Sue McDonald, Animator of Salesian Youth Ministry in the GBR Province, shares news and thoughts from the recent General Assembly of the Salesian Youth Movement Europe (SYM Europe).

Last last weekend, I went along to Brussels to take part in the SYM Europe General Assembly as SDB delegate, together with the SDB representatives for our Province, Daniel Antonio and Chloe Ceairns. The FMA from GBR also sent their delegate, Sr Anne Frances, and a representative, Rebecca Hargreaves.. Last year we hosted the assembly at Savio House so this year we were not given any tasks to do in preparation.

The main input of the weekend was given by Don Rossano Sala SDB, the special secretary of the Synod of Bishops 2018. He shared with us the format of the Synod and a taste of the topics of the meeting.

We shared in groups after listening to Don Rossano and the things that touched me the most were the following; Don Rossano challenged us to be really present when we are in the company of the young and not have our mind wander to the next task; he followed up by asking "how many of you are present right now, or are you on your Facebook and Twitter?" To become a listening church we need to be able to leave everything except for the moment in which we are living.

Don Rossano also spoke about migration, and said that as a Congregation, the Salesians are able to look this from many viewpoints. We are present in the place of departure of the person, we are present in places on the journey of the person, and we are present in the place of arrival of the person. We can build up a true picture of the reality of those leaving their homeland to find peace.

Our role in youth ministry is to walk with the young towards adulthood. We are called to make citizens of the young, not everlasting youth. Don Rossano used the story of the Emmaus journey and said that Jesus, a young adult, walked with the disciples towards adulthood, the recognising of their calling.

At the Assembly we also had input from Fr Olivier Poquillon, Secretary of the Commission of the Bishops' Conferences of the European Union (COMECE), who spoke very well on the role of the church in the EU. We reflected on the opportunities we have as church in the context of the EU. At one point he said, "although GBR is leaving the EU, they are not going to sail away into the sunset, they will still be part of Europe". It gave me hope to know that the Bishops are able to speak with and hopefully influence the EU as we go forward.

Finally we elected a new small team for the coming 3 years. GBR forms part of the North region and this region chose to have Malta as our representative on the small team. This is made up of an SDB and FMA from general houses in Rome and 3 young adults, one from each region.

I feel it is evermore important to attend these Salesian European meetings at this time of uncertainty for GBR and it is always good to meet up with friends in the Salesian family.

Sue McDonald

Salesian Youth Ministry Animator GBR