DREAMING FOR THE BRAZILIAN YOUTH

—Br.JomarCastillo,SDB*

Queen Isabel, the monarch of Brazil (from Portugal), dreamt of bringing the sons of Don Bosco and his charism to the kingdom, seeing the impact of the Salesian work, especially the oratory. She did everything, including complete financing of the expenses for the arrival of the first Salesians. On June 14, 1883, the first missionaries arrived at the mother house in Nitero, State of Rio de Janeiro, to assume their work for poor and abandoned youth.

Likewise, St. John Bosco is a significant figure in Brazilian history because of his prophetic second missionary dream of 1883 about a city within 15and 20- degrees latitude, on a plateau, by a lake flowing with milk and honey where there will be inconceivable wealth. This would later become the new capital, Brasilia. The sons of Don Bosco arrived in the area even before its construction.

The Salesians did not only settle within the big cities. Courageous and zealous Salesians went to Cuiabá, Mato Grosso (1894), and São Gabriel da Cachoeira, Amazonas (1914) to reach and serve more young people, especially in the indigenous territories.

Today the Salesians of Don Bosco in Brazil are spread throughout six Salesian provinces: Belo Horizonte, Campo Grande, Manaus, São Paolo, Porto Alegre, and Recife, and are well coordinated through the CISBRASIL (Conferência das Inspetorias Salesians do Brasil) with four FMA provinces for a more significant impact on the Salesian mission in the only Portuguese-speaking region of the southern cone.

Don Bosco continues his prophetic dream and mission through his sons and daughters working in education, evangelization, and social transformation, is present in more than 100 schools, five colleges and universities, 105 social works, 60 parishes, seven radio stations, three museums, mission stations and in every place where the young are for almost 140 years.

As a missionary in Brazil, I feel so blessed to participate in the mission of the Church and the Congregation in the largest Catholic country. Even though the Church and the youth of Brazil also face numerous challenges and threats, imitating the examples of Don Bosco, we look for strength and opportunities to realize his dreams among the young.