By Fr Gino Godinez, SDB
Provincial Secretary

Cebu, the Philippines, 23 January 2019 -- The FIS (Philippines South - Pakistan) Province Extraordinary Visitation commenced on 21 January with the arrival of our EAO Regional Councillor, Fr Vaclav Klement, in Cebu. A Rectors meeting was held on the first day, along with the various sector commissions and in the early afternoon the Provincial Council meeting (presided over by the Vice-provincial Fr Geronimo Honesto Jr.).

Our FIS province is made up of 15 canonical communities in the Philippines (Negros, Cebu, Panay, Eastern Samar and Mindanao islands) and in two in Pakistan. We have 115 Salesians (4 novices, 24 in temporary profession and 87 with perpetual vows) with 16 Salesian Brothers and 69 Salesian Priests. There is a large variety of apostolic works: 9 vocational training centres (TVET-VTC), 11 Youth Centres, 7 parishes, 4 academic schools, 4 retreat houses, 2 youth at risk homes, 2 schools for religious formation, one after-care home for youth in prison; in Pakistan there are two schools, one vocational training centre and one youth centre.

Our province of Mary Help of Christians was established in 1992 and we are relatively young - average age of the confreres is 46 years, and we are rather dynamic with a missionary spirit - both at home as well sending ad gentes missionaries abroad. Both in Mindanao and in Pakistan we are involved in daily contact with Muslim youth, a good opportunity for daily inter-religious dialogue of life.

During the opening day of the Extraordinary Visitation we shared thoughts on the Rector Major's Strenna 2019 'Holiness For You Too!' and among the main themes for discussion was the 'how' to accompany our numerous lay mission partners in our works with adequate involvement, formation at professional level and in the Salesian way of education.

Before starting the first community visitation, Fr Vaclav, together with two provincial councillors, paid a courtesy visit to the Archbishop of Cebu, Jose Serofia Palm . Together with the whole Catholic Church in the Philippines, Cebu too is preparing for the 500th anniversary of evangelization. As part of this Year of the Young, Cebu will hold the National Youth Day next April 23-28,2019. The end of the 2019 Extraordinary Visitation of our province is scheduled for April 25th.

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