The Rector Major of the Salesians of Don Bosco, Fr Pascual Chavez SDB, has begun his Extraordinary Visitation of the Salesian Delegation of Malta; the first he has undertaken personally during his term as successor of Don Bosco.
He arrived on the 2nd of September, at the airport of Gudja, where he was welcomed by Fr Paul Formosa, the Provincial Delegate. The Salesians in Malta gathered together in the chapel of “St Patrick School” in Sliema for a moment of prayer. The Rector Major then began his Visitation with the traditional Salesian “Good Night” (brief reflection at the end of the day) in which he highlighted the importance of this practice, introduced by Mamma Margaret, in the Salesian pedagogy.
There was a significant presence of young Salesians in formation together with the novices and aspirants, who, as Fr Chávez pointed out, are “the visible signs of a mission lived according to the signs of the times and the response to a compelling invitation to a new evangelisation.”
The Extraordinary Visitation will last for 10 days. Besides visiting each community, the Rector Major wil preside over the the Perpetual Profession of a young lay Brother and the renewal of vows of two clerics. Another occassion for the Salesian Family will be a Mass during which an offering will be made on behalf of all the people of Malta in aid of the Haiti and Pakistan missions.
Since 1980 Malta has been a Delegation of the “Saint Patrick” Province of Ireland. At present there are 44 Maltese Salesians of whom 25 are working in Malta while the others are carrying out their ministry in 7 different countries. Their area of ministry, primarily in schools, oratories and social care, extends in favour of young immingrants, voluntary and mission work, printing and media productions as well as an active service to the diocese of Malta.
You may wish to visit www.sdb.org for an international overview of the Salesian work worldwide.