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XIX GENERAL CHAPTER
OF THE SALESIAN SOCIETY
1965 • ROME
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Year XLVII
January 1966
N. 244
ACTS OF THE SUPERIOR COUNCIL
OF THE SALESIAN SOCIETY
ACTS
OF THE 19th GENERAL CHAPTER
8th April to 10th June 1965
ROME
Summary
I. Presentation: Introduction by the Rector Major 3.
II. FIRST PART: Capitular Documents, 15.
III. SECOND P.&RT: Appendices, 291.
IV. General Index. 365
Printed in Malta by PROGRESS PRESS Co. LTD.,
340, St. Paul Street, Valetta
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INTRODUCTION BY THE RECTOR MAJOR
Turin, 31 January, 1966.
My dear Confreres,
I have the pleasure of presenting to you the Acts of the I9th
General Chapter eagerly awaited by every part of the congregation.
I would not l-c doing your intelligence justice if I lingered over
how much work went into writing, revising, correcting and finally editing
these acts. I am sure I voice the general feeling when I express here my
deepest thanks to all, and they are not a few, who have been working during
these recent months to prepare the acts for publication.
The work undertaken by the General Chapter, the Major Superiors and
the postcapitular commissions has reached its end. Now, with the
promulgation by the Rector Major which follows, as much of it as was
within his competence, and the approbation of the Congregation of
Religious, the acts become the patrimony of each and every Salesian, the life
of our life, food for daily reflection and above all the generous and sincere
pledge that they will be put into practice.
I.THE SALESIAN A'I THE CENTRE OF IT ALL
If I were to have recourse to a metaphor to give, in some way, the picture
of our General Chapter, I would take it in the spirit of humility, from the
Gospel; I would say that it was and is a house built upon a rock.
At the centre of this house built and made our own, brick by brick in a
'long and exhausting elaboration of ideas there is a human
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figure which dominates and which all the Chapter members kept in
view with fraternal concern, as bit by hit the house grew, was the
Salesian,
I would not like the variety and weight of the documentation
you have before you to turn you from the central vision which has
been the most important and constant preoccupation of all the long
General Chapter; the Salesian to be formed and placed courageously
in the setting of a rich and vigorous tradition onto which must he
grafted the new, and which serves precisely to give life and
renewed vigour to the Salesian of the new century. Our first concern
was for you, dear confreres, rather than for our activities, for each
One of you in particular. We have had you present to us every day
with true fraternal joy and fear, thinking first about the precious
lives of the brethren and then about the structure and activity of the
family. I would like you to take note of this and be comforted.
This has been the aim of all the elaboration of documents, this the
scope of the variety of initiatives whether new or under a new form,
like the re-organization of our activities, the re-adaptation of various
offices and councils, the bringing in a vicar to the Provincial and
Rector, the defining of the figure of the spiritual director,
the monthly day of recollection in a more binding
framework, the spiritual retreat adjusted to give more
scope for personal work, the periodic ascetical refresher courses
for different categories, the preparation courses for future superiors
and masters of formation of the congregation, the constitution of
consultative bodies, the preparation of Rectors for the different
levels of formation, the revision of the practical training course, the
adequate preparation for the perpetual profession, the possibility of a
second notiviate, etc. It is a blossoming of initiatives aimed at
increasing the fruitfulness of the work of the formation of the
Salesian in the way required by the epoch-making times in which
we live and by the very apostolate which we today are called
upon to carry out.
Connected with this need for formation there is the other not less
important one of qualification for the individual confrere for the
various tasks that obedience calls him to. Today society refuses
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to accept into its structure the utility men, men without cultural, technical or
professional training. Unfortunately the sad traces of this exacting toll
are seen in the agonizing phenomena of unemployment, hunger, emigration,
etc.
We cannot therefore afford to drag our feet in the sweet illusion
that a hit of good will is all that is needed to meet the immense needs
our activities uncover for us every day, and that it is enough just to pull
the cart and arrive at evening tired out by the quantity and multiplicity
of the work we have undertaken.
The people, and the Church first of all, consider us authentic
specialists in pedagogy and the apostolate (see "Discourse of Paul VI to
the members of the 19th General Chapter of the Society of St. Francis of
Sales"). We must, to the limit of our capacity, live up to this
reputation. We must become qualified by using the means the
congregation generously puts at our disposal (studies, courses, degrees,
literature, etc.) A bit of practice is no longer enough to teach in class
or direct a workshop. From now on every manifestation of our
activity calls for personnel qualified in theology, liturgy, philosophy,
pedagogy, science, technical knowledge, teaching, art, recreation,
administration. etc. It is not a question of collecting degrees or
specializing for its own sake, and much less of encouraging selfish or
ambitious aim to study for one's own satisfaction but sterile for the
apostolate; what is required is simply an adequate preparation to work
fruitfully in one of the innumerable fields of action Providence has
called us to. It can be seen at once what and how many consequences for
superiors and confreres follow these changes.
2.THE CONGREGATION AT THE TURN OF THE ROAD
During the work of the Chapter one always felt that all those
present were anxiously watching the Vatican Ecumenical Council II.
The atmosphere in Rome clearly encouraged this spring climate of
expectancy so full of promise.
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We are all agreed that the congregation is at a turning of the road. Let us
not, however, quibble at the word. If by turning we mean taking another
road, then we speak incorrectly. If we mean we keep on the same road
having taken our bearings, new inspiration and fresh means, then we are
correct, because before us the Church, decided and courageous, herself has
taken the same turning while yet remaining on the fruitful soil of her
centuries-old divine-human tradition.
The words Pope Paul VI spoke to us appear very opportune in this
context and should be well considered: "Your Society has completed a stage
of its journey, has taken its bearings (as seafarers say), has concluded one
period and now begins another." (Paul VI ibid.) We have sown generously in
the soil of tradition. Undoubtedly there will be the new growth : always,
however, grafted on to the vigorous stock of a tradition that has in the past
given abundant fruit, and which consequently does not delude us about the
future.
Let us look therefore to the future with "wise adherence to the needs of
the times." (Paul VI. ibid).
3. RENDERING ALIVE TILE PRINCIPLES AND RULES
So that this graft may grow into the best and most fruitful plant, it is
necessary to mould in ourselves a mentality rather than set up an inventory
of injunctions to be carried out. Like all that is good and grand, the Chapter
too has to be realized in each of us to be understood and appreciated. It must
become the substance of our thinking and of our love before it is transformed
into rhythmical action. With the help of the Holy Spirit and under the loving
guidance of the superiors deputed for this most delicate task we must study
and steep ourselves first in the ideas that give life to all the documents: only
thus can we carry out not so much the individual dispositions only, as
the overall pian intended to renew our life as religious, as Salesians, as
apostles.
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Do not let us say, immediately we see a document: This does not
concern me: this is for the priests, the coadjutors, the parishes, etc." In a
family they neither think nor act thus. What concerns one, concerns all: the
interest of one is the interest of the whole family. Let us read therefore and
meditate with equal attention all the documents and appendices contained in
the volume. Light, we know, is made up of various colours. Every
document contributes to, and shows one facet of the diamond that is the
Chapter: the documents throw light on each other. Here and there it is
possible to find particular points that help greatly in illuminating the true
spirit that animated so purposefully all the Chapter.
Read them, then, attentively by yourselves: do not be satisfied with a
first reading in community. The congregation, I would almost say
Don Bosco himself, with these acts does not wish only to give a
conference, or preach a fine sermon to his sons: the wish is to initiate a
dialogue, intimate and constructive, with each one of us: it wants to tell us
what must be done to continue fruitfully along the path of our second
century of life.
4. RESPONSIBILITY OF SUPERIORS
Naturally in the acts there are certain things which must be made clear
and put into practice prudently and gradually. For this reason the
responsible superiors will not fail to give timely and opportune rules so as to
avoid arbitrary interpretations. After the promulgation of these acts we are
all agreed that personal opinions must be submerged so as to flow into a
common stream of united action without which it is impossible to do any
constructive work. There are things that cannot he left to the way
of thinking or spirit of initiative of individuals. qur family is large
and it is necessary to co-ordinate our efforts in a single line of action and
renounce, after a certain point, our own personal point of view where that is
necessary. Hence arises the urgent need on the part of every superior to
coordinate, clarify, direct, call together those directly concerned in order
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to advance to the executive phase without wasteful dispersal of energies,
Work together: take advice. Here it is profitable to insist again on the
spirit of "service" which must characterize authority at every level : an
orderly, harmonious, organized service.
Nothing has to be improvized . The programmes of action should be
studied and made to be studied. A practical way must he found to
implement the dispositions of the Chapter among the diverse
categories of confreres working inside the community: priests, coadjutors,
the young and the old.
Pair this delicate interweaving of work it is necessary that we call
upon and rely on the sense of collaboration at every level: at the
centre of the congregation, in the groups of provinces, in the provinces
themselves, in each house and in every sector of our activity.
H ere we rediscover the value of a fraternal and constructive
dialogue, so much recommended by the Church in its historical
encyclical Ecclesiam Suam . It is a question of justice; all of us will draw
great advantage from it in every respect.
Ours is a congregation of the active life and disposes of resources to he
wisely used. Perhaps many confreres already well on in years and
experience can still discover in themselves new resources for the apostolatc
to their own advantage and that of the community where they work. Lot us
make use of them and give them confidence.
The authority responsible will willingly listen to his helpers; and they
in their turn will hold it as their first and most urgent duty to help,
giving of their understanding and experience in the councils. having
always at heart only the true good of the community and of souls, and not
seeking to impose at all costs their own point of view.
None of us is a well of spring water : we are all streamlets with a
greater or less flow of water which we must pour generously into our
common stream, that of our community, blessed by God.
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The problems will be neither small nor few whether in the provinces or
in the houses, But Our Lord will not fail to reward the single-minded and
sincere effort that all the congregation, in all its members and at every level,
will make to match themselves to the times in vital renewal, to put into
practice methodically and courageously the decisions that the congregation
herself. through the General Chapter, her juridical and well qualified organ,
has decided and laid down,
5. REORGANIZATION OF OUR WORK
Our activities are already very numerous and often very
complicated both in their size and in their diversity. If we
were to take action under the pressure of the requests which increasingly
come from authorities, benefactors and civil bodies, we should
increase them beyond measure. But we cannot ignore the wise and
enlightened advice of Paul VI; we would be lacking in that watchful sense
of responsibility which must guide us in the government of the
congregation, We must not undervalue the admonitory words of the
Supreme Pontiff : "There are subtle temptations.., grave dangers...
difficulties inherent in the size of the work itself which the congregation
goes on accepting." (Paul VI ibid.)
It is clear that before moving on to increase already existing activities in
number and size we should all of us feel a preoccupation for the man, the
religious, the Salesian, the one who plays the leading part in this whirlwind
drama, If we did not, we could start undertakings impressive enough to
those looking on from outside, but we would only succeed in
extinguishing the man, the religious, the Salesian. We cannot require more
than a certain limit allows for the real good of the confrere, and for the
efficiency itself of his generous apostolic effort, It concerns us and must
concern us that he is a religious person, because he, in making his
profession, has placed in our hands his entire existence for time and
eternity. That does not of
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course mean that the Salesian of the future will not continue to be that great
worker the Church and society hold him to be.
We must consequently ask ourselves with a little realism: why do we
keep certain ,activities going, enlarging some and starting others?
To help souls! What souls? Those of the young and adults confided to
our care. But who does not see that this goal is not achieved if confreres are
lacking to do the work, or if those who can do it break under the
martyrizing pressure of work without respite, without the rest that body,
mind and soul require?
The Pope has told us that there is "a primacy not only of objective worth
but also of operative virtue" which must be conceded to the religious life for
our own sanctification and for the education of others. (Paul VI ibid.)
I admit it takes much courage to say `no' to so many requests,
especially when they come from persons to whom our works owe so
much, and from authorities that want to meet urgent social needs. I admit it,
dear confreres, and I understand. But it is a question of life and death for
the congregation. We do not feel it right to put greater burdens on the
backs of so many confreres who feel the fresh and pure springs of their
priesthood and their religious consecration drying up within them.
The apostolate is a delicate spiritual work. It cannot be effective if one's
soul is tired out. If tomorrow Our Lord, in view of our generosity, should
create a more favourable situation, we shall be very happy to give ear
to the pressing demands that come to us from all along the Church's front
line.
6. OUR ACTIVITIES NEED FIRST THINGS FIRST
From Don Bosco's day to this we have seen grow beyond all
computation and before our very eyes not only the number but also the
kind of our activities.
Here, too, courage will be needed to get into line with what the
Church, by means of the Council . has considered it opportune to
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recommend, and the General Chapter itself has clearly laid down. In this
matter two basic conditions have to be taken account of: not to stray
from the spirit of the congregation and to give preference to the more needy
classes of the modern complex social structure.
It is the natural instinct of institutions to seek a higher level with the
risk of their original scope being frequently obscured. This happens in civil
organizations as well as in religious. It is necessary that the Church, desirous
of reaching the less favoured social classes, (Paul VI ibid.) should be able
to count fully upon our generous acceptance,
In short, our congregation must continue to be a "witness to the vitality
of the Gospel and to the anxiety of the Church about the world's needs, and
especially the needs of the young and of the workers." (Paul VI ibid.)
Let us have faith in the `ends' to which our congregation is `consecrated'
because "they could not be more noble, more up to date, more urgent, more
in conformity with the apostolic programme of the Church today." (Paul
VI).
These ends are those proposed for the formation of youth. With them
"the congregation participates in the Church's mission" (Doc. 9 "Youth
Apostolate" Chap, I); with them "we act like the Church". In this sector the
Church makes explicit and pressing demands on us. "The Salesian is sent by
the Church to the youth of today". (Doc. 19. "Formation of the Young"
Chap. I).
Out of filial respect for the tasks confided to us by the Holy Father,
we must therefore put in the forefront the work of the oratories
and that of education, especially professional schooling for the young of
the less favoured classes. The oratory must become again our first
preoccupation : an oratory that, opening its doors to the crowds of
boys who surge around its walls, can tackle adequately the problems
presented today by free time, with technical apparatus and the devices of
modern art: an oratory that does not limit itself to a
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playground or an over-crowded games room, but is a `youth centre' in the
most complete, most modern, most dynamic sense of the word, and in which
the catechism becomes alive with methods and techniques more adapted
to our times.
There is also professional instruction which is felt to be an
indispensable need of society, and consequently of the Church. The
Pope and the world episcopate have expressed themselves in terms of great
urgency. The world of the workers awaits a Christian soul and this
soul can be transmitted only when the human element is still susceptible of
direction and formation. It is the young apprentices, the young workers
who must be met, organized, directed into our schools, into our hostels, into
our youth centres. The world has re-discovered that work is an economic
factor of the first importance it is our duty to re-discover it also and make
others re-discover it as a daily spiritual element of spiritual uplift.
Any abandonment of these fields which is not imposed on us by
particular circumstances recognized as such by the Church herself and
consecrated by obedience, would be a betrayal, a desertion from the part of
the front line allotted to us by God.
In this front line each and every one of us has his post. We must
persuade ourselves that "the integral formation of youth 'is the work
of the whole educative community." ((Doc. 19 "Formation of Youth"
Chap. I). Every empty space we leave in this sector to dedicate ourselves
to personal activities and initiatives breaks the solidarity of this
educative phalanx in which every move, every word has the sacredness of
a religious act, because Jesus assures us : "all you have done for the little
ones and the needy, you have done for Me." (Paul VI ibid.)
But priority and pre-eminence naturally do not mean exclusiveness.
Our Constitutions anticipate other apostolic activities besides, which also
are essentially Salesian, and as such must be esteemed and cared for by those
who in any way have that responsibility. Our mind goes to the missions
which must continue to be the trenches of our conquests and of our glory; to
the apostolate of the press and
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to the means of social communication which today is its natural
development, And how can we leave out our co-operators and past pupils?
The parishes too are often a necessary integral part of our specific mission.
The important thing is to keep, in the variety of tasks offered to the
congregation, that sense of proportion and that openness of mind
which, while it makes us engage all the forces we dispose of without petty
objections, at the same time keeps us far from uncontrolled paths aiming at
goals not destined for us either by the Church or the congregation or
obedience and often created by wishful thinking.
CONCLUSION : GO. FORWARD!
My dear confreres, 1 have tried to call your attention to some ideas that
may guide and enlighten you in appraising and still more in carrying out the
overall resolutions of the 19th General Chapter.
I hope they help you to detect, in the phrase of Paul VI, the hour of
God which has struck with the Vatican Council II and for us also with the
19th General Chapter: to become in reality factores verbi, doers of what
the Church and the congregation have decided for the good of our own souls
and of those for whom we are responsible.
All of us indeed, after the promulgation, have the duty not to discuss
further, but to carry out with goodwill and generous fervour, as true sons of
the Church and of Don Bosco, the resolutions of the 19th General Chapter.
On the new road that we begin, united in mutual charity and
confidence, we are encouraged by the words of Paul VI spoken to the
representatives of our beloved congregation and therefore to every Salesian.
He wished to assure us "that the road travelled has been straight and
beneficent and that it must be continued with a confident and joyful step."
(Paul VI ibid.)
Confidence and joy!
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We have 'chosen well'. The Church confirms for us "the sureness and the
merit of our apostolic programme. " (Paul VI ibid.)
"Go forward!" was the Holy Father's last word in taking leave of the
General Chapter: "Go forward to greater heights of true fidelity to the spirit of
the Church and of Don Bosco." (Paul VI ibid.)
Dear confreres, the acts of the 19th General Chapter which with the heart
of Don Bosco I present to each one of you, aim just at this goal.
May the Virgin, Mother and Help of the Church and of our congregation
assist us on our new journey.
FR. ALOYSIUS RICCERI
Rector Major
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15
FIRST PART
CAPITULAR DOCUMENTS
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THE STRUCTURE OF THE CONGREGATION
General Introduction
The Constitutions in Chapter VI (art, 50), "Government of the Society"
declare: ` In its internal government the supreme authority over the whole
Society is, under ordinary circumstances, vested in the Superior General
and his Council, which is called the Superior Chapter and consists of a
Prefect, Spiritual Director, Economer and five Consultors; but in
extraordinary circumstances this authority is vested in the General
Chapter.'
The fundamentally positive experience of long Salesian tradition has
endorsed the validity of this formula, which has remained essentially
unchanged except for necessary adaptation to the needs of the ti mes and
changing circumstances.
The desire to remain faithful to the original overall purpose and at the
same time adapt the traditional structure better to the new requirements of the
Congregation, led the 19th General Chapter to make a careful re-examination
of the whole subject, keeping in mind the suggestions and proposals
emanating from Provincial Chapters and individual confreres, with a view
to making the maximum contribution to greater efficiency.
Such a re-examination seemed all the more desirable because of the
rapid geographical expansion and diversification of our Salesian work, the
corresponding increase in the number of confreres coming from countries
differing in both language and culture: and also because of the rich fund of
experience gathered by the Superior Council` in
* The 19th General Chapter decided to change the names
"Superior Chapter" and "House Chapter" to "Superior Council" and
"House Council", as stated in Chapter III of this document, page 22.
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the course of Extraordinary Visitations, and the difficulty of reconciling the
demands of a centralised government with those of a live contact between
the members and the Major Superiors.
There is also the absolute necessity that this growth in quantity and
extension be sustained and invigorated by a suitable structure of
government based on the saute spirit and identical traditions, with the
guarantee of firmer bonds of brotherhood and obedience which are at once
the cause and effect of that harmony of mind and heart which must always
be characteristics of Salesian vocation and Salesian life.
Finally it rs becoming daily clearer that the Salesian Society, through
competent authority, must be readily able to coordinate its work with other
kinds of initiative which are appearing in the Church, and especially with
those emanating from Episcopal Conferences, Associations of Major
Religious Superiors, from the various Catholic organizations on a national,
international and worldwide level; from professional associations and the
lay apostolate, and of youth institutes which on educative and scholastic
grounds have an affinity in object and methods with our own work.
The re-examination carried out by the General Chapter, though not
exhaustive, extended to all aspects of the structure of the Society:
General Chapter, Provincial Chapter, Superior Council, Provinces, houses,
with their respective governing bodies.
The discussions in the General Chapter led to a series of new norms
which, when added to those remaining unchanged, give an integrated code
meeting the present-day needs of our Congregation.
CHAPTER I.
THE GENERAL CHAPTER
Deliberations
1. DIFFERENCE BERWEEN NORMS AND COUNSELS.
The 19th General Chapter, following various earlier General Chapters
and particularly the 10th Chapter (1904) decided that in
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the deliberations of General Chapters a clear distinction must be made
between
:
-- obligatory norms decided on by General Chapters and incorporated
in the Constitutions and Regulations;
decisions of General Chapters which oblige only ad experz
mentum_:
- practical directives and recommendations which serve only to
illustrate and promote the observance of deliberations properly so called.
The 19th General Chapter decided that with a view to attaining
complete clarity in matters of religious observance a careful investigation
be made to decide which norms are no longer in force, either because of
later decisions of the Holy See or of the lawful Salesian authority, cr
because of changed conditions.
2. THE RECTOR MAGNIFICUS OF THE PONTIFICAL
SALESIAN ATHENAEUM AND THE GENERAL CHAPTER.
The 19th General Chapter welcomed the proposal that the Rector
Magnificus of the Pontifical Salesian Athenaeum should have the right to
participate in the General Chapter with deliberative vote; it proposed that
art. 128 of the Constitutions be modified in this sense.
3, TIME AND MANNER OF THE ELECTIONS,
Time of the elections.
Without prejudice to art. 62 of the Constitutions which grants to the
Rector Major the right to decide the day of election of his successor, the
General Chapter decided to fix the time of the election of the members of
the Superior Council by means of an appropriate article in the
Constitutions to read as follows : Art, 137 bis: One of the duties of the
General Chapter is the election of the members of the Superior Council; this
must take place not earlier than ten days and not later than fifteen days from
the opening of the General Chapter."
Election of Consultors without specific responsibilities.
The 19th General Chapter gave careful consideration to the proposal
that the General Chapter should elect each Consultor explicitly for specified
duties or for a specified group of provinces.
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Traditional practice, reasons of convenience especially during the
experimental period of the new structure, and the need to ensure to the
Rector Major the possibility of entrusting duties to his immediate
collaborators with the greatest efficiency led the Chapter to reconfirm the
system laid down in art. 69 of the Constitutions.
Manner.of election of Members of the Superior Council.
The General Chapter decided that the election of the Members of the
Superior Council shall he made as for the Prefect, Spiritual Director, and
Economer, and that art. 146 of the Constitutions be amended in this sense:
"In electing the Prefect, Spiritual Director, Economer, and Consultors of the
Superior Council, the scrutinies shall be by secret ballot and separate in each
case...
4.SECRECY.
In addition to what is stated in the Regulations of the General Chapter,
the 19th General Chapter decided that non-members of the Chapter who for
any reason take part in the Chapter's work shall be equally bound to
secrecy.
CHAPTER II.
Deliberations.
THE PROVINCIAL CHAPTER
The General Chapter carefully examined the question of a wider and
more representative composition of the Provincial Chapter. After
considering at length all aspects of the matter, the Chapter expressed itself in
favour of a wider representation at the Provincial Chapter, but in view of
the many and serious practical difficulties and because of the conflicting
proposals put forward did not consider it possible to reach a definite
decision forthwith, and decided to leave it to the
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Superior Council to submit the problem to fuller study with a view to
produce a precise plan for discussion and eventual approval by the next
General Chapter.
In the meantime it was decided that the Master of Novices should have
the right of membership of the Provincial Chapter.
CHAPTER III
THE SUPERIOR COUNCIL
Preliminary
The General Chapter recognized the need for the government of the
Congregation to operate and wield its authority not only at the centre but
also in more distant parts. There must therefore be a strong and
unbroken bond between the Major Superiors and all the members; that the
government be continuous and efficient; that it extend to all the different
sectors: that it be based on the clearest possible knowledge of local needs;
that it be consistent and unified in operation without overlapping of its
different departments and without a kind of structure which, through altered
conditions of time and place, would be inefficient and useless.
Whilst desiring for these reasons to place the structure of the
Congregation on a new basis, the General Chapter was concerned to see that
the spirit of the Rule given to us by our Founder remained unaltered, that no
excessive changes should be made to the Constitutions, that the overall
scheme of government by the Superior Council he not unduly enlarged, and
that fundamentally its present structure should be preserved without the
introduction of Superiors of a kind foreign to our traditions.
The General Chapter, steering a middle course between the practice of
the past and the present needs of the Congregation made the following
decisions, which will not be incorporated in the Constitutions at once but
will oblige ad experimentum until the next General Chapter.
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Deliberations
I,GENERAL STRUCTURE OF THE SUPERIOR COUNCIL
The 19th General Chapter decided to increase the number of the
Consultors of the Superior Council from five to nine.
All the members of the Superior Council take part, under the authority
of the Rector Major, in the general government of the Society, and they vi!!
normally live in the House where the Superior General resides.
The Superior Council will exercise its powers of government in two
ways : at Headquarters through Superiors in charge of certain branches of
our work, who will have at their disposal adequate means of study and
effective office-staff; and away from Headquarters through Consultors in
charge of groups of Provinces, who will coordinate the work of the
Provinces amongst themselves and keep them in contact with
Headquarters.
The Superiors in charge of specified sections are the Prefect, the
Spiritual Director, the Economer and three Consultors.
According to the Constitutions the Prefect, the Spiritual Director and
the Economer General are concerned with aspects of Salesian life
concerning the whole Congregation; in particular the Prefect deals with
disciplinary matters, the Spiritual Director with religious and moral affairs,
and the Economer with financial questions.
The three Consultors in charge of specified sections, on the other hand,
look after those particular branches of Salesian activity which have been
confided to them by the Rector Major.
The other six Consultors are each in charge of a certain number of
Provinces entrusted to them by the Rector Major and his Council.
The Consultors in charge of sections will not normally be responsible
for a group of Provinces; this could compromise the efficiency of their
office or would react adversely on the work of organization and co-
ordination demanded by the requirements of the group of Provinces with
which they would have been charged.
To ensure uniformity of nomenclature at every level in the
Congregation, the General Chapter decided that henceforth the "Superior
Chapter" shall be known as the "Superior Council", and the "House
Chapter" as the "House Council".
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2. DUTIES OF MEMBERS OF TILE SUPERIOR COUNCIL.
The Prefect General. His duties are defined in art. 70 of the
Constitutions. Long tradition gives him the care of the general
discipline of the Congregation, To him also is confided, as it was
many years ago, the care of the Missions; in the solution of local
missionary problems he will be assisted by the Major Superior in charge of
the group of Provinces in which the particular mission is situated; the
Central Missionary Office will be dependent on him in its work of
organization and coordination.
The Spiritual Director General. His duties are found in arts.
71-75; he is principally responsible for those matters which concern the
moral and spiritual welfare of the whole Congregation and all its
members. By analogy with what is laid down in art, 72 concerning the
novices, he has full responsibility in matters concerning vocations and the
Mouses where aspirants are cared for during the time preceding the
novitiate.
I he Economer General. For his duties cf. art. 76 and 77 of the
Constitutions.
The Consultor in charge of Salesian formation. The institution of
this new office was decided upon because of the need of ensuring unity of
formation for all our personnel, and in view of the close
collaboration between ecclesiastics and coadjutors in our Salesian
apostolate. This Consultor following the direction of the Rector Major and
Spiritual Director, will be responsible for matters touching the
formation of all members from their first profession, i,e. from the
Studentate of Philosophy for clerics and from the period of
professional training for coadjutors right up to the end of the
formation period. His authority therefore extends to every House
and every activity concerned with the training of our personnel, both
ecclesiastical and lay, including the course in Pastoral theology and the
quinquennium following ordination. The Pontifical Salesian Athenaeum
comes under his jurisdiction, as also do other institutes of university level
and technical training colleges for Salesians. Spiritual and cultural books
for confreres in formation are also his responsibility, as also are any
publications emanating from houses of formation.
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The Consultor in charge of parishes and the apostolate for youth.
The General Chapter thought it opportune to entrust to a single
Consultor the care of our parishes and the apostolate of the young because
of their close interdependence. In fact our Salesian parish work has as a
primary objective the formation of the young, and our educative work for
youth has in turn the object of enabling them to take their place in the
life of the Church through their parish community. As far as boys are
concerned, this Consultor will have care of their general formation,
religious, moral and intellectual, in every kind of Salesian house:
oratories, hostels, day schools, boarding schools, youth centres,
sodalities and other youth organizations; due regard being paid to the
authority of provincials and with the collaboration of the Consultor in
charge of the group of provinces concerned when there is question of
specific local requirements in technical, scholastic or professional matters,
or in methods of organization, etc.
The Consultor in charge of the apostolate for adults. He will
take care of the co-operators, past pupils, Salesian propaganda and public
relations (including the Salesian Bulletin), and mass media of
communication in general.
The Consultors in charge of groups of Provinces. At
Headquarters they will normally have the following duties: - they will
take part in the general government of the Society;
--- they will present, explain and expedite the affairs of the
Provinces belonging to their own group;
- they will organize, for the benefit of the Superior Council and in
collaboration with the Provinces concerned, offices which will collect and
collate information concerning the religious, moral, cultural, social and
economic life of the areas allotted to them.
In the Provinces entrusted to them:
- they will promote in a concrete manner the sense of being one
family which must unite and characterize the whole Salesian
Congregation, by keeping the major superiors and confreres more in touch
with one another, by gaining at first hand more precise knowledge of local
situations, by providing a more direct link between the Provinces of their
group and the Rector Major and other Superiors with whom they will
represent their provinces and foster their concerns.
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they will organize and preside at meetings of the provincials of
their group of provinces.
- in agreement with the Provincials they will organize interprovincial
meetings for different groups of people.
- they will study with others the situation in their provinces from the
point of view of possible future activity iii the spheres of religion,
education, charitable undertakings, etc.
- they will keep in touch, when necessary, with organizations of
national or international character, with episcopal conferences, etc.
In view of these deliberations of the 19th General Chapter, art. 78 and
79 of the Constitutions, which define the duties of Consultors of the
Superior Council, are suspended.
3.FURTHER EXPLANATIONS CONCERNING THE
CONSULTORS IN CHARGE OF GROUPS OF PROVINCES.
The experience of the next six years will he of great assistance in
defining more clearly the figure of the Major Superior in charge of a
group of Provinces.
For the experimental period the General Chapter puts forward the
following guiding principles:
- Without prejudice to the possibility of communication personally or by
letter between confreres and the major superiors and their respective offices,
the ordinary business of the provinces will normally be conducted through
the Consultor in charge of the group concerned, by analogy with former
practice in the case of Consultors who had been extraordinary visitors in a
province.
- In technical matters belonging specifically to one of the special
sectors in the charge of another Consultor he will act in agreement with the
Consultor concerned. On the other hand a Consultor in charge of a sector who
has to deal with a Province about matters concerning his sector will normally
have an understanding with the Consultor in charge of that Province.
- - The appointment of Consultors in charge of a group of Provinces will
not put limits to the lawful authority of the Rector Major, of the Consultor in
charge of sectors, or of the Provincials.
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The Consultor in charge of a Province cannot put limits to the governing
power of the Rector Major on either a juridical or practical level because
whenever they wish to do so individual confreres, houses, Provinces
and groups of Provinces can have direct recourse to the Rector Major who
wields supreme authority in all the fullness given to him by the
Constitutions and Salesian tradition.
The authority of the Consultors in charge of specific sectors is in no
way lessened or changed. All that is required is that in the case of sorne
particular directive or when some definite line of action is to be laid down,
there shall be an understanding between the Consultors in charge of specific
sectors and the Consul.tors in charge of the groups of Provinces.
The Provincia! retains all the authority inherent in his office, because
the Consultor in charge of the group has no power of jurisdiction.
-- The General Chapter did not think it fitting to define the
membership of the groups of Provinces to be confided to each of the six
Consultors of the Superior Council for two reasons : firstly, so as not to
contradict art. 69 of the Constitutions, and secondly so as to afford the
Rector Major a certain liberty of decision in a period which will be
essentially experimental in character.
-- The introduction of this distinction between Consultors in charge of
provinces and visitors in the canonical sense in no way prevents the Rector
Major from appointing extraordinary visitors whenever he considers it
necessary. Such visitors can, hut need not be members of the Superior
Council.
4. ACTS OF THE SUPERIOR COUNCIL.
The 19th General Chapter decided that there should be inserted in the
Constitutions an Art. 83 bis: The Superior Council will make its
decisions known to the confreres by means of the `Acts of the
Superior Council', which is the official organ of the Congregation."
In harmony with what was laid down above in Chapter I of this
document, the 19th Genera! Chapter decided that in the exercise of their
legislative powers, whether ordinary or extraordinary, the competent
authorities at Headquarters should always take care to distin-
1. Chapter 1, number 1, page 18.
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guish clearly between what they put forward as guiding principles
and what they intend as definite laws.
The Acts of the Superior Council will be clearly divided into two pars:
in the first, called "Official Acts" or some similar title, there will be
promulgated dispositions containing norms of preceptive force binding on
the whole Congregation; in the second, which could he called
"Communications", there will be published whatever the Major
Superiors wish to bring to the knowledge of all confreres or of some
particular group by way of exhortation, information, or general indication.
The official language of the "Acts of the Superior Council", on which
authentic interpretations will be based, will be Italian. Nevertheless it is
desirable that the "Acts" be issued from Headquarters translated also into
the other principal languages.
CHAPTER IV
THE PROVINCES
Preliminary
A careful examination of the conclusions of provincial chapters,
confirmed in large part by studies and proposals sent in by individual
confreres concerning the :structure by which provinces and houses are
governed, showed that the fundamental requirements are: unity.
adaptability, flexibility, reasonableness and practicability.
Such requirements seem to correspond perfectly to the spirit of Don
Bosco, to Salesian tradition and to the development of the Congregation, and
at the same time can be adapted without difficulty to the needs of the
present day and of the Church in an era which turns on the decisions of the
Second Ecumenical Council of the Vatican.
The need for unity, resides its obvious necessity for an efficient
government based on enlightened decisions and their firm enactment, is a
fundamental characteristic of the Salesian Society which sees in the Rector
Major, in the Provincial, and in the Rector of a house respectively the
central figure, the competent and harmonious source
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of all guidance for the entire Congregation, for the province, and for the
individual House.'
The spirit of adaptability characterizes both the origins and the
development of the work of Don Bosco who understood very clearly the need
to meet the demands of the apostolate both for the young and for older people
in so many different circumstances, with institutions and methods that are
now accepted by the modern world and fully in accord with Vatican II as far
as apostolate and pastoral applications are concerned.
To harmonize the requirements of unity and adaptability a kind of
government would seem to be needed in which there is the greatest possible
flexibility, at both juridical and technical levels, both as regards the internal
regime of the Congregation and its insertion into the community of the
Church and society for the necessary ever increasing co-operation.
A final requirement appears from the studies and suggestions, and also
from the modern concept of organized work, even in the field of apostolic
activity: rational good sense and practicability, with a corresponding
division of work and differentiation of sectors. Among other things, this
calls for the establishment of centres of study and of technical offices with
properly qualified personnel, who will be responsible for diagnosing
problems in good time and for working out plans of campaign in different
sectors (pastoral work, education and school matters, building schemes,
economics and finance, etc.) and gradually putting them into effect.
Deliberations
1. SIZE OF PROVINCES.
The 19th General Chapter proposed as a general principle that the
creation of too many provinces with a resulting weakening in their
consistency should be avoided.
The putting into effect of this decision will result in a better qualified
and more efficient central organization, a saving in and greater possibility
of placing prepared personnel effectively, greater freedom of movement to
meet new needs in our work, a more con-
I. Constitutions, articles 50, 86, 113.
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sistent economic situation, a higher level of spiritual, Salesian and cultural
formation, especially in the training houses (aspirantate novitiate,
studentate, etc.)
2. PROVINCIAL CONFERENCES.
The same reasons which demand a strong consistency in the individual
provinces, as well as more urgent reasons of modernization in organization,
make it eminently desirable that some form of collaboration on a juridical
basis should be adopted between provinces which for pastoral, geographic,
ethnical. linguistic and cultural reasons have affinity to each other
and common circumstances and problems,
For these reasons the 19th General Chapter decided that "Provincial
Conferences" should be set up presided over by the Consultor in charge
of each group, referred to in the preceding chapter.
It belongs to the Rector Major and his Council to establish
Provincial Conferences.
The duties of provincial conferences include:
- To study and promote the application of the general directives
concerning the government and activities of the Congregation.
To promote the co-ordination of Salesian activity as between one
province and another, keeping in mind the declarations of episcopal
conferences, civil law, and other local requirements;
- To carry out with discretion experiments that may seem
necessary to bring up to date the methods of the Salesian apostolate:
To carry out those duties which have been assigned to them in the
deliberations of the General Chapter.
Conclusions reached by Provincial Conferences will not be binding
on the provinces concerned until they have been approved by the Rector
Major and his Council, to whom they will he submitted by the Consultor
in charge of the group.
3. THE PROVINCIAL COUNCIL.
The General Chapter decided that the Provincial Council should be
composed as follows:
- The Provincial;
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-- Two or three Consultors free from office or special duties in the houses:
of these one will have the authority of Vice-Provincial and another that of
Provincial Economer;
Two or three Consultors chosen from those confreres who have
duties of particular importance in the houses.
For the appointment of all the Consultors, even under the new
arrangement the dispositions of Art. 91 of the Constitutions still hold good.
The Provincial Council will operate according to the following norms:
It will normally meet at least once a month;
The agenda is to be sent out some days earlier so that the members
can study the matters to be discussed;
The minutes, which should be complete and compiled with care,
are to he read and signed by all those taking part in the meeting;
- Every time there is question of any matter in which the Constitutions
or Regulations require that the consent of the Superior Council he
obtained this shall be formally requested by the Provincial who will
include with his request a copy of the minutes of the Provincial Council
meeting at which the matter was discussed or voted upon.
The Vice-Provincial shall take the place of the Provincial, absent or
impeded, in all that bears on the ordinary government of the province. He
shall also act for him in those matters for which he has received a
special delegation.
The Provincial Consultors free from office and from other obligations
in the houses, shall concern themselves with the problems of administrative
and organizing character arising from the various works undertaken in the
province.
The Provincial himself shall decide the distribution of the field to be
covered by each Consultor.
4. PROVINCIAI. DELEGATES.
The 19th General Chapter, approves and recognizes the institution of
Provincial Delegates, in charge of diverse activities at provincial level
(co-operators, old boys, sodalities, Christian doctrine, vocations, schools,
professional training, parishes etc.) - their terms of reference will be study,
development, organization and co-ordination.
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It is not considered a good thing that the delegates vi muneris, should be
members of the Provincial Council. The qualities necessary for both duties
will not always coincide. Nevertheless, there is nothing to hinder a Consultor
of the Council being delegated for the care of any such activity.
5. TEAMS OF EXPERTS.
While the Provincial Council remains intact as the consultative and
deliberative body by force of the Constitution, let the Provincial with his
Council set up, for the main activities, groups of experts, Salesian and non-
Salesian, and let them he consulted systematically.
6. PARTICULAR CONSIDERATIONS.
The Provincial and those helping him, if it is considered functionally
convenient, may form a community on its own, with its own Rector,
who may be the Vice-Provincial or one of the Consultors. Such a community
should not he either isolated or too distant from a Salesian House.
Bank accounts should not he in the name of a single person¢, but in the
name of the province, or of a moral body duly recognized. Where possible,
these accounts should be operated by three signatures, with the proviso that at
least two signatures be necessary. In any case !et there never be less than two
signatures with the possibility that both sign conjointly or separately.
Since the Salesian Congregation has for its special scope "every sort of
charitable work, spiritual and temporal for the benefit of youth, especially
those who are poorer" let every province establish at least one house
exclusively destined for such charitable work, or establish a convenient
number of burses for deserving boys who are without means, and place them
in our other schools according to a plan approved by the Provincial.
While the existing prescriptions for the authorization of building
programmes remain as before, the immediate supervision of the actual
building in progress in the house is the concern of the Prefect under the
responsibility of the Rector, nevertheless, among the rights and duties of the
Provincial Economer and his technical advisers is the continued and careful
control of all building operations of the province.
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Preliminary.
CHAPTER V
THE HOUSES
In the re-structuring which has the purpose of guaranteeing both the
proper functioning and fruitfulness of the work of each single house, and
in addition to the directives indicated, with re gard to the structure of the
provinces, the following exigencies have come to light which summarize
the study, observations and proposals of provincial chapters, and those also
of individual confreres.
It has been held essential for the conservation of the Salesian
spirit, and for the vigour of the formative and apostolic work we do, that
the image and function of the Rector and the superiors of the house be kept,
and their original characteristics be upheld.
According to the will of Don Bosco, and our uninterru pted tradition
the Rector constitutes, without a shadow of doubt, the centre for
unity and of initiative in all Salesian work whatever its type or
composition, either as the head of the religious community and guide of the
confreres, or as the one who encourages and sustains every activity,
apostolic as formative, being first among those who would educate; or as
the one finally responsible for every activity, whether it be economic,
technical or in the field of organization. "It is the duty of the Rector to
rule the house in all matters spiritual, scholastic and material". "The
Rector is the one responsible for all that pertains to the oratory
(Regulation for the Festive Oratory 3951. In this sense the Rector is held
responsible for the action of all members. Let him show himself constantly
the loving father who desires to know everything, so that he can do good to
all and harm to none.'
The same Salesian tradition, in the beginning, was, so to say, incarnated
in the person of Don Bosco, and has given a concrete definition of this
unifying and vitalizing activity of the Rector, which includes
something which cannot be substituted, namely, the co-responsibility and
mutual collaboration with other superiors, in the first place with his
Council. Don Bosco himself succinctly affirms
1. Memorie Biografiche X,1102 Epistolario di Don Bosco II,
320: Epistolario di Don Bosco III 360, 380; Memorie Biografiche
XII 81, 82; Memorie Biografiche X111 258 etc.
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"with us the Rector is everything"' and repeatedly insists, clarifying the
concept: "Let the Rector be the Rector. Let him know how to make others
work; let him supervise, decide and order, but let him
never do the work himself. Should he not find men of great
ability
to do the work, let him leave it to somebody with less, but let him not do
the work himself, through any desire to do all things in the best way
possible. He should see that all do their duty, but he should not take on any
particular duty himself.' The essence of a Rector is to divide out the work to
be done, and then to see that it is done,' andmore especially, call the council
and from time to time, all his teachers to study the means which each one
judges best fitted to correct what has to he corrected. Remember, the Rector
need not do a great deal, but he should see to it that all others do it,
and he should he vigilant to see each one does it."'
The need of flexible unity here considered on the Rector's part is above
all to be seen in his fatherliness which is at once spiritual and formative,
vital and operative, promoting well coordinated collaboration; and it would
appear that this is to be underlined in a very definite way today, especially in
the new circumstances in which every Salesian work is being carried out.
In the very first place, the image of the Rector today is somewhat
confused by those early uncertainties caused by the loss of that original
quality of ordinary confessor to the community of the confreres and of the
boys.
The figure of the Rector as educator and spiritual director is still not
clear when considered as an effective and practical factor.
The complexity of the administration of a religious community in the
field of education today, with the growing mass of services, legal and
financial obligations, the complexity also of the contacts and problems,
the demands made by many different sectors have all served to distract, in
various directions, the attention of the Rector, and have taken away the
prefect-administrator entirely from the sphere of education.
1. Memorie Biografrcle XI1, 81.
2. Memorie Biografiche XIII 258.
3. Epistolario di Don Bosco III, 158
4. Epistolario di Dorn Bosco II. 270
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In the field of education (boarding schools, professional schools,
technical schools, day schools and hostels) new exigencies tend to
augment considerably the .need for more paper work, more
organization, to say nothing of the cultural, teaching and legal demands.
This overburdening of Rectors, Prefects of Studies, and Consultors, with
duties less formative, means less time and less energy for work of a truly
pedagogic and family character.
All, and in every single one of our works, find themselves
overburdened by things to be done, some technical, some questions of
organization: (sport, recreation, camping, tours etc. with the consequent
financial problems). All this tends to obscure and damage the pastoral
character of the education.
It is evident that the solution is to be found in the direction of a kind of
government which keeps intact and yet renders more effective the original
unity which it interprets and makes actual with flexibility, showing a
division of work, of duties, of responsibilities, and reassesses the value of
collaborators organized in councils, groups and in sectors.
Deliberations
The 19th General Chapter, having recalled in the preceding foreword
the traditional teaching on the government of the Salesian House in
its different aspects and characteristics, which it still must have in face of
the new situations in which the Congregation finds itself today, voted
certain norms. As appears from their formulation, they sometimes
confirm attributions and norms already established by Constitutions and
Regulations, with the specific purpose of recalling confreres to a more
responsible endeavour. Sometimes they define more clearly attributions
and establish new norms for insertion in the Constitutions and
Regulations: finally, there are formulas of practical directive
character to render more efficacious the norms established by
Constitutions and Regulations.
1. THE RECTOR
The 19th General Chapter, well aware of the great importance they have
for the well-being of the religious life, recalls attention to the following
Constitutions and Regulations, as also the recommendations of the 17th and
18th General Chapters seeking thereby more perfect observance.
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It is the duty of the Rector to rule the house in all matters
spiritual, scholastic and material.'
He has the obligation of watching over, with paternal solicitude, first,
the conduct and formation of the confreres ; and then the careful
training of the pupils, wherefore let him not accept duties
extraneous to his office, nor should he absent himself from the house for
any considerable time without necessity, and without permission of the
Provincial.'
- He should hold two conferences every month for the memhers of the
house, to encourage them in the practice of the religious virtues and the
exact fulfilment of their duties. Besides, he should hold at least three
conferences during the year for the teachers, crafts masters, and
assistants, on the methods of education taught and practised by Don
Bosco.'
- Every month he shall with all kindness receive the manifestation
which each member should make to him, and he should send for those
who do not present themselves of their own accord. He must also hear
in mind the grave obligations which the Constitutions' place upon him of
fulfilling all the duties of the Novice Master in regard to those members of
the house who have temporary vows.'
- He has analogous duties to the staff, and also with regard to cultural
and material needs of the confreres.'
-- Let the Rector, especially in works making great demands, keep
himself free from all duties and obligations in his house and outside of it
which could compromise his fundamental duty of coordinator and guide,
especially in the spiritual field and that of formation - let him abstain
from the demands of direct administration, as for example, the work of
prefect, headmaster, teacher (if a regular one), and duties of a demanding
pastoral character e.g. Parish Priest.'
1. Constitutions, article 113..
2. Regulations, article 157
3. .. Regulations, article 158
4 Constitutions, article 184.
5. Regulations, article 159.
6. Regulations. articles 160-161
7. 18th General Chapter 1958, Acts of Superior Chapter, number 203
pages 22-23; 17th General Chapter 1952, Acts of the Superior Chapter
number 170 pages 29-30.
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2. PREPARATION OF RECTORS AND THEIR `aggiornamento'
Seeing that the office of Rector is particularly delicate and demanding,
it should be confided to confreres who are prudent, fatherly,
understanding, mature in outlook, enjoying the esteem of others, so
that it is possible for them to accept the principal responsibility
for the regularity and high level of religious life in the community, and
guarantee their pastoral efficiency. To obtain this end more easily, the
following proposals are made:
Let Provincials provide new Rectors with time for recollection
and immediate preparation for this very important and delicate task.'
- Having in mind that a Rector before all else should possess the
necessary gifts to govern the community spiritually,' let it he made
possible for him to obtain a solid personal formation, and a
regular 'aggiornaniento' in spiritual matters Christian, religious,
and Salesian.
- To invigorate ascetic preparation with its enrichment of culture,
and to deepen pastoral and pedagogic preparedness, short refresher
courses may prove very useful at the end of retreats or on other similar
occasions.
The periodical provincial and interprovincial reunions of Rectors
could provide a most helpful means towards maturity and specialist
formation in the field of the techniques of organization and direction, by
means of study groups and discussion.
- The manual for Rectors should be brought up to date.
- Consideration should be given to a prudent rota of choice o` those
thought to be fit to direct our houses, together with the possibility of
granting them periods free from responsibility of office : a having in
mind however that authority has an eminently social character, and
therefore is given to individuals according to their capacity for effective
service.
1. 18th General Chapter 1958, Acts of Superior Chapter, number 203, page24.
2. 17th General Chapter, 1958. Acts of Superior Chapter, number 203. page
203.
3.16th General Chapter 1947, Acts of Superior Chapter. number 143. page71,
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3. THE HOUSE COUNCIL
The 19th General Chapter calls attention of confreres to the observance
of the Constitutions and Regulations governing the council of the house.
a) its competence. The House Council in so far as the in di-1
vidual house is concerned, is the principal instrument, juridically
constituted, with the specific purpose of guaranteeing collaboration with
the Rector.
While according to the Constitutions the Rector is the
superior of the house, in the sense of Canon Law, he has no right to deprive
his collaborators (prefect, catechist, headmaster, consultors) of the
authority given to them,' although this in its turn is exercised under his
direction. This authority should be recognized and accepted by all the
confreres of the house.
-- Neither has he the right to do without the opinion of his council in the
cases contemplated.' He, therefore, has the obligation to call meetings of the
council regularly,' with the members of which he should share in some way
his own responsibility.'
Let him therefore ask their opinion in the things of greater i mportance,
even when this is not expressly demanded by the Con
stitutions and Regulations; and when given he should not discard it too
readily. This will create in the council harmony and effective
cohesion of a true community, and produce results. This obligation is
particularly grave in the cases listed in article 114 of the Consti
tutions, and 153, 154 of the Regulations.
Obviously the council duly constituted, as far as possible with the
traditional offices, should also function in the smaller houses.
b) Its Composition. The need of improving the wording of art. 111 of
the Constitutions is recognized so that confreres with special duties
can participate in the House Council, the General Chapter established that
art. 111 should be modified in this manner
1. Constitutions, articles 116-118. 2.
Constitutions, article 113. 3.
Regulations, article 156. 4,
Constitutions, article 113.
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"The house council is made up of the prefect or vice-rector, the parish
priest, the catechist, the president (or headmaster), and consultors, who
should in an ordinary way not be more than three. The Rector of the festive
oratory (youth centre) may also take part.
c) Council Meetings. in order to bring into effect the principles
cited above concerning the systematic and continued collaboration of the
superior of the house, especially with the members of the council, the
General Chapter, determined the following precise regulations to be
made operative concerning council meetings.'
Let the house council be called at least once a month.
Let the agenda be made known at least a few days previously, so
that members may study the points proposed for consideration.
Let the minutes be compiled with care and in their entirety, and
he signed after having been read by all the members who participated.
Whenever, in conformity with the Constitutions' and the Regulations,'
certain business demands the consent of the Rector Major or the Provincial
or an understanding with the latter, let the Provincial or the Rector send
the formal request accompanied by the minutes signed at the meeting
of the House Council at which the matter was discussed and voted on.
- To specify art. ] 13 of the Constitutions it is established as
the ordinary practice (this to be provided for by a special article in the
Regulations) that the opinion and vote of the house council be sought in all
financial undertakings of some importance, as the purchase of costly
machinery even when demanded by the ordinary equipment of the
workshop, sales and contracts of a notable value, debts etc.
-- That the disposition of art. 116 of the Constitutions and art. 176 of
the Regulations be made effective for a proper control of the administration
of the house; in this the Rector can avail himself of the co-operation of the
council.
1. Regulations, article
156.
4. Constitutions, article
114.
5. Regulations, article
153.
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4. THE PREFECT OR VICE-RECTOR
The 19th General Chapter, with the intention of better defining the
characteristics of the prefect in the Salesian house, and in addition to the
modifications of art. 111 of the Constitutions when speaking of the house
council, has ruled the modification of art. 116 according to the following
formula: "The prefect (vice-rector) takes the place of the Rector. His
principal duty is to help the Rector sustain religious discipline, to
administer temporal affairs, to have charge of the non-Salesian personnel, to
watch over the general discipline of the pupils according to the norms of
each house, and with the consent of the Rector. He should be prepared to give
an account of his administration to the Rector, whenever he is requested to do
so."
The prefect, as the vicar of the Rector, should have those
qualities which enable him to take his place and within limits similar to those
limiting the authority of the Prefect General in art. 59 of the Constitutions.
Under the guidance of the Rector, he is also charged with the
administration and general order of the house, and those extraordinary
disciplinary measures which do not accord with the image of the Rector.'
When the administration of a house is particularly complex and renders
the duty of the prefect difficult as vicar, the Provincial may give him the
help of an economer - either a priest or coadjutor.
Let the Provincial Economer organize courses for the training of
prefects and economers, and hold meetings to unify the administration of the
houses of the Province.
Bank accounts must not be in the name of a single person, but of the
institute, and the operative signatures are those of the Rector and/or the
prefect.
5. THE CATECHIST
In addition to the duties of the catechist laid down in the
Constitutions and Regulations, and by Salesian tradition, the General Chapter
established that according to need and opportunity he
Regulations, article 163 and 183.
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should be able to help the Rector in counselling and directing the pupils
individually, to complete the whole formation, moral, religious and
apostolic, for which he has the immediate responsibility. This ditty
demands that he be given an office.
6
THE CONSULTOR OF STUDIES. PREFECT OF STUDIES
Where there is a Principal (Headmaster) the Prefect of Studies could fill
the office of deputy head, and be in charge of the ordinary discipline of the
pupils.'
7, 'IIIE PRESIDENT – HEADMASTER
In those states where the law demands a person recognized as in
charge of the school before the civil authorities (president,
headmaster, prefect of studies, or the like) with the function not easily
compatible with the image and office of the Salesian Rector, the General
Chapter expresses the hope that the two offices be undertaken by
different persons.
As to the relation between the Rector and the President (or
Headmaster) the latter, while remaining mainly responsible before the
authorities, nevertheless, at a religious level and in the practical
exercise of his function represents the Salesian Society, and exercises such
responsibility not in his own name, but in the name of the Society itself and
therefore 'under the guidance of and in accord with the Rector of the
house» It follows that it should be made clear to all, pupils, parents and
public alike, that the Superior who has complete authority and the ultimate
responsibility in the School is the Rector, and the President (Headmaster) is
only his delegate.
If there is no deputy, he, the President (Headmaster) will be
responsible for the discipline of the pupils'
The financial administration of the school is the business of the
prefect.' if the President (Headmaster) has financial responsibility
before the authorities, he without making himself autonomous, nor having
a separate account, has the right of control of that money for
1. Regulations, article 192.
2. Regulations, article 191.
6.Regulations, article I92.
7.Constitutions, article 116.
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which he is responsible. He will sec that it is spent as it should be.
The 19th General Chapter with the intention of defining the
competence of the President (Headmaster) established that art. ]98 bis and
198 ter be inserted in the Regulations.
Art, 198 bis: In the states where the law demands someone responsible
for schools before the civil authority, such an office be given to a superior
distinct from the Rector.
Art. 198 ter: "The President (Headmaster) while being directly
responsible for his office before the civil authorities shall exercise this
office in perfect harmony with and dependence on the Rector of the religious
house and with other confreres having duties administrative, disciplinary and
pedagogical which are connected with the work of which he is the titular
head.
8 COADJUTORS IN THE STRUCTURE OF THE
CONGREGATION
Whereas
in the mind of Don Bosco and his successors, according to
Salesian tradition and with rich written testimony the coadjutor constitutes in
the Congregation an original, characteristic reality, for essential equality in
religious life and the apostolate with other members in the clerical state:
the progressive and positive evolution of this reality is constantly
accompanied by an increasing richness in theory and in practice, which
confirms his status equal to that of other confreres, in front of pupils,
dependents and externs;'
on the other hand the Salesian Society, of which the coadjutor is a
living member possesses this unmistakable characteristic of common
life and common action which distinguishes it from other Religious
Congregations of a similar type, specially because it is essentially founded
on brotherly and cordial collaboration of all members among themselves and
with their Superiors, at all levels, religious, apostolic and as organizers:
still further, the situation today, its exigencies and its prospects for
the future show ever more clearly how valuable and necessary the
collaboration of many more coadjutors is for the Salesian Society and
its work, when animated by a vigorous
1. Memorie Biografiche, XVI, 312-313,
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religious spirit and by apostolic generosity. It is abundantly clear how
important it is to encourage by all available means an increase in numbers
and in quality, as also their technical qualifications and the use made of their
services; and this by a deeper rooting in the organization of the Society:
finally, it is a matter of common accord, based upon the
requests of various Provincial Chapters and given responsible consideration
that the coadjutor should have a part by insertion in the operative structure
of the Congregation, especially in those things compatible with the
particular and general common law, and that the Superiors pledge
themselves in this sense should difficulties he brought forward of a juridical
character;
The 19th General Chapter establishes:
- The house council when it treats of affairs of ordinary Salesian
activity, let it act as a Council of Action with the participation of determined
coadjutors whose names will appear in the catalogue of confreres
immediately after those of the consultors of the same house -- the
practice shall be followed wherever the Provincial and his Council
consider it necessary.
So that a coadjutor may he nominated a member of the house
council, he must be professed perpetually, have completed the 30th year of
his age, and ten years since his first profession.
It confirms the eligibility of coadjutors to the Provincial Chapter On so
far as it does not perform function of government) and recommends that the
Provincial and Provincial Council consult the coadjutors for business which
does not imply the spiritual government of the Province.
It also expresses the hope that the Rector Major will invite coadjutors
in the category of experts, and make it possible for them to take part in the
various commissions, and in the General Assembly for those matters for which
they have been summoned to the General Chapter.
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9. CO-RESPONSIBILITY AND COLLABORATION OF AL!.
CONFRERES OF TIIE HOUSE
In the exercise of his office let the Rector and his council he greatly
helped by all confreres: wherefore the 19th General Chapter recommends
that:
-- The Rector and his council invite the community to make themselves
responsible for the life of the house by means of talks or discussions which
could ordinarily complete the fortnightly conferences, especially with
the effective help of consultors in their own field: councils of
teachers (professors), groups of confreres given to the parish and oratory, the
heads of departments and his assistants in the workshop, the assistants of the
boys, with the headmaster, catechists, and leaders and assistants of the
sodalities.
Confreres, priests and coadjutors be invited to special meetings of
the house council when they are especially competent and when matters are
going to be discussed concerning their field of activity, and where
consulting them may prove useful.
CHAPTER VI
CONTROL AND DEVELOPMENT OF OUR WORK
1. QUALIFICATIONS OF PERSONNEL AND CONSOLIDATION
OF WORKS
The General Chapter being made aware that in the past. too many works
have been undertaken and houses opened without sufficient qualified
personnel, and that this numerical scarcity of qualified confreres is a very
serious deficiency which could cause the Congregation to risk a notable
diminution of interior power, and a consequent loss in her capacity to fulfill
the mission the Church expects from her, lays down what follows
:
- All the energies of the Congregation now fully extended in numbers
and work, be turned to a better qualification of the personnel and to the
consolidation of the existing works to give a richer return educationally as
well as spiritually.
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Therefore the Superior Council undertakes not to permit the
opening of new works except in the case of real necessity exclusively
reserved to its own competence, and then only whets there is personnel
available in sufficient number and with proper preparation.
If the first epoch of the Congregation was marked by expansion,
the present epoch must be one of both interior and exterior strengthening: it
is the condition of life and an efficient apostolate.
2. PROGRAMME FOR THE REDRAFTING OF OUR WORK
The General Chapter being well aware that although our work has had
a worldwide expansion in the first hundred years of the life of the
Congregation, now however sees that a revision is called for to reshape it to
meet the new conditions of time and place, considering also that a
hundred years from the foundation of the Congregation, at a time
when the Vatican Council II calls for an ever better organized apostolate,
a timely reappraisal of the state of our work is necessary and
therefore deliberates as follows
:
- Provincials, in accord with their respective member of the Superior
Council responsible for the provincial conference, and with the help of
specially chosen groups of experts let them study the situation of
their own province, its actual religious, moral, social and economic
condition at the moment, and determine which activities in harmony with
our Rule and our spirit are to be maintained and encouraged because
they correspond to the needs of young people and working class areas.
That they formulate a precise programme for reshaping the
work in hand, taking into account the numbers of the confreres,
the particular condition of time and place, the possibilities of the future, the
needs of the hierarchy, and the present worth of the work now being done.
- That they present this programme to the Superior Council for
approval within two years of the promulgation of the Acts of the General
Chapter, and they bind themselves to its gradual, and courageous
application.
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3,SIMPLIFICATIRON OF HOUSES WHICH ARE TOO LARGE
The General Council being persuaded that houses which are too large
and too complex constitute a serious obstacle to the regular religious life,
and effective education, deliberates their simplification,
To this end it is not possible to fix any one criterion by reason of the
difficulty of defining in practice which houses are too complex, and for the
variety of conditions which demand a different assessment,
Leaving such decisions to the Provincial and his Council who will
assess the exigencies of the particular place and time, it proposes the
following criteria by way of exemplification:
- Let the number of the pupils be reduced to within convenient
limits, .not allowing ourselves to be guided by purely economic
ends.
- To suppress activities not essential to the primary scope of the work,
and those which give little or no spiritual and apostolic fruit.
- To set in motion a more rational organization of the house, so that
the Rector and superiors, leaving aside secondary occupations, can
perform completely their function of government.
-- To divide such houses into two or more works by transferring
elsewhere activities which have a sufficient completeness and homogeneity
to constitute a Salesian work on its own, especially in
big cities.
- To create two distinct Salesian houses on the same Salesian campus
- where the work has interests which are distinct and in contrast - when this
is materially possible and where there are no other problems to he
considered in the apostolate.
4. ELIMINATION OF WORKS WHICH ARE TOO SMALL
Regarding the very small works, the General Council proposes that
they be closed, when in the judgement of the Provincial and his Council
they cannot develop an apostolate specifically Salesian and do not give
positive spiritual results, or have a character absolutely incompatible with a
regular religious life at least in the essentials.
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VARIA
The clerical habit
Article 197 of the Constitutions remains unaltered, but articles 198 and
199 are to be changed as follows:
"Priests and clerics will wear ecclesiastical dress except when some just
reason considered such by the Provincial counsels other
wise."
The dress of coadjutors, in keeping with their calling, should not be
worldly either in style or in colour."
But the changes proposed in these Articles were not approved. (cfr.
p. 237).
2. Collections
Regarding collections (of coins, stamps, etc.) it is laid down that
we keep to the norms that govern the vow of poverty; hence;
a) they may be made only with the permission of the superior; b) the
collection is not to be considered the private property
of the one making it, but it belongs to the congregation.
3. Reading at table for the confreres
The General Chapter decrees:
a) that the prescription of article 18 of the Regulations which
prescribes that at table there be reading for a certain period of time is still in
force.
b) that we recall what is laid down in the "document" on the
"Practices of Piety" so that the reading of Holy Scripture may never be
omitted and devout attention be paid to this reading.
4. Reading for the pupils
The General Chapter recommends that the useful and educational
practice of reading for the pupils in the refectory and dormitories should
not be allowed to lapse into disuse.
5. Mortuary letters
They should be written, for all the confreres, by the Rector. Let them be
short and edifying, and they should be sent to all the houses of the country
and to those outside it where the deceased may have worked.
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The provincial secretary should send a number of copies to all
Provincials for the houses of formation and also to the secretary of the
Superior Council with all biographical data and a few lines of general
information so that he may be able to see to their publication in the Acts of
the Superior Council.
The Provincial shall appoint someone to write brief biographies of
the more outstanding members of his Province. These could be collected
together to form a library of good biography.
6. Smoking
After thoroughly examining the matter the General Chapter has
decided to confirm the prohibition on smoking contained in article 12 of the
Regulations changing the article, however, to read as follows:
"Smoking is absolutely forbidden." The remainder of this article is
suppressed.
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THE APOSTOLATE FOR VOCATIONS
In the divine plan for salvation ecclesiastical and religious vocations
have an essential part to play, both because of their importance in personal
sanctification and in the apostolate. In the spirit of the Second Vatican
Council such importance is to be given special emphasis in modern times to
fit in with the apostolic drive of the Church to meet the needs of the present
day; needs characterized in many parts of the world by phenomena of great
magnitude: such as population increases, the complexity of moral problems,
the progress made by atheism and laicism, the dangers of indifference and of
pleasure-seeking, etc.
The Salesian Society is aware of the problem for the increase in number
and in quality of vocations. The General Chapter had the duty to study ways
and means of expanding and intensifying its apostolic activity for the young
and for the working classes as can be seen from the list of the themes
being considered : the teaching of catechism. oratories, schools,
colleges, parishes, the press, etc.
The problem is made more acute by the crisis in vocations that is to be
found in many countries and by the fact that vocations no longer conic from
some centres of our apostolate for youth, such as boarding and day schools,
which at one time were a rich source of supply.
On the other hand interest in vocations is one of the chief purposes of the
Salesian Society. It owes its inspiration to one of the branches of the
apostolate tenaciously fostered by Don Bosco in word and in deed. It is
rooted in a Salesian tradition that was truly active, both well documented
and put into practice. For this reason the words of Don Rua have lost
nothing of their value: "Salesians must have at heart the cultivation of
vocations. Without this the Pious
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Society of St. Francis de Sales would languish and would not measure up to
the scope Don Bosco had in mind when he founded it."' These words are an
echo of the statement made by our Founder when he said: "...it is not
necessary for me to give you new advice in order to urge you to cultivate
vocations to the ecclesiastical state. This is now the principal aim of the
Congregation."'
Deliberations.
The 19th General Chapter, while it takes note of what is being done in
each individual Province, makes a special appeal to all Salesians
without distinction and whatever their task to work efficaciously
to help to increase vocations in number and in quality. They should not,
moreover, limit themselves to the needs of our own Society, but they should
keep in mind the present difficulties of the Church in general, of the diocesan
clergy, of the missions, and of other religious families.
In particular the 19th General Chapter recommends the following
I. Let there be a conscientious review also at provincial level - of
all the work for education that goes on in our various fields of activity
examining especially its fitness to give that special stamp of Christian
training that guides boys to a choice of a state of life that is well pondered
upon and thought out.
- All this should take place in surroundings that are helpful: in an
atmosphere of solid liturgical piety where there is personal, cultural,
spiritual and apostolic formation suited to the age and individual
characteristics of the pupil. There should be a family spirit where
sacrifices too are constantly demanded.
---- The work of seeking out, choosing and forming aspirants should
be rooted in the prayer, the zeal, and the self-sacrifice of the educators.
These must be apostles who are entirely consecrated to God and who give
good example as individuals and as members of the Salesian community.
- In our work for vocations the degree of Christian life in the family
background should be carefully examined.
1. Lettere Circolari di Don Michele Rua al Salesiani Colle Don
Bosco (Asti), 1965, page 187.
2. Memorie Biografche XII, R7.
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In our selection and formation let there be nothing that savours of
improvisation, of empiricism, of subjectivism, or of false economy. Instead,
what we do should be based on well thought-out plans and we should make a
well-balanced use of the help modern science and methodology has to offer.
2.In addition, the 19th General Chapter proposed that the
Superior Council:
should have a manual on vocations compiled by a special
commission;
-- should see to the setting up of a central Secretariate for vocations
and, through the members of the Superior Council who are in charge of
groups of Provinces, to set iup Provincial and InterProvincial Secretariates
where local circumstances allow. This will assure the co-operation of all
Salesians, co-operators, youth organizations, past pupils, and layfolk.
The work of these Secretariates will be : to initiate enquiries, to
compile statistical data, to engage in practical activities as opportunities
offer, to organize special inter-provincial meetings between delegates, to
consider common topics and to co-ordinate methods of recruitment and
selection, to prepare helpful material and aids in order to encourage a
vocation mentality in all our confreres, in families, and in organizations that
gravitate towards our work or grow out of it. They should, besides promote
meetings, conferences, special courses, school camps with a vocational
bias, examination of projects for cooperation with diocesan vocation
groups, and such like.
.
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HOUSES FOR ASPIRANTS
Preliminary.
In order to fit in with the principal scope of the Congregation` every
Salesian work should be a nursery of vocations.'
In virtue, then, of this aim which has a constitutional basis our Society
undertakes to assist in a special way "those young men who aspire to the
ecclesiastical state.
The vocation of aspirants who present themselves for admission may
be in various stages of development: there may be just a mere inclination
towards the religious life; there may be a ready desire for consecration to
the service of God: or there may exist the necessary qualities and the good
will to make a definite decision on vocation.
Orientation.
The 19th General Chapter makes the following recommendations:
I. In fostering vocations full use should he made of everything that
education can offer, beginning from a solid foundation that considers the
candidate as a human being offering him ideal conditions for a full
Christian life directed towards the apostolate. In this way the ground is
prepared to receive and develop the seed of vocation to the religious,
Salesian and priestly life; but in all this due consideration must always
be given to the candidate's psychological development and to the
degree of growth of his vocation. With this in view the organization of the
following is suggested:
- Schools with an apostolic bias for boys who, because they are so
young, do not vet show an inclination for the religious or priestly
life nevertheless have the necessary qualities.
-- These schools should not be called aspirantates or preaspirantates.
1. .4emorie Biografcine XII, 87.
2. Constitutions, articles 6 and 7
.
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- Aspirantates for older boys who manifest an inclination towards the
priesthood and the Salesian life.
-- Houses for late vocations to receive young men who are more
settled and who are better able to make a definite decision.
2. It should be made possible for all the aspirants
:
to live in an atmosphere that proclaims the happiness of living close to
God, an atmosphere that is fostered by the efficacious good example of the
educators who should always be carefully chosen
:
to have really genuine freedom of choice without restraint of any kind
whatsoever;
to follow a course of studies that would make it possible for them to
continue elsewhere without inconvenience;
to engage in apostolic work suitable for their age.
3. There should be a more open formation in accordance with the
Second Vatican Council which says, "In minor seminaries set up to cultivate
the germs of vocation and in special schools which, in view of local and
personal needs, aim at attaining the same end, let the pupils be educated to
follow with generous hearts Christ our Redeemer. This calls for a
specialized religious training and for efficient spiritual direction. In addition
the pupils should lead a life that fits in with the needs of adolescence and is
in conformity with their development and age. Their mode of life should
conform too to the norms of sound psychology. Suitable contact with
normal ways of living should not be neglected nor contact with their
families."
The aspirant's family should be helped to take real interest in the
education of their son to fit him for his vocation, and they should be
encouraged to co-operate in its development.
The problem of holidays at home will be studied by the respective
groups of Provinces so that the periods away from the house of formation
may help to enrich and develop the boy's vocation.
The same is to be said regarding social contacts.'
4. The General Chapter charges the Superior Council to have a manual
on the formation of aspirants compiled by a special commission.
1. Exhortation Mentd Nostrae, number 84: Statnta Generalia
of Sedes Sapientiae, number 35
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5. While noting the work being done in various countries for late
vocations the General Chapter proposes that the organization of the Sons of
Mary be restudied and put into operation once again adapting it to
times and places and assigning to it suitably prepared confreres.
6. Regarding the age of admission to the novitiate : after examining the
various proposals and discussions on this point and keeping in view that the
Second Vatican Council is studying this same question, the 19th General
Chapter considers the criteria followed up to the present to be still
opportune while it declares itself ready to follow whatever the Church
decides.
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FORMATION OF PERSONNEL
The Ratio Institationis which will be the official document of the
Congregation with regard to the formation of personnel, is in course
of preparation. The 19th General Chapter therefore considered it
advisable not to enter into the full discussion of the documents of the
VI Commission.
The results of the work of the Commission are presented for
purposes of information only, except regarding the novitiate and
practical training, concerning which the General Chapter has made some
decisions, obligatory ad experimentum until the Ratio Institution is is
promulgated.
CHAPTER I
THE NOVITIATE
Preliminary.
The novitiate has for its object the examination and testing of the call
from God and the taking of the first steps in the way of perfection. It gives the
religious his character and spiritual lineaments. sealing his mind and heart with
the genuine spirit of Don Bosco.
The spiritual atmosphere of the novitiate, as understood by the Church,
should not lead one to think that all that is human and personal must be
sacrificed on the altar with one's vows, as though
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one could not come close to God and still feel oneself fully human or
preserve one's individuality. The attraction and sublimity of human values
is nowadays keenly felt as never before. Certainly the novitiate involves
mortification and self-sacrifice, but it is first of all a period of great
spiritual enrichment.
Deliberations.
1. The master of novices, prior to assuming office, should
receive a specific psychological, theological, ascetical and Salesian
formation, following courses arranged, or in course of being arranged at
the P.A.S. for this purpose.
2.The masters of novices shall attend periodic courses designed to
bring them up to date.
3.The house of novitiate shall have its own house council.
4. The manual for the novitiate shall be revised, and shall give an outline
of ascetics, liturgy, psychology, pedagogy and the Salesian spirit, so that it
may guide the masters of novices in their responsibilities towards future
Salesians.
5. The clothing ceremony and the rite of profession shall be revised in
the light of changes in the liturgy, and shall take place during Holy Mass.
6.Coadjutors will be presented with a crucifix instead of a medal.
7. It will be well to defer the clothing ceremony to a more suitable
time of the year, viz., when uncertain or immature candidates have
withdrawn.
8. The date for the commencement of the novitiate shall be
freely adapted to the various local requirements.
Recommendations.
The religious life should be presented from an eminently positive
angle as the attaining of great divine and human values, incarnated and
lived by our Lord Jesus Christ.
The novitiate atmosphere should have a tone of spontaneity,
confidence, peace joy. family spirit.
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The novices should be educated to a sense of responsibility,
authenticity and loyalty, to manly strength and firmness of character, so
that they know how to rule themselves.'
That special disposition of soul should be inculcated in them which will
make them ready, throughout their lives, to accept the observations of the
responsible Superiors.
They should he led to love, respect and admire the Salesian
family.
Care must be taken both that the novices make good use of their time,
not only without loss to, but to the advantage of their religious and Salesian
formation, and that study in the novitiate retains its formative character. A
deepened knowledge of religion, theology, liturgy and ascetics should
be imparted.
In admitting novices to profession each member of the council must
base his judgement on the positive suitability of the candidate for the
Salesian life and not only on the absence of serious defects?
If the number of novices be too few, let the house of novitiate be joined
with another novitiate or placed next to a studentate of philosophy: in this
way the members of the house council and the staff is increased, and the
choice of confessors is easier.
CHAPTER II
Preliminary.
THE STUDENTATE OF PHILOSOPHY
The purpose of the studentate of philosophy is the religious,
ecclesiastical, social, intellectual and apostolic formation of the clerics. This
period of temporary vows is dedicated to the consolidation and
development of the entire foregoing formation, in view of the specific
purpose of the Congregation.
As young men nowadays have a special sensitivity in social matters,
there is an obligation to make full use of this as an element in
1.Statute: Sedes Sapientiae, title 7, article 37, 2.
2. Coder Juris Canonici, 538: Stat. Gen. of Sedes Sapientiae,
31, 32. 33, 34.
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their formation. And as the world in which we live calls for a broader
view of social values, it is thought well to make the studentate into a
community really open and committed over a wider area than in the past.
Study is regarded by Sedes Sapientiae as an essential element in the
programme of specific formation. Application to study should not of itself
disturb the cleric's spiritual poise; rather it is an indispensable means of his
perfection and apostolic formation.
While not lessening the importance of other cultural values, both
scientific and humanistic, greater emphasis must be placed on the value
of logic and philosophy by a serious study of philosophy as a real part of
effective and improved spiritual formation.
Apostolic formation on account of its practical character is to be
continuous throughout the period of studies, but without prejudice to them.
Proposals of the Commission.
1. The number of clerics in the studentate should be neither too
large nor too small. Accordingly, studentates should, as far as possible, be
inter-provincial.
2. The scrutinies laid down for students of philosophy are to be held
thrice yearly, and the judgement expressed should be as complete as
possible. It should be recorded in the personal file in a clear objective way,
with due respect for the personal dignity of the cleric, for whose spiritual
progress it will serve as a guide.
3. The course of pure philosophy should be increased to two years,
as is recommended by Sedes Sapientiae. Those Provinces in which the
novitiate is followed by four years of Teacher Training (Magistero
Professionale, Profesorado, etc.) will have one year of pure philosophy.
4. The staff of the studentate of philosophy should have had a specific
formation. The culture derived from the normal theological course does not
seem sufficient either for the Rector, or for the teacher of religion.
5. During the school year the clerics should take part in some
degree of apostolic activity, by assisting and giving catechism class in
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near-by oratories and parishes, under the control of the Superior or his
delegate.
6.During the holidays the clerics should employ themselves in studying
the techniques of the apostolate.
7. The time and means should be supplied that make it possible for the
clerics to undertake initiatives (sodalities, drama, music, art), which, while
developing their talent, prepare them for the apostolate.
Recommendations.
While awaiting the forthcoming reform of the studies, let it be
arranged that the teaching of religion is allotted three periods each week at a
time that allows real application; that it really and truly he an introduction to
theology and scripture; that the programme for it be drawn up by a
commission of experts in theology, catechetics and psychology in the
Eight of modern theology and the Salesian spirit.
CHAPTER HI
THE PERIOD OF PRACTICAL TRAINING
Preliminary.
The purpose of the period of practical training according to Sedes
Sapientiae and our Regulations` is: the practical testing of one's
general specific vocation, information about and education in the
Salesian spirit and way of life in its various manifestations; an
apprenticeship in the practice of the preventive system; the completion of
one's secular studies and one's culture in preparation for ecclesiastical
studies.
It is accordingly evident that the period of practical training is
aimed primarily at the betterment and formation of the confreres and not at
the advantage and profit of the institute
1, Regulations, articles 51 and 56.
2. Stat. Gen. of Sedes Sapientiae, article 13
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Many Salesians remember this period of their formation as one of the
happiest in their lives, and such is the case if it is lived according to its true
purpose, notwithstanding the many difficulties normally encountered
during it Our houses are, moreover, enriched by the youthful zest the clerics
and coadiutors in training bring with them.
On the other hand there arc frequently voiced complaints about this
period, as a trial-by-fire or moment of decision, during which many
vocations are lost.
Part of the responsibility for this state of things is due to failure to
observe the prescriptions of the Holy See and of the Congregation, and to the
fact that there is as yet no real clear awareness of the nature of the period of
practical training, in contrast with an actual understanding of the nature of
the other formative periods.
Deliberations.
1. The provincial delegate for studies shall guide and supervise the
studies of those in practical training, both as regards what is laid down by
the Consultor General, and as regards other studies they are undertaking.
2. Where the moral atmosphere and the nature of the curriculum
permit, those in practical training may undertake university studies,
preferably in Catholic universities, but avoiding those areas of study out of
keeping with their work of formation. Such students shall have special
spiritual and cultural assistance.
3. Local superiors shall provide those who are undertaking special
studies with the time, accommodation and means required for them to
fulfil their duty with seriousness.
4. The Provincial will decide to which houses he will send
students for their practical training, having in mind the character and
abilities of each, and after hearing the opinion of the council of the house of
formation from which they are drawn.
5. With the exception of houses of formation, the Provincial shall
assign three or more, and never less than two clerics and coadjutors in
training to the houses particularly suited to receive them
1. Stilt, Gen. of Sedes Sapientiue, article 13; Regulations, articles 51,
57, 186
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6. The Rector shall have a weekly meeting with those in training, in
which he will treat particularly arguments of religious and Salesian
formation, and introduce them gradually to the reading of Holy Scripture.
7. The superiors concerned shall from time to time call together
those in practical training to examine with them the technical, theoretical
and practical aspects of their work as educators: assistance,
discipline, preparation of classes, sodality activities ,etc.
8. The period of practical training shall normally last for three years. For
reasonable motives the Provincial may suggest to the Rector Major its
reduction to two years.
9. As regards apostolic activity, those in training shall dedicate
themselves not only to assisting and teaching, which always remain their
basic forms of apostolate, but also to other activities for youth characteristic
of our Congregation, such as: sodalities, youth groups, liturgical activities,
catechetics, youth centres, etc.
But they shall avoid those occupations and duties which are not
formative for them, such as assistant-prefects, infirmarians, censorship of
films, unsuitable responsibilities in seaside or mountain camps, etc.
10. Books and magazines of religious, pedagogical and
topical interest shall be placed at their disposal, and both in the weekly
meeting with the Rector and in manifestation they shall exchange ideas and
comment on what they have read.
1 I. Let the Rector be more effectively helped by his vicar, so that he
may follow those in training more closely, acting also as their ma sister
spiritus, according to our traditions and the desires of the
Holy See.
12. The meetings with the Rector and the other superiors, which serve
to make the brother in training share in the life of the Congregation and
share responsibilities for its educative work, must take place in a climate of
dialogue, and be expressions of team work.
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CHAPTER I V
STUDENTATES OF THEOLOGY
Preliminary.
The theological studentate brings to a fitting close the cycle of the
formation of our clerics. This is the period which leaves the deepest
impression on the mind and heart of the future priest.
It is destined to establish solidly the priest's personality in its natural
and supernatural lineaments.
It is an ideal formative environment both by reason of the age of the
students and of the object of their studies.
The future of the Congregation depends principally on the efficiency
of the studentates of theology.
Proposals of the Commission.
1. A course of Catholic sociology shall be included in the
curriculum.
2. Where a studentate of theology exists, it is necessary for the
Provincial to plan systematically the provision of staff with the
indispensable and advisable qualifications.
3. To foster the acquisition of ecclesiastical degrees, and the
more effectively to provide for the students' serious application to their
duties, every step should be taken to affiliate and aggregate the studentates
of theology to the P.A.S., so that the S.T.L. may be conferred.
4. As the curriculum of ecclesiastical studies is being revised, the
Chapter desires that the attention of the competent authority be drawn to the
need of inserting in it literary and scientific disciplines of human culture
related to the sacred sciences, and such others as open the minds of the
future apostle to a sensitive awareness and understanding of the problems
of our age.
5.Let the buildings of studentates of theology be simple and functional.
Because of their purpose, they should be situated in town or city where there
is cultural life and the opening for a variety of
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apostolic experience. There should be a prudent separation from the
world,` but excessive isolation is to be shunned, being damaging to
discipline and the apostolate.
The students should move in that atmosphere of peaceful recollection
which is so much needed for serious and fruitful intellectual and formative
activity.
6. Students of theology should be given individual rooms in
view of the quiet indispensable to whoever has the duty of a life of intense
study and interior recollection.
7. Students of theology shall be prudently encouraged to take part
in the apostolate among the young on Sundays and Feastdavs (oratories,
parishes, youth clubs).
CHAPTER V
THE PASTORAL COURSE
Preliminary.
A complete year of pastoral training is prescribed for all priests who are
religious,' after their theological course.
It has the general aim of equipping better the priest for the life of the
apostolate. and the specific one of preparing the Salesian for the education
of youth. Sedes Sapientiue ordains that this course he at once theoretical
and practical to ensure its success.
the need for such a course is today more keenly felt since social
conditions call for a better specific and professional formation. The priest
should, under the guidance of experienced men, be introduced to work in a
society in continual evolution, characterized by a high level of
immigration, increased cultural standards, greater differentiation in the
Christian commitment of the laity, the steady improvement of the means of
'nformation and social communication.
1. SedesSapientiae, Statuta Ceneralia, article 23.
2, lbidem, article 48.
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As only few Provinces have managed to provide a complete course
of pastoral lasting an entire year with qualified staff, the Sacred
Congregation of Religious has authorized the separation of its theoretical
from its practical part. In this case the theoretical classes will be spread over
two or three years to complete the hundred days of class prescribed.
Note that it neither meets the desires of the Church nor has it been
shown useful to cause priests doing pastoral courses to reside in various
houses and attend an agreed centre for the course.
Proposals of the Commission.
1.The pastoral course will be directed to the preparation both for the
general and specifically Salesian apostolate.
2. When this course is held with other non-Salesian priests it should be
integrated with elements characteristic of Salesian pastoral activity.
3. If the course lasts a full year, the student priests form an autonomous
community with, at least in part, superiors of their own. and proper
accommodation,
4, The quinquennial examinations begin after the first year of pastoral,
even in those cases where the theoretical part of this extends to three years.
The examinations in pastoral do not dispense from those of the
quinquenniunl,
Recommendations.
1. The pastoral course can be arranged in two ways:
a) giving to it a full school year of nine months, with at least 100 days
class:
hl with Summer courses for the theoretical part, spread over two or
three years with 50 or 33 days class respectively, to reach the 100 days
laid down.
2.In either case, theory should be completed by practice. Those
following the course are from time to time to be sent to oratories and
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parishes, to be initiated into the practical apostolate, and made to practise the
administration of parochial affairs.
3. For such an important course one must naturally choose the best
teachers, both for theory and practice. Accordingly inter-provincial courses
are encouraged.
4. The programme given in the Ratio Studiorum is to be followed,
and reports on one's own experience sent periodically to Headquarters; in this
way it will be possible to improve the programme for the course in the
following years.
5. The Consultor for formation is to be kept informed of the
system in use in each Province, where the course is held, of the composition
of the staff, the programme followed, and the duration of the course.