N. 134 - February 2020
Newsletter for Salesian Missionary Animation
Publication of the Missions Sector for the Salesian Communities and Friends of the Salesian Mission
T he words of the Rector Major are still ringing in our ears – the words of his latest Missionary
Appeal (December 8, 2019, in http://www.infoans.org). The General Chapter and the time of
Lent, both of which we begin this month of February, offer us great opportunities to
listen better, even to this missionary call ad gentes.
"This is the identity of our Congregation," Fr. Angel told us in his Appeal: "Don Bosco
carried a great missionary passion in his heart." For this reason, "excellent missionary
confreres of ours went everywhere to participate in the proclamation of the Gospel,
the Word of God and the education of youngsters".
It is true that even, "today they continue to call us everywhere." "The Salesian mission
In the world awaits a large number of missionaries who have this desire to do good in the name of the
Lord and for the benefit of children." We know it, and the Master reminds us once again that, "The
harvest is great, the labourers are few." Indigenous minorities in Latin America await us; so do refugees
and displaced persons, particularly in Africa; young people in Muslim-majority countries, as well as the
Orthodox; young prisoners of a secularism that kills; the beneficiaries of our Project Europe…. Remember
that Don Bosco's successor concludes his Appeal saying, "I invite you to listen. I pray for you. I'm waiting
for your letters." So do I!
Fr Guillermo Basañes, SDB - Councillor for the Missions
The answer: Certainly they will be Salesian missionaries, missionary communi-
ties and committed lay missionaries. We are beginning CG28. As at each of the
earlier Chapters, this one, too, will be a stimulus and give an impetus to our Sa-
lesian mission in the Church. We highlight here some elements present in the
Working Paper, which urge us to revive the Salesian missionary sensitivity.
The introduction reminds us of the 150th anniversary of the first missionary
expedition (1875-2025) and urges us to rediscover the apostolic courage of Don
Bosco, capable of embracing the whole world.
No.14 insists on the close link between Formation and Mission. We are formed in view of the
mission and within it. There is an urgent need to give quality to the mission and, consequently, to
take better care of the quality of formation. It is a priority of our charisma to live for and with the
poorest, the abandoned and the young at risk. The missio ad gentes is a corner stone of our charisma,
highlighted by the call from many Provinces for a specific formation to it. For this, it is necessary to be
formed "in the mission" in order to be formed "for the mission".
In No.19 we have the link between mission and formation and discernment in a Salesian point of
view. Pope Francis insists on a real missionary conversion of the Church at all levels. Formation is
also affected by this necessary and irreversible process. By identifying reality as the true
"foundation", it becomes clear that formation is carried out in mission, in those places where we have
not only masters of the spirit, but also of pastoral life, who help to sift through the filter of an authentic
Salesian vocation. It is the mission, especially among the last and the least, that sets the concrete tone
for our whole life, and therefore also of formation. This demands the gift of the "grace of unity" and the
cultivation of an "apostolic interior life". For this reason, we must get into the rhythm of a "pastoral
discernment" capable of accurately identifying God's call and responding to it with apostolic ardour.
No.27 refers to "synodality for the mission" as a sign of the times to be taken up and deepened.
Contemporary ecclesiology shows that the various vocations within the Church have a common
baptismal root and all are intended to contribute to the growth of God's people: "Every baptized
person, whatever his function in the Church and the degree of his education in the faith, is an active
subject of evangelization and it would be inappropriate to think of a pattern of evangelization carried
out exclusively by qualified actors, in which the rest of the faithful are merely receptive to their
actions" (Evangelii gaudium, No. 120).
No.30 Offers young people in our presences the opportunity to have experiences of Salesian
missionary volunteering.
