Rome (Italy). Â On October 8, 2022, in the online mode, the 1st Meeting of the Pastoral Referents of the Institutions of Higher Studies of the Daughters of Mary Help of Christians (ISS-FMA) took place.
Sr. Ivone Goulart Lopes, ISS-FMA Referent of the Youth Ministry Sector of the FMA Institute, welcomed the participants, present in 28, saying: “welcome to this First Meeting of the Referents of the Pastoral of the ISS-FMA, I hope that this is the beginning of many other meetings done ONLINE. You are bearers of spring, the building site, and cradle of a culture of hope and peace.
The Identity Card of the ISS-FMA, the Acts of the XXIV General Chapter, the Programming of the General Council 2022-2027, the monthly Circulars of Mother Chiara, say that we must commit ourselves to be with young people listening to them, trusting them, believing in them, meeting them where they are. It is the greatest service we can offer them; it is to guarantee an integral education because it accompanies the human being towards his/her fullness, forming ‘good Christians and honest citizens’.
I hope that the quality and significance of university pastoral ministry will be a reality in our ISS and that networking will strengthen the identity, mission, and visibility of our Institutions. May we respond to the deliberation of General Chapter XXIV by letting ourselves be challenged by the cry of young people, of the poor, and of the earth, following a concrete and uninterrupted path of conversion to integral ecology, as a dimension of life and educational mission, in the spirit of the Preventive System”.
Among the many characteristics of the Institutions of Higher Studies (ISS-FMA), it is important to emphasize that they are places that offer a specific proposal of evangelization, of Christian formation, of commitment of service to others, in openness to ecumenical and interreligious dialogue; a concrete witness of humanizing culture in an evangelical perspective. The University Pastoral Care of the ISS-FMA usually takes care of these formative dimensions.
The 24th General Chapter was a place and a time in which it was possible to share both the opportunities offered by the Institutions of Higher Studies, and the challenges they pose to be generative of life. In fact, the great value of these educational environments is recognized, where so many young people and young adults meet.
Sr. Runita Borja, General Councilor for Youth Ministry of the FMA Institute, spoke on the theme: Â “With Mary being a “presence” that generates life – Ideas for ISS-FMA University Pastoral. Presence: that listens; that walks together in community that is ‘outgoing’ and ‘networking'”, starting from the Priority choices of the 24th General Chapter and the Chapter Deliberation.
Subsequently, in Language Groups, the Proposals of the Meetings in the six-year period 2022-2027 concerning Youth Ministry and University Pastoral Care of the ISS-FMA were examined and suggestions were gathered, then presented in the plenary assembly at the end of the meeting, which will be incorporated into the text of the proposal.
