
• for their ongoing formation,
• for openness and involvement in the neighborhood and the local church.

This animation is effected by:

• the example of fraternal communion and cordial openness to young people,
• the provision of faith and prayer experiences shared with them,
• active involvement in formulating and periodically assessing the local SEPP,
• the sensitive openness of the community to the local social situation.

b. The Director of the Oratory- Youth Center

He takes inspiration from Don Bosco at the Oratory:

• vocation, affability, competence in working with young people,
• apostolic spirit, capacity for sincere direct relationships with the helpers, and
• an encouraging presence among the young,
• creativity and resourcefulness in taking initiatives and communicating enthusiasm,
• concerned about the unity of action of the team, and its growth in Christ. In profound harmony with the Salesian community he:
• promotes the SEPP - formulated, put into effect and assessed together with the entire EPC,
• coordinates all those who are working in the Oratory, the different groups and committees,
• fosters their links and collaboration with other bodies working in the filed of education and youth welfare in the area and in the local church,
• ensures the involvement of the Oratory-Youth Center in the parish community.

c. The leaders, adults and young people

The leaders, adults and young people with the oratorian heart of Don Bosco take up the educative project of the Oratory-Youth Center and take it forward (cf. GC 24, 164).

The role of the leaders as an integral part of the EPC consists in:

• being a point of reference for the young people,
• living the values they propose,
• accepting a vision of man and woman according to the gospel and committing themselves to realizing it gradually in their lives;
• living the youth situation, from the inside, devoting time to being with them, sharing and appreciating what they like and encouraging their growth to full maturity;
• animating the Oratory-Youth Center project by responsibly coordinating the different groups and planned activities, in such a way that the young people themselves take the lead;
• fostering relationships between individuals and between groups, in a listening atmosphere and showing respect for all; and
• working in teams, and remaining open to a continuous process of formation.

This leadership is exercised in the context of a voluntary and freely given service. If for some more onerous or professional task, above all, in connection with group activities legally recognized in the Oratory, a suitable fee or a work contract is appropriate. It should always be arranged according to law, and with total openness, trying to instill the spirit of voluntary service, which goes beyond the agreed terms, in order to be always available for the needs of the young people.

d. The Oratory Council

The roles of leadership we have described are unified in structures. Among these we consider important the Council of the Oratory-Youth Center or the Council of the EPC of the Oratory (cf. GC 24, 161).

Its composition and functioning are according to rules and criteria, which are flexible yet stable, according to the directives of the Provincial and his council (GC 24, 171).

Its responsibilities are:

• to promote and assess the annual pastoral plan according to the various requirements of the youth situation and the guidelines of the SEPP;
• to coordinate the various educational schemes of the associations and groups, and
• to ensure the coordination and integration of the various programs suited to human development, evangelization, catechesis, liturgical celebrations and charitable and missionary commitments;
• to foster Salesian groups, the exchange of information and coordination between the different groups and associations;
• to maintain close links with the neighborhood and with all those who are working in the field of education of youth, encouraging schemes and projects adapted to situations of marginalization, young people at risk and religious indifferentism;
• to help the religious and ‘professional’ development of all the members of the EPC through a systematic formation plan.

Within the set-up and dependent upon the Council, groups and committees with particular tasks regarding the major sectors of activities can be set up. Among these it is important to have a pastoral committee and a finance committee.

3. THE EDUCATIVE AND PASTORAL PROJECT IN ORATORIES

The plan which the young people are offered in the Oratory-Youth Center provides them with the possibility of having a genuine Christian youth experience. This helps them to understand and to enjoy the world and to judge it in the light of the gospel, and to become ever more aware of themselves, of others, of being adults among adults in society and in the church. This will also help them to live energetically their own youth and to build a program of life inspired by the gospel. This kind of plan is realized with a central program and other specific programs in keeping with the particular interests of the young people. Thus every young person has different opportunities offered him/her. He/she can join the ‘journey’ according to his/her own level of growth.

This project evolves in three complementary stages.

3.1 Gathering young people together

The first element of the Salesian Oratory-Youth Center plan is:

• its capacity to involve young people so as to make them aware of the meaning of being human, to help them to ask questions and help them to bring out whatever within them that is religious, because of tradition, environment or family.
• This gathering is done through:
  • an open environment rich in programs and activities according to the different interests of the young,
  • the efforts of the leaders to get to know him/her and invite him/her,
  • a personal welcome and insertion into a group that makes them actively involved,
  • searching for opportunities for encounters and personal dialogue.

3.2 An educative experience:

• of creativity that is both free and personal,
• of socialization which develops the positive resources of individuals and groups,
• that promotes a process of growth of the different personal dimensions according to the values inherent in the Salesian project.

This experience presupposes:

• A multiple and varied project (sporting, recreational, cultural, social) which covers the more significant aspects of the life and growth of young people;
• Participation in the planning, realization and revision of the activities of the oratory-community through different groups and committees;
• The gradual getting to know each other, mutual esteem, the ability to dialogue and share;
• A sense of solidarity, and of doing free service to others, according to age and development; and
• Occasions for formation as part of the experiences daily life, on relevant, educative, cultural and social themes.

3.3 A process of evangelization

A plan of evangelization that leads to a personal meeting with Christ that develops into a journey of growth in faith, towards a search for Christian identity according to Salesian youth spirituality and following a vocation.

This evangelical project ought to be:

• Missionary, according to the level of those furthest away, awakening interest and the wish to begin the journey,
• Positive, starting from life situations, according to the hopes and needs of young people,
• Rich and varied in proportion to the possibilities and rhythms of the maturing process,
• Consistent and demanding, towards a systematic and progressive growth, and the choice of a Christian vocation.

3.4 Fundamental channels

The group

The Salesian Oratory-Youth Center chooses the life in groups and Salesian style of associations as a basic educative experience:

• It offers a structured plan of different groups and associations according to the interests of the young people around whom it is organized;
• spontaneous groups that bring out the natural leaders and immediate interests, and
• groups with their own structures and formation programs (sports groups, cultural and social groups, religious formation and development groups, missionary interest groups, internal training groups, etc).

In these groups we encourage:

• The development of a sense of belonging to the EPC of the Oratory as a united ambient and to the SYM,
• Openness of the immediate and superficial interests to more serious interests and even to taking on a commitment of service to others both inside and outside.
• The acceptance and appreciation of life experiences of the group itself and the surroundings, leading to the awakening of a search for new experiences which help to deepen the religious questions and questions about the meaning of life.
• A process of formation ever more systematic and explicitly Christian,
• Associations among the groups to increase the capacity to create communion, grow in solidarity, produce and spread a real culture of dialogue and encounter with other cultures present in the area, to participate in civil life in the service of youth.

• Activity is a characteristic of the Oratory-Youth Center just as lessons are of a school.
• Activity is also the channel of communication between the group and the mass.
• The leader/former prepares, proposes, ensures continuity and progress; the latter takes part, is enriched, and matures.

In every activity we seek to:

• Respond to a need in the life of young people, discovering and developing their intrinsic educative potentialities
• Establish formation objectives according to the SEPP of the Oratory-Youth Center giving priority to those with the greatest content and richness,
• Coordinating and opening it to other contexts and organizations in the area so as not to lose sight of the overall picture.

Among he activities the most frequently found in the Oratory-Youth Center are games and sports, both spontaneous and organized, music and theatre, camping and tours, study or work camps etc. It is important that all these activities are brought together within the life of the Oratory-Youth Center, are coordinated and common meetings and times together are encouraged.

Experiences of service and solidarity

We think that the opportunities of the Oratory-Youth Center increase by providing services that the young people’s growth to maturity and the needs of the neighborhood demand:

• tuitions;
• vocational and professional guidance, evening courses, counseling centers, social service in the area, etc.

These services are in keeping with:

• the requirements of those most in need;
• the inspiration of the gospel and the Salesian charism content in style;
• the actual capacity of the personnel.

Additional Reading:

VECCHI J., (a cura di) voce "Oratorio" in ISTITUTO DI TEOLOGIA PASTORALE, Dizionario di Pastorale Giovanile, LDC, Roma 1989, pp.615-621.