austraLasia 1417
ITM - a little bit of history is made
DILI: 30th January 2006 -- While for most provinces the appearance of a Salesian Newsletter (what Italian calls a 'notiziario' as distinct from just a provincial's letter) is no big deal, it has been a notable and welcome achievement for the confreres of ITM in East Timor and Indonesia. Number 1, Volume 1 actually has a September-October date on it, but someone only thought of sending it to austraLasia just a day or two ago. There has actually been a second edition since, just before Christmas, and who knows, another 'Don Bosco Day' edition may well be in the making. What is more significant however, is the plan that is being followed by the Provincial - he believes, and rightly so, that if a Province newsletter can be firmly established and be effective, then the next important step, an ITM Salesian Bulletin, will more easily follow.
Given that history has been made here, let's take a brief walk through 1.1.
It consists of a newsy letter from the Provincial, Fr Andres Calleja, but with some solid input as part of it on Salesian religious identity, very much directed to the particular circumstances of religious life in the province. Then news from the houses follows. Then comes a little 'entertainment' section with a story, and some word puzzles. There is a mixture of English and Tetum, and Bahasa for the references to communities in Indonesia.
Well then, from the 'news' section. A number of communities explain how they have organised their community life; community council, assembly, that sort of thing. This includes the Provincial community at Comoro (Dili). But to take just one community, the community at Fuiloro, as an example, the 'correspondent' there, Fr Manuel Ximenes, explains a new scholastic programme they have introduced, a special multi-faceted programme involving just 30 students. The community itself has, in recent months, received new members, recently ordained - Fr Jesuino and Fr Acasio. From what this reader can understand of the Tetum, Fr Jesuino is a busy man as vice rector but also acting bursar. Fr Acasio is no less busy as a catechist for various schools. A little further down the road at Los Palos, they are already in expectation of the Extraordinary Visitation which will take place in a month or two and anxious to ensure that their educative and pastoral plan, including working in closely with the Salesian Sisters, is well in place.
None of it earth-shattering news but all very good news indeed for ITM. For this little news item here, we have left out references to the new novitiate in Sumba and other work in Indonesia, since that tends to be reported a little more regularly in austraLasia. In more recent times there have been important visits, too - Cardinal George Pell along with Bro Michael Lynch from Australia, for example, which would deserve a news item on its own, if the now active correspondents in that part of the world are happy to send along some news of that visit, and indeed other news which could well be shared with the rest of the region.
_______________________
AustraLasia is an email service for the Salesian Family of Asia Pacific. It also functions as an agency for ANS based in Rome. For RSS feeds, subscribe to www.bosconet.aust.com/rssala.xml
ITM - a little bit of history is made
DILI: 30th January 2006 -- While for most provinces the appearance of a Salesian Newsletter (what Italian calls a 'notiziario' as distinct from just a provincial's letter) is no big deal, it has been a notable and welcome achievement for the confreres of ITM in East Timor and Indonesia. Number 1, Volume 1 actually has a September-October date on it, but someone only thought of sending it to austraLasia just a day or two ago. There has actually been a second edition since, just before Christmas, and who knows, another 'Don Bosco Day' edition may well be in the making. What is more significant however, is the plan that is being followed by the Provincial - he believes, and rightly so, that if a Province newsletter can be firmly established and be effective, then the next important step, an ITM Salesian Bulletin, will more easily follow.
Given that history has been made here, let's take a brief walk through 1.1.
It consists of a newsy letter from the Provincial, Fr Andres Calleja, but with some solid input as part of it on Salesian religious identity, very much directed to the particular circumstances of religious life in the province. Then news from the houses follows. Then comes a little 'entertainment' section with a story, and some word puzzles. There is a mixture of English and Tetum, and Bahasa for the references to communities in Indonesia.
Well then, from the 'news' section. A number of communities explain how they have organised their community life; community council, assembly, that sort of thing. This includes the Provincial community at Comoro (Dili). But to take just one community, the community at Fuiloro, as an example, the 'correspondent' there, Fr Manuel Ximenes, explains a new scholastic programme they have introduced, a special multi-faceted programme involving just 30 students. The community itself has, in recent months, received new members, recently ordained - Fr Jesuino and Fr Acasio. From what this reader can understand of the Tetum, Fr Jesuino is a busy man as vice rector but also acting bursar. Fr Acasio is no less busy as a catechist for various schools. A little further down the road at Los Palos, they are already in expectation of the Extraordinary Visitation which will take place in a month or two and anxious to ensure that their educative and pastoral plan, including working in closely with the Salesian Sisters, is well in place.
None of it earth-shattering news but all very good news indeed for ITM. For this little news item here, we have left out references to the new novitiate in Sumba and other work in Indonesia, since that tends to be reported a little more regularly in austraLasia. In more recent times there have been important visits, too - Cardinal George Pell along with Bro Michael Lynch from Australia, for example, which would deserve a news item on its own, if the now active correspondents in that part of the world are happy to send along some news of that visit, and indeed other news which could well be shared with the rest of the region.
_______________________
AustraLasia is an email service for the Salesian Family of Asia Pacific. It also functions as an agency for ANS based in Rome. For RSS feeds, subscribe to www.bosconet.aust.com/rssala.xml
