“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)
Home Councilor for Youth Pastoral
Councilor for Youth Pastoral
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:
- Suor Audate Annecie (VIDES International)
- Suor Garcia Sarah (Office of Human Right)
- Suor Goulart Lopes Ivone
- Suor Nsofwa Chanda
- Suor Palomino Herlinda
- Suor Pfozhumai Neli Lolia Annie
The Youth Ministry of the FMA Institute is the concrete realization of the educational mission. It is the typical way of expressing the attention of the Church and of the Institute towards the younger generations, in contact with life, open to hope. It aims at the integral growth of the person by educating the commitment to an active citizenship. It is a practice that connects 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.
It is important to recall the broad lines of action of youth ministry according to Pope Francis:
- The search, the invitation, the call that attracts new young people to experience the Lord.
- The growth, the development of a path of maturation of those who have already lived that experience.
The animation of Youth Ministry 2022-2027 is in line with General Chapter XXIV: “With Mary, be a ‘presence’ that generates life.”
For the six-year period 2022-2027, the Sector Youth Ministry Sector promotes “A Synodal Youth Ministry for the life of all.” In the light of General Chapter XXIV, the YM Sector has identified five processes to be favored with the Provinces in this six-year period:
- Journeying towards conversion to integral ecology (accompaniment of educating communities; celebration of Laudato Si’ Week and the Season of Creation).
- Together for a new impulse to Catechesis (updating through webinars, basic formation, sharing of good practices).
- Networking in a broad educational alliance – The Global Educational Pact in the style of the Preventive System (assuming the Global Educational Pact in the perspective of integral ecology).
- Updating of the Document “That they may have life and have it to the full. Guidelines for the educational mission of the FMA”.
- A new impetus to vocation animation.
Methods of animation of the Youth Ministry Sector
- Accompaniment
- Formation / Information
- Advocacy
- Networking
Ordinary means of accompaniment by the Youth Ministry Sector
- Meetings in presence and online
- Visits
- Animation and participation in various events
- Dialogue and consultation
- Sharing resources and good practices
- Sharing news and information especially through the communication “Youth Ministry in Communion”
- Publication of resources especially the “Youth Ministry Series”
Commissions / Coordination / Networks accompanied by the Youth Ministry Sector
- ESA – Escuela Salesiana America
- SSE – Scuola Salesiana Europa
- CIAO Scuola
- PCI Scuola
- CIAM Scuola/Fp
- ISS-FMA – Network of Higher Education Institutions
- Salesian Youth Movement Europe and Middle East /
- Network of young human rights defenders /
Materials / Resources offered to the Provinces
- PG in Communion – a joint communication of the Youth Ministry Sector, a space for sharing the life of the Youth Ministry Sector with its closest collaborators, that is, the Provincial Youth Ministry Coordinators; sent, for information, also to the Provincials and translated into five languages.
- Youth Ministry series – written in the five official languages of the Institute, it is a means of ongoing formation for the educating communities. It offers reflections on topics relevant to our educational mission and further insights into elements advocated by the document “That they may have life and have it to the full. Guidelines for the educational mission of the FMA”, with attention to the journey of the Church and the world.
- Other materials written by the YM Sector or coming from other sources.
Presence on the social networks
- Youth Ministry FMA on Facebook
- On Instagram: pastoralefma
- Blog of Youth Ministry: https://pgfma.wordpress.com/
- FMA YM Sector YouTube
International offices that refer to the Youth Ministry Sector
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.
