NASHIK, SEPTEMBER 22, 2010: Fr Maria Arokiam, the Regional Councillor for South Asia, is on a week-long extraordinary visitation to Nashik. During the visit, he met the staff members of the three Salesian communities (NaSA, Nashik Salesians’ Association) – Don Bosco, Divyadaan and Salesian Training Institute – at 1700 hrs on September 20, 2010 at Don Bosco Nashik. The meeting had a one-point agenda. Fr Arokiam wanted the members to share their dreams and vision for the South Asia region. He asked them to respond to the question: “If I were the regional councillor.”
The members looked forward to greater collaboration among the provinces in areas like formation (inter-provincial theologates, for instance) and social communication (the various media houses in the provinces could team up and market their products under a common “brand name”).
Fr Arokiam sought the members’ opinions about the studentate of theology in Pune. The members said that the experience of studying in a non-Salesian centre had its pros and cons, but perhaps the real issue was not empirical as whether this experience fits into the current mind of the congregation vis-à-vis the theological formation of Salesians.
Next, Fr Arokiam briefed the members about collaborative efforts at the regional level in the fields of social development, work for the marginalised, psychological expertise, social communication, higher education, technical education and financial administration.
He ended the meeting by urging the members to be research-minded and to “dare and hope.”
Fr Arokiam concludes the visitation here on September 23, and travels to New Delhi for the meeting of the principals of Salesian schools in India