EUROPE/SWITZERLAND - Formation at the center of Scalabrinian Family meeting

Solothurn (Agenzia Fides) - In the current political climate, where irreconcilable conflicts, injustice and fears for security prevail which push towards self-defense and closure, there seems to be an increasing need for the formation of people, in order to re-establish society starting from relationships of solidarity and trust. It is crucial to focus on the culture of encounter to overcome the extremes of radical individualism or communitarianism that excludes those who are different.
The theme of the formation - both within the communities of the Scalabrinian Family and that offered to all, migrants and indigenous people, in the various environments - characterized the meeting of the general directorates of the three institutes of consecrated life of the Scalabrinian Family (missionaries, missionary nuns and secular missionaries), which took place on 31 August and 1 September at the International "GB Scalabrini" formation Center in Solothurn, headquarters of Scalabrinian secular missionaries.
According to the note sent to Fides, there were two speeches of particular interest. The first by dott. Samad Qayumi, an engineer and ex-Minister of Public Education in Afghanistan, who after 1992 had to flee in exile because of his commitment in favor of the education of the people. Samad Qayumi, who now lives in Switzerland and continues to dedicate his time to youth formation, highlighted the need for young people to learn to "express their opinion publicly by acting in favor of peace".
The second speech was by Swiss Franciscan Fr. Albert Schmucki, a professor at the Pontifical Universities in Rome, who pointed out that many young people ask religious questions, but often do not receive answers within their own family that can help them mature in faith and life. What is evident today is the solitude of a generation characterized by individualism, which makes it difficult to find adults with whom to measure one’s own project of life. It is therefore of vital importance for young people to engage in dialogue with people who take their formation seriously.
The meeting ended with the exchange on the new initiatives of the three Scalabrini institutes, both for direct intervention in favor of migrants and refugees, as well as in raising awareness of the political world, society and the Church in various continents. (LD/SL) (Agenzia Fides, 4/9/2017)

Share:

missionary institutes

---

---

emigration

---

---

formation

---

---

youth

---

---

politics

---

---