Morelia (Mexico). On 9 and 10 September 2022, the Directors of the four Provinces of northern and southern Mexico – the Provinces Mother of the Church (MMO) and O. L. of Guadalupe (MME) of the Daughters of Mary Help of Christians; Christ the King and Mary Help of Christians (MEG); and Our Lady of Guadalupe (MEM) of the Salesians of Don Bosco, that make up the Salesian Network of Schools in Mexico, were invited by the National Team of Salesian Education (ENES) to participate in the VII National Meeting of Salesian Directors, at School Anáhuac A.C. in the city of Morelia, Michoacán, of the FMA of the MME Province.

The national meeting took place as part of the 150th anniversary of the foundation of the Institute of the Daughters of Mary Help of Christians and in the context of the Church’s reflection on synodality.

“Managing in synodality” was the theme and the main lines of reflection were: synodality, accompaniment, and leadership-management. The objectives of the meeting were: to strengthen management practices, educational presence, experience of synodality to promote the work of the Salesian School in America starting from the Mexican reality.

More than 180 Directors of the Salesian Network of Schools in Mexico were present, to contribute to the Strategic Planning of the Salesian School of America (ESA) and to promote the path of the 4 axes in the Salesian School in Mexico, proposing synodality as a transversal line to favor the achievement of these objectives.

The event began with the honor to the Mexican flag by the students of the School, followed by the presentation of the participants: Sr. Margarita Chavarría Primavera, Provincial of the MME Province; Fr. Carlos Alberto Montoya SDB, (MEG), President of the National Salesian Educational Team; Fr. Francesco Agapito Espinoza SDB, (MEG); Fr. Carmelo Reyes SDB (MEM); Sr. Leonide Roldán FMA, (MME); Sr. Cristina Silva FMA, (MMO); and Sr. Patricia Guadalupe Magaña FMA, (MMO). The president of the National Salesian Education Team, Fr. Carlos Alberto Montoya Manzo, solemnly opened the meeting.

In his discourse, Fr. Eduardo Lara, SDB of the MEG Province explored from the biblical, ecclesial, and Salesian points of view, the elements for the shared mission in the synodal style, “always ancient and always new”.

Fr. Ignacio Ocampo, SDB, Provincial of the MEM Province, urged the participants to be pastors who share the essential values of the Charism: reason, religion, and loving-kindness, to be leaven in society, and to shape a social reality of greater fraternity and communion. The dinner was a space for sharing and encounter, with typical foods from Michoacan and a folkloric dance from the city of Uruapan.

The day of 10 September began with dynamics of knowledge, followed by a time of celebration with a prayer recited around the paschal candle, a sign of the presence of the Risen Christ, asking to be brothers and sisters who walk in fraternity, united, and without fear. The participants then listened from the voice of Sr. Patricia Magaña, the Good Morning of Sr. Leonor Salazar, Provincial of the MMO Province, who invited us to cultivate two evangelical attitudes: vigilance and prayer, to help the young people face today’s society in a spirit of discernment.

Space was then given to deepening the first thematic axis of the Strategic Plan of the Salesian School of America: Salesian accompaniment. The round table developed along this line, in which four Salesian educators from the Provinces present dialogued in order to study in depth the characteristics and challenges that accompanying today’s young people entails.

With the conference on the theme “How to be present in social networks”, the Teacher Lina Elizabeth Rodriguez Gonzalez, gave an in-depth presentation of Salesian accompaniment in the new courtyards, and on the urgency of being formed as educators to be present in digital environments.

In the afternoon, the Teacher Alejandro Suárez Mateos, presented the initiative of the National Team of Salesian Education (ENES) for the socialization and strengthening of the Salesian Educational Model through a digital and paper document, a comic, a video, infographics, and with a workshop.

To qualify the animation, management, and accompaniment of the works starting from the strengthening of the shared mission between religious and laity and to experience axes three and four on management and leadership, Claudia Jessica Ortiz Castillo, collaborator of the EDEBE Publishing House, introduced the workshop on pedagogical management and leadership starting from the New Educational Model for Mexico.

In conclusion, the participants from the various Mexican realities left with the commitments to: promote the formation of Salesian educators by participating in the online workshop-course on the Salesian Educational Model; consolidate the Salesian Network of Schools in Mexico, working in synodality; focus on charismatic management and leadership that responds to individual situations; continuously accompany the members of the Educating Community.

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