【慈幼通訊社 ─ 2019 年 02月 16 日泰國三攀訊】 ─ 經過五整天（2月10日至14日），在泰國三攀(Ban Than Praphon)母佑會靜修院舉行的第四屆東亞澳區慈幼會歷史大會，於2月14日晚上圓滿結束，當中包含真正慈幼氛圍的分享檢討環節，伴以來自10個國家的團員，在慈幼式的慶祝會上所表演的繽紛歌舞。這是1996年以來，第22次洲際慈幼會歷史學者協會大會，同時是五場發表「與二十世紀相關的慈幼形象」洲際大會中的第三場，其餘四場分別在南亞區（2018年6月）、歐洲（2018年11月）、非洲及美洲舉行（2019年3月）。
東亞澳區慈幼會歷史大會2019帶來了什麼成果？大部份的答案，都圍繞著對慈幼歷史著作，提出「為什麼？」和「如何？」。大部份慈幼會參與者，都帶著強烈的動機回國，要在會院中灌輸歷史感，協助深化我們神恩的根，並在國家、會省或區域層面，栽培出更清晰的願景。
在大會的最後一天，慈幼會歷史學者協會領導層，主席Francesco Motto神父、副主席Grazia Loparco及秘書長Stanislaw Zimniak神父，向46名參與者簡介一些基本的原則，以及歷史研究概要：如何承傳「慈幼會傳統記憶」，以及如何演繹不同的文體類型（對原稿作批判性研究）。慈幼會歷史學院主任Thomas Anchukandam神父，則沒有出席。
Zimniak神父分享到，慈幼會歷史學者協會及慈幼會歷史學院(ISS:http://iss.sdb.org)的豐富歷史，並清晰地講述其現狀；分享在一網址上載有關幾乎所有40年來出版的刊物（刊物備有網上版本），並介紹了慈幼會歷史學者協會在國家、洲際及世界層面的架構（五大洲共190名成員）。
展望將來，慈幼會歷史學者協會來自世界的190名成員，都期待著於2020年11月在葡萄牙里斯本舉行的國際大會，加強他們來自五個大洲區大會的代表性（「Motto神父十誡」）。因為慈幼會歷史學者協會目前只有五名東亞澳區成員，其中包括三名慈幼會士（兩名來自菲律賓北會省，一名來自中華會省），以及兩名母佑會修女，分別來自日本會省及澳洲大洋洲會省，因此大會鼓勵他們加入協會，或善用他們的資源（例如意大利慈幼會歷史學者協會：https://acssaitalia.wixsite.com/acssaitalia），其中包括一個包含十場視像研討的慈幼會檔案網上課程。在我們的區域，兩個慈幼家庭組別，被認為是在這方面大有進步的楷模：瑪利亞無玷之心婢女修女會（泰國 ─ 柬埔寨）及耶穌仁愛修女會（日本 ─ 韓國），她們培育修女，在建設檔案及歷史寫作方面，投資人力物力。
我們希望東亞澳區全體12個會省，都能受到這場慈幼會歷史大會的感召，使他們在更廣闊的世俗及教會歷史背景中，對植根於他們國內堅固的歷史神恩基礎，有著一份更強烈的意識。大會鼓勵每一位參與者，致力辨識「如何愛上慈幼會歷史」（聆聽 ─ 解讀 ─ 行動），對有關編年寫作及會省檔案保存作具體計劃，並對慈幼家庭成員進行基本培育。
我們一位東亞澳區慈幼會士（東帝汶準會省），在離開泰國前作了以下的分享：「我們深受眾多富趣味性的慈幼會人物所感動，他們大多魅力非凡，因為他們克服了過去眾多重大的挑戰。我們問問自己，他們今天向我們說了什麼，我們如何把這些閃爍生輝的人物，向今天的青年分享。然而，我們還要想想：我們如何於2027年慶祝百周年之前，在檔案管理及保存歷史資料上如何取得進步？」
Harvesting the fruits of the 4th EAO Salesian History Conference – 2019 Sampran
How to fall in love with Salesian history – journey of motivation and basic skills
(ANS – Thailand–Sampran, 16 February 2019) – After five full days, February 10-14 at the Ban Than Praphon, Sam Phran (FMA Retreat house) the 4th EAO Salesian History Conference concluded in the late evening of February 14th with a shared evaluation, truly Salesian Academy with colourful dances and songs from participants from 10 countries. It was the 22nd Continental ACSSA (Association of Salesian Historians) Conference since 1996 and the third of the 5 Continental Congresses going on to present the ‘Relevant Salesian figures of the 20th Century’ – ACSSA South Asia (June 2018), ACSSA Europe (November 2018) and ACSSA Africa and ACSSA America (March 2019).
What are the fruits of this 2019 EAO History Conference? Most of the answers revolve around the ‘Why?’ and ‘How?’ of Salesian history writing. Many of of the SDB participants bring back home a strong motivation to inculcate a sense of history in the confreres that help to deepen our charismatic roots and also foster a much clearer future vision in each country, province or at the regional level.
On the last day the ACSSA World leadership: President Fr. Francesco Motto, SDB, Vicepresident Sr. Grazia Loparco and Secretary General Fr. Stanislaw Zimniak and in absence of Fr. Thomas Anchukandam, Director of the Salesian Historical Institute, introduced the 46 participants to fundamental principles and gave them an introduction to historical research: How to preserve and pass on the ‘Memory of the Salesian Tradition’, How to interpret the different literary genres (critical approach to the sources).
Fr Zimniak shared the rich past and articulated present situation of ACSSA and the Salesian Historical Institute (ISS:http://iss.sdb.org) – sharing on one website most of the almost 40 years of publications (available online), and introducing the national, continental and world structures of ACSSA (190 members in five continents).
Looking at the future, the 190 members of ACSSA worldwide are looking toward their 2020 November International (World) Conference maybe in Lisbon, Portugal, to improve their presentations from the five Continental Conferences (‘Decalogue of Fr. Motto’). Since there are only five EAO province-based ACSSA members (FIN – 2 SDB, CIN – 1 SDB, GIA – 1 FMA and AUL – 1 FMA) the participants were encouraged to join the Association or take advantage of their resources (e.g. ACSSA Italia: https://acssaitalia.wixsite.com/acssaitalia)such as an online course for the Salesian archivist with 10 video conferences. In our region two SF Congregations were identified as a model for making good progress in this field – the SIHM Sisters (Thailand-Cambodia) and the Caritas Sisters of Jesus (Japan-Korea) with formation of sisters, investing in archives and history writing.
We hope that all 12 EAO provinces will be inspired by this recent Salesian history conference to improve their awareness about concrete historical charismatic roots in their territory within the wider context of secular and ecclesial history. Each participant was encouraged to contribute to the discernment (listen – interpret – way forward) about ‘How to fall in love with Salesian history’ Simple concrete steps of solid Chronicle-writing, Provincial archive-keeping and basic formation of the Salesian Family member.
One of the EAO Salesians (TLS Vice-province) shared the following before departure from Bangkok: ‘ We were struck by many interesting Salesian figures, most of them very attractive, since they were able to overcome many huge challenges in the past. We ask ourselves what they are telling us today. And we ask ourselves how we can share these shining models to the youth of today. However for us remains: how can we advance in documenting and preserving hisotircal material before our Centenary in 2027?’