“We are now close to Allamano’s canonization and for us there is a greater obligation to look at the exemplary nature of his life”, Father Pietro Trabucco began saying addressing the formators gathered in Rome for the ongoing formation course from 2 to 17 September 2024.
By José Martín Serna and Jaime C. Patias *
Father Trabucco, currently residing in Allamano’s birthplace in Castelnuovo Don Bosco, who has a deep understanding of the Founder’s life, and the mission of the Institute, as he served in various capacities, including that of Superior General, focused his reflection on the formator as a witness. According to him, a witness is “a person who can attest to a fact because he has direct knowledge of it.” The word “witness” comes from both Greek and Latin and means “to remember, to think back.”
Remembering means “becoming aware of something experienced and not simply of something known. The witness tells, manifests with his life what he has lived, not simply what he knows. Remembering is ultimately bringing this lived experience to the knowledge of others, so that they can participate and share its content”.
“A formator becomes effective and efficient in his work when he communicates the values that he himself lives that give meaning to his own life”, said Father Trabucco, citing as an example Saint Paul who considers himself a witness of Christ. “Blessed Allamano moved in the same line as Saint Paul.”
See the video produced by the General Secretariat for Communication (in italian).
The requirements to be a witness
In our context, according to Father Trabucco, “the IMC formator must be a witness of Christ, of the values of Allamano’s charism, of the priesthood, of the demands of the mission. All those realities that are part of our vocation and that we have lived and that we want to communicate to others. Whoever is called to be a guide of young people must have experienced the closeness and fellowship with Christ, and must constantly feed on all the charismatic elements that the Spirit has given us through Joseph Allamano”.
Joseph Allamano and giving witness
“After founding the two Institutes, Joseph Allamano immediately took care that the missionaries had the necessary means to be such missionaries, to the point that the topics of his conferences were almost entirely dedicated to this,” recalled Father Trabucco. In his conferences to the missionaries, he would insist: “First, let us fill our own life and then, working as missionaries, we will be able to give generously out of the fullness of our heart.”
The missionary’s heart will be able to sustain the pressing pace of the mission “only if it is oxygenated and draws strength from love, spirituality, and quality of life”, the three primary values on which Allamano’s missionary pedagogy was based.
The IMC formator nowadays
“The Formator in the Institute” was the second theme presented by Father Trabucco. “The Institute has chosen to remain united and interdependent (not divided into provinces). Therefore, all our communities are generally made up of confreres from different backgrounds. Interculturality is at the same time a richness and a challenge, it creates opportunities for growth but forces us to review many of our ideas. In recent years, the theme of interculturality has been discussed and explored many times. It is of fundamental importance for us”.
Speaking about the reality of the Institute, Father Trabucco recalled that we live “a continuous evolution of social mentality that shapes especially the young generations. This reality is traveling fast on the media and influences the young generations. In this liquid society (Zygmunt Bauman) the formators of the Institute are faced with the task of accompanying the young people in forming themselves according to the spirit of Joseph Allamano, within a Church that is also in constant transformation but that strives to bring the Gospel of Jesus to all sectors of society”.
Finally, Father Trabucco furthering the topic, proposed to focus on two examples that can inspire our formation task: that of Jesus and that of our Blessed Founder.
Jesus is the Master and formator of his disciples. Father Pietro Trabucco recalled four important aspects for the formators taken from the teaching of Founder: “1. Knowing how to accompany a young person in an integral way, considering all aspects of existence; 2. The need for a robust spirituality in order to lead; 3. Investing in the family spirit and the sense of belonging to the Institute; 4. Promoting fidelity to the charism in our intercultural communities”.
* Father José Martín Serna, IMC, novice master in Manaus and Father Jaime C. Patias, Communication Secretariat.
