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Webinar on Mother Mazzarello and accompaniment

On 21 December 2021, the Webinar took place on the topic “The accompaniment of Mother Mazzarello in the life of the young, organized by the ISS FMA of Asia-Africa.

Redazione

4 January 2022

Chennai (India). On 21 December 2021, the Webinar organized by the Salesian Institutions of Higher Studies (ISS-FMA) of Asia and Africa took place on the theme, “The accompaniment of Mother Mazzarello in the life of the Young”.

The Webinar, coordinated by the Indian Province of St. Thomas the Apostle (INM), was attended by more than 80 people, including Daughters of Mary Help of Christians, educators, and students of the ISS-FMA of Asia and Africa, which include 6 Institutes of Higher Studies in India, two in the Philippines, two in Africa, and one in Japan. For the first time, FMA and students from the University of Tangaza, Kenya participated.

Present at the online meeting were Sr. Ivone Goulart Lopes, Coordinator of the Youth Ministry Sector for the ISS-FMA Network; Sr. Lolia Annie, collaborator of the Youth Ministry Sector, and the Heads of the ISS-FMA Institutions of Asia and of Africa.

Before the presentation, the participants observed a minute of silence recalling the victims and the situation in the Philippines, affected by the typhoon Rai/Odette after mid-December 2021.

The speaker, Sr. Margaret Devadoss, FMA, Animator of Community of St. Mary D. Mazzarello Community of Katpadi, Vellore, then introduced the theme, highlighting the aspects of Mother Mazzarello’s spirituality linked to the accompaniment of young people, characterized by loving kindness and charity.

Sr. Margaret also highlighted the typically feminine aspect of accompaniment, speaking of ‘feminine genius’: an accompaniment that generates life, centers on the person, caring and synodal, integral and integrated, uplifting and testimonial. The accompaniment style of St. Mary Domenica Mazzarello changed the life of various girls, such as Enrichetta Sorbone, Emma Ferrero, and others.

The proposed theme encouraged the participants to imitate the path of an integral approach to the person undertaken by the co-founder of the FMA Institute and to follow her example in accompanying young people in the areas of youth and university ministry.