Barcelona (Spain). From 4 to 7 April 2019 the European meeting of the Association of FMA Past Pupils took place in Barcelona, Spain.
The city of Barcelona was the place where the Salesian charism first arrived in Spain. Blessed Philip Rinaldi was the first Director of the Salesian work. The Daughters of Mary Help of Christians arrived later.
A hundred delegates and past pupils lived days of pilgrimage and reflection on the significant places of Salesian works in Spain and participated in the meeting: Martí Codolar, the Expiatory Temple of the Sacred Heart, Can Prats, the Gironella Tower, the first center of the FMA, and the Basilica of the Sacred Heart.
The objective of the meeting was “Rediscovering the social dimension of the Salesian charism“. In particular, we paused to contemplate the figure of the Venerable Doña Dorotea de Chopitea, a woman who was able to respond generously to the social needs of her time in Barcelona, a time of industrial transformation, as in the time of Don Bosco.
The participants met to draw up guidelines for European Federations until 2021, when the World Assembly will be held in Rome.
