Councilor for Youth Pastoral

“The Councilor for Youth Pastoral will animate the apostolic activity of the Institute in all its various forms, always in fidelity to its charism, keeping the needs of the young people in mind” (C. 129)

Since February 2015, the Ambito for Youth Pastoral is animated and coordinated by Sister Runita Galve Borja, Councilor for Youth Pastoral.

Sr Runita Galve Borja

Born in 1966 in Manila, Philippines, she has been an FMA since 23 May 1992. She was an animator in various formal and non-formal education environments and Provincial Coordinator for Youth Pastoral. She received her Master’s Degree in Theology and Youth Pastoral. From 2004 to 2014 she was a Collaborator in the Youth Pastoral Sector.

The Councilor for Youth Ministry, in accordance with Article 129 of the FMA Constitutions:

• Animates the apostolic action of the Institute in all its expressions, in constant fidelity to the charism and the needs of the youthful reality;
• Provides guidelines to the “Educating Communities” so that, in the spirit of the Preventive System, they promote the integral formation of young people and favor their insertion in society and in the Church.

In the animation of the Youth Pastoral Sector, the Councilor is assisted by an International Team:

• Arciniegas Julia
• Audate Annecie (VIDES International)
• Garcia Sarah (Human Rights Office )
• Goulart Ivone Lopes
• Pfozhumai Neli Lolia Annie
• Rastello Elena
• Ulate Ana Victoria

Youth Pastoral is the way of expressing the attention of the Church and of the Institute to the younger generations and aims at the integral growth of the person by educating in the commitment to active citizenship. It is a practice that relates educational action and evangelizing action by placing Christ as a fundamental reference for the construction of the personality and for the discernment of the human and cultural values ​​of the environment.

The educational mission is a charismatic gift expressed in the experience of Don Bosco, of Mary Domenica Mazzarello, and of the tradition of the Institute. The subject of this mission is the Educating Community, made up of the FMA community, the laity, and young people who, at various levels, share the common evangelizing educational mission. It takes place in a plurality of environments which, in different contexts and continents, take on diverse characteristics, modes, and nuances. The FMA educational environments include schools and vocational training centers; youth centers; Institutions of Higher Studies, Hostels and other forms of university pastoral care; catechist schools; privileged forms of proclaiming the Gospel; houses of spirituality for young people and laity; works for children, adolescents, and young people at risk; women’s promotion centers; attendance in favor of ethnic and religious minorities; reception centers for migrants, refugees, and other people involved in the drama of human mobility; volunteering, also in its associative form (VIDES); various forms of youth associations.

The Youth Pastoral Sector:

• Networks with the provincial coordinators of the YP, valuing its richness in a plurality of situations, of educational and cultural approaches;
• Animates in a style of co-responsibility, networking with the Referents for formal and non-formal education, SYM, VIDES delegates, and other FMA, lay people who collaborate in the educational mission of the Provinces;
• Networks with other congregations and ecclesial and social organizations on issues concerning JPIC (Justice, Peace and Integrity of Creation), education and human rights, particularly of the younger generations, especially the young woman;
• Promotes, in agreement with the YP Department of the SDBs, the reality of the Salesian Youth Movement (SYM), the coordination of Salesian School America, Salesian School Europe, and other pastoral initiatives.

 
School/Professional Formation Commissions. Coordinates schools at all levels, vocational formation centers, educational support for students, teachers, and families, teacher formation in ecclesial bodies and civil society.

• • • School Commission /Fp Africa and Madagascar (CIAM)
    • Salesian School America (ESA) with SDB
    • School Commission /Fp East Asia (CIAO)
    • Salesian School Europe (SSE) with SDB
    • Commission School/Vocational Training India (PCI)

Higher Education Institutions Network (ISS-FMA). Formed by 44 university centers, faculties, and normal, tertiary, and university schools of the FMA Institute in 16 countries, online for the development of common innovative academic projects oriented to professional competence and social transformation.

Salesian Youth Movement (SYM). An educational proposal of young people for young people. The SYM makes the communion of youth groups and associations concrete and visible, which, while maintaining their organizational autonomy, are inspired by Don Bosco and Mary Domenica Mazzarello, are recognized in Salesian spirituality and pedagogy. The coordination of the SYM at various levels makes it more visible in civil or ecclesial bodies or platforms.

VIDES International (International Volunteer Worker Education and Development). The association of youth volunteers born from the FMA Institute proposal. It promotes volunteering as a tool for training young people for the construction of a fraternal society in solidarity, respecting human rights and common goods in favor of sustainable development especially for children, young people, and women.

Office of Human Rights. Represents the International Institute of Mary Help of Christians (IIMA) and VIDES at the United Nations (UN) in Geneva. IIMA and VIDES have obtained special consultative status from the Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) of the UN. The IIMA Office promotes the right to education using human rights tools and draws the attention of the Human Rights Council and Governments to some important issues to ensure the right to education for all, especially the most vulnerable. Promotes human rights training at the Institute level.

History

During General Chapter XVI in 1975 the presence of the General Councilor for Youth Pastoral took shape. In the 1990s, in the logic of a circular style of animation, the International Center for Youth Pastoral is constituted as a Sector for Youth Pastoral.
Since 2014 (General Chapter XXIII, amendment of the Constitutions – art. 129bis) an integral part of the YP Area are: VIDES International, the Human Rights Office, and the transversal dimensions of pastoral processes, attention to Women, to Justice, Peace, and Integrity of creation (JPIC), essential elements and values ​​of the educational charism of the Institute, transversal to all pastoral processes and aimed at promoting integral human development. In a world marked by inequality and exclusion, the commitment to educate to Justice, Peace, and the care of the common home becomes inescapable, along with the assumption by the Educating Communities, of JPIC values ​​as a lifestyle and spirituality that promotes the culture of non-violence.

Documentation