CG-19-1


CG-19-1

1 Pages 1-10

▲back to top

1.1 Page 1

▲back to top
MESSAGE FROM THE MEMBERS OF 1
THE XIX GENERAL CHAPTER
SPEECH OF THE RECTOR MAJOR
AT THE PAPAL AUDIENCE OF 2
MAY 21, 1965
ADDRESS OF THE HOLY FATHER
TO THE MEMBERS OF 3
THE GENERAL CHAPTER
SPEECH OF THE MAYOR OF ROME
FELICITATING THE RECTOR MAJOR 4
MAY 8, 1965
PROVINCIAL OFFICE. 8O-C, BROADWAY- MADRAS 1
1965

1.2 Page 2

▲back to top
MESSAGE OF THE :MEMBERS OF THE XIX GENERAL
CHAPTER TO ALL THE CONFRERES OF THE
SALESIAN SOCIETY
Dear Confreres,
Rome, 17th May 1965
1. Though separated by distance, we are united with you by means of
a fraternal memento and through our prayers. We are thinking of you,
spread as you are throughout the whole world, whether in your own
native lands, or in faraway missions, bearing witness to Jesus Christ
in liberty or in suffering.
It is you who have prepared this General Chapter with such apostolic
zeal and enthusiasm never before evinced in any previous Chapter.
We know that you are following us with lively attention, with great
hope and perhaps also with some uneasiness; above all you are
following us with your fervent prayers.
You realize full well that whilst you are working for souls in your
field of aposto]ate, we too are working for the same souls as your true
representatives, making your pro.
b]ems our own and trying not to belie your hopes.
Throughout the Chapter we have felt the presence of the whole
Congregation around us and we are sure that this message will be a
proof of our true union with each one of you.
2. We can, without doubt, affirm that this Chapter will take on a
particular significance in the history of our Congregation.
In the Encyclical "Ecclesiam suam", Pope Paul VI has thus defined
the work of the Council: "We believe that today it is the Church's
duty to deepen the knowledge it should have of itself and of the
mission it must exercise in the world."
Similarly the fundamental task of the Chapter is to help the
Congregation in this decisive phase in the history of the Church, to
deepen its knowledge of itself, of its origin, of its

1.3 Page 3

▲back to top
research and study, in that truly universal spirit of Don Bosco, we
have attained to a happy unity centred round the person of his VI
Successor, Fr. Luigi Ricceri. Whilst we respect the differences that
exist amongst us and surmount them in a brotherly manner, we strive
to enrich ourselves with the contribution each has to offer. In the
same apostolic spirit expressed in the motto of Don Bosco "da mihi
animas" and in the spirit of that "charity which builds", with love and
understanding we work for the updating of our Congregation.
4. Our ,york is in progress and will continue yet for some weeks. We
have dealt with Vocations and Aspirantates, with Liturgical Life and
Piety, with the Parishes, with our apostolate among Youth, with the
Co-operators, with the Past-Pupils, with Oratories and with the
apostolate among Adults.
Fully aware of our responsibilities and without ignoring the actual
conditions that prevail, we wish to make a detailed examination of
our problems without excluding any or evading" any that has a real
and urgent significance.
In the preparation of new orientations and dispositions we need to
count on your loyal confidence.
5. But allow us to remind you, and first of all to remind ourselves,
what our ever revered Don Ziggiotti pointed out to us when he
presented us with the themes of the Chapter.
All external changes and new orientations, he said, however excellent
they may be, will be of no use, if our hearts as religious apostles are
not inflamed and our spirits deeply renewed.
It is to this renewal or our religious and apostolic conscience that, in
this most important hour, we invite all our Confreres from the
youngest to the most venerable: Novices, Clerics, Coadjutors and
Priests.
The essential element or this renewal is this: let us quicken in
ourselves the truth of our religious consecration to Jesus Christ our
Saviour, and to God our Father.
Let us acquire a deeper conviction or this truth that it may sustain and
animate in a practical manner our day to day life. It is Christ Himself
who, through His Church,

1.4 Page 4

▲back to top
vocation as a religious laxly taking part in the mission ol the Church.
It is our strong desire to discern the will ul God as regards
our Congregation and to carry that out faithfully. To reach this goal
we are trying first of all to go hack to our authentic origins: to the
spirit, to the aims, to the cllarisms proper to Don Bost u, tile Saint
who was without doubt sent isy God for a special tllission.
Being aware that the will of Cord is manifested by means of pro'
identiat events, we proclaim our firth, prompt and generous
adhesion to the decisions of the II Vatican Council and to the apostolic
renewal to which it has gileu rise.
Following Don Bosco we wish to reinvigorate in ourbelves that
"sensus ecclesiae" - our awareness of being in, and of the Church, and
to give our support to its gigantic efforts in this historic moment.
In particttlar, the Church in the Council has awakened to the
fact that it is the Church of the poor". We also proclaim that it is our
firm resolution to dedicate ourselves to ail modern youth hut
patticuiaily to "poor and abandoned youth ', to those children of
the working class lot whom we have been called to work as sons of Don
Bosco.
We resolve to get to know the youth and people ot today better, to
loNe them in the reality ol their true situations, and to sec to
their needs and to answer their most urgent appeals.
.3. We have begun this task of orientation in our
Chapter: it is quite a complex one. We al-e 150 in all, eprescntatives
ol a Congregation that is spread over Got count-ties in the world. r I hese
problems are not the same everywhere. We differ in age and expericrlc
and still more in our outlook and in our attitude towards problems.
It is therefoie understandable that, professing the sauce attachment to
Don Bosco and youth, we have nevertheless experienced diflit ulttes in
arriving at a unanimous solution of the various problems.
But it is one of the beauties of the Salesian latnily spirit that it
allows for frank and open discussion and mutual exchange of
opinions. Alter a period of laborious and keen

1.5 Page 5

▲back to top
invites us to look for the souls redeemed by Ins Precious Blood. He is the
only saying power that leads them to eternal life. In this work ol
salvation we are made use of as instrtunetits in proportion to the Iervour
ol our religious life and according to the loyalty and generosity with which
we offer our Divine Master the holocaust of our vows. It is this juylul
ofleiin,g which predisposes us to the love of souls and to the set\\ice of the
(:httith. as it is attested with paternal exhoration, by His lloliness Patti
VI.
ti. Let us therefore renew in its totality and with trust the practice ol
our religious obedience, the holocaust of our oWn wills ollered to God
by submission to lawful superiors, who exercise their authority with
respect and with paternal and fraternal love.
It is this filial and docile obedience that will make it possible for its to
assume many heavy responsibilities and to lace up kith greater courage to
the new labours that await us.
'Ilse love of poverty. Ireel) embraced, which liberates us I 'roin earthly
ties, will be stiengtheticd in us by the flight trout seeking for ease and
comfort which undermines religious life. Let it he functional poverty for
the modernity of our apostolate, but let it always he a means of privation,
of sacrifice for every single member. l or the community and for the
furtherance of the wi rk itself.
Let chastity be our joy and shining witness, a ehastity
rcinloried by our interim union with Jesus Christ to whom we have
consecrated all our affections and our whole body. In the exercise of
continual niortifit ations and careful custody ol the sense in the
uncompromising severity ol our evangelical and Salesian tenets, let us
maintain unimpaired our ability to loge Jesus in souls, which are so
violently attacked by naturalistic doctrines and wordly fashions.
7. \\Pith one heart and one soul, united by the bonds of Iraternal charity.
let us share in the riches of community life generously, and let us accept
daily the demands it makes on us since it permits us, by its guarantee of
lauiily discipline, to love and seise Jesus Christ with greater energy.
1 he Salesian in the totality or his religious consec ration,

1.6 Page 6

▲back to top
closely united to the life of Christ, has the certainty of being a true
apostle, a man abounding in energy and happy in the thought of his
complete dedication.
May the golden advice of our Father, Don Bosco, in his last wi Il and
testament, comfort and urge us on: " Watch, so that neither the love of the
world, nor the affection of parents, nor the desire of a more agreeable life
induce you to make the great mistake of profaning the sacred vows and so
transgressMg the religious profession by which you are consecrated
to God. Let none of us take back that which we have given to God."
S. Concluding this message, we turn to her whom Don Bosco called
the true Foundress of the Congregation, the most loving Virgin Mary who
our new Rector Major, Fr. Luigi Ricceri, recently called "\\later huius
Ecclesiae", the Moth w of this Capitular Assembly, and more so the
Mother of the entire Congregation. We are here as in a Cenacle
where she is present. She is more than ever our Help. To her materIlal
care let us respond with our fidelity renewing our consecration to her.
9. We will have the privilege and the joy of bringing to our
common Father, Pope Paul VI, in the special audience which he will
grant us before the feast of Mary Help of Christians, these
sentiments of onus which are most certainly also yours.
We will listen with attentive and fervent hearts to the
directives which the Holy Father will give our Congregation, and as sons
of Don Bosco we will pledge hint the lull loyalty of our generous
obedience.
Dear Confreres, a difficult but magnificent task awaits us inn the
Church of our times. Let as thank Gori that I-Ie has bestowed on us the
immense honour of allowing us to work for Him in the Salesian
Congregation. Let us be generous in carrying out this work so as not to
disappoint the multitude of souls awaiting us.
In union of prayers and fraternal sentiments, we are.
Your Confreres
THE MEMBERS OF THE XIX GENERAL CHAPTER

1.7 Page 7

▲back to top
SPEE'CH GIVEN BY THE RECTOR MAJOR,
FR. ALOYSIUS RICCERI, ON BEHALF OF THE SALESIAN
FAMILY, DURING THE ,PAPAL AUDIENCE OF
MAY 21, 1965
Most Holy Father,
The joy that fills the hearts of the sons of Don Bosco assembled today
in Rome for the first time to hold a General Chapter, is no doubt a renewal of
that holy joy our saintly Father and Founder experienced when in 1858 he
visited the Fternal City and prostrated himself at the feet of the angelic
Pope Pius TX. From that beloved Pastor did our dear Father receive
enfightemettt and strength to fulfil the task entrusted to him by Divine
Providence. In that memorable audience did he finally decide to establish
the Salesian Congregation at cording to the needs of the times.
Today, more than a hundred years from that happy event, the
Iinnihie successor of Doti Bosco draws near to Your august throne to it-
new and confirm the pledge of loyalty, love, submission and filial
attachment of the Salesians, of the Daugliters cif Mary i Ielp of Christians, of
the Cooperators, of the Pupils vatic! Past-Pupils, to the Chair of St. Peter
and to the person of Yotu Holiness, the Vicar of Chi ist. This has always been
the vigorous tradition of our Religious Family and of the spirit bequeathed
to its Iiy "the Father and Teacher of youth", Si. John Bosco.
We are extremely happy today, Most Holy lather, not only for the
rare privilege of this audience, which You have so kindly granted us and
which has brought around You the most qualified members of our
Congregation frocu every part of the world, but also and above all, for
the oserwltelining tokens of hewn olence You [lave repeatedly bestowed on
us.
'The Don Bosco Boys Town of the Prenestine Quarter. the Institute
of :-Arese, Your frequent visit to our Houses in Milan and Sesto San
Giovanni, and the visit to our institu tiun in Bombay during Your
Apostolic- journey to India-

1.8 Page 8

▲back to top
these bear eloquent testimony to Your special predilection and
paternal solicitude for us, unworthy though we are of these precious
favours.
The Salesian Family gratefully acknowledges these tokens
of lot e, Most Holy Pather, and is happy to offer You in return its filial
homage of loving gratitude.
The Members of the General Chapter have gathered here
today to beg Your Holiness for light and strength in this hour of
inirnense responsibility for the Church and for the salvation of souls.
In a spirit of humility and fervent teal, we are examining the
apostolic horizons of the educative mission and pastoral work of the
Salesian Family in the light of the teachings and the spirit of our
Founder. We wish to find the solution and to take appropriate
measures to meet the new i mpelling needs of our times.
-We are especially anxious to correspond with generous
promptitude to the appeals made by Your Iloliness and the Second
Vatican Ecumenical Council both inside and outside the Church i
for the spiritual regeneration and uplift of die people of the world.
Our thoughts, cares and affections are especially directed towards
poor youth, the working class, underdeveloped nations, the technical
and professional formation of a new society of labour, and last but
not the least, the missionary field.
We perceive the need for aggiornaineifto or updating with
regard to the means of social communication, and we arc aware
of the increasing importance of a well-organi7ed lay sector in the field
of the apostolate.
A particular source of concern for us is the problem of personnel
as also its spiritual and religious formation, by which it may be
made to correspond to the manifold qualifications and requirements
of present-day labour in oratories, institutes, boarding schools,
professional schools and parishes.
What we have accomplished is very little indeed when we
compare it with what yet remains to be done. Nevertheless, we gladly
place our humble endeavours at the disposition of Holy Mother the
Church, reaffirming at the same

1.9 Page 9

▲back to top
time out unswerving fidelity to the teaching and example of St. John
Rosso.
\\Iay Your Ifoliness deign to receive our humble efforts, to support
them, to encourage them with Your enlightened words that will be for us
all a norm of action, and to render them fruitful by die comforting gift of
Your Apostolic Blessing.

1.10 Page 10

▲back to top
ADDRESS OF HIS HOLINESS POPE PAUL Vi TO THE
MEMBERS OF THE NIX GENERAL CHAPTER
OF THE SALESIAN CONGREGATION
MAY 21, 1965
Dear and Revered Sons of the Salesian Society
ofSt, John Bosco:
Welcome to this meeting in this great and decisive hour for your
religious family, great and decisive also for that larger family, the
Catholic Church. Your General Chapter, held in Rome for the first time,
brings into relief your vital link with the Church and portrays its
inherent spirit of unity and Ihnis•ersality. It aims at giving Us, with
filial devotion, an idea of the work that has been done in the little over
hundred years of the Society's existence, at recalling its history which
began with its great and holy Founder, in order to point out to Ls the
well-balanced and prodigious development achieved tlhrouglh the work of
his sons and to put before Vs the plans which made such development
possible, plans that were so marvellously realised the world over. By
coming there today to ask Us for a word of encourageInent and for
Our blessing, you are renewing-and this is what counts most-your
firm resolve to continue working with loyalty and generosity at the
arduous, much-needed evangelical task you lhare undertaken.
Your Society has closed a chapter, has completed, as sailors are wont
to say, the first leg of its journey, has ended an era and entered upon a new
one. We have been pleased to give this hour which binds the past and the
future, the importance it so richly deserves, so that this General
Chapter may take its rightful place in the annals of the Society and
may exert its guiding influence on those to come.
WORDSOF SINCEREAPPRECIATION FORTHEOUTGOING RECTOR
MAJOR AND WARM WISHES FOR THE NEW ONE.
We greet with great affection die outgoing Rector Major,
Fr. Renato Ziggiotti, with whom we had the pleasure of being in
friendly contact and whole-hearted collaboration. We followed his
intelligent, devoted and positive contribu-

2 Pages 11-20

▲back to top

2.1 Page 11

▲back to top
lion to the progress of the Society with keen interest and adnnir:.tion. Don
Bosco. We are sure, is proud of him, as arc' his Conlr-Ctes and those
for whom the Salesian Society is working. God bless slim!
We likewise greet with esteem and warm affection the new Rector
Maio', l r..-lloysius Ricceri, who now holds the reins nl the Society, a
task lot- which his long years of experience and limitless dedication, have
prepared hint so well.
I o him We extend Our sincere wishes that he may, in the footsteps of his
most worthy predecessors, lead the Salesian Society along ' traditional
lines, always responsive, however, to the call for Curtner development
and adjustment to the needs of ow- ti mes. as is demanded by the
youthful vitality of the sons of St. John Bosco. And this Our wish is
extended el.so to his collaborators and to all those who, in the vast field of
Salesian activity, are responsible for direction and odrninistration.
We greet also all those who have taken part in the General
Chapter and through them the entire Congregation which for the number
of its members belonging to a multitude of nations and for its
geographic extension very well deserves to be called ecumenical!
When you return to the field of your apostolate, venerable and dear sons,
cony ey to your Confreres and to all those for whom you are working Our
wishes and Our blessings.
PROOF OF ESTEEM AND GRATITUDE OF THE PASTOR OF
SOULS.
And now allow Us to address to you a few words of cnromrragetnent
and guidance. Counting on your good sense and your long years of
experience. We shall be brief, though We do feel that your presence here
and your achievements would call 1'or a lengthen discourse.
Irtte2(igcrtft'lrus pa+tca! We wish first of all to convey to you Our
appreciation and sentiments of gratitude. You have ()mu- appreciation
for what you are and for what you do. Your Society-or better, speaking in
the name of the Church whose beloved sons you are and whose voice We
now happen to be-Our Sales ian Society is something great in the life of
the Catholic

2.2 Page 12

▲back to top
world. More than to statistics which are, no doubt, most consoling by
reason of the ever ascending graph they represent, We rele,' ro the
goodness and the stability of your Congregation. We icier to the spit it, the
Ieriour, the abnegation, the faith, the piety that is !rebind its vigour and
vitality; to the mission to which it is dedicated - the education of
youth. especially ol the poorer classes; to the simplicity, the wisdom and
the cllicai' nl your Salesian pedagogy; to the conlidence whi(at you know
so well to win, not only from ecclesiastics, but also from those families
who are anxious to see to the proper edtitatinn of their t hildien, and from
society at large. rwhitft ni lii to cotisidel you as resottrt dui pioneers,
willing and desinterested eollah[flator.s and most competent educators; to
the fruits ol your nlanilr.~l(l activity which are abundant no; only in
quantity, but in (ltl;ility as well, granted i !tat the cltialit.y is to be
judged lrom the solid formation inlparted and from the alfection which
'Emir pupils, even in later ears when they are sailing the stonily sea
of life, bestow on their teachers: in line, We refer to the witness that your
activity bears to the vitality of the Gospel and to the
solicitude ol tile Church or the welfare of the world, the world of youth
and the world of labourers ill particular, to the honour and glory which you
lender to Christ. Our Lord.
THE EXALTED MISSION OF THE SALESfANS IN OUR Tl:\\IES.
The Salesians lepresc_tt one of die most notable, most beneficial,
most significant most pmmising events in the Catholicism ol the Pith and
20th century and, please God, it will continue to be so in the ftt:itre. {)sn5
is a dutiful ap
pt'e(iatlntt t o 1; 111eii '! ~ L' gIl e e'kl.lleti:iirrll today as a token
t ]ul gratitude to the lot (1. the lust and eternal author oi tile eflicaey ol the
worf:i ol God. We give exl.nestiion to it also to eulogize yc~n, zealous
labourels in the Lord's Vineyard, ;lot with the intention ol fostc'ring ill
:ott feelings ol secret pride, nor n•itlr the intention ol repaving you
for your incessant labour and hardships for whit ii not e•en ( Jtlt ivrlyd5
ol praise wrndd serve as adequate I'eecmipetlse, but with

2.3 Page 13

▲back to top
the intention ol assuring and reassuring you that the path yuu base followed
is indeed tile right one and that therelore it should he confidently and
joyfully adhered to.
To Our words of appreciation We wish to add Our sentiments ol
gratitude whitil are an affectionate expression of what the Church owes
you, of the esteem you have won i 'roru her, of tile sense, We ciare say,
of divine recognition whit 11, as you knew, so readily and lovingly responds
to the least act of service. of compassion and charity done on behair ol youth
and the poor. You have done it unto Me." We are extremely glad that
Our apostolic mission authori/es l.'s to anticipate in your favour- those
consoling words si bids will constitute yotlr true and only reward, the
reward r]I eternal bliss.
PRESERVERE WITH ENLIGHTENED CONFIDENCE.
Front what We have stated, We are naturally lead to say to you:
courage, clearest soils, courage; continue and perscvcrc. We 'rust you
will not take amiss Our words of exhortation. Be c ollragecsus and
persevere. We do not wish to speak. of the subtle temptations and the grave
dangers to si hu ll your good will may fall a pray-every human
enterprise is exposed to such snares- nor even of the weighty problems that
ate consequent on the gigantic: proportions which your p ork is assuming:
- nulgP1ilr[dine lul,orrrl. sua - the llistul fan has recorded of Roman
Empire (Cfr. Livy, Hist. Proem.);: today We should rather consider the
tremendous process of tiansfortnation sweeping over modern society,
arising pcl hips Iron' some inexplicable spiritual anxiety, good or bad We
cannot say. (lrci se exi.slilcla/ shire videat ne cadat (I Cor. 10, 12).
Wc would therefore exhort you to draw courage from ,t threefold
confidence. Confidence in God: We do not deem it superfluous to stress the
need of confidence in God to persons like you who, 1] , the fact that you are
religious, recognise its prime importance. objectively and subjectively, both
for your own sanctification and for the education of your t:harges. And
We would remind you, dear sobs, that the greater )out exterior actis by
is, the more unwavering must

2.4 Page 14

▲back to top
your confidktlce ill Cod be, In thus exhorting you, We are only recalling to
you something that is diala('teiistic of your spirit, a spirit which is so
simple, joyl'ti] and seic•ile; a spirit which trusts in divine assistance to giant
courage and perseverance in the accomplishment of its mission.
We shall not say more on this point; you are well acquainted with this
type of psychology, in fact, you live it. You ought to have faith also in the
aims For which your Society is wnlking-could they be more noble, more
modern. mole ilrgent, mole in keeping with the apostolic task of the
Church today? You have chosen well. The Church approves of your choice
and assures you of your reward. And lastly, faith in the methods which give
your wni k its peculiar characteristics.
And heir We wish to call your attention to the invitation to atrtior rua
m cn/o wlii(li the Chinch recommends and at which she herself' is
working. You will have to differentiate between essential lornis and
contingent ones; between interior forms that give life to your pedagogical
system and to your educational mission. and the exterior ones which are by
their very nature subject to modifications and improvewent: between the
forms that still hold good and those that ate outdated and inefficient.
Modern developments in the educational, technological, cultural and
didactic fields, as well as Changes in the patterns of social life, necessarily
dcnianel such a diff'elentiation and. adaptation which you have, to a certain
extent, initiated in the field nl your practital pedagogy, a pedagogy which
draws its vitality Front the pillars on which it tests-love and understanding
of youth.
To PROGRESS IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE DELIBERATIONS
OF THE COUNCIL IN A SPIRIT OF CHARITY, SACRIFICE AND
ATTACHMENT TO THE WORDS AI\\'D THE CROSS OF CHRIST.
These are things you arc all aware of, and it is they that warrant Out 1
-cnewal of confidence and courage. We shall then cant liltlc these words
ell' Ours with a last exhortation, one that is wurihy of you: that is: pt•ocress'.
It is the exhorta-

2.5 Page 15

▲back to top
don that eery schoolmaster addresses to his pupils desirous
nl' Christian perfection. We repeat it here with reference to
the great cflnrt that tine Chercer is making in this direction through the L(
tunlCili( al Council. It is an effort to be always more loyal to the teachings
of the Divine \\faster, an ellort to revitalize her spirit and her methods, an
effort towards greater authenticity and sanctity in Christian In e, an Mod
towards a better understanding tart the history crl salvation and a niene
brotherly and apostolic approach to the man of today, with all his problems,
his weakness, his recources and his aspirations. Whoever interprets the
work of the Council, as a step towards the betrayal of the aims of the
Chinch. her faith, her tradition, her spirituality, her charity, fret spirit of
sacrifice and her attachinent to the words and to the Cross of Christ as a
sort of passive acquiescence to the weak and immattue relati\\istic
ideology of our times, an ideology without principles and without a
transcendent aim, as an effort to present a more indulgent- and less
exacting Christianity, is sadly mistaken. The Council aims at a wiser disci
plirre and at a more modern method by which she can establish fruitful
contact with the human soul and modern society not to the deli imcnt. of
her principles but to the benefit of her unflinching loyalty to Christ and
of her mission to hear witness to Ilinr.
This is what compels Us to allirnt that this is indeed a great and
decisive hour for the Church and that therefore this meeting takes on
a special significance for you. We are indeed happy to learn that your
General Chapter has grasped these points and has decided to draw hum the
deliberations of the (otntcil. especially from its two Constitutions on the
Lin;rgy and on the (;htu'clr, important lessons for the progress bc,th interior
and exterior ol the Salesian Society of St. John Bosco.
We! l then. meditate on these points and practise there and rest
assured that together with Our blessings you have t iso the blessing of
God.

2.6 Page 16

▲back to top
ADDRESS ,LIVERED BY THE MAYOR OF ROME DR.
AMEI 0 PETRUCCI ON THE OCCASION OF THE
OF CITATIONS OFFERED BY THE CO-OPERATORS
OF ROME AND LATIUM TO THE RECTOR MAJOR
F.R. ALOYSIUS RICCERI AND TO THE MEMBERS OF
THE XIX GENERAL CHAPTER AT THE NEW PREMISES
OF THE PONTIFICAL SALESIAN ATHENEUM ON
MAY 8. 1965
Your Excellencies,
Very Reverend Fr. Rector Major,
Reverend Members of the General Chapter,
Reverend Members of the Salesian Society,
And distinguished Salesian Co-operators of Rome:
It is my bounden duty-nay, it is but natural for me to participate in
this feast of Salesian family joy at the conclusion of the Society's
General Chapter. In fact, it is the first time in the history of this
Congregation, which was established in Rome during the very years
in which the renowned Piedmontese town was stirred with the
contagious enthusiasm of preparations for national unity, that its
major assembly convenes in the Roman Capital. This fact is also an
acknowledgement of the guiding role that Rome, in ever greater
measure, exercises over our land, uniting to the indisputable
fascination of history and of ideals that centre round its name, a
concrete and directive assistance in the field of organization and of
moral orientation in our land.
I know full wel1 that your Society has responsibilities that extend far
beyond the borders of Italy, and that this General Chapter gathered
here,has been convened in Rome also due to that atmosphere of
Council Ecumenism in which Rome now lives, and because or the
great development of your Salesian works in our city.
All these considerations prove a bond of union with Rome, for Rome
considers it as her inviolable right and a11- embracing vocation ever
to gaze beyond the limits of national bOUl1daries-and in this she is
an example to the whole of Italy-for Rome is permeated with the
atmosphere of the Council, and lives its different phases with a
profound under-

2.7 Page 17

▲back to top
standing, and finally also because Rome follO\\vs with loving pride
the continual and progressive devel°pl.uent of Salesian activity on
behalf of Roman youth.
This Atheneum in which we now are, so imposing and so admirably
suited to its purpose, could well simbolize the prodigious expansion
of the Salesian work in Rome, and I for one, am struck with the full
import of this manum en- . tal institution. For here young priests from
all over Italy and all over the world deepen their culture and pursue
their studies of modern sciences concerning the human personality
and the exercise of their activity as educators and as apostles.
Still I cannot overlook the fact that although the brain centre of your
activity is concentrated here, its heart is diffused over dozens of
institutions scattered all over the city. In these institutions thousands
of the youth of Rome are launched into social life fully equipped with
a complete moral and professional background.
Cinecitta', Tiburtino, Tuscolano, Quadraro - these are but a few of the
names of the new Roman suburbs which spring to mind when one
reflects upon the developments of your activity. Nor is it by mere
chance that you occupy the farthest Hung positions in the ever
growing city, positions which already a few years ago represented the
limits of its suburbs, which only the overwhelming increase in
population and housing colonies of the city has rapidly engulfed. It is
in these areas that one is more likely to meet large numbers of needy
youth, youth without an aim in life,' youth too often thwarted in their
physical, mental and spiritual development on account of uncongenial
surroundings. There are already many generations of Romans who
have received, as a result of your care thousands and thousands of
young men capable of meeting life according to set ideals and
according to a practical preparation perfectly suited to the needs of
their times. The motive force of your activity, the one namely that
does not limit itself to the revelation of eternal truths and to the
practice of human virtues, but embraces also the acquisition of all
those practical normes which can introduce the individual into society
as a productive element, this motive force is something that
constitutes not only an important

2.8 Page 18

▲back to top
educational innovation for the benefit of the masses but it represents
also a powerful contribution to society as a whole and helps to
maintain the balance between classes.
The debt Rome owes you surpasses mention. It would be
enlightenin9and interesting to compile statistics of the thousands of
boys you have educated, but an apostolate like yours canpot be gaged
by mere numbers, for in reality it is a question of training and
qualifications, and in general, the boys whom you have turned out,
distinguish themselves(for such professional abilities, and for such
probity of life as so single them out as pivot forces of the activities
and enterprises in which they engage.
Nor can I forget that your works have manifested 'and manifest a
character of adaptability and that you have'l1,last~red and practised
the secret of making yourselves "all things to all men", in order to
attract youths who have been abapdoned in the most pitiable straits,
and it would suffice in this connection, to recall your work during the
last years of the war and during the postwar period, when the city was
overrun by innumerable gangs of abandoned and desperate boys. You
undertook the initiative little-by-little to rehabilitate thes~ sorry street
boys of Rome.
Yet we cannot commit the mistake of labelling your work as one of
minimum assistance, which seeks to relieve only the severest miseries
of the poor. When necessary your work begins at this level, but it
aims at the perfect rehabilitation of the individual so as to make him
enter or re-enter society not as a poor worthless being that merely
receives food, clothing and a smattering of education, but as an
individual equipped with every means to be of service to himself and
others.
To this end in the past decades of your existance you have kept pace
with all the latest developments in the field of psychology and
pedagogy and even of technology. Today you could be justly proud,
for not only is you pedagogical and professional equipment most up-
to-date and adapted to its ends but also because your educational
methods correspond to the needs of the modern world.
Very Reverend Fr. Rector Major,
I could continue endlessly heaping praises upon your

2.9 Page 19

▲back to top
Salesian work ill Rome and in doing tit} I could merely be Nuking the
admiration of the citizens of Ronre, for none would object to a
lawful recognition of works that are inspired by genuine charity and
that are entirely devoted tothe welfare of the people and of the youth. But
one who
lives in the enchanted atmosphere of wonderful institutions
that spring up and grow day by day clues not need any praises expressed in
words.
I niel'cly wish to state that my presence here in order ii) pay you ufv
homage at the \\ cry outset elf' your mission as the Sixth Successor of Don
losco, the Saint of the Italian Ri.;rir}iioeino, the one who best
expressed the dynanlit: force o 1 vitality and of renewal which stirred up
our country dining the nineteen t entltry, my presence here stands to
sif;rlily that Rome. sacred and civi I, merge together in this happy
moment of the history of our city-, and-how dillic'ult it is to distinguish
between this twofold acclamation!
Since it dcvukes upon rue to bring into relief especially the civic
pzhrpose of your activity, permit me to tell you that to=gethcr with
gratitude for the past we also place much reliance on Salesian work in the
future, Rome of totnorrott, uhiclt tte arc trying to prepare by the inculcation
of new directives, with the reiliiation of new town-planning and new
housing colonies, with new incentives to procilletiotl needs men qualified
f or their profession, men of upright tllaracter, ready to give and take,
disposed to tolelance and collaboration.
Rome needs Don bosco buys: I thank you and 1 thank all the
Salesians liecatlse they have given Rome such boys in the past and because
they ale ready in the years to come to give us many ulule stub boy's,
and if possible, even better and more capable youths.
It is with these sentiments that I ask you to act clot this silver medal
which I. as flavor of Rome, offer you in the name of the Municipality
and as a token and wish for your future stork of direction and
apostolate: and it is with the same sentiments that I entreat the Salesian
Provincial o! Rome to accept this statuette of the Capitoline Wulf as our act
of gratitude for the 80 years of activity in Rome,