Naples (Italy). The young people of the Salesian Youth Movement (SYM) Southern Italy, coordinated by the Daughters of Mary Help of Christians of Our Lady of Good Counsel Province (IMR) and by the Salesians of Don Bosco of the Southern Province (IME), kicked off the second edition of GIOCAT, the online catechesis course for young people between 18 and 30 years old.

After the first edition in May 2020, in which over a hundred young people united by the Salesian charism met online to undertake the formation path, the request arose for a new cycle of meetings, scheduled every second Friday evening of the month until April 2021.

Sr. Giuliana Luongo, Councilor for Youth Ministry of the IMR Province and Fr. Gianpaolo Roma, Delegate for Youth Ministry of the Southern SDB Province, animate and moderate the meetings in which, following the pastoral theme of the year 2020/2021 – “Here is the your field, this is where you must work ”- the pillars of Salesian Youth Spirituality are explored.

In the first meeting on 13 November 2020, Fr. Francesco Redavid, SDB, Director of the Salesian House and Oratory of Lecce, focused his catechesis on spirituality and the importance of prayer in the life of every Christian: “At this moment in which we have been ‘forced’ to stop, we are often surrounded by silence: what better circumstance to take care of our spiritual dimension, which we are often led to put in the background? “

A characterizing aspect of the GIOCAT meetings, appreciated by the participants, is the possibility of meeting each other after the catechesis in small groups in virtual rooms, in which to express one’s personal reflection and share with the other participants.

The GIOCAT initiative responds to the purpose of the experience within the SYM of integrating Salesian Youth Spirituality (SYS) into one’s life, to the point of making a vocational choice of commitment in the Church and, for those called, in the Salesian Family. To encourage this transmission, it is important to use languages and expressions appropriate to the contemporary youth world, taking into account the historical moment marked by the Covid-19 pandemic, according to what is proposed in the Final Document of the Bishops Synod on the Young, Faith and Vocational Discernment:

“In the dynamism of an outgoing Church it is necessary to think of a creative and flexible renewal of these realities (oratories and youth centers), passing from the idea of static centers where young people can come, to the idea of pastoral subjects in movement with and towards young people, that is, capable of meeting them in their ordinary places of life – the school and the digital environment,… – generating a new type of apostolate that is more dynamic and active .” (n ° 143)

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