Youth Ministry Sector
Salesian Sectors
The Youth Ministry Sector in the Salesian Congregation
The young are at the centre of the Salesian mission. Not as passive recipients of a service, but as people with whom to build a journey, to whom to offer authentic relationships, instruments of growth and a proclamation of the Gospel capable of speaking to their concrete lives. Youth ministry is the beating heart of the Salesian work in the world, and the Youth Ministry Sector is the body that, at the central level, animates and guides its development.
Who leads it
The Sector is entrusted to the Councillor General for Youth Ministry, elected by the General Chapter and a member of the General Council. His presence in the central government of the Congregation states with clarity where the priorities lie: the young are not one of many fields of action, but the fundamental reason for which the Congregation exists. The Councillor works with a team and collaborates closely with those responsible for youth ministry in the Salesian provinces throughout the world.
What the Sector does
The Youth Ministry Sector carries out a work of animation, reflection and coordination that develops on several levels.
The first level concerns the development of the reference framework. Over time the Congregation has developed an organic programme of youth ministry, gathered in the Salesian Youth Ministry Reference Framework. This document offers provinces and communities criteria, guidelines and tools for building educational and pastoral pathways consistent with Don Bosco’s charism. The Sector updates and deepens this framework, taking into account the transformations of the youth world and the directions coming from the Church.
The second level is that of the animation of the provinces. Every Salesian province has its own youth ministry team, which works in local contexts with its own sensitivity and methods. The central Sector supports this work, promotes the comparison of different experiences and fosters a common vision that values differences without losing the unity of the charism.
The third level concerns somespecific areasof youth ministry: vocational pastoral care, which accompanies young people in discerning their own calling; school pastoral care, which brings the educational dimension to life in Salesian schools; oratorian pastoral care, which looks after the original heart of the Salesian work; and care for young people in situations of fragility or marginalisation.
A method that comes from afar
Don Bosco left not only works, but a method: the Preventive System. Founded on reason, religion and loving-kindness, this educational approach puts at the centre the relationship, trust in the young person and the conviction that every person can grow if accompanied in the right way. the Youth Ministry Sector works so that this method does not remain a formula of the past, but continues to inspire living educational practices suited to the contexts of today.
In the spirit of Don Bosco
Don Bosco stayed with the young, got to know them, listened to them. The Youth Ministry Sector carries forward this same insight at the congregational level: it is not enough to have structures or programmes; there must be people capable of staying close to the young with patience, creativity and a hope that does not lose heart.
To access the documents of the Youth Ministry Sector, click HERE .
