2. PROMOTE THE SHARING OF RESPONSIBILITY

[117]

The full and responsible involvement of the laity in the mission of the Church and the Congregation brings about growth in shared responsibility. This means respecting those tasks which correspond to the lay vocation, and helping each one to feel committed in educative and pastoral work.

It is not sufficient that there be facts or situations in which lay people are involved, but there is need for a conscious acceptance on the part of the SDBs of the necessity of promoting shared responsibility. It is a question of creating or intensifying a new rapport between SDBs and laity, respectful of the identity and functions proper to each without confusion of roles.

Shared responsibility, expressed in dialogue, in team work, in the organization of structures and adequate organisms and in the search for financial resources, should be promoted at every level. It is manifested especially in the CEP and in organisms of government and animation.

2.1 Objective

[118]

To promote experiences, attitudes, practical processes and structures of shared responsibility which foster communion and sharing in the spirit and mission of Don Bosco.

2.2 Guidelines

[119]

The CEP and the PEPS

The proper and efficacious setting for the exercise of shared responsibility of the laity in the same mission that goes back to Don Bosco is the CEP, in which SDBs and laity have an experience of communion and sharing as they draw up, actuate and verify the PEPS.

[120]

Process of active participation

The exercise of shared responsibility is a process of the whole of the CEP, which puts at its centre young people and their needs. All its components engage in the process of discernment, playing an active part in seeking solutions from the standpoint of the educative and pastoral project.

[121]

Leading points

For this purpose it is indispensable to promote:

a. a serene and progressive dialogue on the content and motivations of the educative and pastoral work, encouraging moments of fellowship between SDBs and laity;

b. work in groups, to plan objectives, times and practical methods of communication and discussion, including also the financial report and the budget for the following period;

c. the necessary integration between the demands of the educative and pastoral activity and those of family, social and political life, especially of the laity, using in the best way all the forms of collegial management already prescribed by the institutions or by law;

d. the clear attribution of roles and functions between SDBs and laity, according to the time available, the different vocations, professional competence and levels of spiritual maturity, with particular attention to the younger members of the laity and to the members of the Salesian Family.³

[122]

The volunteer movement

A significant form of shared responsibility with lay people, and especially the younger ones, is the volunteer movement. Educative service carried out full-time for a defined period, while inserted in an SDB community or a community of volunteers, in one's own province of origin, some other province or on the missions, represents a very meaningful experience for lay persons who are sharing in Don Bosco's project.

2.3 Practical commitments

At local level

[123]

The SDB community should:

a. exploit, as instruments for formation to shared responsibility, the internal structures of the SDB community: the community council, community day, and assembly of the confreres;

b. consolidate the CEP: make sure that all its members play an active part in the elaboration, actuation and evaluation of the PEPS; guarantee the proper functioning of the collegial organs of participation (councils, teams for guidance and coordination, administrative and economic organisms); see to it that the laity participate in decision-making (pedagogical and pastoral perspectives, new mission fields, financial implications, constructions and restructuring); foster, according to the circumstances, the assuming of directive responsibility by competent lay people;

c. promote openness to educative and pastoral initiatives started up by lay groups of the Salesian Family and, as far as possible, give them the necessary help.

[124]

As regards the volunteer movement, the local community should:

• be open to encouraging those who ask to have an experience of the volunteer movement either at home or overseas;
• follow up the volunteers who provide service in our work, attending to their formation, helping them to share in the life of the community, and guiding them in the practice of educative responsibility;

For those who return after service abroad:

• help them to acquire a proper psychological and affective balance through fraternal welcome into the family, ecclesial and social environments;
• keep in mind the financial aspect, helping them to get back into the world of work, and giving priority if possible to commitments in harmony with their life choice.

To all volunteers:

• offer the vocational possibility of concrete adherence to one of the groups of the Salesian Family (SDB, Cooperators, FMA, DBV, DBS, etc.).

At provincial level

[125]

The Provincial with his Council should:

• arrange meetings and encounters with Salesians and laity responsible for the various sectors of activity, to programme and evaluate together the process of educative and pastoral action;
• set up the general framework of norms and criteria for the smooth functioning of activities, relationships between SDBs and laity, and initiatives promoted by them;
• study, and if necessary promote, the realization of projects together with groups of the Salesian Family or other lay groups. For this purpose they should foster the constitution and efficient functioning of the local council of the Salesian Family, in which will be studied together the needs of young people of the area, and common projects will be drawn up;
• try out, where possible and convenient, different forms of management, e.g. entrusting some Salesian works to lay administration, always in a manner which safeguards their Salesian significance.

[126]

With regard to the volunteer movement, they should:

• help confreres and communities to recognize its importance for the Salesian mission;
• draw up and give effect to a provincial plan which, in line with the guidelines of the document "The Salesian Volunteer Movement", will include detailed proposals for insertion in the educative and pastoral project, for the preparation of volunteers, for following them up during their period of service, and for welcoming them and using their experience on their return;
• keep in mind the problems following the ending of their service, and in particular the return home of those who have been working abroad;
• foster periodic meetings between them and other young persons or adults, for spreading the culture of the volunteer movement;
• help them to make a critical assessment of their experience, and replan their life in the light of the new elements they find in themselves and in the new environment which welcomes them;
• promote contacts with the communities in which the volunteers have given their service, so as to ensure the continuity of the experience.
  

At world level

[127]

The Rector Major with his Council will:

a. promote the sound functioning of world organisms of animation and coordination between the different groups of the Salesian Family for the purpose of sharing responsibility, keeping always in mind their autonomy and the common mission;

b. verify, with the other members of the Family, whether it be opportune to set up a world consulting body for the Family;

c. make known initiatives and experiences of collaboration between Salesians and laity.

³ cf. AGC 350, p.54