Fatima (Portugal). On 27 and 28 January 2024, in Fatima, the young people of the Salesian Youth Movement of the Provinces O. L. of Fatima (POR) of the Daughters of Mary Help of Christians and Saint Anthony (POR) of the Salesians of Don Bosco lived the National Synod of the SYM.
In the year of the celebration of the bicentenary of Don Bosco’s Dream at Nine Years, the Synod of Salesian Youth of the Salesian Youth Movement, organized by the SDB Dicastery and the FMA Youth Ministry Sector, will take place from 11 to 16 August 2024 in Turin, Valdocco and Colle Don Bosco. The world event is preceded by a preparatory work to be carried out in each Province in two phases: a local Synod and a national Synod.
During the month of January, some Houses in Portugal mobilized young people for a local Synod, listening to God’s will for that Salesian presence, promoting a meeting of discussion, prayer, and sharing with young people, to give them a voice, to listen to their dreams and concerns, to listen to and share what Jesus arouses and makes visible in the life of each one.
To prepare themselves for the National Synod, the organizational team led by two young people and accompanied by the national delegates for SDB and FMA Youth Ministry, drew up a preparatory document as a common basis for the reflection of the local Synods and then of the National Synod. The local Synod was an engaging experience and, more than the final result and the written documents, it is important to value the process and the experience of reflection and mutual listening to let oneself be ‘disturbed’ by the young people who share the Salesian mission.
At the National Synod in Fatima, January 27-28, various Salesian houses participated. It was a very rich synodal assembly among young people, FMA, and SDB, in which we experienced the spirit of family, prayer, listening, and sharing. Sr. Deolinda Teixeira and Fr. Tarcízio Morais, FMA and SDB Provincials, also participated in the National Synod as a presence that listens and welcomes the dreams of young people.
José Ornelas, Bishop of the Diocese of Leiria-Fátima and President of the Portuguese Episcopal Conference, shared fraternally with all the participants his experience at the Synod of Bishops in October 2023.
The Synod of Young Salesians wants a concrete itinerary for the young people of the different Salesian Provinces of the world, a moment of enhancement and deepening of the “Dream at Nine Years”, which allows rediscovering the meaning of that dream for spirituality, discernment, and the vocation of each. It is a journey that therefore does not remain concluded and archived in a weekend, but that grows as a Movement, as young Christians who want to be as Don Bosco asks: good Christians and honest citizens.
The World Synod to be held in Turin will be attended by two young people from each SDB and FMA Province engaged in pastoral animation in the local realities and in the activities of the Salesian Youth Movement.
