AGCRM361-vecchi-for_you_I_study-en


AGCRM361-vecchi-for_you_I_study-en

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1. LETTER OF THE RECTOR MAJOR
_____________________________________________________
"For you I study..." (C 14)
Satisfactory preparation of the confreres
and the quality of our educative work.
- 1. A theme which crops up repeatedly.
- 2. "For you I study": an indispensable element of the mission to the young.
- 3. Why a new insistence at the present day.
An inculturated and prophetic consecrated life;
The new evangelization;
The effectiveness of the educative mission;
The role of Salesians in educative and pastoral communities;
The increased requirement for qualified personnel.
- 4. Priority for the qualification of confreres.
- 5. The principal investment at the present day.
- 6. Some options for investing in quality.
- 7. Persons.
A word to individual confreres: "Attende tibi";
An assignment for communities: foster the quality of life and work;
An indication for Provinces: make a plan for the qualification of confreres;
The starting point: the cultural dimension of initial formation.
- 8. Structures.
The Salesian Pontifical University;
Other Salesian Universities:
Centres for study and reflection.
- 9. Conclusion.
Rome, 15 September 1997
Memorial of Our Lady of Sorrows
My dear Confreres,
Last August we experienced together the XII World Youth Day which
took place at Paris with an impressive participation of young people. We
were struck by the thirst for the Gospel shown by these youngsters, the
attention they gave to the Holy Father and to all those who in communicating
the Word of God offered them a sense and orientation for their life. Their
desire to hear testimonies of faith and their enthusiasm with regard to the
person of Jesus, realistically presented as the "Way, truth, and life", certainly
made us think.

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This image is contrasted in my mind's eye with the one I have brought
back from Cuba, where I recently visited our confreres. I have seen a
Church "without the possibilities now commonly available for communicating
with the people, poor in the number of priests but rich in experiences of love,
service, patience, humility and perseverance"1. In it our confreres and
Sisters are working as they look forward peacefully to coming developments
which seem rich in possible opportunities.
The two images have prompted me to present to you at some length a
theme on which the General Council has already reflected and included in
the six-year program: that of our preparation for the tasks opening up before
us everywhere in the new evangelization of the young.
1. A theme which crops up repeatedly.
Every time we consider ourselves with respect to our mission, we are
reaffirmed in our conviction about its validity, and at the same time comes
the awareness that we must make ourselves more competent to fulfil it in all
its possibilities. The frontiers become ever more numerous, requests
multiply, urgent needs become ever more pressing; we would like to be
better prepared, to be able to offer them in their widely different
circumstances the guidance and support they need.
This has been my experience too in the first year and a half of my
service as Rector Major. Contact with Provincials in different parts of the
world has enabled me to see at first hand the vast extent of the youth area,
the accumulation of expectations, the prompt response young people give to
our efforts, the relevance of our charism for society and the Church.
I have admired the tireless work of communities, often with less than
adequate numbers of personnel, in frontier contexts of an advanced social,
educative and pastoral nature, intent on expressing the mission in
courageous projects and the animation of numerous collaborators.
The harvest is great! More than by the quantitative disproportion
between the work and the workers, we are struck by the challenges
presented by the present situation: the putting forward of a sense of life,
education of conscience, accompanying the young on a pilgrimage of faith,
building up a broader solidarity, the efficacious embracing of poverty,
effective expression of the Gospel, seeing to it that the Word of God is
applied to the questions and possibilities of daily life.
1 Homily of Card. Jaime Ortega Alamino of Havana, Feast of SS. Peter and Paul (from Ms).

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We become aware that to have greater influence it is not sufficient to
be more numerous or have more powerful means at our disposal; what is
necessary above all is that we be disciples of Christ to a greater extent,
entering more deeply into the Gospel, qualifying community life, centering
our projects and interventions on a more pastoral aspect. It is, if we may use
a word which may seem rather ‘secular’ a problem of quality; in gospel
language it means the genuine nature and transforming force of leaven.
Quality emerges as a necessary requirement in every sector of life,
culture and activity. It is spoken of in terms of an ‘excellence’ to be sought, a
‘competence’ to be fostered, an overall ‘quality’ to be attained.
Good will and generous availability are indispensable but insufficient
unless they are accompanied by the knowledge and techniques proper to a
field of activity, the understanding of cultural phenomena which are a mark of
present-day life and, for us, the ability to confront such phenomena with an
ever deeper understanding of the mystery of Christ.
The problem is not only for Salesians. It is the common situation of all
who want to live, without going astray, through the present cultural
transformation, in which to be educators, pastors or simple Christians implies
discernment and choice.
Some expressions which have long become common, such as
pluralism, an ethically neutral society, secularization, the right to be different,
freedom of thought and expression, multimedia culture, subjectivism, remind
us of this with the rapid bombardment of advertising.
It is the same challenge which underlies the new evangelization: the
ability to live consciously the Christian faith, to bear witness to it with joy, and
also to speak up in the modern areopagi and proclaim Jesus Christ in all his
richness.
This was felt almost as a constant prodding in our GC24. It was clear
from an analysis of the situation of the Congregation, that living the salesian
project of consecrated life at the present day with a serene maturity and
facing up adequately to the tasks of our mission, require of every confrere a
greater spiritual strength2, a qualitative leap with regard to general
preparation, specifically that of a pastor and educator3, and new cultural,
professional and pastoral skills4.
2 cf. GC24, 239
3 cf. GC24, 242
4 cf. GC24, 242-243; VC 98

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I made this trend of the Chapter my own, and in my final address I
emphasized the priority of a formation particularly attentive to the cultural
dimension as an essential part of educative ability and of the spirituality of
the pastor.
In our six-year program we have made this a central point on which all
sectors must converge. It seemed important to us to keep alive in every
confrere an intention and tendency towards the growth of his own vocation,
to arouse the communities to the creation of an environment which fosters
the maturing of individuals, and to ask Provincials to invest in the preparation
of personnel and on the quality of educative and pastoral projects.
I now return to what was recommended with regard to complete
ongoing formation; but I want to focus in particular on the need to recover
the love for cultural commitment and the consequent capacity for study.
It is clear that for us, as was affirmed by the GC23, spiritual renewal,
pastoral tendency, cultural preparation and educative competence cannot be
separated one from another, if the Salesian is to be inserted in the youth
context with the ability to dialogue and make effective suggestions5.
Together they depict the physiognomy of our holiness and the way we
approach it. This means that the urgency of a lawful and obligatory
qualification must not be confused with an exaggerated search for
efficiency6. Our hope lies always in the grace which the Father pours
abundantly into hearts, in the Cross which is the sign of life and salvation,
and in the Word which enlightens us. But as individuals and as a
Congregation, a part of the generous response to our vocation is not to leave
the talents we have received lying idle.
2. "For you I study": an indispensable element of the mission to the
young.
A renewed love for cultural commitment and dedication to study are
recommended by the Apostolic Exhortation Vita Consecrata to all religious,
as an integral part of the experience of life in the Spirit and the condition for
apostolic efficacy. It is a question of applying the whole of one’s being to
welcoming God’s mystery, and of reading intelligently and objectively in the
light of faith its traces in nature and its presence in human history.
5 cf. GC23, 225
6 cf. VC 38

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The text has been frequently quoted, but it will do no harm to hear it
again: “In addition to the service of others, within the consecrated life itself
there is need for a renewed and loving commitment to the intellectual life, for
dedication to study as a means of integral formation and as a path of
asceticism which is extraordinarily timely, in the face of present-day cultural
diversity. A lessened commitment to study can have grave consequences
for the apostolate, by giving rise to a sense of marginalization and inferiority,
or encouraging superficiality and rash initiatives”7
The recommendation does no more than endorse a tradition of
Institutes of consecrated life, whose communities are always constituted as
designs of spiritual life, full of meaning from a human point of view, and also
as places of education and culture in line with the particular charisms. The
experience of God has always been thought of also as a wisdom which
sheds light on individuals and on humanity as a whole, not only by moral
example, but also with regard to the world, thought and word, even though in
a simple fashion.
Some may think that this is a theme difficult to associate with the
tireless activity and ready initiative characteristic of our spirit; a theme
somewhat new as regards a certain image of the Salesian and of our
communities as always available, and constantly at grips with new projects..
It is in fact a trait characteristic of the figure of Don Bosco who, moved by Da
mihi animas, offered his life in the service of the young, of the Church and of
society; but we also see him attentive to the youth situation and the social
and ecclesial circumstances of his time, open to ever broader horizons, and
able to grasp the implications of phenomena which have an influence on
individual and collective life (the press, emigration, new laws, the spreading
of culture, the Italian unification and Risorgimento, etc.).
In the chapter of the Constitutions dealing with the salesian spirit there
is an article which characterizes our kind of pastoral charity. “Our vocation –
it says - is graced by a special gift of God: predilection for the young. (…)
For their welfare we give generously of our time, talents and health”8. And
the assertion is immediately illustrated by Don Bosco’s expression: "For you
I study, for you I work, for you I live, for you I am ready even to give my life”9
The growing emphasis of words and actions emphasizes the totality of
the life put at the disposition of the young. But it is evident that it is not by
mere chance that ‘study’ has found a place in the list of expressions. A
series of elements in the biography of our Father leads us to give it a specific
7 cf. VC 98
8 C 14
9 ibid.

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value: the importance that love of study had in the crowning formation of the
three years at the Ecclesiastical Institute after priestly ordination for an
updated knowledge of moral theology and for the direction of souls; the
space given to study in his educative program, in the synthetic formulations
of which it is always mentioned (“health, study, piety”); his idea of the
educator and the priest which always combine loving kindness with the
ability to enlighten, teach and guide; the frequent references to wisdom in
his maxims and also the enlightening role attributed to faith and reason.
Expressed in a context of cordiality and affection for his boys, in an
“exchange of gifts”, the expression recalls some of his preferences and
attitudes which converge without detriment on the central experience of his
life: to be completely for the young. Study, not to be reduced to just
‘studies’, is therefore for Don Bosco an indispensable part of our donation to
the young, of our fatherly concern to understand them and communicate to
them faith, knowledge and the experience of life.
A few facts reveal the real content this expression had in his life.
Recall his ability to look at reality, that of the young in the first place, but also
the vicissitudes of the Church and the situation of the Country, without
getting lost or becoming conditioned, careful to evaluate the whole picture
from the educative and pastoral standpoint proper to his own vocation.
Recall his readiness for finding adequate responses to problems; providing
easily understood messages, using every means at his disposal; committing
himself to the diffusion of sacred history, of the history of Italy, of Christian
truth and a form of popular literature, all of which involved him in a great deal
of personal work in compiling and editing.
“For you I study” recalls the patient effort of elaborating an “original
educative system” from pre-existing material, his own intuitions, the
contributions of contemporaries and original syntheses. It reminds us also of
the launching of a work-project in line with the times. He followed up its
functioning and drew up intelligent and practical norms and guidelines with
attention to the style in which he wanted them to be expressed and the
attainment of his objectives. He was able to share his ideas, to make
comparisons, to dialogue with people of widely differing experiences and
competence, with leaders in the fields of thought, politics and social life.
Also the well thought out formulation of an experience of life in the
Spirit, with spiritual processes for young people and adults, presented in
words and writing, implied the mental application expressed in the phrase
“for you I study”. It meant learning from life, reflecting on educative
experience, an openness to verification, without being satisfied with what
had been done before or falling into repetition. It was the desire and patient

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acquisition of “wisdom” (“Sapientiam dedit illi…”), indicated in his first dream
as a characteristic of his life, which he learned at the school of the Good
Shepherd and Mary the Teacher, in availability to the Spirit, in harmony with
the Church; and it was expressed in the discernment of events, in the worth
in God’s eyes of spiritual experiences, in the understanding of situations and
in the service of the orientation and guidance of others.
“For you I study”: it makes us think also of a Don Bosco who could
seek times and places which foster active solitude, recollection and planning.
They were his times for prayer, the annual spiritual retreat, certain pauses
which allowed him greater concentration, but also his desk-work which gave
rise to voluminous correspondence, ideas for new projects and the
production of a quantity of writings far from negligible.
Charity and competence, study and work, activity and reflection were
blended together by the grace of unity for the good of the young10. It is an
integration not easily brought about, frequently threatened by schizophrenia
in the activity or in the mentality to which are exposed those who live a style
of life and work where “there is no time” for reflection or comparison; there is
the risk that the latter will become disjoined from the pastoral objectives and
will end up in line with the principle that a well ordered activity of study and
thought does not befit a Salesian.
And yet I would say that, just as without prayer our activity risks
contributing nothing to the mission (“work and prayer”), so without “study”,
without wisdom and competence, it will be difficult for our works to reach the
goal prefigured for our educative and pastoral service.
“Study and piety will make you a true Salesian”, wrote Don Bosco to a
confrere. This phrase was put at the beginning of the Motu Proprio
Magisterium Vitae, with which Pope Paul VI in 1973 conferred on the
Salesian Pontifical Athenaeum the title of Pontifical University11, as though
to repeat at the highest possible level: “Culture and spirituality will make of
you an authentic educator and pastor of the young”. Both in fact are
necessary for the translation of salesian pastoral charity into a life
experience and mission projects. It is not therefore a matter of something
marginal which touches only certain moments of our lives or is of concern to
those committed on only certain frontiers of the mission. It can take on
various forms and expressions according to personal aptitudes and gifts, but
will always be one of the conditions for the embodiment of that love of the
young which gives significance to our whole existence.
10 cf. C 14
11 cf. ASC 272, pp. 67-73

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3. Why a new insistence at the present day.
The question arises almost spontaneously as to the reasons for
returning to this insistence after all the efforts of the preceding years, and
after a generally positive evaluation of our formative processes.
The verification made by the GC24 led to the following fact: “The
participation of the laity in the salesian spirit and mission constitutes for the
SDB community a challenge which must be met by an adequate formation to
the new requirements”12. As a motivation for this conclusion with reference
to the present day, it is stated: “The formation aims at rendering the
individuals capable of living at the present day the experience of their own
life with maturity and joy, of fulfilling the educative mission with professional
competence, of becoming educators and pastors, and of being solidly
animators of numerous apostolic forces”13.
It is evident therefore that the new level of formation is not motivated
by lack or limitation, but by the very significance of our presence as
consecrated persons in a society for which we are delineating the educative
and pastoral mission, and by the tasks we receive in the educative
communities.
Let us comment briefly on each of these motives.
An inculturated and prophetic consecrated life
In the responses received during the preparation of the Synod many
said that “consecrated life is appreciated for its activity, but is frequently not
understood in its essence; it is often praised for its commitment in the world
but, as often happens through the mass media, its image is distorted to the
extent of rendering it a senseless reality in the eyes of people in general”14
In places where secularization has penetrated into public and private
life, what is in question is not so much its utility, especially in certain fields of
service (we are appreciated as educators!), as its significance, the legibility
of its testimony to God, its capacity for communicating the message which it
purposes to give.
On the other hand, says the Apostolic Exhortation Vita Consecrata,
“the Gospel way of life is an important source for proposing a new cultural
12 GC24, 138
13 ibid.
14 Instrumentum laboris, 15

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model. A great many founders and foundresses perceiving certain needs of
their time, with all the limitations which they themselves recognized, have
given these needs an answer which has become an innovative cultural
proposal… The manner of thinking and acting of those who follow Christ
more closely gives rise, in fact, to a true and proper point of reference for
culture”15.
To be aware of and bear witness to the value and sense of God’s
presence in life, in a cultural context which does not go beyond temporal
horizons and gives priority to functionality and immediate use, implies a deep
understanding of one’s own consecrated identity and its educative value, as
a renewed capacity for insertion in the environment as prophecy and leaven.
But for this very reason we must render ourselves aware, individually
and as communities, through discernment, creativity and coherence as to
when and where certain criteria must be applied which lead to an efficacious
expression of the option we have made: to take up from the environment
whatever is lawful, insert in it what is new that comes from Christ, give or
restore meaning to what is still ambiguous, and oppose what is harmful to
the person.
Consecrated life cannot be whittled down to meet the current mentality.
It needs vigilance, of mind and spirit in the first place, and the ability to
interact and react, to make proposals and to challenge.
The new evangelization
The “new evangelization” is the great task we are called upon to fulfil
and the demand in which we are involved in these final years of the old
millennium. At a time of epoch-making transformation in which new
concepts of life are being elaborated, often without any reference to God or
the Gospel, the Church wishes to renew the Gospel and culture,
reawakening the sense of faith in existence and expressing the value of the
Christian presence in the social reality.
Anyone wishing to commit himself to the new evangelization must
make himself capable of an open intelligent and positive confrontation with
the new phenomena, understand cultural tendencies, try to make a
proclamation in the heart of life, interpret new languages and codes of
meaning.
15 VC 80

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The perspective of the new evangelization includes a radical challenge
to being a Christian, an interrogation on the identity of believers, and leads to
a convinced dialogue with others in an atmosphere of freedom. On the other
hand, our faith itself and the reasons for our hope need to be re-understood
and lived with transparency and solidity. Jesus Christ, yesterday, today and
always is a confession of faith, not just a slogan; it has to do with the
salvation of each individual that he may have life in abundance, and with the
salvation of the world which is being built so that its projects may not lead it
to self-destruction.
The effort to draw near to and understand such a world copies the way
of the incarnation and takes its inspiration from the same love which guided
the actions of Christ.
The effectiveness of the educative mission
We feel the pressing need for better formative levels in the preferred
area of our mission: education. We must in fact face up to the complexity
and multiplicity of the situations in which young people are immersed and to
the problems posed by the environment to human growth and to the faith;
and at the same time we must be able to draw fruit from their innumerable
possibilities.
For this reason our situation as educators calls for a reflective
approach to culture which allows for the updating of contents and methods to
meet the demands of the meaning of life for the young16.
On the other hand, adequate and recognized qualifications are
demanded at the present day also by the diversification and complexity of
educative interventions, which call for more complete knowledge and more
consolidated practice17.
Weak professional quality means an
impoverishment of the educative project; it diminishes the impact of our work
and, as it gets worse, could lead to our exclusion from the field of education
altogether. We notice this risk particularly in some settings in which new
items appear more evident like social communication, the university world,
and areas of “disadvantaged youth”.
Then too in the new contexts in which we are becoming inserted with a
missionary spirit and criteria, and which could seem simpler from an
educative standpoint, there is an urgently felt need to create programs
adequate to the situation and inculturate our pedagogical methods,
16 cf. Report to the GC24 on the state of the Congregation, 263.
17 ibid.

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overcoming the simple transposition of contents and methods designed for
other areas. Inculturation and quality call for commitment by the local
educative communities, provincial organisms, and Centres of study and
reflection. Increased qualification seems indispensable on all fronts18.
We are well aware that sometimes we have to be realistic in meeting
urgent needs, and we are always willing to do so, but it must be clearly
stated that our future possibilities in the field of education are closely linked
with quality19. For this reason, if it is true that “the best can be the enemy of
the good” (“better a little than nothing at all”), it is also true that we cannot
expose ourselves to a generalized form of pastoral and educative work
which risks disqualifying ourselves from attaining the purpose of our
service20.
This is equally true in the more strictly pastoral sector. This requires
greater competence in specific matters, acquired to a sufficient degree and
then followed up by revision and continual extension, and a more
professional implementation of ministerial tasks. Direction of consciences,
the Christian animation of communities, the presentation of the Word of God
in its true meaning and application to current human situations, the shedding
of light on ethical questions, presentation of the Gospel, formation to prayer
and celebration, and orientation to the experience of God – all these are
things which require heart and fervour, but also wisdom acquired through
reflection and study.
Add to these the new dimensions of pastoral work which have become
practically universal: ecumenism, inter-religious dialogue and with non-
believers, the use of social communication which becomes a pulpit at
everyone’s disposal, and participation in public discussions on many
questions.
Pastoral work means more than organization and immediate action; it
includes also the options to be made as a Christian community and the
orientations to be suggested to individuals in the complex situations of life,
and hence an ability for discernment, enlightenment and exposition.
A solid cultural and professional formation therefore seems
indispensable as a component of spirituality. On this point the Synod
strongly insisted with regard to priestly formation, in addition to what we have
already quoted about consecrated life21. We will do well to listen again to
some expressions from Pastores dabo vobis, which give us the assurance of
18 ibid.
19 ibid.
20 ibid.
21 cf. Report to GC24, 292; VC 98; CL 58

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being on the Church’s wavelength. “‘If we expect every Christian – the
Synod Fathers write – to be prepared to make a defence of the faith and to
account for the hope that is in us (cf. 1 Pet 3,15), then all the more should
candidates for the priesthood and priests have diligent care of the quality of
their intellectual formation in their educational and pastoral activity. For the
salvation of their brothers and sisters they should seek an ever deeper
knowledge of the divine mysteries’. The present situation is heavily marked
by religious indifference, by a widespread mistrust regarding the real
capacity of reason to reach objective and universal truth, and by fresh
problems and questions brought up by scientific and technological
discoveries. It strongly demands a high level of intellectual formation, such
as will enable priests to proclaim, in a context like this, the changeless
Gospel of Christ and to make it credible to the legitimate demands of human
reason”22
The role of Salesians in educative and pastoral communities
The GC24 has officially sanctioned the change in the way the
Salesians work: from the exclusive responsibility of the religious community
to that of an ecclesial community sharing responsibility, in which consecrated
and secular persons, priests and laity, Catholics and members of other
religions, conscious believers and others on the way, Christians and others
take part. If previously such a model could be thought of as optional or
alternative, today it is clear that it is our normal form of presence and action.
We must learn to make it function in the terms which have been stated or
perhaps dreamed.
The demands for qualifications arise therefore from the roles the
Salesians are destined to play in this new model for work: those of pastoral
guides, first in responsibility for the salesian identity of initiatives and works,
animators of other educators (“the towing nucleus”), formators of adults who
share responsibility in the work of education: in a word, Salesians who are
able to carry on a mission together with competent lay people.
It seems that there will be an increase in responsibility on the part of
all. And it is not difficult to foresee that the incidence of this work of
animation will depend in large part on spiritual formation, on the cultural
vision and professional preparation of the Salesians.
Not only will they need a better theoretical and practical knowledge of
the problems of the young and of education, but they will also have to
develop the ability to interact with adults, beyond simple friendship, on
problems of life and faith, of communication and guidance, of the
22 PDV 51, which takes up Propositio 26 of the Synodal Fathers

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authoritative proposal of educational objectives and processes. This will also
require a more convinced living of the salesian spirit, a reflex and organic
knowledge of the preventive system and a greater awareness of their own
identity23.
To become and remain capable of animating a broad educative
environment, of accompanying with other educators processes of maturing
and growth, of guiding individuals, of interacting in the social context, imply
that qualifications must be kept always up to date and that time be set aside
for rethinking proposals and methods.
Application by confreres and communities to this form of authentic
service of the Word is becoming more extensive, but has not yet been taken
up by everyone. To some extent it implies the risk that we may get too
entangled in organizing structures and arranging means, neglecting the
communal rethinking and deeper consideration of the message, and of
translating it into forms adequate to the understanding of those for whom we
are working24. In some cases an evident division arises between equipment
and cultural projection, between instruments and evangelizing effects,
between buildings and educational objectives; it seems that priority is not
given to concern for the cultural and profession preparation of religious and
lay personnel25 and the overall goal becomes lost under the weight of the
means to achieve it. And it may be that lack of competence in the work of
animation and guidance is the cause of the breakdown.
The increased requirement for qualified personnel
While the so-called traditional fields of work (oratories, schools,
parishes, etc.) need the ability to think and reflect, in addition to intelligent
enterprise, because of the cultural change and complexity of the questions
which each member and community has to face, we see that the growth of
certain kinds of work increases precisely the demand for properly prepared
personnel. When we compare the requests with those available we find the
latter are always too few, even in simple numbers and leaving aside
considerations of age, health and commitments which cannot be abandoned.
We think of the centres for theological studies in which every undue
cutback is going to have its repercussions in the future, or post-novitiate
study centres with identical demands. And we may add to these the
formation communities, which always have need of experts in vocational
processes and in salesian formation and spirituality.
23 cf. Report to GC24, 293
24 cf. Report to GC24, 266
25 cf. Report to GC24, 259, 261, 269

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And I complete the list with the rapid addition of the already numerous
institutions of university level, the publishing centres where it is not enough
to administer structures if you do not have people capable of developing
cultural initiatives, the various Institutes created in recent years as a
response to requests and needs of the Congregation, the competent
contributions we are asked for on various occasions because of the
experience we have and our recognized ability for being in touch with the
ordinary people.
4. Priority for the qualification of Confreres
In the Report on the State of the Congregation I ended the part
dedicated to the “Preparation of the confreres” with the following statement:
“The state of our resources, the implications of our commitments and the
general growth in the world ask everywhere of our confreres and
communities further progress in cultural preparation and spiritual strength.
The perspective therefore is to consolidate…, dedicating a special period to
the requalification of our personnel, and in particular those in directive
positions, sending the greatest possible number of confreres for specialist
training, and improving initial formation on the basis of the experience we
have already gained”26
It was an evaluation I thought to be imperative, open to interpretations
not always well understood, but matured in prayer and suffering. It seemed,
indeed, like a guideline with fundamental consequences in the six years
ahead.
Today I am convinced that we must wager on this priority investment
and translate it into some concrete commitments, accepting the consequent
limitations which it seems must follow. A conscious choice is being
imposed on the Congregation and Provinces, which will make possible a
qualitative leap in the way` of life of every confrere, in the mentality and
practice of communities and consequently in the form in which provincial
objectives are set out. It is not a question of a light retouching but of
something more radical, though not completely new because in many parts
the process has been already begun.
I know that it is not easy to live at a personal level and translate into an
action of government the salesian balance between “for you I study” and “for
you I always work”, between love and the search for pedagogical and
26 Report to GC24, 294

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pastoral quality. The urgent needs of the mission, scarcity of personnel, the
new opportunities we are offered, the multiplication of projects, constant
elements in salesian experience and a positive result of “Da mihi animas”,
urge us to be enterprising. And that must continue. But care must be taken
that activity does not lead to weariness, repetition, cultural stagnation,
mental distractions, and improvisation.
It is not the first time in the history of our Congregation that attention is
being given to decisive choices for a change of practice, in the light of
perceived demands and to prepare for new and flourishing developments
which appear possible but only on certain conditions. They follow phases of
growth which were necessarily rapid, and by forestalling exhaustion they
prepare for others equally flourishing.
I would like to recall three interventions, made at different moments in
history but which together emphasize the same concern we have today. All
three establish a criterion and a line of action for guaranteeing the
preparation of confreres and quality in fulfilling the educative mission.
In the years 1905-1906 Don Rua wanted to organize and ensure
regularity in the studies of the young confreres. There were many frontiers
of work, personnel was on the increase but still insufficient, the criteria for
involvement in the works were those of the Founder, but the expansion of
the Congregation and the needs of the Church made evident the need for a
change. There was in fact the risk of sacrificing formation to the urgent
needs of the works and cutting down the course of philosophy and theology.
“We must give greater regularity every day”, wrote Don Rua, “ to our
own affairs, and to this effect we place before even the most noble of other
aspirations, the moral and intellectual formation of our clerics”. “In practice”,
he went on, fully aware of the difficulties that would be caused by the
decision he was about to announce, “we propose two items:
1. Do not propose to the Superior Chapter, for a period of at least five years,
the opening of new houses or foundations, nor the enlargement of those
now existing. We cannot do it, and that is all there is to it.
2. Consider carefully your houses one by one, and when you have seen
which ones you can suppress for the better arrangement of the rest of the
Province, put the proposal to the Superior Chapter. It is not their number
we must have at heart, but their proper and regular functioning”27.
And in a letter of 1906 he returned decisively to the same points.
27 Circular Letters of Don Rua to the Salesians, pp.400-402: letter of 22.11.1905 on “The
intellectual and moral formation of clerics”

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In 1928 there was an intervention of Don Rinaldi. Vocations were
increasing in a consoling manner (there were about 1,000 novices); salesian
works, and especially the missions, were developing at an impressive rate
and new requests were being constantly received; Provincials did not have
the personnel for so many works and not infrequently studies were
sacrificed, and with them the formation of the young confreres.
Faced by such a situation, and aware that the mission could not be
fulfilled without the necessary preparation, Don Rinaldi wrote in the Acts of
the Superior Chapter of September 1928: “I have therefore decided, with the
full approval of the Superior Chapter, that during the four years from 1929 to
1932 no new foundations will be accepted, neither of houses or of missions.
This pause, well understood by Provincials and Rectors, will be a benefit for
the Provinces; it will bring tranquility to the houses and relief to all the
confreres; rather than a harmful break, it will mark a true progress for our
Society, because it will serve for a better cultivation of vocations and prepare
the Congregation for a more solid development in the future”28.
And I complete this reference to our history by recalling some
expressions written by Fr Ricceri in 1966, in the official presentation of the
documents of the GC19. The context is not difficult to understand. Vatican
II had recently finished, and we were on the verge of discovering new
horizons and pastoral needs, made decisive by the encouraging vision of the
Church, its mission and its relationship with the world. “Connected with this
need for formation”, wrote Fr Ricceri, “there is the other not less important
one of qualification of the individual confrere for the various tasks to which
obedience calls him. Today society will not accept into its structures utility
men, men without cultural, technical or professional training… People, and
the Church first of all, consider us authentic specialists in pedagogy and the
apostolate. We must, to the limit of our capacity, live up to this reputation…
A bit of practice is no longer sufficient… From now on every manifestation of
our activity calls for qualified personnel… It is not a question of collecting
degrees or specializing for its own sake, and much less of encouraging
selfish or ambitious desires to study for one’s own satisfaction but with sterile
application to the apostolate; what is required is simply an adequate
preparation to work fruitfully in one of the innumerable fields of action to
which Providence has called us. It can be seen at once what and how many
consequences for superiors and confreres follow from these changes”29. And
some months later he wrote in the Acts of the Council: “If we want to respond
to the inescapable demands of our mission, more must be done to give to all
28 ACS, September 1928, p.693
29 ASC 244, Jan.1966, pp.4-5

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the activities of Salesians that qualification which is not a luxury but an ever
more evident necessity”30.
The period immediately preceding our own on the other hand, under
the guidance of Fr Egidio Viganò, emphasized the same emergency and
took efficacious steps to resolve it, with the reorganization of the formative
processes reformulated in the Ratio, with the updating of study programs in
line with the evolution in nearly all the branches of theology and knowledge,
with the beginning and extending of ongoing formation and the foundation of
new Institutes corresponding to qualifications for the present day (pastoral
work, social communication).
5. The principal investment at the present day.
The moments of history to which I have referred are different from our
own and differ among themselves. I have not recalled them to put the brake
on missionary thrust or on apostolic creativity, and still less for the purpose of
re-imposing materially the measures indicated at those periods. Our own
times call more for renewal and reorganization of life than for pauses and
stoppages.
But the various interventions highlight the need to make definite
options, to establish priorities, looking to the future as we face the permanent
tensions between what is urgent and the demands of the mission, between
generosity and quality of service. Moreover they show us that the growth of
the Congregation is something continuous in which at certain times
expansion prevails, while at other times we must look to consistency and
consolidation which may cause suffering but can also provoke enthusiasm.
Finally they teach us that we must not only administer well the resources we
have inherited, but that we must also be careful to produce them, multiply
them and develop them for the future.
The situations in the Congregation vary greatly even from the
perspective we are now considering. Some areas are expanding and others
reshaping, in some the average age of the of confreres is below 40 years
and in others it is over 60; in some zones pastoral work is complex and in
others more simple; there are educative contexts very much institutionalized
and dictated from outside, and others in which we can work with greater
freedom for initiatives; there are provinces with formation communities and
qualified teams of confreres, and others taking only the first steps in some of
30 ASC 246, Sept.1966, p.13

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these sectors. For all of them the maximum exploitation of human resources
is an obligation!
The salesian mission, as we have already noted, is everywhere
entering new geographical and cultural frontiers, and this movement will
continue in the immediate future. Indeed the worldwide dimension, urgent
pastoral needs, the possibility of an influential presence on a broad scale will
still determine our way of working. A wise overall vision enables provision to
be made for local requirements, while at the same time giving consideration
to the contribution to be given to initiatives which extend beyond provincial
horizons and express the salesian mission at regional, national and
international level.
For all these reasons the qualification of people, the consolidation of
centres and teams, the fostering of a certain cultural sensitivity in the
Province, cannot be the result of brief periods, restricted by the deadline of
the end of a six-year period or by limited calculations. Continued
governmental action and long-term vision are indispensable. A province that
launches a plan for the qualification of its personnel knows already that it will
reap the benefits in due time. But it would be sad to lose the “capital” of
qualifications thus acquired with sacrifice through failing to exploit the
investment previously made or to let it lapse.
While the program for the present six-year period was being drawn up,
the General Council wondered how to set up an action at Congregational
level so that it would be a real priority investment in formation; how to shape
a process for recovering the value of our religious consecration in the
educative mission and make us bearers of a lived and communicated
spirituality; how to enable ourselves to offer an educative proposal reflecting
the style and content of the preventive system for present-day culture; how
to give emphasis to the process of education to the faith and foster a kind of
communication which renders efficacious what we proclaim in the climate of
the new evangelization.
The fundamental criterion which emerged was to strengthen the
“quality” of the Salesian, of the community and of the mission. It is a
task which will have to be taken up in convergent form by the different levels
of government. On it depend to a great extent the relationships between
SDBs and lay people, the effectiveness of religious experience, the
incidence of the SDB community as an animating nucleus. We have
condensed this commitment into the expression “governare formando”,
governing by formation. We are aware that governance includes other
specific aspects which cannot be neglected, but we consider that the effort to
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various sectors of activity, is the best formula for orientation and animation
because it multiplies results and creates unity.
6. Some options for investing in quality.
In my closing address to the GC24 I specified what preferential
investment in formation meant in practical terms. “Investing means laying
down and maintaining priorities, ensuring conditions, working according to a
program which gives pride of place to persons, communities and mission.
Investing in time, personnel, initiatives and financial resources for formation
is a task which is of importance to all of us”31.
I now propose some commitments which should be given preference,
and I refer successively to the area of persons and to that of structures
(works), starting from some facts which are already common knowledge and
accepted.
The first is that the main resource of the Congregation is the confreres,
and hence their preparation is an indispensable condition for the
effectiveness of the mission. “In our life some aspects are more exposed to
wear and tear or to sclerosis and need particular attention. Culture evolves
rapidly, knowledge becomes more extensive, new information is continually
fed in, while the mentality on the values and concepts of life presents ever
new questions. The cultural dimension is one that calls for patient and
unceasing effort”32.
A second fact: exceptional initiatives will serve little purpose unless at
the same time we attend to the quality of daily life and the continuity of our
efforts. Opportunities offered to individuals would have little effect if we did
not foster the style of community life and the way we carry out apostolic
work.
Consequently we must look at both individuals and structures; the
invitation to become responsible for quality is addressed simultaneously to
every confrere, to every community and to every Province.
7. Persons.
A word to individual confreres: "Attende tibi"33
31 GC24, 248
32 GC24, 242
33 cf. 1 Tim 4,16

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The mystique of work appears as one of our characteristics:
everywhere to some extent our availability and enterprise are admired. We
must thank the Lord for this capacity of total dedication that the Spirit formed
in Don Bosco and which we see every day in so many confreres. It is not an
impediment to growth but is in fact one of the fruitful traits of our spirituality.
But it needs those adaptations which today apply to work, in which manual
dexterity and physical force are only a minor aspect. Sometimes the lifestyle
we adopt and our rhythm of activity can wear down our spiritual experience,
confuse our image in the minds of the young and adults, and undermine our
capacity for influencing because of dispersion and multiplicity of work.
In our Founder we admire his constant balance between dedication
and depth, between the multiplicity of initiatives and unity of life. Don Bosco
was physically drained but he cultivated that wise vision, that understanding
of things in the light of the Spirit, that union with God, which gave an original
profile – we call it salesian holiness – to his personal experience.
As I think of the diversity of the situations and conditions of life of each
one and recalling some statements of Vita Consecrata with regard to the
significance and value of our vocation, I venture to put to each one some
questions for reflection: Do we give ourselves time to consider at ever
greater depth our life in the Spirit? Do we nourish the taste for a broader
knowledge of what concerns the Christian mystery and the questions which
refer to man? With regard to cultural enrichment, in the sense given to it in
these pages, what is our program with regard to areas, objectives and time?
How do we express in ourselves the ‘for you I study’ of Don Bosco?
There can be the risk of forming a certain habit according to which
work and reflection seem to be in competition, especially when a ruthless
rhythm prods us in the direction of what is urgent and seems to leave no time
for anything else. The conviction can even gain ground that personal
culture, such as reflection on reality in the light of faith, can have little to do
with charitable work for the benefit of poor youngsters.
When the GC23 said that interior apostolic conviction is a blend of
pastoral charity with pedagogical ability, it was an invitation to us to combine
creativity with competence, action with reflection, since both are necessary
to the salesian life.
Our Rule of Life strings together in rapid succession a series of
suggestions from which we have to arrive at a single objective. It speaks of
the Salesian as one who “responds to the ever new demands arising from

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the situation of the young and the poor”34; he seeks opportunities for
“learning to carry out his work with greater competence”35; he cultivates “the
ability to learn from life’s experiences” especially in relationship to the young
and popular environments and exploits the formative efficacy of various
situations and possibilities36. “Through personal and community initiatives”
he nurtures his salesian spiritual life, provides for his own theological
updating and maintains his professional competence and pastoral
creativity37. Each confrere, say the Regulations, “should develop his
capacity for communication and dialogue; he should form in himself an open
and discerning mentality and a spirit of initiative, and in this way conveniently
renew his own plan of life. Each one should cultivate the habit of reading
and the study of those branches of knowledge proper to his mission”38. He
should “study with his superiors his field of further qualification…, preserve
the availability which is characteristic of our spirit, and be ready for periodic
requalification”39. And all this adds up to telling us that there is a gift we have
to cultivate with patience so as to keep it full and fresh. And in it the
ascetical program: work and temperance functions always, which means
giving limited attention to what is less important and even useless and
distracting, and giving oneself with enthusiasm to what is essential.
In recent years initiatives have multiplied for qualification, re-
qualification and updating. In several Provinces there are well planned and
structured examples. It is up to each one to draw from them the maximum
profit.
But a daily personal commitment is also needed. The common
mentality, newspapers, examples from advertising could well constitute a
school which communicates a culture foreign to us, one which is frequently
contrary to our own “culture of reference”. Unless we frequent an alternative
school (meditation, revision of life, reading, information, study, sharing,
discernment, etc.), we shall be insensibly oriented towards a vision of life
and a plan of existence which no longer tallies with the one we have
professed. We must always ask ourselves by what channels our thoughts
and sensitivity are fed; how we construct and illustrate in ourselves the
relationship between faith and culture, between pastoral sense and
emerging questions.
We must give ourselves time for cultivating our plan of life, for
savouring the experience of being consecrated persons, for verifying our
34 C 118
35 C 119
36 cf. ibid.
37 cf. C 118
38 R 99
39 R 100

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process of growth, for preventing wear and tear and for controlling anxiety,
for bearing witness to and sharing the deep source of all our activity.
We must give ourselves time also for enabling ourselves to carry out
our work with greater competence, be it work of educators, animators or
pastors. Accompanying individuals and giving direction to communities is a
demanding task which is far from easy. There are certain environments
which in the present cultural and religious context evince particular difficulties
and importance, as for example: the ethical and moral field, problems of life,
spiritual and sacramental pedagogy, themes connected with the relationship
between faith and culture, the social dimension and solidarity.
This need to find time for ourselves will constitute a message for the
laity and a stimulus for young people who feel themselves called to the
salesian life. Today to the image of the religious as a worker and person of
enterprise, socially useful, must be added the prophetic aspect of one who
makes a personal experience the source of meaning, guided by the wisdom
of the Gospel.
An assignment for communities: foster the quality of life and work
“Cultural and pastoral quality” finds a stimulus, a setting and almost a
school in the style of life of the community. Experience shows that after
some time in a community of a certain type we have grown in the vision of
the youth field and of youth problems, in the relationship with the laity, in the
ability for sharing, and in discernment; while in other communities we are
more tempted to waste time, we seem to live in a perpetual hurry, from one
emergency to another; we become accustomed to an excessively individual
way of life, we give way to routine and become mentally isolated.
The pattern of life and work of the local community is therefore a
determining factor, as also that of the provincial community since we live
today against a background of ample communication40. In both cases the
level of interest, the quality of information, communication of experiences,
type of relationship with the young, the laity and the local context, are not a
matter of indifference.
Our communities have undergone changes in their composition and in
their life. Modifications have been introduced in the relationship with
educative work and the tasks in it assigned to the confreres, linkage with the
external social and ecclesial environment, and the working model for the
accomplishment of our mission. On the other hand, the insistence of recent
years has led to positive results in respect of the assumption of new
40 cf. GC24, 242

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demands; there has been a big increase in moments of exchange of views
and processes which foster reflection, sharing, prayer and working as a
team.
It seems clear today that if we want to avoid stress, activism and
superficiality, we must necessarily impose a daily and weekly rhythm, which
fosters recovery of strengths and a relaunching of the quality of life, also
from a cultural standpoint, by establishing conditions for offering the
confreres an updated content for reflection41. The quality of life and work find
support and nourishment in the annual program which can provide particular
opportunities for the qualification of individuals and communities.
This is the line of thought which led to the establishment of the day of
the community, a valid means for communal growth, the meetings of
Councils and teams, the participation of the community in formative
experiences with lay collaborators and other groups of persons (ecclesial
and educative environments and those of the religious life), the elaboration
and verification of the PEPS to be assessed from the formative standpoint.
The Rector, opportunely prepared and supported by his Council and
community, is called upon to cultivate an environment and a form of internal
and external relationships which “qualify” the confreres. His is the duty in the
first place to circulate and exploit some particular incentives, such as the
guidelines of the Bishops and especially of the Pope, the documents of
General Chapters and letters of the Rector Major; and he can profit by the
intelligent use of other simpler occasions like “good nights”, spiritual reading,
and salesian and ecclesial information.
An indispensable location for every local community is the library and
the corresponding reading room. Their care and the material available in
them are indicative: they have a real utility and, as in the case of the chapel,
also a symbolic value in the overall physiognomy of the house.
The use made of it by the community has changed. Personal sources
of information have multiplied (Books, reviews, CD, internet). But it has a
function which is still relevant and necessary for providing, not least for lay
collaborators and externs, our specific heritage of history, pedagogy and
spirituality, as also the fundamental thought of the Church and the classics of
Christian reflection. It should never be lacking, in due proportion, even in
missionary residences, in which one should be able to count on sufficient
support for pastoral updating and the collecting together of what serves for a
good knowledge of local culture.
41 cf. GC24, 242, 237

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The initiative should also be encouraged of having in the Province one
or more libraries which are as complete as possible with respect to the
charism and salesian work at Provincil and local level, and writings which
can provide an idea of the social and political context in which the works of
the Province began and have developed42.
An indication for Provinces: make a plan for the qualification of
confreres
In this period the qualification of personnel must constitute a priority
governmental commitment: we seek to govern by forming those who
animate and direct, we orientate by giving a better preparation to those
working in the different sectors.
An indication in this regard is provided by all organizations.
Qualification of top management, of those responsible at intermediate level,
and of the workers at shop-floor level has always been given attention by
directors. In our case, an action at provincial level which is programmed and
constant must therefore be added to the personal and communal
responsibility already spoken of.
In this connection we have already taken certain steps. I quote, for
example, the preparation and follow-up of Rectors. Some Provinces have
set up meetings of provincial teams for formative purposes with a program
laid down at the beginning of each year by the Provincial Council; they
organize a week of spiritual and pastoral reflection, open to all confreres and
with a program covering several years. Others have prepared a plan of
qualification for directive personnel, and have committed themselves despite
difficulties of finance and personnel to offer to some confreres each year the
possibility of specialization. There are also those who make the sacrifice of
providing qualified personnel for study centres, and still others who have
recognized the fact that they cannot do everything on their own and so have
established agreements for inter-provincial collaboration by contributing
qualified confreres.
This is just a sample, but it serves to show that the urgent need has
been accepted and in part is being met. The panorama of the Congregation
is very rich and varied, and consequently there are also some dark spots. It
is therefore proper to propose for all a more decisive and organic action at
provincial level.
To translate such action into practice implies, among other things:
42 I do not delay on other cultural benefits, on which recent instructions have been issued by
the Pontifical Commission for the cultural goods of the Church.

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- Making a complete list of the qualifications, even partial ones, of all the
confreres for their better evaluation. It often happens that competence
acquired in years of study is not exploited in continued or communal form;
the same must be done at the level of the Congregation, recalling that the
SGC asked us to draw up a program for the exchange of personnel
between study centres43.
- Identifying the areas in which cultural and professional competence seem
more urgently needed according to the particular contexts, the state of
personnel, and the pastoral and educative situation of the Congregation in
present and future perspectives.
- Qualifying the greatest possible number of confreres for the various fields
and dimensions of the salesian mission, especially for those considered
more significant at the present day44. This is recommended to all
Provinces but particularly to those which have a consistent number of
vocations. They should qualify confreres not only in view of immediate
needs and particular projects of the Province, but also in line with the
criterion of developing to the maximum the available human resources so
as to make them available for the needs and commitments of the entire
Congregation.
To the examples already given of initiatives of an interprovincial kind,
others can be added in virtue of the worldwide and transversal nature of
activity in every field. Every day we are driven to looking for confreres
prepared for formation communities in emerging areas, for projects or
great importance that the Church wants to entrust to us in zones of first
evangelization, for our University, for a competent service of reflection
and planning at the Generalate. It would be a serious matter to fail to
develop evident talents merely because it could not be foreseen that there
would be scope for their application in their own restricted setting.
- Assigning qualified confreres to specific tasks within the project of the
Province and the Congregation. The best preparation of which we are
speaking tends to be aimed at improving our work and is directed to that
end. It sometimes happens that confreres qualified in a particular field
find no outlet for their talents except by opening a new and specific field of
work or becoming inserted in projects outside the Congregation.
- Insisting that qualified confreres stay in the sector of their particular
competence. Especially in study centres there must be consistence and
continuity in the teaching staff and teams, so as to create a tradition of
formative reflection and pedagogy.
All this presupposes the elaboration and realization of a provincial plan
for the qualification of personnel, verified year by year, and a wise
administration of resources. The GC23 asked for this when it stated: “Every
43 cf. SGC, 704
44 cf. GC24, 243

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province will draw up an organic plan for the ongoing formation of the
confreres with a view to their spiritual renewal, their pastoral qualification,
and their educational and professional ability”45. This too is what the
program for the present six-year period wanted to make concrete by deciding
to: “Ask the provinces for a program for the qualification of personnel,
verifying it periodically and fostering its realization”46.
Dear Provincials, on you lies the responsibility and the hope expressed
in this guideline. I know the difficulties many of you are grappling with each
year as you try to fill the posts of work and, with you, I feel the reduced
number of new vocations. We must, however, not only solve the crises but
sow for the future. The request for a program of qualification will prompt a
moment of fraternal communication to become aware of the very many
resources we have still to exploit, and to help us to develop all the gifts the
Lord sends to our beloved Congregation. Choose with wise care the
personnel to be prepared and be magnanimous in ensuring for the Province
the conditions for a future which will certainly offer other models of work for
which we want to be prepared.
In the plan careful thought should also be given to the task of ensuring
the memory of salesian history, as the communication of a considered
experience expressing in concrete terms our identity as lived in different
contexts and cultures, in ordinary times and in exceptional situations.
The Congregation willed the foundation of the Salesian Historical
Institute. It is the manifestation of a concern which must be reflected in
every Province. Neglect of memories of the past means the loss of roots.
Today we are facing the expansion which has taken place over 150 years
and reached every continent, and its history has still to be written. We
cannot lose a patrimony which is so valuable. Think of the value for us and
for the confreres of tomorrow of the story of the implanting and growth of the
Congregation in different contexts and in certain countries which have
recently recovered their freedom. It is evidently not sufficient to have created
a structure or founded an Institute if there were not the men who worked
there with love and enthusiasm.
Let every Province feel the responsibility for preserving, studying and
communicating its own history in line with criteria that can be suitably
indicated. To do this specialized research is indispensable, but equally
important is the daily attention shown in keeping the chronicle, in the custody
of archives, in the preservation of significant documentation.
45 GC23, 223
46 AGC 358 Supplement, p.23

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The starting point: the cultural dimension of initial formation
The formation of the Salesian is not limited to studies nor measured
only by intellectual ability, and so I would not want the insistence on cultural
commitment to be interpreted as a selective criterion on the basis of
intelligence quotients. We know that all capacities, and in particular those of
the heart and self-donation, can find a place in the salesian community and
mission. Unusual, however, is the importance given by our Ratio to the
urgent need for a serious cultural preparation, taking its inspiration from the
history of the Congregation and amply sustained by the most recent
guidelines of the Church.
For the Salesian – and it applies not only to the young confreres – it is
indispensable to have an understanding of the life which leads to a solidly
motivated vocational option, and helps to an evermore mature and
conscious living, without any complexes or cutting down, his own identity and
its human significance. Not unreal is the risk of going astray in the face of
currents of thought, or of taking refuge in models of behaviour and forms of
expression that belong to the past. In such a case our vocation, isolated
from life and culture, would not become leaven and challenge but would
rather be relegated to the level of a subjective choice.
The qualification we are speaking of is determined by “for you I study”;
i.e. it receives its original characterization from the mission47. For this reason
some particular aspects acquire priority – in the first place a special
knowledge of the world of youth and the capacity for an educative and
pastoral insertion in it. We know from experience that this demands constant
attention and reflection. It also requires the practical ability to translate the
educative mission into meaningful projects in the present context marked, as
it is, by complexity, freedom, pluralism and worldwide extension. An
understanding as complete as possible of the pastoral field and the
possession of pedagogical competence are a great help, as also is a
spiritual frame of reference which, with the “grace of unity” accompanying
salesian apostolic consecration helps to translate the exertions of knowledge
and action into an experience of life in the Spirit. We have often said that
spirituality, pastoral work and pedagogy must be united in the mind and in
life: the road to sanctity, pastoral commitment, and the education of the
young and of people in general.
Today the urgency of this synthesis has not grown any less. Indeed
the tendency to fragmentation, to what is immediately understandable and
practicable leaves us exposed to dangerous gaps and lack of completeness.
47 cf. R 82

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The need for a solid basic culture is strongly emphasized in ecclesial
documents and in recent years in our reflections on formation. “It is
necessary”, declares the Apostolic Exhortation Pastores dabo vobis, “to
oppose firmly the tendency to play down the seriousness of studies and the
commitment to them. This tendency is showing itself in certain spheres of the
Church, also as a consequence of the insufficient and defective basic
education of students beginning the philosophical and theological curriculum.
The very situation of the Church today demands increasingly that teachers
be truly able to face the complexity of the times and that they be in a position
to face competently, with clarity and deep reasoning, the questions about
meaning which are put by the people of today, questions which can only
receive full and definitive reply in the Gospel of Jesus Christ48. “On many
sides”, declared the Instrumentum Laboris of the Synod on Consecrated
Life, “is emphasized the need for an intellectual, philosophical and cultural
formation which is more solid and intense, also in view of an adequate study
of theology and of preparation for the new evangelization”49.
We must therefore re-emphasize the importance of intellectual
formation and where necessary restore it to levels which correspond to the
present day. In fact, “without an updated cultural preparation which enables
the vocation to be lived in a conscious manner, which leads to an adequate
vision of reality, creates habits of reflection and provides opportunities for
further study”50, we cannot even hope to achieve the internal objectives of
the Congregation as, for instance, those laid down by the GC24.
Guided by evaluations of this kind, we have expressed in the program
of the General Council for this period some guidelines tending to “qualify
intellectual preparation during the initial formation phase”51. I will refer to
three of them which I entrust in a special way to the young confreres and
those responsible for their formation.
The first is aimed at “making the young confreres aware of the
necessity of a solid cultural and professional qualification, and of
commitment to reflection and study”52. The accent is on awareness. The
initial phases of formation, in addition to leaving a synthetic and systematic
doctrinal foundation, which can be enlarged and modified, should inculcate
also a taste for reflection, a method of study, a plan for further formation and
the conviction that a Good Shepherd for the practice of the Word must also
48 PDV 56
49 Instrumentum Laboris, 90
50 GC24, 247
51 AGC 358, Supplement, p.23
52 ibid.

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be always a good “doctor”, with a sound knowledge of the mysteries of the
Kingdom and of human life.
And then we want to “verify and adapt intellectual formation (set-up,
programs, methods etc.) to the needs of our vocation and mission”53. This
includes contents and competences which regard religious and Christian
experience, problems which more greatly afflict the human conscience, and
conditions and processes of growth of young people according to the
differences in the way their life is presented.
Finally, we are concerned in intellectual formation to “emphasize the
salesian perspective, the study of ‘salesianity’ and the implementation of the
indications of the GC24”54. Salesian sensitivity, which is part of the charism
and a gift of the Spirit, is the standpoint for original syntheses. We must not
fall into genericism. Practice suggests the method for organizing thought
and viceversa. On the other hand, explicit salesian material has become
abundant: there is history which must not be forgotten, spirituality to be
understood, our general pedagogical patrimony and the particular lines of
practical pedagogy; and there is the evolution of thought to which salesian
literature bears witness.
In this context I also add another indication which I consider important.
The awareness of the universality of the Congregation, the composition of
the Regions and groups of Provinces, and the tendencies of the world
suggest a commitment for the overcoming of linguistic barriers and creating
possibilities of greater communication and collaboration. It is therefore
opportune to include in one’s personal cultural equipment the learning to a
useful level of one or more languages in addition to one’s own.
To the young confreres, who during initial formation devote a great
deal of time to study and reflection, I would like to repeat what I said some
time ago to the community of our theological studentate of Turin-Crocetta: “I
am convinced that a strong and complete intellectual formation is more
urgently necessary today than ever before. In certain environments
immediate practical ability and contact is not enough. After the first step
there is the need for enlightening individuals, groups and large communities;
of intervening at times in areas of life and thought which require in the one
speaking a deep knowledge of the mystery of God, the vocation of man, and
the present conditions in which life is lived. Thoughtlessness, if we may so
call it, in intellectual formation pays no dividends in any context, and rushed
solutions in pastoral work, if they are immediately successful, soon fail, even
in the short term”.
53 ibid.
54 ibid.

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8. Structures.
The need for cultural quality involves not only individuals, but refers
also to projects and works through which the mission is incarnated.. The
process of elaboration of the PEPS has as its first objective the effectiveness
of our interventions from the perspectives of evangelization, education and
influence on collective mentality. This is not obtained merely by listing
fundamental objectives. It is indispensable to make an updated and deeper
analysis of the contents and methods which lead to ways for achieving the
objectives, of using resources well, and of verifying results.
Given the complexity of certain works with regard to structure and
management, clear ideas are necessary for the set-up and adequate
capacity for its orientation in order to be faithful to the salesian ethos of the
project. The risk is not just imaginary of remaining entangled in
organizational aspects and thus weakening the cultural projection and
pastoral finality, especially when our collaboration is accepted or requested,
but without any openness to our cultural proposals.
Apostolic zeal, attention to cultural orientation and professional
competence are necessary in all salesian works; but some seem to have
need of them with particular urgency. I refer to those works which for various
reasons can gave a wider impact, that can communicate a message of
particular validity or relevance, that can enter into a wider cultural or pastoral
dialogue, that have the possibility of involving other social or ecclesial
subjects.
I will dwell on some of these by way of paradigms, but the application
extends to all the others.
The Salesian Pontifical University
The Salesian Pontifical University is preparing to celebrate 25 years of
life as a University, in addition to the 30 no less important years as a
Pontifical Athenaeum. The path that has been followed in these years
manifests a development that can be assessed in various ways. The
number of students has increased from 600 in 1973 to about 1,400 today.
The number of requests for admission have never fallen off; indeed at
present it has to be contained and regulated, in line with the possibilities of
structures and personnel. In addition to the Salesians there are 390
religious, 150 diocesan students, and 590 lay people from every continent.

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It has established a unique physiognomy among the Roman
Universities for its educative and pastoral orientation and for the family style
of the university community. Recently it has given life to interesting pastoral
initiatives for the service of the students. In addition to the work of teaching,
research, cultural development and services to the Church, it assists widely
varying sectors of the salesian mission at regional and world level, of which
formation is one of the first.
We must affirm once again its irreplaceable function “in the service of
the Congregation and as a qualified expression of its mission in the Church,
with its specific cultural and formative potential”55. It expresses at the highest
level the dialogue between salesian charism and cultural applications, and in
this sense fulfils a frontier mission. For this reason among the documents of
the GC24 we read: “The present development of the Congregation and its
worldwide expansion, the challenge of the mission and the demand for
quality in its pedagogical and pastoral expression, the perspective of the new
evangelization and of inculturation, the fostering of communion and attention
to the different expressions of our charism render the function of the UPS of
great and relevant importance in the framework of the salesian reality”56.
In respect of the nature, criteria of functioning and levels of
involvement of a university institution which is pontifical, ecclesiastical and
salesian, the identity of our University must be maintained as also the quality
of its contribution in the cultural, ecclesial and salesian environment.
Its development must be ensured in line with an organic project,
periodically verified, to which corresponds the numerical and qualitative
consistency of the academic body. Participation of the laity is already
provided for, but it would be a weakness to do this only because the number
of Salesians prepared for work at this level is insufficient.
Attention to the effectiveness, salesian characterization, capacity for
cultural and religious dialogue, unity and organic nature of the project, and
the promotion of a style of academic community are all aspects which must
be kept in mind in the highest centre of studies of the Congregation.
The Rector Major with his Council and the University itself are
committed to the verification of the situation and to the formulation of an
organic operational project which lays down the lines of development for
future years.
55 GC21, 346
56 Report to the GC24, 229

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All this presupposes a decisive investment on the part of the
Congregation as regards personnel. Today’s geography of the
Congregation requires a University which is ever more international in
character. It should be considered normal for requests to be made to the
Provinces for persons already qualified or to be qualified for service in the
UPS, and the availability of confreres to be co-opted and transferred to
Rome. Such a criterion, on the other hand, is already taking place in the
Congregation. This is clear from the generosity with which confreres and
Provinces have responded to recent appeals.
The service of the UPS for the qualification of salesian personnel
needs to be further exploited57. Here salesian competence and perspectives
are offered in a unique synthesis derived from experience combined with the
choice and organization of the courses. For us therefore it is not “just the
same” as other Universities. After verifying once more the results
observable in the Congregation, I repeat the evaluation made by the GC24:
“With some small exceptions, often repeated excessively and which we are
willing to keep in mind, the net result of the frequenting of such Centres by
students is highly positive for individuals, Provinces and the whole
Congregation. We do not see any other arrangement that would be more
advantageous”58.
Other “Salesian” Universities: a significant presence.
The number of Salesian Institutions of University level has increased in
recent years. They differ, one from another; their juridical structure varies,
the involvement of the Provinces in them is different, as also is the
consistency of the salesian teams which run them. Some are looked after by
a solid group of confreres with the well-defined roles of a university institution
and also the educative, pastoral and popular objectives of our charism.
Others go ahead with a variable number of confreres according to the
qualified personnel the Province manages occasionally to free for the
purpose.
It must be recognized that in this field it is not easy to ensure the
conditions for significant salesian presence at a scientific, educative and
pastoral level. In a few cases at the outset attention was directed especially
to organizing a service to create the opportunity of a higher education amid
the middle and poorer classes and fill the cultural gaps that existed.
Nowadays one can no longer think that without specific preparation and an
adequate staff one can express the “oratorian criterion” at this level by
integrating preoccupation for organization and attention to cultural level,
57 cf. GC24, 255
58 GC24, 255

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administrative management and pastoral effect. “Once the first organizing
effort required by such initiatives has been accomplished, the moment
comes to confront decisively and at community level the cultural and pastoral
qualification beginning with the preparation of confreres and lay
personnel’”59.
In the first place it is indispensable to define clearly the identity and
orientation of these centres. While recognizing that they have a general set-
up that takes its inspiration from the Christian mentality and passes on a
humanistic and religious vision, there is always the risk of levelling down to
the prevailing mentality rather than entering into dialogue for the sustaining
of alternative proposals.
Numerous documents remind us of this effort for a clear structure and
organization. The Church is going ahead, in the context of the new
evangelization, with a cultural pastoral work aimed at bringing about changes
in the economic and social area, in attitudes to life, in the elaboration of
ethics, in the creation of new relationships, in proposing a sense which
throws light on nature, history and present tensions. The light for all this
comes from the mystery of God the Creator, the Saviour of mankind, the
strength and goal of his story in the Spirit.
Our Universities must define their orientation in line with their Catholic
character and their educative philosophy in harmony with salesian criteria,
making themselves centres for the formation of persons and the elaboration
of culture of Christian inspiration.
This is a missionary frontier which is relatively new and hence needs to
be followed up, coordinated and clarified. It will be necessary to draw up an
authoritative line of approach (a Project for Salesian Universities, almost a
platform for proclaiming their fundamental inspiration), to foster dialogue and
exchange of ideas between these institutions and follow up the progress of
the Provinces in this new experience. The attainment of salesian objectives
must be ensured, even at the level of the statutes.
But in addition to cultural orientation, an efficacious pastoral animation
of the university environment must be provided. To the academic structures
must be added, in this case, the many activities we carry out among
university students, such as residential hostels, groups, religious care and
similar matters.
They cannot be without an EPC, and in the first place the animating
salesian nucleus. This means the preparation and dedication of salesian
59 Report to the GC24, 261

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personnel, intense collaboration with lay people who have been selected and
made aware of the character and purpose of our Universities, an attitude of
openness and relationship with other cultural bodies, and the appropriate
application of the preventive system and of the spirituality on which it is
based. In a word: a requirement for salesian competence and for cultural
and professional quality.
Just as in Houses of Spirituality we frequently find ourselves managing
the structures without having available persons and teams capable of
spiritual animation, it can also happen that in our university centres and
hostels we may be providing structures and organization but not plans for life
and the accompaniment of growth.
From the General Council we want to follow with particular attention
the evolution of salesian work in this sector, which presents considerable
challenges from an institutional aspect, and from the standpoint of those to
whom the work is addressed, the collaborators, financial aspects and
especially of the project itself, but which can be exceptionally fruitful for the
evangelization of culture and for a particular presence in the world of
education. There should be a corresponding commitment on the part of
Provincials and their Councils.
Salesian Centres for study and reflection
The Congregation is committed also in other Centres, which in some
cases have a direct incidence on the formation of confreres, and in others
collaborate in creating a mentality, accompany young people and adults in a
spiritual pilgrimage, diffuse the message of the Gospel by modern methods
and communicate the salesian spirit: studentates, publishing houses,
pastoral and pedagogical centres, houses of spirituality.
Our Regulations encourage Provinces which are able to do so to have
“their own study centre for the formation of the confreres and to provide
qualified services of animation” to the Provinces themselves and to the local
Church60. There are in fact quite a number of Provinces that can count on
such centres. They constitute a commitment which is by no means light, but
makes a valid contribution to the life of the Province and to its mission. They
should therefore be sustained and strengthened, and reshaped if necessary,
at regional level, rather than be multiplied without previous understandings.
The search for cultural and formative quality leads to a verification of
the consistency, incidence and capacity for renewal of these Centres and
60 R 84

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especially to an ensuring of the conditions for their adequate response to the
demands made on them.
In particular, as far as salesian study centres are concerned, it is
necessary to ensure the composition and commitment of the teaching staff,
which cannot be limited to a mere guaranteeing of the timetable of lessons;
to foster collaboration and shared interprovincial responsibility when the
centre provides services for more than one Province; the regular functioning
of the “curatorium”, affiliation or aggregation to our own Pontifical University,
and the careful selection of non-salesian collaborators.
In this context, we must also consider our participation in study centres
managed jointly with other institutions (Congregations, diocese, etc.), and
also give attention to the formative orientation of the studies of confreres in
initial formation who frequent centres in the direction of which we do not
share responsibility. The influence of teachers on the development of
personality is often more decisive than that of other formation guides; one
cannot therefore simply “delegate” the intellectual formation of young
Salesians.
Similar remarks, in respect of personnel and projects, apply to other
Centres which produce and diffuse culture (publishing houses, radio stations,
etc.) if we want to ensure their maximum efficiency and an adequate service
to the Gospel and to the people61.
Conclusion
The pursuit of wisdom permeates the whole life of Don Bosco: love
and knowledge at the service of the young. It is the gift and task entrusted to
him at the moment of his calling, in response to his question as to how he
was to succeed in carrying out such a mission. To reach it he was given a
Teacher.
It is certainly a matter of that wisdom which is the ‘knowledge of God's
mystery’62, the “knowledge of Christ” which St Paul requested for the
faithful63, which in Christ includes the totality of human life and the
development of history. It comes to us as a gift with faith and, for us
Salesians, as a particular orientation with the charisma of predilection for the
young.
61 Report to the GC24, 269
62 cf. 1 Cor 2,6 ff.
63 cf. Eph 3,18-19

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May Mary most Holy, who was Don Bosco’s Teacher, be the same
also for us.
This is the wish I send to each of you and to your communities,
together with my fraternal greetings.
Juan Vecchi