General Secretariat for

REDEMPTORIST YOUTH
AND VOCATION MINISTRY
(RYVM)

Sexennium 2003-2009

For the 2003-2009 sexennium the members of the General Secretariat for RYVM are as follows:

·  For the General Government: Serafino Fiore
sfiore@cssr.com

·  For Latin America: Ariel C. Cattaneo (2200 – Buenos Aires)
parielcattaneo@yahoo.com.ar

·  For North America: Santo Arrigo (4600 – Edmonton-Toronto)
sarrigo@redemptorists.ca

·  For Europe North: Jens Bartsch (0800 – Munich)
jens.bartsch@redemptoristen.de

·  For Europe South: Alfonso Amarante (0200 – Napoli)
amarantejr@redentoristi.it

·  For Africa: Raymond Mupandasekwa (1103 – Zimbabwe)
rmupa@hotmail.com

·  For Asia Oceania: Willy Ngongo Pala (4900 – Indonesia)
willy031069@yahoo.com

So far there have been Meetings of the General Secretariat in:

·  Rome, Italy, 2-5 November 2004.

·  Toronto, Canada, 16-21 November 2005.

In practice we use on line communication to develop projects and share decisions.

1.  The points of reference of the Secretariat

The basic instrument is the Directorium, with the general lines of its program. In continuity with the previous sexennium and after appropriate examination carried out at Regional level between 2004 and 2005, the Guidelines for RYVM published in 2000 were considered still valid and here we remind you of their most important elements:

·  The close connection between Youth Ministry and Vocation Ministry leaving Units free to set up one or more structures.

·  The vocational dimension which should naturally permeate all Ministry, but especially that of youth.

·  Redemptorist spirituality that characterizes our work for youth and vocations.

·  The need for a project planned within each Unit with investment of human and material resources and destined to last.

2.  The role of the Regions

Though the Guidelines remain valid the Secretariat noted that nevertheless much work remains to be done:

·  To inculturate the Guidelines, that is to adapt the Document to the situation, language and culture proper to each region.

·  To form local animators according to the mentality and contents of the Guidelines.

Hence the importance of meetings of animators for formation, at Regional, Sub-Regional or Vice-Provincial level. In 2006 each Region, with the exception of Africa, has planned a meeting: Europe North (Limerick, Ireland, 23-28 June); Europe South (Limerick, Ireland, 24 June-1July); Asia-Oceania (Yogikarta, Indonesia, 24-27 July); North America (Hamilton, Canada, 10-15 August); South America (Caracas, Venezuela, 23-28 October). It is hoped that the organization of these meetings entails no financial problems especially in the poorer Regions. The General Council has not been able to finance such meetings this year as the Solidarity Fund is being used to finance formation needs in the Congregation.

There still remains a fundamental problem: the animators of RYVM need formation other than occasional meetings to share problems and experiences. How do we meet this need? A proposal under consideration is that of substituting for one year the meetings of the Secretariat with those at Regional level and giving them the necessary expenses. Another resource to be kept in mind is the specialization of confreres in Youth and Vocation Ministry in Institutes of Specialization. In Rome there is the UPS: http://www.ups.urbe.it/index.

3.  Other Projects

We do not wish to confine the work of the Secretariat to Regional level. Our intention is:

·  To produce instruments that can be useful for animators such as a DVD on RYVM or a PowerPoint of RYVM on the web page.

·  Create occasions for sharing and animating, such as a competition for a new ‘logo’ of RYVM, promoting a RYVM Cross for young people, a contribution to a reflection on Redemption (Communicanda N°. 2) and on restructuring (“Work in Progress” December 2005).

·  Another project dear to our heart is that of a Symposium on RYVM preceded by a survey at the level of the Regions.

·  We know that all this involves financial outlay, especially for the DVD and the Symposium. However it is always important to have objectives and to do what is possible.

·  Meanwhile we have preferred to discontinue the old web site of the Secretariat, replacing it with new web pages, very simple and adequate, on the official web site of the Congregation’s General Government:

http://www.cssr.com/english/whoarewe/SecsAndComms/
PGVR/sec.pgvr-MenuPage-EN.shtml.

Serafino Fiore, C.Ss.R
Rome, 28 March 2006