« In the Steps of Don Bosco”

217 vues • 01/11/2006 • 28:20

This month, we would like to present the message given by the life of Don Bosco. In the suburbs of Turin, the capital of the Piedmont region in Italy, in the 19th century, Don Bosco was horrified by the extreme poverty of the young workers, at a time when large-scale industry was just starting. He understood the urgent need to take care of these young people and to befriend them.

Relentlessly, through his talents for teaching and organising, whilst playing an important political role in the recognition of the needs of the young people of his time, Don Bosco became the founder of two religious congregations, the Society of Salesians and the Sisters of Marie Auxiliatrice.

Jean-Marie Petitclerc, a French Salesian priest and founder of several charitable organisations for needy young people, shows us in this film, through the life of Don Bosco, what is at stake with regards to the educational needs of our present societies, and gives us some guidelines.

The message of the life of Don Bosco is presented in three parts:

1. Not by might, nor by power
It’s on 16th August 1815 that John Bosco was born in the hills of Becchi, in the north of Italy. Struck for the whole of his life by a dream at the age of 9 when he heard a voice saying “It’s not by blows but by gentleness that you will make these young people your friends”, Jean Bosco took the resolution as a young priest to follow all his life this school of gentleness, which is that of Francis de Sales.

2. Sowing the seeds of hope
Don Bosco developped what we call the teaching of success, and is his stead he invites us to teach in a ‘preventive’ manner.

3. Leaving violence behind
The welcoming of the poorest of young people at the Oratory of the Valdocco neighbourhood is an answer to the problems of violence at that time, but also for today!

It’s in 1855 that Don Bosco founded with these young people the religious congregation of Saint Francis de Sales, which got called the Salesians, and relentlessly continues today the work of Don Bosco around the world!

To end, the film presents two very real experiences of evangelisation in the footsteps of Don Bosco:

- The Salesians in Mongolia
It has been possible only since 1991 to bring Christ to the huge territory of Mongolia, a country that had closed its doors to the Gospel for 70 years. In the capital, Ulaan Baatar, the Salesians of Don Bosco, in order to offer hope to the poorest young people, have opened a training school, a support scheme and a centre that looks after 70 street children each day.

- Net for God in the Czech Republic – TV Noah in Ostrava
Prayer for peace and unity, undertaken in over twenty Net Points in the Czech Republic, reaches beyond its boundaries. Leos Ryska, a Salesian priest, head of TV Noah, a Christian cable and satellite television station, has invited Net for God to create and broadcast a programme for peace, each month.

Ce film est réalisé par la Communauté du Chemin Neuf via le réseau de international prière « Net for God ».

Pour nous contacter : netforgod@chemin-neuf.org
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