ACGRM412


ACGRM412

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of the general council
year XClll
january-aprll 2012
N. 412
official organ
of animation
and communication
for the
salesian congregation
Direzione Generale
Opere don Bosco
Roma

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of the General Council
of the Salesian Society
of St John Bosco
OFFICIAL ORGAN OF ANIMATION AND COMMUNICATION FOR THE SALESIAN CONGREGATION
N. 412 year XClll
january-april 2012
1. LETTER
OF THE RECTOR MAJOH
'1.1 Fr Pascuat CHAVEZ V|LLITUEVA
(LET US MAKETHE YOUNG OUR L|FE,S M|SS|ON
BY COMINGTO KNOW AND IMITATE DON BOSCO"
First year of preparation tor the Bicentenary ol his birth
3
2, GUIDELINES
AND POLICIES
(none in this issue)
3. RULINGS AND DIRECTIVES
(none in this issue)
4. ACTIVITIES
4.1 Chronicle of the Flector Major
41
OF THE GENEHAL COUNCIL 4.2 Chronicle ol lhe General Council
49
4.3 Chronicle ol the General Councillors
50
5. DOCUMENTS
5.1 New Salesian Bishops
78
5.2 Our dead confreres
80

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Editrice S.D.B.
Edizione exffa commerciale
Direzione Generale Opere Don Bosco
Via della Pisana, 1 111
Casella Postale 18333
00163 Roma
Tipolitogratia lstituto Salesiano Pio Xl - Via Umbertide, 1 I - 00'181 Roma
Te|.06.78.27.819 - Fax 06.78.48.333 - E'mail: tipolito@pcn net
Finito di stampare: gennaio 2012

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1. LETTER OF THE RECTOR MAJOR
(LET US MAKE THE YOUNG OUR LIFE'S MISSION
BY COMING TO KNOW AND IMITATE DON BOSCO,,
First year of preparation for the Bicentenary of his birth.
Sowara 20/2
PREMTSE: Some signilicant events in the second half of 201 1 - Coaruerunny oH nre SrneNHr FoR zo12:
1. Knowledge of Don Bosco and a commitment on behalf of the young. - 2. Rediscovering the
story of Don Bosco. - 3. Reasons for the study of the history of Don Bosco. - 4. Function
of history in bringing things up to date. - 5. over a hundred years of historical writing,,at the
service of the charism". - 6. Towards an interpretative reading of Salesian history. - 7. what
image of Don Bosco today. - 7.1 . Evolution of the works and those for whom they are intended.
- 7.2. Abandoned youth. - 7.3. Response to the needs of the young. - 7.4. Ftexibility in responding to
needs. - 7.5. Poverty of life and tireless work. - g. suggestions for putting the strenna into prac-
tice. - 9. Conclusion. "The boy of the dream" - *And our music continues,,.
25 December 20ll
Solemnity of the Birth of the Lord
My Dear Confreres,
I am happy to be able to be in touch with you on this solemnity
when we celebrate the mystery of the Incarnation of the Son of
God, the highest expression of the love of God, who *loved the
world so much that he gave his only Son so that everyone who be-
lieves in him may not be lost but may have eternal life" (Jn 8,16).
It is God's great yes to man. Here then the beautiful and good
news, which becomes not only the subject of our evangelisation
but also the educative pastoral plan, because it invites us to make
mankind our field of work and to carry out the salesian mission as
a task to make the world a more human place.
Even though you will find in the chronicle of the Rector Major
the many and varied activities of these recent months, and you
may perhaps have followed them on or:l. web site, I am going to
comment briefly on some of the more significant events.

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4 ACTS OF THE GENERAL COUNCIL
In chronological order, in the first place I will say something
about the VI International Congress of Mary Help of Christians.
At the sanctuary of Jasna G6ra at Czgstochowa, in Poland, in a
joyful and very fraternal atmosphere, between 3 and 6 August,
L,2OO members of the Salesian Family from over 50 countries
gathered together to celebrate this significant event. Promoted
by the Association of Mary Help of Christians (ADMA) and joint-
ly organised with the Salesians and the Daughters of Mary Help
of Christians in Poland, for the first time the Congress was an
event for the whole Salesian Family, for which devotion to Mary
Help of christians is one of the constitutive features of its
charism. In fact, eleven groups of the salesian Family were offi-
cially represented, in addition to various participants belonging to
other groups. The theme of the Congress, entrustment to Mary
well expressed in the motto "Totus Tluts", was developed on the
various days with well-prepared celebrations, talks, life experi-
ences and testimonies of holiness. In particular, accounts of life
experiences of entrustment to Mary as lived by families, by young
people freed from delinquency, by youth groups engaged in the
Missions and coming from different parts of the world was an en-
couragement to want to be involved today in the families. The
culmination was the act of entrustment of the salesian Family to
Mary Help of Christians, made at the beginning of the three year
p-Beorrio"od.
of preparation
Inspired by the
for the bicentenary
witness of faith and
of the birth of Don
Marian piety of the
Polish people for the Mother of God, there was the renewal of the
commiiment to be "all for Mary" so as to live with ardour and
apostolic passion the educative and evangelising mission, in the
style of Don Bosco. In my concluding address, pointing out how
the Association of Mary Help of christians is something alive and
spread throughout the world, an
Salesian", a popular expression
Association "younger and
of the Salesian charism,
more
I set
some tasks, among which that of giving particular attention to
the family, as primarily responsible for education and the first
place for evangelisation.
is not linked to family
m"Yionuisthtrym. inTihsteryprceasnennoctebeofcfoanmtiniluieesd
if it
and

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THE RECTOR MAJOR 5
young couples who, having Mary as a guide, share a plan of life,
containing formation, dialogue and prayer, is really a providen-
tial gift of Mary Help of Christians who takes care of the new
generations". Everyone returned home agreeing to meet again at
the next Congress which will be held in Turin and Colle Don
Bosco in 2015, on the occasion of the second centenary of the
birth of God's great gift to the young - Don Bosco.
In the second place I want to share with you my reflections on
World Youth Day, which was held in Madrid between 16 and
21August. If there is one expression that can really describe what
went on
not just
in those days, I would
a mere 'happening' or
say that it was
a rock concert.
a festiual
Arriving
of faith,
from all
the continents, indeed from all corners of the earth, of very dif-
ferent races, languages, cultures and backgrounds, the one fea-
ture that united those two million young people was that of being
"a new generation". A generation made up of young people who
were normal, cheerful, peaceful, generous, dreamers, enthusiasts,
bearers of hope for the future, prepared, called to be not simple
consumers ofproducts, sensations or experiences, nor spectators
of the history of the world, but rather protagonists in the current
process of the transformation of humanity, followers of Jesus,
proud to proclaim their faith and their belonging to the Church.
The WYD was seen to be a real manifestation of the faith, and of
the Church, and a significant expression of the 'new evangelisa-
tion', precisely because World Youth Day is no longer just an
event, even a spectacular one, but a faith journey, with the in-
credible power to bring people together. It represents the ever-
more valuable discovery of the value of synergy, not only to over-
come the loneliness with which the young can find themselves, in
living and bearing witness to the faith, but above all to launch
the disciples of the Lord Jesus towards shared objectives so as to
verify the identity given by Jesus to his disciples: "to be the salt of
the earth, the light to the world, a city built on a hill-top". This
will be possible to the extent that they make the beatitudes their
charter and become poor in spirit, thirsty for justice, pure of

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6 ACIS OF THE GENERAL COUNCIL
heart, lovers of peace. Obviously, everyone whether as individuals
or in groups or movements has their own sensitivities, their own
view of the world, a way of understanding and living the faith,
their own spirituality and therefore their way of understanding
and carrying out the 'new evangelisation'today' Without denying
the importance and the need for the kerygmatic way of pre-cate-
chesis, I am convinced that without education there is no worth-
while evangelisation that is capable of giving reason for one's
hope; that nowadays you cannot help the young to come to matu-
rity without the inculturation of the gospel; that religious lan-
guage needs to comespond to today's youth culture to prevent the
message being incomprehensible or irrelevant and therefore ster-
ile. I conclude by affirming the great value of the WYDs, which re-
awaken in the young feelings of enthusiasm, being prophets,
courage and joy which any society needs that harbours the dream
of being able to create an awareness of the meaning of life and
give quality to life. Likewise I reaffirm the pastoral insights that
world Youth Day such as that in Madrid offers: it is not possible
to evangelise the modern world except by means of people who
have had a profound spiritual experience that has transformed
their lives, who have experienced the grace of communion and so
become one heart and one soul, nourished by the Word and by the
Eucharist, and sustained by prayer, so as to become the model for
a cultural alternative.
I also recall that on 15 October I took part, as a member of the
Commission, in the meeting "NetD euangelisers for the new et)an'
gelisation", organised by the new Pontifical Council to which this
important topic has been entrusted. In its attempts to become
involved in a pressing appeal to the whole Church, the Union of
Superiors General has begun a study ofthose perspectives typical
of consecrated Life and has elected the 10 representatives for
the XIII General Assembly of the Synod of Bishops to be held
between 7 and 28 October 2012 to study the subject "The New
Evangelisation for the transmission of the Christian faith".
Naturally, there can be no 'new evangelisation' without 'new

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THE REcToR MAJ)R 7
evangelisers' who have learned to be disciples who, living with
Jesus and in close intimacy with Him, make their own His
passion for humanity and, as impassioned apostles give them-
selves to the building of the Kingdom until their Lord returns.
If there can be no true evangelisation that is not accompanied by
a commitment to human development and an interest in culture,
that has to be said even more so with regard to the 'new evange-
lisation'. The difference between evangelisation in its classic
expression, and this 'new' kind is to be found perhaps in the
fact that the proclamation of God has to be more explicit, more
unselfish, radically gratuitous. In the end, the one humanity has
to listen to is the Son of God, accepting his Gospel, not us and our
institutions or teaching. Therefore what matters, in the final
analysis, is that man "has life and has it to the full", and here it
is a question of something that only God can give and ensure.
Hence, therefore, the need to give God and not only speak about
Him. For this reason the 'new evangelisation' requires peoples,
conversion (evangelisers and evangelised) and that of pastoral
structures, to prevent them obscuringthe face ofGod, but rather
enable them to contemplate the strength of the living God.
Religious life, understood in its essentials, as a group of men
and women who feel themselves called, drawn, seduced by the
living God to follow Jesus Christ in a community of disciples, who
are sent into the world to serve humanity and to act in His name,
had its origin in the Gospel, and this simple fact has made it
always evangelical and evangelising. Without having to "do"
anything else, simply by the fact of "being" this: life consecrated
to God and to one's neighbour.
For this reason, Religious Life is called to undertake a funda-
mental role in the 'new evangelisation', above all because this has
as its basic task the proclamation, the making visible and credible
what is said in the 'mini-gospel' that is the text of Jn 8,16s quot-
ed above: "God loved the world so much that he gave his only
Son so that everyone who believes in him may not be lost but
may have eternal life. For God sent his Son into the world not to

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8 ACIS OF THE GENERAL COUNCIL
condemn the world, but so that through him the world might be
saved,. The'new evangelisation' ought above all to be good news
for mankind, consisting in the assumption of all that is really
human, capable of raising questions which re-awaken the search
for God, marked by the friendliness of someone who welcomes the
other without prejudice and seeking to understand him, is ready
to be open to real dialogue without that becoming the renuncia-
tion of what is non-negotiable, fully engaged in the causes to
which men and women nowadays are more sensitive (the conser-
vation of nature, concern for justice, freedom, personal dignity
and human rights, shared sustainable development...), with the
ability not only to read history and to interpret the signs of the
times, but also to create new signs of the times and put energy
into society.
It is necessary to know how to proclaim Christ in very different
situations which often co-exist. People who have never heard God
spoken about, and who feel no need for him because they are
accustomed to living without his presence. People who have given
up religion and have become practical atheists, agnostics, perfectly
at ease in the present world with no other aspirations than unlim-
ited development,lacking any sense of there being another. People
who are living according to popular religious ideas, the result of a
culture that makes them believe in God without this faith always
being translated into a life that is coherent. People, frnally, who
have an adult faith, who have discovered in God the Truth, and
with the gift of faith in Christ, have found in the Church their
family home, called to be "light to the nations", "sacrament of
communion among peoples", "sacrament of salvation".
So, to do all this, nowadays Religious Life is fully prepared. In
fact, its first great task has been and continues to be that ofbear-
ing witness to God, to His Absolute nature, seen as Verum, Bon-
um et Pulchrum. And the first contribution to be offered to the
world of today is precisely that of grving it God. The second task
of Religious Life is to be "the expert in communion", that area in
which men and women, of different ages, cultures, formation,

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THE RECTOR MAJOR 9
sensitivities, mix together in community in the way of the first
Christian community, and having everything in common, form-
ing "one heart and one soul". And this new kind of relationship
produces those "creative minorities" which incarnate a cultural
model, an alternative to the predominant one. The third great
task of Religious Life lies in its capacity to go to the social, cul-
tural and religious frontiers and to take root there where are to
be found the men and women who are the poorest, suffering from
any kind of poverty (material, affective, moral, spiritual), those
marginalised or deprived of their dignity and of their rights, in or-
der to work together in the building of the 'civilisation of love'.
Throughout the history of the Church this is what the various
Orders, Congregations and Institutes have done, changing their
own mission to specific ends according to the charism, so as to
correspond to the plan of God and to the needs of mankind.
In this period, there have been other events which I consider
important, even though I shall not stop to comment on them.
I am referring to t}ire Team Visits, of which the only ones still to
be made are those to the Africa Region, to Italy-MOR and the
UPS, to the 142"d Missionary Expedition, to the Year of Faith, to
the 50'h anniuersary of the Vatican Council II.
All that I have written is connected with the Strenna for 2012,
since the invitation to return to Don Bosco is best understood in
relation to our having to return to Christ. The commentary on
the Strenna I am offering you is a little special with a particular
cultural signifrcance, which asks us to give more attention to a
knowledge of our history and also indicates the change of men-
tality we have to make in interpreting history. Especially impor-
tant is the perspective of relevance to be assumed in reading
history. The Strenna is intended to encourage personal study, a
commitment to finding time for moments of public historical
reflection. But this study has then to be effectively brought alive.
From another point of view, the events of this year - the 150'h
anniversary of the founding of the Congregation, the centenary
of the death of Don Rua, the 150'h anniversary of the Unification

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1O ACTS oF THE GENERAL COUNCIL
of Italy - have increased our historical way of thinking which
needs in any case to be re-acquired. Even though they may seem
to you to be too technical, points 5 and 6 in my commentary on
Salesian historical writing, in other words on the interpretation
of our history are absolutely necessary. It is for all of us an occa-
sion to come into contact with the great work undertaken this
year. Finally, point number 7 explains the need to have an up-
to-date idea of Don Bosco. It is my hope that you will all be able
to read this carefully and with profit.
Here then is my CommentarJr on the Strenna for 2012.
* {<
,,1 am the good shepherd.
The good shepherd lays down his life for his sheep"
(Jn 10,11)
My Dear Confreres,
Daughters of Mary Help of Christians,
All the Members of the Salesian Family,
Young people,
Just a short time ago we began the period of three years of
preparation for the Bicentenary of the birth of Don Bosco. This
first year offers us the opportunity to draw closer to him in order
to know him from close up and always better. If we do not know
Don Bosco and we do not study him, we cannot understand his
spiritual journey and his pastoral decisions; we cannot love him,
imitate him, and invoke him; in particular, it will be difficult for
us to inculturate his charism these days in the various contexts
and in the different situations in which we find ourselves. Only by
strengthening our charismatic identity will we be able to offer to

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THE RECTOR MAJOR 11
the Church and to society a meaningful and fruitful youth ser-
vice. Our identity is directly linked to the image of Don Bosco; in
him the identity becomes credible and visible. For this reason the
first step that we are invited to take in the three years of prepa-
ration is precisely coming to know the history of Don Bosco.
1. Knowledge of Don Bosco and a commitment on behalf
of the young
We are being invited to study Don Bosco and, through the
events of his life, to come to know him as educator and pastor,
founder, guide and legislator. It is a matter of a knowledge which
Ieads to love, to imitation and to invocation.
For us members of the Salesian Family, he ought to be what
Saint Francis of Assisi was and continues to be for the Francis-
cans, or Saint Ignatius of Loyola for the Jesuits, that is to say, the
founder, the spiritual teacher, the model for education and evan-
gelisation, especially the one who began a world-wide Movement,
capable of bringing to the attention of the Church and of society,
with a powerful outcry, the needs of the young, their circum-
stances, their future. But how can we do this without turning to
history, which is not the custodian of a past already buried in
time, but rather of a living memory that is within us and chal-
lenges us about the present?
An approach to Don Bosco, using the methods proper to his-
torical research, Ieads us to understand and appreciate better his
greatness as a human being and as a Christian, his practical tal-
ents, his skills as an educator, his spirituality, his work, fully un-
derstood only if deeply rooted in the history of the society in
which he lived. At the same time even with a fuller knowledge of
his life story we are always aware of God's providential interven-
tion in his life. In this historical study there is no a priori rejec-
tion of the valid and respected image that generations of the Sale-
sians, Salesian Sisters, Salesian Cooperators and members of the

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12 Acrs oF THE GENERAL couNCtL
Salesian Family have had of the Don Bosco they knew and loved,
but there is and must be a presentation and re-working of an
image of Don Bosco for today, one that can speak to today's world,
making use of a new language.
The image of Don Bosco and his activity should be seriously
re-constructed, beginning from our cultural horizons: the com-
plexity of life today, globalisation, post-modern culture, and the
difficulties of the apostolate, the decline in vocations, the "ques-
tioning" of consecrated life. Radical, or epochal changes, as my
predecessoa Fr Egidio Vigand called them, force us to re-think
and revise the image in another light, in view of a fidelity that is
not mere repetition of formulas or formal allegiance to tradition.
The historical significance of Don Bosco also has to be re-discov-
ered, beyond his "works" and certain relatively original pedagog-
ical elements, but especially in his practical and affective percep-
tion of the universal, theological and social p roblem of 'neglected'
youth, and his great ability to communicate this to large crowds of
co-workers, benefactors and admirers.
Being faithful to Don Bosco means knowing him through his
life-story and in the history of his times, making his inspirations
our own, letting his motivations and choices become ours. Being
faithful to Don Bosco and to his mission means cultivating with-
in ourselves a love for the young, especially the poorest, which is
constant and strong. This kind of love will lead us to respond to
their deepest and most urgent needs. Like Don Bosco, we feel
moved by the difficulties they face: poverty, child labour, sexual
exploitation, lack of education and vocational training, trying to
find their place in the work place, their lack of self-confidence,
their fear about the future, the absence of any meaning to life.
With deep affection and self-less love, we try to be present
among them, discretely yet confidently, offering sound sugges-
tions for them to follow on their way as they make their choices
in life, and experience happiness in the present and in the future.
In everything, we become their companions on the journey and

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THE RECTOR MAJOR 13
competent guides. In particular, we try to understand their new
way of living their lives; many of them are "digital natives" who
through the new technologies are seeking opportunities for social
mobility, the possibility of intellectual development, the possibili-
ty of economic progress, instantaneous communication, the
chance to take the lead. In this area too we want to share their
lives and their interests; animated by the creative spirit of Don
Bosco, we educators approach them as "digital immigrants", help-
ing them to overcome the generation gap with their parents and
the world of adults.
We take care of them throughout their journey of growth and
as they mature, giving them our time and our energy, and staying
with them as they grow through childhood to become young
adults.
We take care of them when difficult situations such as war,
hunger, lack of future opportunities, lead them to abandon home
and family, and they find themselves facing life alone.
We take care of them when, after completing their studies and
qualifications, they are Iooking out anxiously for their first place
of employment, and setting about fitting into society, sometimes
without much hope or prospect of success.
We take care of them when they are building up their world of
affections, their family, accompanying them, especially when they
become engaged, and in the early years of their marriage, and
when their children arrive (see GC26, 98.99.104).
We are particularly anxious to fill the deepest void of their
hearts, helping them seek and give meaning to their lives, and
above all offering a way for growth in knowledge and friendship
with the Lord Jesus, in the experience of a living Church, in real
commitment, and to experiencing their lives as vocation.
Here then is the spiritual and pastoral programme for the
year 20L2:
Let us make the young our life's mission
by coming to know and imitate Don Bosco

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14 Acrs oF THE 3ENERAL couNctL
Already the many groups in the Salesian Family are fully com-
mitted to this task, which will prove to be of great help to all of us
as together we look at our dear Father Don Bosco. Therefore let
us continue to move ahead together more and more as a Family.
2. Rediscovering the story of Don Bosco
Over a century after his death, Don Bosco continues to be of
interest to many people in many countries. Also outside Salesian
circles, he is considered a person of significance. In spite of the
fact that, of necessity, the exaggerations that were attached to
him for many decades, and which captured the attention of the
pubic, have been removed, Don Bosco still remains a person high-
ly esteemed and popular. A long line of Popes and Cardinals, Bish-
ops and priests, scholars, Catholics and non-Catholics, politicians
of different persuasions, in Italy, in Europe and in the world
recognised him and still recognise him as someone with a mes-
sage - one which is modern, prophetic, historically conditioned,
but open to many contemporary possibilities, potentially relevant
in the most widely varied times and places.
The centenary of his death, the 150'h anniversary of the found-
ing of the Salesian Congregation, and now the preparation for
the Bicentenary of his birth, and other special occasions, have
triggered a considerable number of publications and newspaper
articles. As well as high quality academic studies and research
projects, other more modest ones have appeared, which leave
themselves open to reservations regarding their interpretations,
because of unfounded critical premises in some, and insufficient
historical analysis in others.
In fact Don Bosco's is a fully rounded personality which
cannot be reduced to simple formulae or newspaper headlines; his
is a complex personality shaped by circumstances at one and the
same time ordinary and exceptional, by concrete, ideal and hypo-
thetical projects, with an everyday style of life and activity, but at

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THE RECTOR MAJOR 15
the same time with a special rapport with the supernatural. Such
a person can only be adequately understood by considering his
many-sided and pluri-dimensional personality; otherwise, Pr€-
senting one or other of these aspects, perhaps consciously or
unconsciously, instead of a complete profile, one runs the risk of
giving a false picture.
Sometimes one can remain perplexed faced with books in
which apologetics and the idealistic descriptions of Don Bosco are
given excessive space, in which the adulation of his memory pre-
vails at the expense of his real personality, at times limited to cer-
tain stereotypes to which Don Bosco can never really be reduced.
This applies particularly at the present time when the number of
lives of saints written with a new critical approach are multiplying;
a new kind of hagiography in fact has come to the fore, based itself
on well-founded historical interpretations and on a renewed theo-
logical interpretation of the spiritual experience of the Saints. For
this reason, it is my hope that a modern "hagiography" of Don
Bosco will be prepared. While this has to be based on recent his-
torical studies, it ought to give rise to love for him, the imitation of
his life, the desire to follow him on his spiritual journey; and the
same can be said for a new hagiography directed to the young.
3. Reasons for the study of the history of Don Bosco
There are undoubtedly quite a number of reasons leading us
to study Don Bosco. We need to know him as our Founder, since
our fidelity to the institution to which we belong demands it.
We need to know him as Legislator, in so far as we are bound to
observe the Constitutions and the Regulations which he directly,
or his successors, have given to us. We need to know him as Edu-
cator, so that we may live the Preventive System, the most pre-
cious heritage he has left us. We need to know him, in particular,
as our Teacher of the spiritual life, since as his sons and disciples
we draw on his spirituality; in fact he has given us a key to the

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16 Acrs oF THE GENERAL couNCtL
understanding of the gospel; for us, his life is the criterion for our
following the Lord Jesus in a particular manner; in this regard
I wrote a letter to the Salesian confreres in January 2004 "Looh-
ing at Christ through the eyes of Don Bosco" (AGC 384).
Nowadays we are growing more aware of the risk we are run-
ning if we do not strengthen the links that keep us united to Don
Bosco. Historical knowledge, well-founded and affectionate, helps
to keep these links alive; initial and ongoing formation ought to
foster Salesian studies. More than a century has now passed since
Don Bosco's death; all the generations who came in direct or in-
direct contact with him, and with those who knew him personal-
ly have passed on. As the chronological, geographical and cultur-
al distance increases between us and him, so too, more and more
does the affectionate climate, that familiarity even psychological,
that made Don Bosco and his spirit, simply by seeing his picture,
something spontaneous and familiar to us. What has been hand-
ed down to us can be lost; the vital link with Don Bosco can be
broken. Should we no longer see things in terms of our common
Father, of his spirit, of his praxis, of the criteria that inspired him,
as the Salesian Family we shall no longer have citizens' rights in
the Church and in Society, being deprived, as we would be, of our
roots and of our identity.
In addition, keeping alive the memory of one's own history is
the guarantee of having a sound culture; without roots there is no
future. Therefore it is quite important to work on the historical
memory and to make use of it, as a reminder of our common roots
which urge us to re-think the problems of our own times with a
more mature awareness of our past. That is the guarantee, while
taking into account historical transformations and inevitable
changes, that our Family will continue to be the bearer of the
charism of the origins, and to make itself the vigilant and creative
guardian of a fruitful tradition.
Obviously knowledge of the past should not become a form of
conditioning. It is necessary to know how, in a critical manner, to

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THE RECTOR MAJOR 17
distinguish between the essential historical significance and gra-
tuitous exaggerations and unfounded subjective interpretations;
in this way, attributing charismatic historical truth to recon-
structions which have little to do with "real history" will be avoid-
ed. A similar way of approaching history is sometimes used in or-
der to avoid the serious problem ofthe reconstruction ofthe his-
torical context. A healthy process of discernment is needed in the
interpretation of the history of Don Bosco. The warning of Pope
Leo XIII will always be valid for us: the historian should never
say anything untrue nor be silent about the truth. If a saint has
a weak point it has to be honestly recognised. Recognising the
imperfections of the saints has the three-fold merit of respecting
historical accuracy, of emphasising the absolute nature of God
and of encouraging us poor vessels of clay, showing us that in the
heroic follower of Christ, blood was not water.
The urgent need for a deeper and more systematic knowledge
of Don Bosco has been emphasised in recent decades by the official
documents and authoritative statements of my two predecessors.
This is how I expressed it myself in a letter at the end of 2003
(AGC n. 383, p.14-L7):
"But Don Bosco succeeded in staying young and hence in
harrnonizing with the future through being always among
his boys. ...1n the Valdocco experience there was clearly a
maturing of the mission and hence a transition from the joy
of "staying with Don Bosco" to "staying with Don Bosco for
the young"; from "staying with Don Bosco for the young in
a stable manner" to "staying with Don Bosco for the young
in a stable n'Lanner with uows". Remaining with Don Bosco
does not exclude a priori a study of the times that modelled
or conditioned him, but it requires us to liue with his com-
mitment, his options, his dedication, his spirit of enterprise
and pushing ahead t...1. AU this makes of Don Bosco a
fascinating person, and in our case a father to loue, a mod-
el to imitate, but also a saint to inuohe. ...We are well aware
that the more the time separating us from our Founder

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18 AcTs oF THE GENERAL aOUNCIL
increases, the more real is the risk of speaking of Don Bosco
only on the basis of well known incidents and anecdotes
without any real knowledge of our charism. Hence the need
to know him through the medium of reading and study; to
loue him affectiuely and effectiuely as our father and teacher
through the spiritual legacy he has left us; to itrlitate hinl
and try to reproduce him in ourselues, mahing of the Rule
of life our personal life plan. This is what is meant by re-
turning to Don Bosco, to which I haue inuited the whole
Congregation - myself included - from my first "good
night", by means of a process of study and loue that tries to
understand, the better to throw light on our life and present-
day challenges. Together with the Gospel, Don Bosco is our
criterion of discernment and our goal of identification" '
What I have in mind is not very different from the reflection
of Fr Francis Bodrato, the first Provincial in Argentina, who on 5
March 1877 wrote in a letter to his novices:
"Who is Don Bosco? What can I say to you about him? I can
tell you the truth as I know it and haue heard it from others.
Don Bosco is our beloued and most louing fath'er. We who
are his sons all say this. Don Bosco is a man of Prouidence
for these times. This is what the learned people say. Don
Bosco is a philanthropist. This is what the philosophers say.
And I say, while agreeing naturally with what these people
haue told us, that Don Bosco is truly that friend that Holy
Scripture describes as a great treasure. Well then, we haue
found this true friend, this great treasure. Mary Most Holy
has giuen us the light by which to recognise him and the
Lords allows us to haue him. Woe, therefore, to any one who
loses him. If you only knew my dear brothers how many
.people there are who enuy us our lot [...] And if you come to
belieue with me that Don Bosco is that true friend of Holy
Scripture, then you will see to it that you heep him for euer,
and take care to imitate him in yourselues". (E Boonero,
Letters, edited by B. Casali, Rome ["AS 1995, pp. 131-132).

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THE RECTOR MAJOR 19
Not for nothing does the introduction, as well as articles 21,
97,196 of the current Constitutions of the Salesian Congregation
present Don Bosco to us as "guide" and "model", and the Consti-
tutions themselves are described as his "living testament". Simi-
lar expressions can also be found in the Rule of Life of the other
groups of the Salesian Family. For all of us who see in Don Bosco
our point of reference, he continues to be the founder, master of
the spirit, the model for education, the one who began a Move-
ment on a world-wide scale capable of very effectively turning the
attention ofthe Church and ofsociety to the needs ofthe young,
to their situation, to their future. We cannot but ask ourselves
whether nowadays our Family is still the force it was; whether we
still have the courage and the imagination that Don Bosco had;
whether at the dawn of the third millennium we are still capable
of taking up his prophetic stance in the defence of the rights of
man and those of God.
The urgent need for the knowledge and the study of Don
Bosco by the Salesian Family, by the single groups, communities,
associations and individuals having been pointed out, the path
has still to be followed; the path indicated is not yet the path fol-
Iowed. It is up to each one to identify the steps to be taken, how
and in what way opportunities are to be created so that this task
may be caruied out in the course of this year. We cannot arrive at
the celebration of the Bicentenary without coming to know Don
Bosco better.
4. Function of history in bringing things up to date
To achieve this aim, it is not sufficient that within each one
of us there be an awareness of the greatness of Don Bosco. The
indispensible condition is to know him well, over and above the
very attractive anecdotes which surround our dear Father and
also the edifying literature on which entire generations were
brought up. It is not a question of going in search of cheap reme-

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20 ACTS OF THE GENERALCOUNCIL
dies to face, as a Family, the current "crisis" in the Church and in
society, but of coming to know him in depth so that he can be
"made relevant" at the dawn of this third millennium, in the mild
cultural climate in which we are living, in the various countries in
which we are working. What is needed is a knowledge of Don
Bosco which is to be arrived at in the continuously striking the
right balance between our asking ourselves questions about the
present, and our seeking answers which come from the past;
only in this way will we be able once again today to inculturate
the Salesian charism.
Attention has to be paid to the fact that at the moment of
"changing historical times" a charismatic Movement can grow
and develop only on the condition that the founding charism is
"reinterpreted in a vital manner" and does not remain a "precious
fossil". The Founders experienced the Holy Spirit in a precise
historical context; on this account, it is necessary to identify the
contingent elements of their experience, in so far as the response
to a determined historical situation has value for as long as that
contingency lasts. In other words, the "questions" posed by to-
day's ecclesial community and those of the current socio-cultural
situation cannot be considered as something "extraneous" to our
historical research; this has to determine what is transitory and
what is permanent in the charism, what needs to be left aside, and
what needs to be taken up, what is at some distance from our
present circumstances context and what is close to them.
It is not possible to start putting this into practice without
looking at history which - as I have already said - is not the cus-
todian of a past already buried in time, but rather a living mem-
ory that is within us, and which challenges us about the present.
Any updating that is undertaken ignoring the progress of histor-
ical studies, would be of little real use. In the same way, research
and writing undertaken in an amateurish-fashion without clear
theories, appropriate methods and sound working instruments,
and without a vital and up-to-date approach to historical writing,
do not produce good results from neither the historical nor the

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THE RECTOR MAJOR 21
updating points of view. The writing of history implies a constant
process of a critical revision of previous judgements made, a revi-
sion that is necessary since we have to recognise that the past
cannot be set up as a sort of monument only to be looked at, pre-
cisely because it is linked to the persona one wants to come to
know.
Nor should we undervalue the fact that the life-story of Don
Bosco is not only "ours" but belongs to the Church and to the hu-
man family, and therefore should not be missing from the ecclesi-
astical and civil history of individual countries, even more so since
Salesian history is a history which consists in dynamic interac-
tion, in relationships of dependence and collaboration and some-
times of conflicts with the social, political, economic, ecclesial and
religious, educational and cultural worlds. Now we cannot expect
"the others" to take into account our "history", our "pedagory",
our "spirituality" if we do not offer them modern instruments of
knowledge. Dialogue with others can only occur if we have the
same linguistic code, the same conceptual methods, the same
skills and professional approach; otherwise we shall be on the
fringes of society, removed from the cultural debate, absent from
those places in which solutions are found for current problems.
Exclusion from the cultural debate taking place in every country
would also be an indication of the historical insignificance of the
Salesians, their social marginalisation, the absence of their con-
tribution to education. For this reason I look forward to a re-
newed commitment in the preparation of qualified people for
study and research in the field of Salesian history.
Salesian literature, Salesian publications, Salesian preaching,
the circulars of those in positions of responsibility at various lev-
els, communication within the Salesian Family all need to be on
top of the situation. The traditional popular nature of Salesian
literature, its widespread dissemination, ought not to mean su-
perficiality in its contents, disinformation, the repetition of an
untrustworthy past. Whoever has the gift or the opportunity to
write, to form, to educate others needs to ensure that he is con-

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22 ACTS oF THE GENERALCOUNCIL
stantly updated regarding the subject he talks or writes about.
Popular media products need to be of a high quality and of the
greatest possible reliability.
The study of Don Bosco is a necessary condition in order to be
able to communicate his charism and to propose its relevance.
Without knowledge there can be no love, imitation or invocation;
and then only love urges us to that knowledge. It is a question
therefore of a knowledge which comes from love and which leads
to love: an affective knowledge.
5. Over a hundred years of historical writing "at the
service of the charism"
Salesian historical writing in over 150 years of life has made
considerable progress, from the first modest biographies of Don
Bosco in the seventies and eighties of the XIX, to the encomiastic
biographies inspired by a interpretation of his life and of his work
which was theological, anecdotal and concerned with wonder-
working, which from the eighties well into the XX century were
distributed widely. The solemn occasions of Don Bosco's beatifi-
cation and canonisation were naturally the occasions for a series
of writings and works of a spiritual and edifying nature. Similar-
ly, in the area of pedagory one could mention the valuable series
of writings and discussions on Don Bosco the educator, following
the introduction of Don Bosco's preventive method of education
in academic programmes in Teacher Training Colleges in Italy.
In the period immediately after the war and in the 50s of the
last century the new generations of Salesians began to express a
sense of unease with the hagiographical literature of the past. The
need arose for an hagiography of the Founder which was not
aimed merely at edification or being an apologia, but rather at the
truth about him in all its many aspects: a hagiography, in other
words, that would place him in his historical context, and as such
would observe all the necessary critical requirements. In some way

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THE RECTOR MAJOR 23
this meant breaking out of a by-now consolidated circle, in order
to encourage the taking of a fresh look at the history of Don Bosco,
philologically informed and with the sources thoroughly examined,
conducted according to up-to-date historical methods. It was nec-
essary to go beyond the point of view of the first Salesians, which
undoubtedly was that of the providentially-inspired, theological,
wonder-worker, in which the concrete circumstances and the
forces at work at the time tended to disappear.
Similar approaches to the study and further understanding of
Don Bosco, which for some time had been promised, were given a
strong impetus by the invitation of the Second Vatican Council to
return to the genuine human and spiritual circumstances of the
origins and of the Founder in view of the necessary renewal of
consecrated life (Cf. Perfectae Caritatis, Ecclesiae Sanctae). This
demanded, as an indispensible requirement, a knowledge of the
historical facts. Without going back to the roots, updating in fact
runs the risk of becoming arbitrary and uncertain speculation.
And so in the new cultural climate of the seventies, making use of
assumptions, trends, methods, modern research tools, as used in
the most serious historical research projects, further study was
undertaken into a knowledge of the patrimony and heritage of
Don Bosco, full of events and guidelines. The historical signifi-
cance of the message was identified, the inevitable personal, cul-
tural and institutional limitations were described, which almost
paradoxically indicated the reasons, then as they do now, for the
vigorous growth in the present as in the future.
6. Towards an interpretative reading of Salesian history
As a first requirement of renewal, the Second Vatican Council
asked for a return to the sources. In this regard the Congregation
published dozens of volumes of the "Published Works" and those
unpublished of Don Bosco; the Centre of Don Bosco Studies at
the UPS and the Salesian Institute Historical made themselves

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24 Acrs oF THE GENERAL couNctL
responsible for them. Thanks to their work thousands of pages of
Don Bosco's writings are available to us, in editions which are
academically produced and revised, so as to make possible the
necessaryphilological analysis. How, in fact, is it possible to un-
derstand the famous "letter from Rome" which Don Lemoyne
drew up on behalf of Don Bosco, without fully knowing the diffi-
cult disciplinary situation in Valdocco at the time, and which in
the same years produced the "circular on punishments"? Has a
letter written in Don Bosco's own hand, laboured, full of correc-
tions, additions and postscripts, the same value as a circular, per-
haps even written by a collaborator of his, and simply signed by
Don Bosco? What significance should be given to work-contracts
signed by Don Bosco, if we compare them with earlier ones or
contemporaneous ones drawn up by others in Turin?
To the philological analysis needs to be added the historical-
critical analysis, which takes into account both the explicit con-
tents ofthe sources, and also what a superficial reading ofthem
does not reveal, but what they do imply. No text, and even less
those of Don Bosco, a well-known person "incarnated" in history,
can be explained without reference to the time in which it was
written, within a certain context, in reference to certain particu-
Iar people, for a certain purpose. As I have said, writings by Don
Bosco and about Don Bosco contain an interpretation of the
gospel influenced by the period, its ideas, mental structures, per-
spectives, language and values.
The two preceding operations lead to the third and more
important one: the uital and updating analysis, capable of re-ex-
pressing, re-thinking, re-presenting the contents of the sources. In
this regard it is necessary to adapt some hermeneutical criteria,
without which the interpretation of Don Bosco's expressions, his
theoretical and practical positions, of the practical ways of living a
relationship with God and with society, could indeed prove to be
counter-productive. The simple repetition of Don Bosco's phrases
could in fact lead us to betray the Salesian identity. In fact, it is a
question of texts and testimonies of a "culture" very much of the

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THE RECTOR MAJOR 25
past, of a tradition and of a theolory which are certainly no longer
ours, and therefore not immediately intelligible to us.
In the 70s and 80s ofthe last century the Salesian Congrega-
tion made a great effort for renewal, and the renewed Constitu-
tions are the mature fruit of this. The Salesians produced an his-
torical-spiritual reflection, which in itself was an interpretative
study of Salesian sources, and at the same time of the "signs of
the times". If we run through the analytical index of these Con-
stitutions we are in for a welcome surprise: the name of Don
Bosco appears about forty times. In the first seventeen articles it
is present a good 13 times; but even where the name is not ex-
plicitly used, the reference to his thought, to his praxis, to his
writings is constant. And just to think that in the XIX century
the Holy See insisted on there being no mention in the Constitu-
tions of the name and the writings of the Founder! The same
applies to the other Constitutions, Regulations, and Plans of Life
of the other groups of the Salesian Family.
Forty years after the Council, it necessarily has to be recog-
nised that historical research on the life and work the human and
spiritual experience of Don Bosco has made notable progress
thanks to studies which have adopted the changed frames of ref-
erence, have taken due account ofthe new ways ofenquiry and
the modern categories of evaluation, have had recourse to new
perspectives, starting from the analysis of the unpublished docu-
ments or new interpretations of documents already well-known.
The new critical hagiography has had at least two positive effects:
above all that of showing us the real face of Don Bosco and the
true greatness of our Father; in the second place that of taking
into account Don Bosco in secular history.
Until a few decades ago, in fact, secular historical writing dis-
played something of an allergy to Don Bosco, and did not devote
space to him, perhaps on account of the sugary tones, the mirac-
ulous sensationalism, which frlled the edifying biographies over
indulgent towards the marvellous. Nowadays, on the contrary,

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26 ACTS oF THE GENERAL couNctL
Don Bosco is taken seriously. Naturally the person presented in
these cases cannot but reflect the historical criteria ofthe various
authors, their mentality, their ideological presuppositions, their
aims, the quantity and the quality of the available sources, the
way these are examined and then variously interpreted, the cul-
tural climate of the time.
All of this corresponds to the new sensitivity in our Family
which has a greater love for its vocation and mission. As I indi-
cated earlier, the approach to Don Bosco, using the methods ap-
propriate to historical research has led us to better appreciate his
greatness, his practical talents, his gifts as an educator, his spiri-
tuality, his work, fully understood only if deeply rooted in the his-
tory of the society in which he lived. We do not reject a priori that
which is valid in what we have received concerning Don Bosco's
image, handed down by generations of Salesians and members of
the Salesian Family. Nowadays we need a re-think and further
reflection which gives us an image of Don Bosco that is relevant,
which speaks to the world of today in a new language. The valid-
ity of the image offered depends, in fact, on the extent to which it
is accepted and shared
7. lVhat image of Don Bosco today
In the face of this Salesian literature which is necessarily still
evolving, it is clear that nowadays too we have to answer a series
of questions.
Who was Don Bosco? What did he say, do and write? With
what style of life and action did he succeed in expanding his char-
itable works? What connection is there between his thought and
his action? Where did his ideas come from; how did they devel-
oped and what was new about them? What understanding did he
have of himself and of his message at the beginning of his work,
and what perception did he gradually acquire as the years passed?
What perception of him, of his work and of his message did his

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THE RECTOR MAJOR 27
first lay and ecclesiastical collaborators have, the first Salesians,
the FMA, the Cooperators, the pupils and Past Pupils? How was
he understood and judged by his contemporaries: the Pope, bish-
ops, priests, religious, political and civil authorities, those wield-
ing economic and financial power, believers and non-believers, the
crowds?
What was the image of Don Bosco that was constructed and
handed down by "historical tradition", by the contemporary
chroniclers and biographers, by the witnesses at the processes, by
the commemorations and the apotheoses of the anniversaries and
significant dates (1915, 1929,1934, 1988, 2009)? What interpre-
tations were given to his historical "mission"? That it was a prov-
idential response to the needs of a Church under persecution? A
Catholic response to what the times demanded? A solution to the
"problem of poor and abandoned boys", to the social problem, to
cooperation among the "classes"? The promotion of the popular
masses, while respecting the established order? A missionary and
civilising activity?
What was special about Don Bosco? That he was the inventor
of a "pedagog" suitable for dealing with boys "in danger and
dangerous"? That he was a teacher of spirituality for young peo-
ple at risk, for the lower classes, for the developing peoples? That
he was the saint ofjoy, of human values, of encountering everyone
without discrimination? Or perhaps all this and more besides?
Today this image of Don Bosco needs to be reconstructed; for
a frdelity that is not repetition, respected for established formulae
or personal detachment, it is necessary to see him in another
light. It is not sufficient to limit ourselves to some spiritual read-
ing or some article by an academic; it is necessary that we exam-
ine Salesianity more deeply, all together, in order to arrive at a
shared view that is learned, professional, profound, which knows
how to give due weight to the historical, pedagogical, spiritual
patrimony inherited from Don Bosco, that is familiar at some
depth with the youth situation, which has a clear understanding

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28 AoTS oF THE GENERAL C)UNCIL
ofthe characteristics ofthe Christian in the society oftoday and
of tomorrow, with the relevant commitments "according to the
needs of the times". In other words it is a question of re-examin-
ing the institutions and structures of associations and education,
of re-interpreting the Preventive System in contemporary terms,
of presenting to the world and to the Church a particular style of
Salesian educator.
Nowadays, rather than a crisis of identity it is perhaps a ques-
tion of a crisis of credibility. We seem to be held under the tyranny
of the status quo, aL unconscious rather than intentional resis-
tance. While convinced of the truth of the theological values with
which our Christian and consecrated life is imbued, we experience
the difficulty of reaching the hearts of those to whom we are sent,
for whom we ought to be signs of hope; we are shaken by the
irrelevance of the faith for them as they build their lives; we are
aware that we are not in touch with their world, of a remoteness,
not to say exclusion, from their plans; we see that our signs, ges-
tures, languages do not appear to have any impact on their lives.
Perhaps there is a lack of clarity about the role we have in the
mission to which we dedicate ourselves; some perhaps are not
convinced that our mission is useful; perhaps they are unable to
find work which matches their aspirations, because we don't
know how to bring about renewal; perhaps they feel imprisoned
by emergency situations which are more and more pressing; per-
haps there is more lack of esteem ad intra than ad extra. History
can come to our aid in the process of bringing the charism up to
date; I limit myself to indicating just some aspects, in particular
giving more attention to the first.
7.\\. Eaolution of the worhs and those for whom they are
intend,ed. For Don Bosco the opening of new works was deter-
mined by the demands of the situation. The poor cultural prepa-
ration of the boys led at Valdocco to the opening of an elementary
school on Sundays, and then in the evening and then on a daily
basis, especially for those who could not attend the public school;

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THE RECTOR MAJOR 29
then other schools, various work-shops, and in this way to the
complex of the "house attached" at the Oratory of St. Francis
of Sales. This first work, from being simply a place for the boys
to gather together on feast days for catechism and for games,
becomes a place of all-round formation; for a certain number of
boys without visible means of support it becomes a home, a place
to live. To the playground and the church in which a programme
had developed with the possibility of the sacraments, of elemen-
tary religious instruction, of recreation, of interesting activities,
of religious and civil celebration, of gifts, other structures were
added to offer the opportunity of learning a trade, and so avoiding
having to go into factories in the city, too often immoral and
dangerous for boys already burdened with a previous difficult
past. Then later other Salesian houses were founded, other col-
leges - boarding schools, other junior seminaries entrusted to the
Salesian Society which had just begun.
Mixed in together at the first oratory were former reformato-
ry boys, young immigrants, and in general boys without any
strong links to their own parishes. Then a little higher up the
scale, accepted in the oratory and the hostel there were students
and artisans far from "home", who went into the city to learn a
trade, or to do their studies, which prepared them for employ-
ment. To a certain number of boys belonging to this category or
those with particular difficulties, or else with greater economic
means, the possibility was given of learning a trade in organised
workshops, or of doing their studies in schools and colleges. This
group normally included two different social categories: the "poor
working class " and the "middle class". Then particular needs led
to the setting up of schools: elementary technical, grammar, vo-
cational training, agricultural, day, colleges also for the upper-
middle class, where it was a question of providing an alternative
to similar lay or protestant establishments, or to ensuring a fully
Catholic education according to the preventive system.
Don Bosco considered that the option for the poorest was com-
patible with the large-scale provision of schools and colleges for

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30 Acrs oF THE GENERAL couNctL
the "middle classes". He did not reject anyone, but he preferred
to give his attention to the middle and the working class, as being
the ones most in need of help and assistance. However, the way
the process of paying "fees" worked out, did not leave much room
for the extremely poor or the moderately poor, except in the case
of limited groups of youngsters supported by public or private
charity. Then a separate category consisted in those young people,
among the most poor and most at risk to be found in mission
lands, lacking the light of faith. Naturally missionary activity
does not stop at the young, but tries to involve everyone in the
vicinity, nor is it limited just to straightforward pastoral action,
but extends to all aspects of civil, cultural and social life, accord-
ing to what Don Bosco himself said in a letter of November 1886:
bringing " religion and civilisation to those peoples and nations
which so far are without them". Without taking account of class,
special consideration is also given to boys who show an inclina-
tion towards the ecclesiastical or religious state; this is the most
precious gift that can be given to the Church and to civil society.
Finally account has to be taken of the large areas of margin-
alisation of " poor and abandoned youth " in situations which are
particularly serious, sometimes trag1c, which remain outside Don
Bosco activities: the emerging group of young people more and
more engaged in new industrial activities who needed to be as-
sisted, protected, formed socially and in the context of trade
unions; the world of real juvenile delinquency existing in Turin;
works for the care of minors already or on the way to becoming
delinquents, with some of whom moreover he was to some extent
in contact; the immense continent of poverty and indigence, not
only in the city but also, and often worse, in the countryside; the
vast world of illiteracy and of progress through arts and trades;
the world of unemployment and of emigration; and again the
world of mental and physical handicap.
Now this page of history obliges us to reflect from the current
perspectiue. Who nowadays are the ones for whom our works are
primarily intended? Which works suit their needs? Has the dis-

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THE RECTOR MAJOR 31
appearance in the renewed Salesian Constitutions of the list of
typical Salesian works which had the oratories in the first place,
perhaps contributed to the reduction in the number of our classic
oratories, even replaced by high schools and universities ?
7.2. Abandoned youth. As I said at the beginning, the historical
importance of Don Bosco needs to be investigated, in addition to
the works, and some relatively original ways of doing things, his
intellectual and emotive perception of the universal, theological
and social significance of the problem of " abandoned youth,,, and
his great ability in communicating this perception to large num-
bers of collaborators, benefactors and admirers.
Let us ask ourselves then: are we his faithful disciples today?
Are we, Iike Don Bosco, still experiencing that inner conflict
between the ideal and its fulfilment, between an intuition and
putting it into practice in the social circumstances in which he
found himself working?
7.3. Response to the needs of the young. Considering the fact
that Don Bosco's activities in assisting and educating the young
developed on the practical level with a certain degree of "oppor-
tunism", it also needs to be said that his "response" to problems
was not based on a particular "plan" put into operation on the
basis of a preconceived overall view of the social and religious sit-
uation in the 1800s. Coming up against particular problems he
responded in an equally immediate and localised way, until grad-
ually the variety of youth situations led him to look at the overall
"problem of youth" everywhere. In the heroic life of Don Bosco
there were no long-term plans or strategies worked out at his
desk - all of the things quite rightly nowadays considered indis-
pensible - but effective solutions emerged to immediate problems,
often unforeseen.
What does all this mean for us today as we are living in a
"global village", where everything is known in real time, where
we have available to us a whole variety of specialised sciences?

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32 ACTS oF THE GENERALCOUN)IL
How does one pass from a policy of emergency to a planned poli-
cy? On the basis of what precise criteria can we make our practi-
cal decisions within history as it unfolds, and not from outside?
How can we avoid the twofold risk of losing unity and identity, by
wanting to do everything, by abandoning stable works and mov-
ing on to others which are transitory and not well-thought out,
using up resources on short-term projects; and the risk ofgrving
an absolute value, and making permanent, features of the
Founder which were contingent, finishing by being satisfied with
what we have already had, already known, with a fossilised tradi-
tion, defended, in all good faith, as being fidelity to the past?
7.4. Flexibility in respond,ing to needs. From the historical
analysis we discover the genius and the ability of Don Bosco, in
pursuing his vocation to "save" the young, in coordinating educa-
tional works aimed at the boys of the urban working-class popula-
tions with a variety of further activities with other objectives.
Around the small Oratory at Valdocco Don Bosco succeeded in
gathering together thousands of boys, in winning over the agree-
ment and the support of the Church authorities to an ever greater
extent, almost complete. And the closure of some works such as
the Guardian Angels Oratory in Turin, of some isolated Salesian
houses such as Cherasco, Trinitd, was not a sign of retreat but of
a reorganisation and a re-launching. Proof of this is the expansion
of his mission with works aimed at the formation of youth: the
founding of the FMA, the missions, the Cooperators, the Salesian
Bulletin. These various initiatives highlight the constant process
of reorganisation, re-launching, and further development.
So now, is it not clear that in all that we do, what must be con-
sidered important is not only or not mainly the appearance, but
the reality of what is re-launched and developed in a wise reor-
ganisation? Is there perhaps a risk that often the forced closing of
so many of our works appears to be a simple matter of cutting
back, rather than a decision taken in view of further develop-
ment?

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THE RECTOR MAJOR 33
7.5. Pouerty of life and, tireless work.In those notes which
tradition has called his "Spiritual Testament", Don Bosco wrote:
"From the time that comfort-seeking once appears in individuals,
in rooms and in houses, the decline of our Congregation will begin
[...] When the desire for ease and comfort grows up amongus,
our pious Society will have run its course" (P Braido (ed.). "Don
Bosco educatore, scritti e testimonianze", Rome LAS 1992, pp. 409,
437).
Nowadays, drawing our inspiration from Don Bosco, do we
not have to have the courage to say that when a religious
community becomes absorbed in the TV and in the newspapers
for hours on end it is a sign that at least in that particular place
we have run our course? What can be said when a Salesian cen-
tre is reduced to four small boys with a football and a T! and
cannot find the time to bring youngsters together to involve
them in the work being done, but can do so in order to go on cul-
tural outings? Perhaps that work has already run its course too,
given that the number of young people in a local Salesian work
is not everything, but that it does remain the thermometer to
indicate the reason for there being a house in that particular
place.
8. Suggestions for putting the Strenna into practice
Starting from the knowledge of the history of Don Bosco, the
main focal points and the tasks arising from the Strennafor 2Ol2
could be the following. Each group of the Salesian Family can
make further practical applications.
8.1. Pastoral charity is a particular feature of the whole of Don
Bosco's life-story and is the guiding force of all his many activi-
ties. We could say that it is the concise historical perspective
through which to read his whole life. The Good Shepherd knows
his sheep and calls them by name, he quenches their thirst with

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34 ACTS OF THE GENERAL COUNCIL
clear water and allows them to graze in green pastures; he be-
comes the gate through which the sheep enter the sheepfold, and
gives his own life so that the sheep may have life in abundance.
(cf. Jn.10,11 sq.). The greatest power of Don Bosco's charism is
the love drawn directly from the Lord Jesus, imitating him and
remaining in Him. This love consists in "giving everything".
From this stems his apostolic vow: "I promised God that until my
dying breath I would dedicate myself entirely to my poor boys"'
(BM XVIII,216 cf. C. SDB 1). This is our trade mark and our
credibility with the young!
8.2. In Don Bosco's story we come to know of much hardship,
self sacrifice, priuation, suffering, and of the many sacrifices he
made. The good shepherd lays down his life for his sheep.
Through the needs and requests of young people, God is asking
each member of the Salesian Family to sacrifice him or herself
for them. Living the mission is therefore not a vain activity for
activity's sake, but rather conforming our hearts to the heart of
the Good Shepherd who does not want any of his sheep to be lost.
It is a deeply human and deeply spiritual mission. It is a path of
asceticism, for there is no animating presence among young peo-
ple without asceticism and sacrifice. Losing something, or rather,
losing everything to enrich the lives of our young people is what
gives support to our dedication and our commitment.
8.3. Through the minutes of the founding of the Salesian Con-
gregation, and especially through the historical development of
the multifaceted work of Don Bosco, we can come to know the
purpose of the Salesian Family, as this purpose was detailed little
by littte. We are called to be apostles of the young, of popular set-
tings, of poor and mission areas. Today more than ever, we com-
mit ourselves to a critical understanding of media culture, and we
use the media, in particular new technologies, as potential multi-
pliers of our activity in being close to and supportive of young
people. While we are in their midst as educators, we involve them
as our first collaborators, as did our Father Don Bosco, and we

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THE RECTOR MAJOR 35
give them responsibility, help them to take the initiative, enable
them to be apostles of their peers. In this way we can open up the
great heart of Don Bosco more and more; he wanted to reach and
serve young people throughout the world.
8.4. Our good intentions cannot remain empty declarations. Our
knowledge of Don Bosco needs to be translated into a commit-
ment with and for the young. As with Don Bosco, God awaits us in
today's youth! We therefore need to meet them, and stay with
them in the places, circumstances and frontiers where they await
us. This is why we need to go out to meet them, always taking the
first step, walking with them. It is heartening to see how the Sale-
sian Family throughout the world is doing its best for the poorest
young people: street children, excluded children, young workers,
young soldiers, young apprentices, neglected orphans, exploited
children, but a heart that loves is always a heart that asks itself
certain questions. It is not sufficient to organise activities, initia-
tives, institutions for the young; what is needed is an assured
presence, contact, a relationship with them: it is a matter of tak-
ing up the practice of assisting again, and rediscovering that pres-
ence in the playground.
8.5. Even today, Don Bosco asks questions. By getting to know
his story we must listen to the questions Don Bosco addresses to
us. What more can we do for poor young people? What are the
new frontiers in the areas where we are working, in the country
in which we are living? Besides the above-mentioned poverty, how
many other kinds of poverty weigh down today's young people as
they struggle on their way? What are the new frontiers where we
must become involved today? We must think about the reality of
the family, the educational emergency, the confusion in affective
and sexual education, lack of social and political involvement, a
retreat into one's personal private life, spiritual weakness, the
unhappiness of so many young people. We hear the cry of young
people and offer answers to their deepest and most pressing
needs, their practical and spiritual needs.

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36 ACTS OF THE GENERAL COUNCIL
8.6. From the experience of his personal life, we can know there'
sponses Don Bosco gaue to the needs of young people. In this way
we can better consider the responses that we have already put in
place and which others still need to be created. Of course there
are difficulties. We have to "deal with the wolves" who want to
devour the flock: indifference, ethical relativism, consumerism
that destroy the value ofthings and experiences, false ideologies.
God is calling us, and Don Bosco encourages us, to be good shep-
herds in the image of the Good Shepherd, so that young people
will still find Fathers, Mothers, Friends; and above all can find
Life, True Life, the abundant life offered by Jesus!
8.7. The Memoirs of the Oratory of Saint Francis of Sales, wtlt-
ten at the explicit request of Pius IX, are an essential point of ref-
erence for coming to know Don Bosco's spiritual and pastoral
journey. They are written so that we might come to know the
prodigious beginnings of the vocation and work of Don Bosco, but
especially, so that taking up Don Bosco's motivations and choices,
we as individuals, and as each group of the Salesian Family, may
continue along the same spiritual and apostolic journey. They
were reg€rrded as "memories of the future". So in the course of
this year, Iet us commit ourselves to getting to know this text,
communicating its contents, disseminating it, and especially
putting it into the hands of young people: it will become an inspi-
rational book as they make their vocational decisions.
9. Conclusion
As usual I want to conclude this presentation of the Strenna
with a very telling anecdote. Before this however, I would like to
recall here the "dream at nine years of age". In fact, it seems to
me that this page of autobiography provides a simple, but at the
same time, a prophetic presentation of the spirit and the mission
of Don Bosco. In it the field of work entrusted to him was de-
scribed: the young; the aim of his apostolate was pointed out: to

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THE RECTOR MAJOR 37
make them grow as individuals through education; a method of
education which would be effective was offered him: the Preven-
tive System; the context in which all that he did, and today all
that we do, was presented: the marvellous plan of God, who, first
of all, and more than anything else, loves the young. It is He who
enriches them with all kinds of gifts and makes them responsible
for their development, so that they can take their rightful place in
society. In God's plan, not only are they assured of success in this
life, but of eternal happiness too. Let us therefore listen to Don
Bosco, and we will hear the'dream of his life'.
"The boy of the dream"
It was at that age that I had a dream. All my life this remained,
deeply impressed on rny mind. In this dream I seemed to be near
m.y home in a fairly large yard. A crowd of children were playing
there. Some were laughing, some were playing gan'Les, and quite a
few were swearing. When I heard these euil words, I jumped im-
mediately amongst them and tried to stop them by using my words
and my fists.
At that moment a dignified nxan appeared, a nobly dressed adult.
He wore a white cloak, and his face shone so that I could not looh
directly at him. He called. me by narne, told me to take charge of
these children, and added these words: "You, will haue to win these
friend,s of yours not by blows but by gentleness and loue. Start
right away to teach them the ugliness of sin and the ualue of
uirtu,e".
Confused and frightened, I replied that I was a poot; ignorant
child. I was unable to talk to those youngsters about religion. At
that moment the hids stopped. their fighting, shouting, and swear-
ing; they gathered, round the m.an who was speaking.
Hardly knowing what I was saying,I ashed, "Who are you, order-
ing me to do the impossible?"
"Precisely because it seems impossible to you, you must make it
possible through obedience and the acquisition of knowledge".
"Where, by what r-rleans, can I acquire knoutledge?"

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38 ACIS oF THE GENERAL COUNCIL
"I will giue you a teacher. Under her guidance you can become
wise. Without her, all wisdom is foolishness".
"But who are you that speak so?"
"I ant tlre son of the u)ornan whorn your mother has taught you to
greet three times a day".
"My mother tells me not to mix with people I don't know unless
I haue her permission. So tell me yotlr nan?e".
'Ask my mother what my nan1.e is".
At that moment, I saw a lady of stately dppearance standing beside
him. She was wearing a mantle that sparkled all ouer as tlnugh
couered u)ith bright stars. Seeing from my questions and answers
that I was rnore confused than euer, she beckoned me to approach
hen She took me kindly by the hand and said, "Looh". Glancing
round, I realised that the youngsters had all apparently run au)d,y.
A large number of goats, dogs, cats, bears, and other animals had
tahen their place.
"This is tlte field of your work. Mahe yourself humble, strong, and
energetic. And what you will see happening to these animals in a
moment is what you must do for my children".
I loohed round again, and where before I had seen wild animals,
I now saw gentle lambs. They were all jumping and bleating as if
to welcome that man and lady.
At that point, still dreaming, I began crying. I begged the lady to
speak so that I could understand her, because I did not hnow what
alt this could rnean. She then placed her hand on nxy head and
said, "In good time you will understand euerythirtg".
With that, a noise woke me up and euerything disappeared. I was
totally bewildered. My hands seemed to be sore from the blows
I had giuen, and my face hurt from those I had receiued. The nlent-
ory of the man and the lady, and the things said and heard, so
occupied my mind that I could not get any rnore sleep that night.
(Memoirs of the Oratory of Saint Francis of Sales, critical edition
by ANtoNto DA SILvA FnRRnIRA, I"AS Rome 1991).
Don Bosco writes in the "Memoirs of the Oratory" that this
dream "remained deeply impressed on my mind for the whole of

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THE RECTOR MAJOR 39
my life", so that today we can say that he lived in order to change
the dream into reality.
Well then, what our dear Father took as his plan of life, mak-
ing the boys his purpose in life. and devoting all his energies un-
til his last breath for them, is what we are all being called to do.
The anecdote which this time I take from history illustrates
very eloquently Don Bosco's desire to be for his boys a sign of love
that would never fail. I heard it told for the first time by a con-
frere from the Australian Province, Fr Lawrie Moate, in an in-
troductory address on the occasion ofa celebration ofJubilees of
Salesian life, at Lysterfield on 9 July 2017:
"And our music continues"
"Imagine the courtyard of a prison in an 78'h century European
colony. It is dawn and while the sun begins to fill the eastern, shy
with golden colours a prisoner is brought out into the yard to be
executed. He is a priest, condemned to death for his opposition to
the cruelty with which the natiues in the colony were being treated.
He is standing against a wall and gazes at the firing squad, his
fellow countrymen. Before blindfolding him the officer asks him
the traditional question about his final wishes. The reply surpris-
es eueryone: he asks to be able to play his flute for one last time.
The soldiers are put "at ease" while they wait for the prisoner to
play. When the notes begin to fill the silent morning air the whole
prison is flooded with music which, sweet and, enchanting, fills
with peace that place a daily witness to uiolence and sadness. The
officer is worried because the longer the music lasts, the more ab-
surd his task seems to be. He therefore orders the soldiers to open
fire. The priest dies instantly, but to the alnazenxent of all present
the music continues its dance of life; death outfaced".
Where does this sweet music of life come from?
In a society totally committed to silencing Christ's nxessdge,
I thinh it is our uocation to be among those who continue to make

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40 ACTS OF THE GENERAL COUNCIL
the music of Life heard. In a world doing euerything it can to
preuent the young hearing the insistent inuitation of Christ to
"com.e and see", it is our priuilege to haue been drawn to Don
Bosco and to haue been encouraged to play the music of the heart,
to bear witness to the transcendent, to exercise a spiritual father-
hood, to lead youngsters in a direction which conesponds to their
dignity and to their most genuine desires.
This is the dance of the Spirit! This is God's music!
My dear brothers, sisters, all the members of the Salesian
Family, friends of Don Bosco, all young people, I wish you all
a happy New Year for 20L2 full of God's blessings, and with a
renewed commitment to continuingto make the music heard, our
music, which frlls the lives of the young with meaning, and makes
them discover the source ofjoy.
With my best wishes to everyone and a remembrance in my
prayers,
*xffi Rome, 31 December 2011.
7a

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4. ACTIVITIES OF THE GENERAL COUNCIL
4.1 Chronicle of the Rector Major
- August 2077
After the conclusion of the sum-
mer plenary session of the General
Council, on 29 July 2001 (cf. chron-
icle of the Rector Major in AGC
n. 411), Fr Pascual Ch6vez had a
three days break at the FMA house
in Sant'Agnello, in Campania.
Having returned to Rome in the
afternoon of 1 August, he resumed
his ordinary work with some inter-
views. On the morning of 3 August,
with his Vicar, Fr Adriano Bregolin
and his Secretary, Fr Juan Jos6
Bartolom6, he left for Poland to
take part in the VI International
Congress of Mary Help of Chris-
tians being held in Czgstochowa,
until Saturday 6 August. During
these days, in addition to the talks
he gave at the Congress, Fr Chdvez
met the Provincials of Poland and
of the EST Special Circumscrip-
tion, gave interviews for the press
radio and television, met the Supe-
riors and representatives of the
groups of the Salesian Family who
were present at Czgstochowa and
spoke with some confreres.
On Sunday 7 August, the Rector
Major arrived in Lyon, in France in
the early hours and was taken to
the "Saint Joseph" Guest House of
the Archdiocese, where from that
day until Thursday 11 there was
the Team Visit to the West Europe
Region. During these days, in ad-
dition to presiding at Mass each
day, giving the Good Night and
several talks Fr Chtwez met the
various participants. On Thursday
morning 11 he gave the closing ad-
dress ofthe Team Visit, presided at
Mass and after lunch left for Rome.
He spent Friday 12 to Sunday 14
with his usual work in the office,
and a number of visits and inter-
views. Amongthese could be men-
tioned those with Fr Roberto Co-
lameo and later with Mr. Angelo
Orsini, from the'Auxilium" Asso-
ciation on 12, and with Fr Zelindo
Trenti, Assistant to the VDB, on
Saturday 13.
On Monday morning 15 August
with his Vicar, the Rector Major
went to Castelgandolfo to conce-
lebrate with the Holy Father in
our parish of "Saint Thomas of
Villanova" on the occasion of the
Solemnity of the Assumption.
On the evening of the same day
15 August he left for Turin, where
he was welcomed by the Provin-
cial, Fr Stefano Martoglio. On
Tuesday morning 16, he was taken

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42 ACTS oF THE GENERAL C)UN2IL
to Colle Don Bosco. There he
presided at Mass, starting the three
year period of preparation for the
bicentenary of the birth of Don
Bosco.In the evening he left for
Madrid, to take part in World
Youth Day.
He spent Wednesday morning
17, with Mother Yvonne Reun-
goat, at a meeting with the repre-
sentatives of the Salesian Youth
Movement at CES Don Bosco; in
the evening at Atocha, he took
part in a prayer vigil with all the
members of the SYM who had
come to Madrid.
On Thursday 18, Fr Ch6vez vis-
ited the vocation stand in the Par-
co El Retiro and afterwards took
part with the young people in the
pilgrimage to welcome the Holy
Father at Cibelles.
On Friday evening 19, he had
another meeting with the young
people of the SYM from Italy at
Atocha.
On Saturday he took part in the
pilgrimage to Cuatro Vientos, the
site of the WYD Vigil.
On Sunday after World Youth
Day came to an end the Rector
Major returned to Rome.
From Rome, the following day
Monday 22,he left again for Rim-
ini to take part in the traditional
and signifrcant Meeting organised
by "Communion and Liberation".
Between Tuesday 23 and Mon-
day 29 August the Rector Major
took a few days rest.
Having returned to Rome on
Tuesday 30, on the two following
days he had a series of meetings
with the Councillors in residence,
with Fr Francesco Cereda, with Fr
Pier Fausto Frisoli, with Fr V6clav
Klement, and with Fr Valentin
Viguera, BishopValerio Breda, and
with Fr Erminio De Santis, former
Superior of the Vice Province of
Madagascar.
- September 2011
On Thursday morning 1 Sep-
tember, the Rector Major left to
visit the Slouacchia Province. At
the airport in Vienna he was met
by the Provincial of Austria, Fr
Rudolf Osanger, with some confr-
eres and youngsters and by Fr
Karol Manik, Provincial of Slovac-
chia, who drove him to Zilina.
Here he met the confreres of the
Province. Mass followed, at which
4 Salesians and 3 Daughters of
Mary Help of Christians made
their perpetual profession. Then
after supper there was a meeting
with the representatives of differ-
ent groups of the Salesian Family.
On Friday 2, at Levoda Fr
Chdxez met the youngsters to
whom he spoke about vocation.
Then he presided at Mass. At

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ACTIVITIES OF THE GENEBAL COUNCIL 43
Ko5ice he blessed the pastoral cen-
tre for the Gypsies at Lunik IX.
From there he was taken to
Drienica, where he was welcomed
by the Salesians-Cooperators.
On Saturday 3, Fr Chdvez went
to PreSov, where he blessed the
Salesian Centre. Then he left for
Krakow, in Poland where in the af-
ternoon the Team Visit to the
Prouinces of Central and Eastern
Europe began.
The Visit lasted from the after-
noon of 3 until Wednesday 7 Sep-
tember. In the afternoon of 7,
when the Team Visit was over,
Fr Ch6vez went to the Marian
Sanctuary at Szczyrk, where he
was welcomed by the Rector Fr
Marek Kaczmarczyk, and by the
confreres with a group ofyoung-
sters and by the Deputy Mayor.
On Thursday 8, at Czgstochowa,
the Rector Major received the first
profession of the novices from the
two novitiates of Poland and the
EST Circumscription.
On Friday t he returned to
Rome, where he combined his or-
dinary work with some interviews
including one with Dr Carola
Carazzone, President of VIS.
On Sunday morning 11, Fr
Chdvez presided at Mass in the
parish of the Nativity of Mary at
Selva Candida, served by three
confreres from the Generalate,
with whom he then stayed for
lunch.
On Monday morning 12, he had
a meeting with a group of the mis-
sionaries on the 142"d Missionary
Expedition, with whom he later
had lunch. In the afternoon he saw
the Provincial of Great Britain,
Fr. Martin Coyle.
The three following days were
devoted to the ordinary work in
the offrce. On Thursday morning
15, he gave an interview in con-
nection with the CSC/CNOS Con-
gress to be held in Rome at the end
of September, and then met the
Commission for Salesian Schools
in Europe.
On Friday morning 16, accom-
panied by his secretary, Fr Juan
Jos6 Bartolom6, the Rector Major
left for Slouenia. At the Trieste
airport he was met by the Provin-
cial Fr Alojzij Slavko Snoj, and the
Provincial Economer Fr Blaz Cud-
erman, who took him to Ljubliana
- Rakovnik. In the early afternoon
they left for Maribor, and a short
visit to the Don Bosco Centre in
Celije. At Maribor the Rector Ma-
jor presided at Mass and blessed
the preliminary construction work
on the Don Bosco Centre. After
supper and the Good Night they
returned to Ljubljana.
On Saturday 17 Fr Ch6vez was
at Sticna, site of the Youth Festi'

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44 A'TS oF THE GENERAL ))UNCIL
ual . Here he took part in the work-
shop, the 30'h in the series, for
those engaged in youth ministry
(priests, religious men and women
and lay animators) and took part
in the Mass at which a Bishop
presided, and gave the homily. In
th evening he returned to Ljubl-
jana, where a concert in his hon-
our was given by the Slovenian
Octet, which concluded with his
Good Night.
On Sunday 18, the Rector Major
met the Daughters of Mary Help
of Christians, and then went to the
parish of Ljubljana - Kodeljevo,
where he blessed the new premis-
es for street chidren. Afterwards
he was taken to Trstenik, where
he met the elderly confreres and
in the afternoon, to Ljubljana -
Rakovnik for the introduction of
the Cause of Beatification of the
Slovenian Servants of God includ-
ing that of Fr Andrei Majzen, a
Salesian missionary in Vietnam, at
the Mass at which the Archbishop
Anton Stres of Ljubljana presided,
at the end of which he gave a mes-
sage. Then atZelimje, he presided
at the festivities for the twenty
years of the Grammar School be-
fore returning to Ljubljana. The
following day he went back to
Rome.
In the afternoon of Tuesday 20,
Fr Ch6vez went to Turin where he
was welcomed by the Provincial,
Fr Stefano Martoglio, who took
him to Les Combes. He stayed
there for three days.
On Saturday morning 24, he
met the youngsters at the middle
school of ChAtillon and then had
lunch with the Salesian communi-
ty. In the afternoon, at Valdocco,
he was involved in the filming of
the presentation ofthe Strenna for
2072.
On Sunday morning 25, he met
those taking part in the Harambde
and then in the Basilica of Mary
Help of Christians he presided at
the Mass for the 142"d Salesian
rnissionary expeditioru. In the even-
ing he returned to Rome.
He devoted the following days to
the ordinary work in the office, in-
terspersed with some interviews.
Amongthese was that with Bishop
Fernando Bascop6 SDB, auxiliary
bishop of the Diocese of El Alto,
in Bolivia, on Monday 26, and
with Archbisop Tito Solari SDB,
of Cochabamba, in Bolivia, on
Wednesday 28.
- October 2011
On Saturday morning 1 October,
the Rector Major took part in the
Curatorium of the UPS. After-
wards he saw Mother Mother
Yvonne Reungoat, who with two of
her Council, Sr Maria Luisa Mi-

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ACTIVITIES OF THE GENEBAL COUNCIL 45
randa and Sr Giuseppina Teruggi,
came to offer him their condo-
lences on the death of his sister
Ofelia.
Early on Monday morning 3, he
made a videorecording and later
opened the intermediate session of
the General Council, which - with
two meetings each day - will last
until Tuesday 11 October. In the
afternoon ofthe 3 he received the
Ambasador of Luxemburg to the
Holy See, accompanied by our
Economer General Bro. JeanPaul
Muller.
The following days from 4 until
7 October, are dedicated to the
work of the General Council, in-
terspersed with some visits and in-
teryiews.
On Friday morning 7, the Rector
Major presides at a meeting of the
Council and then after lunch
leaves for Bruxelles for the cele-
bration of the DAh anniuersary of
the Salesian presence in Belgium.
He is welcomed by the Provincial
Fr Joseph Enger, and his Vicar,
who takes him to Lidge.
On Saturday 8, the Rector Ma-
jor presides at Mass during which
four young confreres from the
France-South Belgium Province
make their perpetual profession.
After lunch, with Mother Yvonne
Reungoat, Fr Ch6vez takes part in
a meeting with young people. In
the evening after a concert by the
vocal and instrumental group
"Pour quelle FOte", they go to
Farnidres, for a Vigil with the
young people, of the SYM from
France and Southern Belgium.
On Sunday 9 October the Rector
Major returned to Rome, where on
the following day the work of the
intermediate session of the Gener-
al Council, which would close on
11, was resumed.
On the following days among
various interviews on Thursday 13
he met Bishop Carlos Maria Col-
lazzi SDB of the diocese of Mer-
cedes, Uruguay. At midday on Fri-
day 14, Fr Ch6vez went to the
Congregation for the Evangelisa-
tion of Peoples where he met the
Secretary, Archbishop Savio Hon
Tai Fai, and then the Prefect, H.
E. Archbishop Fernando Filoni.
The whole of Saturday morning
L5, at the Vatican, in the Synod
Hall, Fr Chfvez took part as a
Consultant in the first meeting of
the Pontifical Council for the New
Evangelisation. In the afternoon
at the Generalate he met the mis-
sionaries who are following an up-
dating course.
On Monday 17 October the Rec-
tor Major began the journey to
Central America. In the afternoon,
accompanied by his secretary Fr
Juan Jos6 Bartolom6, he arrived in

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46 Acrs oF THE 9ENERAL couNctL
San Salvador, where he was wel-
comed by the Provincial Fr Ale-
jandro Hern6ndez.
On Tuesday 18 and Wednesday
19 October the Rector Major visit-
ed Honduras, which was celebrat-
ing the centeruary ofthe presence of
the Salesians. On the first day,
arriving at Tegucigalpa, he was
officially welcomed at the airport
of the Airforce Base. The Mayor,
Mr. Ricardo Alvarer, gave him
the keys of the city. Afterwards,
Fr Ch6vez went to the parish of
Mary Help of Christians in Co-
mayagtiela, where he met the local
Salesian community, some young
volunteers and animators from the
parish and various Salesians from
other works who had come for the
occasion. Early in the afternoon he
visited Campo Cielo, an area of the
parish where the Salesians are de-
veloping a social work for those in
need. Towards the end of the af-
ternoon he met the young people
of the SYM in the parish, presided
at Mass and then went to the res-
idence of H. E. Cardinal OscarAn-
dr6s Rodriguez who offered him
supper. On the second day, in the
morning he presided at Mass for
the young people from the Sale-
sian schools and from some other
Catholic schools.. He then met the
youngsters from the Vocational
Training Centre, visited a photo-
graphic exhibition and had lunch
with representatives of groups of
the Salesian Family. In the evening
he presided at another Mass for
the Salesian Family, which was fol-
lowed by a supper with the civil,
military and religious authorities
and the Past Pupils.
On Thursday 20 and Friday 21
October the Rector Major was vis-
itingNicaraguo, which is also cele-
brating the centenary ofthe arriual
of the Salesians. On his arrival in
Managua, Fr Ch6vez was wel-
comed by the Chancellor, Samuel
Santos, by other civil and military
authorities and by H. Em. Cardi
nal Miguel Obando y Bravo, and
then by the educative community
of Masaya. At Catarina he had
lunch with the confreres and the
FMA. In the afternoon he was
taken to Granada, where he was
given the keys of the city; in the
evening he presided at Mass for the
Salesian Family, which was fol-
lowed by supper and a concert. The
following morning he went to visit
the birth place of Blessed Maria
Romero Meneses, and was then
taken to Managua, where he had a
meeting with the young people
from the centres of the Salesians
and of the Daughters of Mary Help
of Christians, followed by lunch. In
the afternoon he presided at Mass
in the parish of Saint John Bosco,

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ACTIVITIES OF THE GENERAL COUNCIL 47
followed by a formal ceremony at
La Casa de los Pueblos, where the
President of the Republic, Daniel
Ortega, presented him with the
"Ruben Dario" Decoration. The
visit ended with supper with the
confreres at the Don Bosco Youth
Centre.
On Saturday 22,Fr Ch6vez made
the returnjourney to San Salvador,
where in the evening he received a
Doctorate honoris cctu.sa, from the
Don Bosco University.
At midday on Sunday 23 Octo-
ber, he presided at Mass in the
Church of Mary HeIp of Christians
in Santa Tecla and in the evening
opened t)i.e TeamVisit to the Inter-
america Region, which continued
until Friday 28. During the days of
the Visit the Rector Major met all
the Provincial Councils and spoke
with some of the Provincials and
confreres. He also met the young
Salesians in initial formation from
the Central America Province, the
youngpeople of the SYM in El Sal-
vador and the Salesian Family.
At the end of the Team Visit, he
travelled to Mexico and went to
the city of Saltillo, where he stayed
until 3 November visiting his
family.
- Noaember 2077
On Thursday evening 3 Novem-
ber, the Rector Major arrived in
Guadalajara, where he was wel-
comed by the Provincial, Fr Sal-
vador Cleofas Murguia. He spent
the 4 having a medical check up.
On Saturday 5, the Rector Ma-
jor, accompanied by the Provincial
and by Fr Juan Jos6 Bartolom6,
went to San Luis Potosi, where he
met Fr Jos6 Carlos Contreras, and
then had lunch with the confreres
of the two communities. After-
wards he returned to Guadalajara.
Here on Sunday 6 he presided at
Mass and had lunch with the con-
freres of the Province.
On Monday morning 7, after a
further medical check up with
a specialist the Rector Major
travelled to the City of Mexico,
where he was welcomed by the
Provincial Fr Miguel Agustin
Aguilar. On Tuesday B he went to
the headquarters of the Mexican
Bishops' Conference to give a
conference. In the evening he
presided at Mass for the Salesian
f'amily.
On Wednesday 9 November he
began his return journey to Rome,
where he then resumed his de-
manding work and was visited by
a number of people.
On Tuesday morning 15, the
Rector Major went to the Vaticano
for a meeting with the Substitute
Secretary of State Archbishop An-
gelo Becciu. In the afternoon he

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48 AcTs oF THE GENERAL C)UN)IL
left for Verona, where he stayed
until midday the following day.
On Thursday morning 17, ac-
companied by Fr Juan Jos6 Bar-
tolom6, he left for Warsaw in
Poland, where he was welcomed by
the Provincial, who took him to
the Provincial Missionary Centre
where he greeted the confreres
and the collaborators, visited the
house and had lunch. In the after-
noon with the Provincial and his
secretary he went on to Lublin,
where he met the confreres of the
two communities and had supper
with them.
On Friday morning 18, the Rec-
tor Major went to the "John Paul
II" Lublin Catholic University. He
was welcomed by the Rector, Dr.
Stanislaw Wilk SDB, and by the
Archbishop and Grand Chancellor
Archbishop Stanislaw Budzik, and
then took part in the opening of a
Congress on the formation of the
"Upright citizen and good Christ-
ian". At midday during the Mass
at which the Bishop from the Pol-
ish Bishops' Conference responsi-
ble for education presided, he gave
the homily. After lunch he took
part in a press conference and lat-
er received a Doctorate honoris
causa.. In the evening he returned
to Warsaw.
On Saturday morning 19, he
met the Superior of the Circum-
scription of the East, Fr Giuseppe
Pellizzari; then he went to the air-
port for the return journey to
Rome.
In Rome, at the Generalate, the
Rector Major celebrated the solem-
nity of Christ the King on Sunday
20 November.
On Monday 2L, at the Head-
quarters of the Friars Minor there
was a meeting of the Executive
Committee of the Union of Supe-
riors General.
On Tuesday 22 Fr Chdvez re-
ceived the missionary Fr Eduardo
Marroquin, and at supper Bishop
Luc Van Looy S.D.B.
On the following days Wednes-
day 23 and Thursday 24 Novem-
ber, at the Salesianum, there
was the Half-yearly Assembly of
the Union of Superiors General
(USG), at which Fr Chiryez
presided. On Friday 25 they held
their General Assembly.
In the afternoon of 25 Novem-
ber, accompanied by Fr Adriano
Bregolin and Fr Marek Chrzan,
the Rector Major left for London
for a meeting - between 25 and
27 -with the Provincials and Vice
Provincials of the Provinces in the
Atlantic Zona: GBR, IRL-Malta,
BEN-Holl, GER, AUS. On their
arrival they were welcomed by
the Provincial Fr Martin Coyle,
who took them to the St Columba

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ACTIVITIES OF THE GENERAL COUNCL 49
Retreat and Conference Centre at
Woking, where the meeting was
held.
On Sunday afternoon 27, after
the meeting ended the Rector Ma-
jor and his Vicar were taken to
Farnborough where they met con-
freres from the communities of
Farnborough, Chertsey and Bat-
tersea.
On Monday 28the Rector Majior
returned to Rome and resumed his
office work also in preparation for
the beginning of the plenary ses-
sion of the General Council about
to start. Among a number of meet-
ings he had was one on the morn-
ing of 29 November with Bishop
Clement Mulenga, the new Sale-
sian Bishop in Zambia.
He spent Wednesday 30, in the
office.
4.2 Chronicle of the General
Council
(i ntermed iate session)
Between 3 and 11 October 2011
the intermed.iate session of the
General Council took place with
the presence, in addition to the
Rector Major and his Vicar, of all
the Councillors for Sectors and
two Regional Councillors con-
cerned with the agenda. The main
subject of the meetings was a care-
ful examination of the two Re-
gions: the East Asia - Oceania Re-
gion, and the Africa and Madagas-
car Region
With regard to the East Asia -
Oceania Region the following
challenges were identified: contin-
uing the process of the incultura-
tion of the Gospel and of the
charism and cultivating an inter-
cultural mentality; continuing to
proclaim the Gospel to the young
in such a way that they are able to
understand and accept it; paying
attention to animation and the
practice of vocational discern-
ment, providing the possibility for
personal accompaniment; oppos-
ing individualism, activism and
the lack ofa profound and person-
al conviction about Salesian iden-
tity; fostering a deeper knowledge
ofour Founder; accepting the va-
lidity and the relevance of educa-
tion, particularly in schools, as a
means of evangelisation; with our
Catholic pupils there ought to be
the promotion of a knowledge of
and an opening up to the Salesian
vocation in its two forms of reli-
gious priest and religious layper-
son; fostering a witness to evan-
gelical poverty through solidarity

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50 ACIS OF THE GENERAL COUNCIL
and transparency, encouraging the
young to become protagonists to
respond to the needs of the new
frontiers; encouraging flrdelity to
the Salesian vocation and with
clarity and loyalty facing up to any
cases of indiscipline.
With regard to the Africa and
Madagascar Region the follow-
ing lines for action were identified:
to give better opportunities to the
more disadvantaged young
Africans, giving birth to a new
Africa through education, giving
rise to a new man in Africa; creat-
ing a Consecrated Salesian Life
which is coherent and eloquent,
especially through grving the pri-
macy to God and the witness of the
communion of our communities
(cf. GC25); continuing to make
communities and confreres grow
and progress according to the spir-
it and the guidelines of the post-
Synodal Apostolic Exhortation for
Africa; making Provincial and lo-
cal animation and government
more consistent and better struc-
tured; inculturating the Preven-
tive System and initial formation
in Africa; forming the young con-
freres to be competent missionar-
ies ofthe young people ofAfrica,
in each one ofthe various sectors
of youth ministry; promoting a
more fruitful and more consistent
vocation ministry; consolidating
and making the Salesian Family
increase in numbers and quality
(cf. GC24); promoting a more cred-
ible and more prophetic style of re-
ligious poverty in the context of
Africa.
4.3 Chronicle of the General
Councillors
The Vicar of the Rector Maior
After the end of the summer ple-
nary session of the General Coun-
cil, on 29 Jdy 2011, the Vicar of
the Rector Major, Fr Adriano Bre-
golin, had a short break.
Afterwards inAugust, on the 3,
with the Rector Major he went to
Poland to take part in the VI In-
ternational Congress of Mary Help
of Christians being held in Czgsto-
chowa. On this occasion, also with
the Rector Major, he had a meet-
ing with the Provincials of Poland
and representatives of the 14
Groups of the Salesian Family pre-
sent at the Congress. On 6 August,
in the absence of the Rector Major,
who had gone to France where the
"Team Visit" to the West Europe
Region was taking place, he

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ACTIVITIES OF THE GENEBAL COUNCIL 51
presided at the solemn Concele-
bration, on the esplanade of the
Sanctuary of Jasna G6ra in the
presence ofall those taking part in
the Congress and many other pil-
grims. The Mass was broadcast on
television, across Poland.
On 7 August he returned to
Rome.
On Monday morning 15 August,
with the Rector Mqjor he went to
Castel Gandolfo to assist at the
Mass of the Holy Father in our
parish of "Saint Thomas of Vil-
lanova", on the Solemnity of the
Assumption.
The evening of the same day, 15
August, again with the Rector Ma-
jor, he left for Turin. On Tuesday
morning 16, at Colle Doru Bosco,he
took part in the solemn Concele-
bration at which the Rector Major
began the three year period of
preparation for the bicentenary of
the birth of Don Bosco. In the
evening he left for Madrid, to take
part in theWorldYouth Day.
On Wednesday 17, he took part
in the meeting with the represen-
tatives of the Salesian Youth
Movement, at CES Don Bosco; in
the evening, at Atocha, with the
Rector Major, he took part in the
Prayer Vigil with all the members
of the SYM who were in Madrid.
On ThursdaylS he accompanied
Fr Pascual Chixez on a visit to the
vocation stand located in the El
Retiro Park and, afterwards, he
took part in the pilgrimage with
the young people to welcome the
Holy Father at Cibeles. Likewise
he accompanied the Rector Major,
on 19, for another meeting with
the young people ofthe SYM from
Italy at Atocha and on 20 he took
part in the pilgrimage to Cuatro
Vientos, the site of the WYD Vigil.
On Sunday 21, when the cele-
bration of World Youth Day was
concluded the Rector Major re-
turned to Rome. Between Monday
22 August and Monday 29 August
the Vicar took a few days break,
returning to Rome on 30 August.
ln September, ot the morning
of 2 the Vicar of the Rector Major
left for Krakow, in Poland, where
on 3 September the Team Visit to
the Prouinces of Central and East
Europe began.
The Visit lasted between the af-
ternoon of the 3 and Wednesday 7
September. The same day 7 when
the Team Visit was over, Fr Adri-
ano Bregolin returned to Rome.
From 8 he spent some days with
his family and then returned to
the Generalate on 12, where he re-
mained until 16. He then left for
Ethiopia, for a formation meeting
for the Provincial Delegates of the
Salesian Family. Taking part in the

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52 ACTS OF THE GENEBAL COUNCIL
meeting were also the Daughters
of Mary Help of Christians. Hav-
ing arrived in Addis Abeba, the
Vicar of the Rector Major had a
meeting with the Rectors and the
Economers of the Vice Province.
Afterwards with all the Rectors
and the Economers he left, accom-
panied by Fr Roberto Bergamaschi
and other confreres for Dilla,
where he arrived late on the
evening of L7 September and met
all the local community.
The following morning Sunday
18 September, after the celebra-
tion of morning prayer, with the
priests of the community he con-
celebrated the principal parish
Mass, in Amaric. At the end, Fr
Adriano Bregolin greeted all the
faithful gathered in the parish
church.
After the Mass he also met the
local community of the Daughters
of Mary Help of Christians. In the
afternoon on the returnjourney to
Addis Abeba, they stopped first for
a short visit to the Salesian pres-
ence at Adamitullu and then the
community of Zway. Here he met
the confreres and visited their
work and the Centre for Social
Development managed by the
"Friends of Sidamo". He also vis-
ited the local community of the
Daughters of Mary Help of Chris-
tians, going to see their primary
school, high school and new para-
university institute. On 19 he
returned to Addis Abeba and on
20 made a courtesy call on the
Provincial Community of the FMA
and then visited the Salesian cen-
tres in Addis Abeba: Mekanissa
and Bosco Children, he where he
had lunch with the Salesians of
the two houses and met the young
people living in the reception cen-
tre.
Between 21 and 25 September
he took part in a Formation Meet-
ing for Delegates of the Salesian
Family, with members of the team
for the Salesian Family Sector and
the FMA team led by Sr Maria
Luisa Miranda. At the end of the
meeting on Sunday 25 Fr Adriano
Bregolin left for Italy and was
back at the Generalate on the
morning of 26.
At the beginning of October, on
Saturday morning 1, the Vicar of
the Rector Major took part in the
Curatorium of the UPS. Between
4 and 11 October he took part in
the work of the intermediate ses-
sion of the General Council during
which the situation was examined
in the two Salesian Regions Eosl
Asia - Oceania ardAfrica - Mada-
gascar
On Monday 17 October the Vic-
ar of the Rector Major went to the

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ACTIVITIES OF THE GENERAL COUNCIL 53
Dominican Republic. In the after-
noon of the same day he was wel-
comed by the Provincial Fr Victor
Pichardo who accompanied him to
the Provincial House. On 18 Octo-
ber in the morning he had a meet-
ing with the Provincial Council.
The main item dealt with was reli-
gious discipline. In the afternoon
of the same day he had a meeting
with the Provincial Formation
Commission. On 19 he met all
the Rectors and the Economers of
the Province speaking with them
about issues related to the anima-
tion of the community the accom-
paniment of the confreres and care
for religious discipline. In the
afternoon he celebrated Mass for
the Salesian Family, and in the
Don Rua formation community
met the postnovices.
On the morning of 20 he went to
Panama. He was welcomed by the
two Rectors of the Salesian houses
in Panama City. At the Don Bosco
Technical Institute he visited the
various sectors from the primary
school to the high school and the
Vocational Training Centre. Then
he met all the confreres of the two
communities and had a festive
lunch with them. In the evening
he celebrated Mass for the Sale-
sian Family in the Basilica dedi-
cated to Saint John Bosco, who is
particularly venerated in this city.
On 2L October he left for San
Salvador. On his arrival he was
welcomed by the confrere Fr Caf-
farelli who took him to the Sale-
sian House in Soyapango, Ciu-
dadela Don Bosco, which includes
several works, including the well-
known Don Bosco University.
Here in the evening he had a short
meeting with the confreres of the
house at evening prayer. The fol-
lowing day in the evening he took
part in the official ceremony for
the conferral of the "Doctorate
honoris causa" on the Rector Ma-
jor, who in the meantime had ar-
rived in San Salvador.
At midday on Sunday 23 Octo-
ber, he celebrated Mass with the
Rector Major in the Church of
Mary Help of Christians at Santa
Tecla. In the evening of the same
day the Team Visit to the Inter-
arruerica Region, began and con-
tinued until Friday 28.
At the end of the Team Visit on
Saturday 29 October Fr Adriano
Bregolin left for Cuba. Arriving at
Havana in the early afternoon he
was taken to the Saint John Bosco
Community - Vfbora, for a first
short visit. Then, the same after-
noon after visiting a missionary
chapel cared for by the Salesians,
on the outskirts of the Capital, he
went to the "Mary Help of Chris-
tians" community in the old city.

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54 ACTS OF THE GENERAL COUNCIL
The following morning, Sunday 30
October, he celebrated Mass in the
parish church of Vibora. After
Mass he met the Salesian Family
and the young people ofthe parish
and then had a short meeting also
with the Volunteers of Don Bosco,
and their Regional President. In
the afternoon he paid a courtesy
call on the Community of the
Daughters of Mary Help of Chris-
tians in Guanabacoa, on the out-
skirts of the Capital, and then re-
turned to the "Mary Help of Chris-
tians" community. Early on the
morning of 31 the Vicar met the
Nuncio Apostolic Archbishop
Bruno Musar6 and then accompa-
nied by Fr Br-uno Roccaro and the
confrere Fr Julio Fern6ndez he
went to Santa Clara for a short vis-
it to the confreres of that Commu-
nity. During the journey he also
made a short courtesy call on the
FMA Sisters in Manguito. The Vic-
ar said Mass with the confreres at
Santa Clara, and blessed the re-
stored statue of Mary Help of
Christians and then met the Sale-
sian Family and the Educative
Community of the Oratory.
On 1 Nouember, Solemnity of
All Saints, Fr Adriano Bregolin
again met all the confreres in
Havana at a festive lunch and in
the afternoon, after a short visit to
the Archbishop of the Capital,
Cardinal Jaime Lucas Ortega y
Alamino, he celebrated Mass in
the "Mary Help of Christians"
Community with the presence of
the young people and the Salesian
Family. Late in the evening he left
for ltaly, arriving at the Gener-
alate on 2 November.
On Tuesday morning 15, with
the Rector Major he went to the
Vatican for a meeting with the
Substitute of the Secretary of
State, Archbishop Angelo Becciu.
On Monday 21, at the House of
the Paolini in Ariccia, he had a
meeting with the male and female
religious and the lay people of the
Orioni Family, gathered at their
annual Assembly.
On the following days, Wednes-
day 23, Thursday 24 and, Friday 25
November, at the Salesianum, he
took part in the Half-yearly As-
sembly of the Union of Superiors
General (USG), at which the Rec-
tor Major Fr Pascual Ch6vez
presided.
In the afternoon of 25 Novembeq
accompanying the Rector Major
and with the Regional Councillor
Fr Marek C}rrrzan, he left for Lon-
don for a meeting - between 25
and 27 - with the Provincials and
Vice Provincials of the Provinces of
the Atlantic Zone: GBR, IRL-Mal-
ta, BEN-Holl, GER, AUS.

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ACTIVITIES oF THE GENERAL coUNcIL 55
On Sunday afternoon 27, at the
end of the meeting, with the Rec-
tor Major he visited the Commu-
nity of Farnborough, where there
was a meeting of the confreres of
the communities of Farnborough,
Chertsey and Battersea.
In the afternoon of 2 December
the Vicar of the Rector Major went
to Mogliano Veneto, where the fol-
lowing morning 3 December he led
a Day of Recollection for the Ed-
ucative and Pastoral Community
of the Astori Institute. In the
evening he then returned to Rome
to the Generalate to begin the
work of the winter plenary session
of the General Council.
The Councillor
for Formation
When the summer plenary ses-
sion of the General Council had
come to an end, in the month of
August, between 1 and 3, the Gen-
eral Councillor for Formation or-
ganised the 5'h Meeting of the
Commission for the Project for Eu-
rope at Santiago de Compostela.
On this occasion the Commission
reflected on the following issues:
the challenges and the opportuni-
ties provided by European culture
with regard to evangelisation, the
phenomenon of migration in Eu-
rope, the communication of the
Project within the European
Provinces, the involvement of the
non European Provinces. With the
Commission he also had a meeting
with the Provincial Council of SLE
at Cambados. Between 6 and 11 he
took part at Lyon (France) in the
Tearn Visit to the West Europe Re-
gion. Then 22-28 he took part in
the V Congress and the Assembly
of the Salesian Biblical Association
at Jerusalem "Ratisbonne".
In Septernber 3-7 in Krakow he
took part in the Team Visit to the
North Europe Region - central and
eq.stern zone. Between 9 and 27 he
visited India and Myanmar. In In-
dia between 12 and 15 in Calcutta
he took part in the Regional Com-
mission for Formation of South
Asia, at which the issues dealt
with included: vocational fidelity,
missionary formation, affective
maturity, the aspirantate, the
quinquennium, an evaluation of
and proposals regarding intellec-
tual formation. During this same
journey to India he visited the as-
pirantate and the prenovitiate at
Azimganj (INC), the prenovitiate
at Coimbatore (INT), the post-
novitiate at Yercaud (INT), the
novitiate at Yellagiri Hills (INM),
the 'Don Bosco' and 'Sacred
Heart' aspirantates in Tirupattur

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56 ACIS OF THE GENERAL COUNCIL
(INM), the new theologate at
Kavarapettai, (INM), where first
of all he met those in formation
and then the formation personnel
ofthe respective Provinces; he aI-
so reflected with the Provincial
Commissions for Formation in
INC, INM and INT. In Myanmar
he visited the community in Yan-
gon, where the students oftheolo-
ry attend the National Major Sem-
inary, and then the aspirantate
and novitiate at Anisakan, the
postnovitiate at Pyin Oo Lwin, the
prenovitiate at Thibaw, meeting
those in formation and then the
formation personnel. During his
travels in the two countries, Fr
Cereda also paid courtesy calls on
the Archbishops of Chennai, Yan-
gon and Mandalay and the four
communities of the FMA in Myan-
mar. On his travels he also had
meetings with other confreres: in
India with those working with
street children in Salem, with the
confreres of Katpadi, Vellore, Tirrr-
pattur and the confreres in the
Chennai communities. Also in
Myanmar he gave a conference to
the confreres of the Vice Province
at the beginning of their Retreat.
On October t he took part, with
the Rector Major, in the "Curato-
rium" of the UPS; on L2 at the in-
auguration of the academic year of
our University; on 17 at the inau-
guration of the new premises for
the "Saint Thomas" community of
the Vice Province of the UPS. Be-
tween 19 and 31 he was in El Sal-
vador, where he took part in the
meeting of the Regional Commis-
sion for Formation of the Inter-
america Region at Ayagualo, and
then in t};.e Team Visit to the same
Region at San Salvador and final-
ly in a meeting of the Provincials
of the Region, also at Ayagualo. In
the Regional Commission the is-
sues dealt with were those similar
to the ones at the Commission for
South Asia.
In Nouember the Councillor be-
gan the Extraordinary Visitation,
in the name of the Rector Major, of
the UPS Vice Prouince with the
commemoration of deceased Sale-
sians in the cemetery at Genzano,
with a meeting of the Rectors and
then with the Provincial Council;
afterwards he visited the "Saint
Thomas" and "Zephyrinus Na-
muncur6". Communities. Then
between 23-25 in Rome he took
part in the Assembly of the Supe-
riors General. Between 25 and
27 he took part in a meeting of
Salesian Missionaries in the Pro-
ject for Europe. Finally between
28and 30 at Turin-Valdocco he met
the "Saint Francis of Sales" com-
munity and held the "Curatori-
um" for the stage of specific for-

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ACTIVITIES OF THE GENERAL COUNCIL 57
mation for Salesian Brothers and
then presided at the Commission
for the Project for the Salesian
Places of special interest.
ln December on 10 he presided
at the "Curatorium" of the "Ze-
phyrinus Namuncur6" communi-
ty of Gerini in Roma; on 13 he
took part in the Theological Com-
mission of the Union of Superiors
General; between 17 and 19 he
chaired the Commission for the
Project for Europe.
The Councillor
forYouth Ministry
Between August and November
2011, the Councillor for Youth
Ministry, Fr Fabio Attard, was
mainly engaged in meetings of
Youth Ministry Delegates at
Regional level: the meeting for
the Africa-Madagascar, Region at
Lubumbashi, D.R of the, between
16 and 21 September; for the
America South Cone Region, at
Campos do Jord6o, Brazil, be-
tween 26 September and 1 Octo-
ber; for the Interamerica Region,
at San Salvador, El Salvador,
between 19 and 23 October; for
South Asia, at Bangalore, India,
between 2 and 7 November; for
North Europe at Vienna, Austria,
between 15 and 20 November;
for the West Europe Region, at
Madrid, Spain, on Saturday 4 De-
cember 2011. As their main sub-
ject these meetings had the pre-
sentation and examination of the
document on Rethinking Salesian
Youth Ministry.
Together with these meetings
the Councillor took part in a meet-
ings of the Commission for the
Project for Europe, held at Santia-
go de Compostela, Spain, between
31 July and 3 August 2011.
During WorldYouth Day, held at
Madrid between 16 and 2l August
2011, the Councillor accompanied
the Centro Nq.cional Salesiano
de Pastoral Juuenil in Spain. The
Centre had responsibility for the
organisation and for welcoming
about 8000 young people as well as
the celebration of the day for the
SYM for aII the Salesian young
people from 53 countries.
Between 22 and31 August 20L1,
the Councillor was in Japan
preaching a Retreat and having a
meeting with the Salesian Family
ofJapan.
On 1 September 2011, Fr. Fabio
Attard gave a conference at a Con-
gress on the challenges facing
Youth Ministry organised by the
Salesian Centre of Theological
Studies in Manila.
After this he took part in the
"Team Visit" to the Provinces of

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58 ACIS OF THE GENERAL coUNcL
Central and Eastern Europe - in-
cludingPoland - KSIB CIMEC and
the Circumscription EST - which
was held at Krakow between 3 and
7 September 2011. As well as this
one the Councillor also took part
in two other "Team Visits": that to
West Europe held at Lyon, F'rance,
between 6 and 11 August 2011;
and that to Interamerica, held at
San Salvador, between 24 and28
October 2011.
In addition the Councillor
presided at two celebrations of
professions: that at Colle Don
Bosco for the newly professed from
the Novitiate at Pinerolo, and that
for the perpetually professed from
the Lombardy-Emilian Province,
held at Milan on Sunday 11 Sep-
tember 2011.
Between 12 and 15 September
2011, the Councillor presided to-
gether with Sr Maria Carmen
FMA, at the first meeting of the
newly re-constituted SDB - FMA
Commission for Salesian Schools
in Europe.
There was also the first seminar
on spiritual direction - Saint
Francis of Sales and spiritual di-
rectioru - held in Rome between 11
and 13 November 2011 with the
participation of Salesians and
FMA engaged in the formation of
spiritual directors in various parts
of the world.
Two celebrations which the
Councillor attended were that for
the 25'h anniversary of the "Don
Bosco Haus" in Vienna, on Sunday
9 October, and that for the 10'n an-
niversary of the DBYN in Brussels
on Saturday 15 October 2011.
The Councillor
for Social Communication
After the end of the summer ple-
nary session of the General Coun-
cil, the Councillor for Social Com-
munication, Fr Filiberto Gonzdlez,
spent some time with work in the
Department. The between 15 and
21 August he took part in the
WorldYouth Day in Madrid.
Between 24 August and 14 Sep-
tember he was in the Mexico -
Guadalajara (MEG) Province,
where he met the Provincial and
his Council, the Provincial Dele-
gate for Social Communication
and his team. He celebrated Mass
and visited the formation person-
nel and students of the communi-
ty of the Theologate at Tlaque-
paque. Afterwards he went to the
city of San Luis Potosi, where he
met the confreres of the local Sale-
sian community. Then he visited
his mother and family.
Between 15 and 18 September
he was at S5o Paulo - Lapa. On 16

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ACTIVITIES OF THE GENERAL COUNCIL 59
he met the Provincial, the Rector
of the CIS-BRASIL centre and
the Director of the Don Bosco
Publishing House. He took part in
a meeting of the Delegates for
Formation in the South Cone.
Then on the evening of 18 he
reached the Provincial House of
South Argentina Province (ARS)
in Buenos Aires. On 19 he said
Mass and had a meeting with the
students and formation personnel
ofthe Theologate at San Justo; af-
terwards he went to the San Jos6
community in Rosario, in the
Province of North Argentina
(ARN. On 20 he said Mass in the
Prenovitiate at Funes; then in the
San Jos6 house he had a meeting
with the Delegate for Social Com-
munication of ARN and his team,
and then visited the work and
the community of the 'Sagrado
Coraz6n' and of 'Domingo Savio'.
On 21 he visited and spoke to the
personnel at the Don Bosco Press
and the EDEBE in Buenos Aires.
On 22 he met the Salesian Bul-
letin team and also the Delegate
for SC for the ARS Province with
his team.
Between 24 and 27 September
he chaired a meeting of the
Provincial Delegates for SC in the
America South Cone and the In-
teramerica Regions held at the
studentate in Lapa, at S5o Paulo,
to improve knowledge and appli-
cation of the new SSCS 2.0.
Between the evening of 27 and
the morning of 30, at Campos do
Jord6o, he took part first in a
meeting of the Provincials of the
South Cone Region at which the
Regional presided and then at a
meeting of the same Provincials
with their Delegates for Youth
Ministry, with the Regional and
the Councillors forYouth Ministry
and for the Missions, to consider
the progress so far made in the co-
ordination of the three Depart-
ments for the Mission.
Between 3 and 12 October he
took part in the meetings of the
'intermediate session' of the Gen-
eral Council. After this, in Kigali,
Rwanda, between 19 and 2l he
took part in meetings of the
Provincial Delegates for Forma-
tion in the Africa-Madagascar Re-
gion, and between 23 and 27 of the
X CIVAM, at which the Regional
presided, with the Provincials and
Delegates for SC in the Africa-
Madagascar Region, and again
presented the new SSCS 2.0.
In November between 1 and 14
he visited the Italian Provinces in
order to present the new SSCS 2.0
and see how it was being imple-
mented locally, and meeting the
Provincial Delegate for SC and
his team, and where possible, the

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60 ACIS OF THE GENERAL coUNcIL
Provincial and his Council, the
groups and works engaged in
various aspects of SC and the for-
mation houses, in the following or-
der: ICP (Provincial, ELLEDICI,
Turin-Crocetta, Valdocco YM - SC
and Press, Pinerolo, Prima Radio
Asti, Rosetta), ILE (Milan-Saint
Ambrose, SC Team, Nave, open
community, Forli), IME (Naples,
Caserta, Molfetta: Provincial, Vice
Provincial YM - SC; Bari, Lecce),
ICC (Rome - Sacred Heart YM -
SC, SC Team, Rome - Saint Fran-
cis of Sales CCS: Formation per-
sonnel and SC, Radio Meridiano
12), INE (Venice-Mestre: Provin-
cial and Council, YM - SC, Saint
Mark - IUS, 'Artemides Zatti'
community), ISI (Catania: Provin-
cial, YM - SC, Messina: Saint
Thomas and Mamma Margaret).
Between 16 and 24 November he
visited the four Provinces of Spain,
for the same purpose and meeting
the same sets of people as previ-
ously mentioned, in the following
order: SLE (Le6n: Provincial e
YM - SC; Burgos), SBI (Bilbao -
Provincial House: Provincial, YM
- SC, SC Team), SMA (Madrid -
Provincial House: YM - SC; Don
Bosco House Director CCS), SVA
(Valencia: Provincial House, San
Juan Bosco Centre Assisi; Godel-
leta: local SC Delegates and SC
Team). On 22 at Madrid 'Don
Bosco House' he had a meeting
with the Iberian Conference at
which the Regional presided in or-
der to present the SSCS 2.0.
The Councillor for the Missions
When the summer session of the
General Council was over, the
Councillor for the Missions, Fr.
V6clav Klement left for the 6'h
meeting of the Commission for the
"Project for Europe" at Santiago
de Compostela, Spain. As a result
of the meeting he was charged
with arranging an enquiry into the
Salesian involvement for/with mi
grants in Europe. The subject of
migration was seen as one of the
key issues for the re-vitalisation
from within of our charism in Eu-
rope. After spending three days in
Taiz6, he took part, with other
Councillors, in the "Team Visit" to
the West Europe Region in Lyon,
France (6-11August).
In August one after another
there were three meetings of the
Study Days on the first proclarna-
tion of Christ, jointly organised
with the FMA Area for the Mis-
sions. At the Days for South Asia
in Kolkata (INC) Fr Klement was
unable to be present (5-11August);
but he was present at the Days for
EastAsia (Sampran, Thailand, 14-

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ACTIVITIES OF THE GENERAL COUNCIL 61
18 August) and for Oceania (Port
Moresby, Papua New Guinea, 21-
25 August), and noted the enthusi-
asm ofthose taking part from va-
tious groups of the Salesian Fami-
ly. On the return journey to Rome
Fr Klement took advantage of four
days stop over in the Philippines,
visiting the two Provinces FIS and
FIN, especially the initial forma-
tion houses (Parafiaque and Can-
lubang - FIN, Lawaan - FIS).
The 142il Missionary Expedition
was prepared for by a 25 day
course at which for the first time
in addition to 32 SDB, 6 Sisters of
Charity of Jesus also took part be-
fore their departure for Southern
Sudan their first African destina-
tion. Taking part in the Mission-
ary Expedition on 25 September at
Valdocco were also 20 FMA, 3
CMB and lT lay volunteers.
Before the "intermediate ses-
sion" of the General Council, Fr.
Klement took part with the other
two Councillors for the Salesian
Mission in a meeting of Provincials
and Delegates for Youth Ministry
in the South Cone Region at Cam-
pos do Jord6o (BSP). Before this
meeting he stopped in Brasilia
(BBH) for a visit to the prenovi-
tiate and to the National Centre
for missionary formation of the
Bishops' Conference of Brazil. On
the way back to Rome he stopped
in Montevideo (URU) for a short
visit connected with missionary
voluntary sewrvice (30 September
- 1 Octobre). During the interme-
diate session Fr. Klement was able
to meet personally with all20 SDB
participants in the 16'n Course of
ongoing formation for missionaries
at the UPS, Rome. Thanks to the
interest and the concern ofthe Su-
perior of the UPS Vice Province, Fr
Joaquim D'Souza, for the first time
the Salesian missionaries were
able to stay at the UPS.
After the intermediate session of
the General Council, Fr Klement
took part in the Council meeting
and the General Assembly of the
Don Bosco Network (Rome, 12-13
October). Afterwards he left for
Mexico, where he stayed between
13 and 23 October. In the two
Provinces MEG and MEM he met
the Provincial Councils, spoke to
the young confreres and candi-
dates in the formation houses. The
main purpose was a first visit to
the Mixepolitana Prelature (with
headquarters in Ayutla) which was
celebrating the 50'h anniversary
ofthe arrival ofthe first Salesians
in 1962. With the Bishop of the
Prelatre Mons. H6ctor Guerrero
C6rdova SDB and the Provincial of
MEM Fr. Miguel Agustin Aguilar
Medina, the Councillor paid a short
visit in the Prelature to the eight

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62 Acrs oF THE ?ENERAL couNCtL
Salesian presences and the minor
seminary opened two years ago.
Immediately after this Fr Kle-
ment took part in the "Team Vis-
it" to the Interamerica Region at
San Salvador (CAM, 24-28 Octo-
ber). It was a very well prepared
Visit which gave a new impetus to
a new project for Hispanic mi-
grants in the United States.
After this Team Visit the Coun-
cillor led an event for the two Re-
gions of America, at Quito - Cum-
bay6. It was a seminar for the Del-
egates for missionary animation,
with the collaboration of the Re-
gional Centre for Ongoing Forma-
ton at Quito which brought to-
gether almost all the Provinces of
America for four days.
Fr Klement dedicated the first
three weeks of November visiting
the South Asia Region. In the frrst
week he was in Hyderabad (INH),
where in the Provincial House
there was a second Seminar for the
Planning and Development Offices
between 5 and 11 November, with
the presence of 88 participants
from 5 continents, 27 lay people
and 61 SDB with the Economer
General, Bro. Jean Paul Muller. Af-
ter the Seminar the Councillor
paid a short visit to the 16 mis-
sionary presences in the three re-
gions of first evangelisation - at
Muniguda in the State of Orissa
(INH), in the State of Tripura
(ING) and flrnally for a week in the
State ofArunachal Pradesh (IND).
On22 November with the Region-
al Councillor Fr Maria Arokiam
Kanaga, he took part in the official
opening of the first Salesian Mis-
sionary Aspirantate after the Sec-
ond Vatican Council at Sirajuli, in
the diocese of Tezpur GNG). In Ju-
ly 2011 six formation personnel
with 13 prenovices and 40 aspi-
rants began the first formation ex-
perience outside Europe, inspired
by the tradition of the 15 mission-
ary aspirantates in Europe - start-
ing with that of Iwea (1922-1965).
During the last week before the
plenary session of the General
Council the Councillor, together
with the Councillor for Formation
Fr Francesco Cereda, led the
1"'meeting for the missionaries
present in Europe (Rome, (25-27
November). 40 participants from
eight European Provinces shared
the experience of the first years of
the 'Project for Europe' from the
point of view of the Provinces
which welcome them and the new
arrivals fitting into the Provinces.
Finally between 28 November
and 1 December Fr Klement
chaired a Seminar for the Euro-
pean Delegates for Missionary An-
imation in Turin-Valdocco. With
the Councillor for the North Eu-

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ACTIVITIES OF THE GENERAL COUNCIL 63
rope Region, Fr Marek Chrzan,
and some members of the three
Departments for the Salesian Mis-
sion (YM, Missions, SC) 23 Dele-
gates for Missionary Animation in
the European Provinces took part
with some members of the Sale-
sian Family. Direct contact with
the places associated with Don
Bosco at Valdocco and Colle Don
Bosco provided valuable mission-
ary inspiration. The Councillor re-
turned to Rome onl2 December.
Thanks to the collaboration of
the Social Communication De-
partment, all the events of this pe-
riod were available in real time on
the new virtual platform (AGORA
- Missions on the site) for a shar-
ing of computerised documents
among those taking part and those
who are unable to be present and
want to make a contribution.
The Economer General
Immediately after the conclu-
sion of the plenary session of the
General Council, Bro Jean Paul
Muller had a meeting at Benedik-
beuern with some Foundations
supporting the Salesian mission.
During the "Team Visit" at Ly-
on/France, the exchange of ideas
and the reflection carried out on
the changes taking place at pre-
sent in the area of the Economy in
Europe showed very different sit-
uations among the various Provin-
ces in Spain, France, Belgium and
Portugal.
Between 20 and 28 August the
Economer chaired a Seminar on
the importance of ethical behav-
iour in the banks and financial in-
stitutions. He then spent some
days at the Missions Office in
Bonn planning the key occasions
for the new school year.
At the beginning of September
in Rome at the Direzione Generale
there were discussions with col-
laborators in order to plan the sec-
ond half of the year.
Between 4 and 11 September, on
the occasion ofthe "Team Visit" at
Krakow, the Economer had the op-
portunity to make some visits to
significant works in the Province
and to hold meetings with the
Economers in the Region.
After the meeting of the Council
of Administration of the Missions
Office in Bonn on 13 September,
the Economer General made a vis-
it to the Salesian Vice Province of
Harti, in particular to the Provin-
cial Economer's Office, to examine
new projects together. Concerns
were expressed about the situation
of the confreres, about formation
and guaranteeing youth projects
for the long-term.

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64 ACTS oF THE GENERAL coUNcIL
At the end of September and
the first two weeks of October the
Economer was in Rome and took
part in the "intermediate session"
of the General Council; he was
involved in reflections on the
running of the 'Salesianum' and
in planning necessary work to
be done at the Direzione Gen-
erale.
Between 15 and 18 October he
was in New York taking part in the
annual meeting of a Catholic Foun-
dation; immediately afterwards he
was present at the "Team Visit" in
San Salvador until S0 October. The
meeting with the Provincial
Economers made clear the impor-
tance of a continuingprocess in the
future to create a close network
providing assistance to the various
Provinces in the Region for long-
term organisation.
On 3-11 November with the
Councillor for the Missions, the
Economer General led an inter-
national seminar for PDO (Plan-
ning and Development Offices),
which provided the opportunity to
meet the Economers and those
responsible for the PDO in more
than 35 Provinces. A visit to
projects for abandoned youth in
Birda (the Bangalore Province)
and the opening of a printing
press in the Hyderabad Province
were opportunities for meeting
people and sharing the Salesian
charism.
The visit to the Provincial
Economers Office in the Antilles
Province (15-20 November) at
Santo Domingo strengthened rela-
tionships with the confreres re-
sponsible for the sector of the
economy, for the Foundation and
for many other institutions in the
Province.
At the invitation of the Region-
al Councillor, the Economer Gen-
eral met the Iberian Provincial
Conference in Madrid. They dis-
cussed especially concerns about
the economic situation following
some political changes in Spain
and in Portugal, but also the fact
that new situations with regard to
some financial Institutions re-
quire new ideas and decisive ac-
tion.
With a talk on preventive peda-
gory the Economer made a contri-
bution to a congress on pedagogy
held in Berlin on 25 November.
Finally, before returning to
Rome for the plenary session of
the Council, between 27 Novem-
ber and 2 December Jean Paul
Muller was in Turin to take part
in the Commission planning
events in view of the year 20t5
and to reflect with the Provincial
Economer on the current chal-
lenges facing the Province. At the

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ACTIVITIES OF THE GENERAL COUNCIL 65
same time he met the Delegates
for missionary animation during
their DIAM 2011 Congress.
The Councillor for the
Africa - Madagasear Region
After the end of the plenary ses-
sion of the General Council, the
Regional Councillor for Africa and
Madagascar, Fr Guillermo Basa-
fles, left Rome on 4 August, and
was able to preside at the installa-
tion of two superiors in the Region:
on 6 August, in the Sanctuary of
Mary Help of Christians at Upper
HilI - Nairobi, the installation of Fr
Giovanni Rolandi as the new
Provincial of the East Africa
Province (AFE), and on 10 August,
at the headquarters of the Vice
Province that of Fr Claudio Ciolli
as the new Superior of the Vice
Province of Madagascar (MDG).
Between 13 August and 30 Sep-
tember, in the name of the Rector
Major, he carried out the Extraor-
dinary Visitation of the Vice
Prouince of Mozambique (MOZ),
visiting every house and meeting
every confrere. During this period
the community of the Headquar-
ters of the Vice Province trans-
ferred to the residence in Maputo.
In the first days of October Fr
Guillermo took part in the "inter-
mediate session" of the General
Council, in the course of which the
Africa - Madagascar Region was
examined.
On 13 and 14 October at DBYES
in Nairobi, Kenya, he took part
in the first African Congress of
ACSSA. Afterwards he went to
neighbouring Uganda, where he
was able to visit all four communi-
ties, and in particular the new
foundation in Gulu, in the north of
the country.
On 19 October the Regional
Councillor arrived in Kigali, Ruan-
da, where the annual meeting of
the Regional Commission for For-
mation was already taking place in
the new Headquarters of the Vice
Province of the Great Lakes (AGL).
Immediately afterwards between
24 ard 28, he chaired the meetings
of the X Assembly of the Provin-
cials' and Vice Provincials' Confer-
ence of Africa and Madagascar
(CTVAM).
Between 31 October and 4 No-
vember he paid a visit to the Vice
Province of Ethiopia-Eritrea
(AET), taking part in a meeting of
the Provincial Council at Addis
Abeba and visiting some of our
houses in Ethiopia, particularly
that in Dilla.
Between 5 and 14 November
Fr Basafles paid another visit this
time to the Vice Province of Ango-

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66 ACIS OF THE GENERAL COUNCIL
la (ANG). In addition to also here
meeting the Provincial Council he
was able to visit almost all the
houses and meet almost all the
confreres.
On 15 November he arrived at
Lom6, in Togo, where he was able
to visit all three Salesian commu-
nities, stopping especially in the
interprovincial formation houses:
the Novitiate and the Post-Novi-
tiate.
On 17 he arrived in Cotonou,
Benin, where he had the joy of tak-
ing part with the confreres and the
Salesian Family in the Apostolic
Visit of Benedict XVI.
On 23 November the Regional
Councillor returned to the Gener-
alate with the intention of leaving
the following day for Eritrea; the
only country in the 38 which
make up the Africa - Madagascar
Region, which Fr Guillermo has
not yet visited. But the authorities
in Asmara, for the second time,
did not give him an entry visa.
Having cancelled the flight, be-
tween 26 and 30 November, he
visited the "Saint Thomas" com-
munity of the students of theolory
in Messina - ISI, meeting especial-
ly the 14 students from Africa and
Madagascar who are doing their
formation there. During these
days in Sicily he also took the op-
portunity to have a routine med-
ical check-up which confirmed his
good state of health.
The Councillor for the
Latin America - South Cone
Region
After the summer session of the
General Council, the Regional for
Latin America - South Cone Fr
Natale Vitali, left to take part in
the 'Curatorium' of the Regional
Centre for the Salesian Brother
(CRESCO) in Guatemala City. The
Centre is for the two Regions of
America. This year the South
Cone Region has seven confreres
and two formation personnel in
the Centre. Taking part in the 'Cu-
ratorium' were the two Regionals
of America and the Provincials
who have confreres in formation.
Afterwards he went to the San
Paolo Province in Brazil, to hold a
meeting, on 3 August, with the
Provincial Council and the Rec-
tors, to present to them the Letter
of the Rector Major for the conclu-
sion of the Extraordinary Visita-
tion previously held.
On 4 August the Regional began
the Extraordinary Visitation of the
Prouince of Paraguay. The "Mary
Assumed into Heaven" Province
has thirteen Salesian communities
and 91 Salesians. Particularly sig-

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ACTIVITIES OF THE GENERAL COUNCIL 67
nificant were two visits to the mis-
sionary communities of Chaco
Paraguayo and to the headquar-
ters of the Vicariate whose Bishop,
Mons. Edmundo Valenzuela, on 8
November was appointed Coadju-
tor Archbishop of the capital
Asunci6n.
On 23 September the Regional
took part in the continental meet-
ing for Provincial Delegates for So-
cial Communication, at which the
Councillor for Social Communica-
tion was present.
Two days later 25, he took part
in the 'Curatorium' of the Theolo-
gate in Argentina, in Buenos Aires,
where there are 13 students of
Theolory from the two Provinces
ofArgentina.
Having returned to Brazil, on
28 September Fr Vitali took part
in the annual meeting of the
eleven Provincials of the Region at
which the Councillors for Youth
Ministry the Missions and Social
Communication were present. The
meeting ended with Mass cele-
brated in the Basilica of "Nossa
Senhora Aparecida" Patron of
Brazil. This was followed by the
Extraordinary Visitation of the
San Paolo Province.
On 24 and 25 October the Re-
gional took part in the meeting of
the two Provincial Councils of Ar-
gentina to assess the progress be-
ing made in the two Provinces in
many shared services.
Between 3 and 5 November he
took part in the meeting of the
Salesian Centre for Ongoing For-
mation (CSRFP) in Quito, a Cen-
tre which is now for the two Re-
gions of America.
Afterwards between 7 and 9 No-
vember he organised the consulta-
tion for the new Provincial of San
Paolo, in three different places:
Lapa, Lorena and Araras; all to-
gether 124 Salesians took part.
Finally on 21 and 22 November
Fr Vitali took part in a meeting of
the Provincials of Brazil; after
which he returned to Rome.
The Councillor for the
Interamerica Region
When the summer session of the
General Council was over, Fr Es-
teban Ortiz Gonzdlez, Councillor
for the Interamerica Region, on
Sunday 31 July travelled to
Guatemala City (Guatemala) to
take part - on 1 and 2 August - in
the'Curatorium' of CRESCO (Re-
gional Centre for the Salesian
Brother).
On Wednesday 3 August he had
a meeting with the Provincial Fr
Alejandro Hern6ndez and his
Council, in particular to prepare

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68 ACIS OF THE GENERAL COUNCIL
the logistical part of the "Team
Visit", to be held in San Salvador
(CAM) between 24 and,28 October.
The same day 3 August he set
out for Medellin (COM), to take
part on the following day in the
'Curatorium' of the Novitiate at
La Ceja, where the Novices from
the four Provinces (BOL, COB,
COM and PER) are.
On Thursday 4 August he trav-
elled to Bogot6 (COB) and took parb
- on Friday 5 and Saturday 6 - in
the'Curatorium' of the Formation
Community for the students of
theology from the Provinces of
(BOL, COB, COM, ECU PER).
On Saturday 6 August he moved
on to Caracas (VEN) and met the
Provincial Fr. Luciano Stefani and
the Provincial Council in order to
present the Letter with the rec-
ommendations of the Rector Ma-
jor after the recent Extraordinary
Visitation of the Province carried
out in the early part of this year
(2011).
On Monday 8 August the Re-
gional Councillor travelled to New
York to visit his family, and on
Thursday 11he was at Stony Point
(NY) with Fr Tom Dunne, the
Provincial of New Rochelle, to or-
ganise the Extraordinary Visita-
tion of the East United States
Province (SUE) to be held during
the first part of 2012; at the same
time he greeted the confreres who
were making their retreat.
On Sunday 21 August he went to
Santo Domingo (Dominican Re-
public) to begin lhe Extraordinary
Visitation of the Saint John Bosco
Prouince of the Antilles (ANT);the
following day he had a talk with
the Provincial Fr. Victor Pichardo,
followed by a first meeting with
the Provincial Council.
On Tuesday 23 he began visiting
the 28 Communities which the
Province has in three countries:
Cuba, Puerto Rico and the Do-
minican Republic.
In the first place he visited the
Communities (17) in the Domini-
can Republic. On 6 October in
Puerto Rico would begin to visit
the Communities (6) on that is-
land.
On Sunday 23 October, the Re-
gional Councillor interrupted the
Extraordinary Visitation to the
Antilles and travelled to San Sal-
vador (El Salvador) to coordinate
the Team Visit to the Interamerica
Region. This took place between
24 and,28 October with the partic-
ipation of 94 Salesians (all the
Provincials with the members of
the Provincial Councils); the Rec-
tor Major, who called the meeting
and presided, was accompanied by
his Vicar Fr Adriano Bregolin, and
by five General Councillors: Fr.

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ACTIVITIES OF THE GENERAL COUNCIL 69
Francesco Cereda, Fr Fabio At-
tard, Bro Jean Paul Mtiller, Fr V6-
clav Klement and Fr Esteban Or-
tiz Gonziiez.
Extraordinary indeed was the
welcome given by the Confreres of
CAM and the logistical organisa-
tion which facilitated the success
of this "Team Visit" 2011.
After the Team Visit the Region-
al Councillor chaired a meeting of
the Provincials held on 29 and 30
October at Ayagualo (El Salvador).
On Monday 31 October he trav-
elled to Bogot6, where the follow-
ing day he met with Fr. Mario Per-
esson, Provincial of Bogot6 (COB)
and his Council to assess the im-
plementation of the recommenda-
tions of the Rector Major after the
Extraordinary Visitation in 2009.
On Tuesday 1 November the Re-
gional went to Quito (Ecuador)
and the following day said Mass at
the meeting for the Provincial
Delegates for Missionary Anima-
tion from the two Regions of
America, being held in Cumbay6.
On 3 and 4 November at the
Salesian Centre for Ongoing For-
mation (CSRFP) he took part in a
meeting of the "Extended Team",
with Fr Natale Vitali, Regional
Councillor for Latin America -
South Cone, representatives ofthe
Departments for Formation and for
Youth Ministry (Fr. Horacio L6pez
and Fr. Rafael Borges, respective-
ly), the Coordinator of Formation
for CISUR (Fr. Luis Timossi) and
the permanent members of the
CSR Team (Fr. Javier Altamirano,
Fr. Fernando Peraza, Fr. Julio
Olarte and Fr. Josu6 Nascimento).
On Saturday 5 November, the
Regional Councillor returned to
the Antilles Province and began
visiting the Communities (5) of
Cuba, starting with Santiago di
Cuba and ending with Havana.
On Saturday 19 November he
went to Santo Domingo to hold
some meetings with the Provincial
Commissions to prepare his final
report; on 25 he had a meeting
with the Rectors of the Communi-
ties of ANT and on Saturday 26
there was the concluding meeting
of the Extraordinary Visitation
with a considerable group of con-
freres; in the afternoon he had a
meeting with the Provincial and
his Council.
On Monday 28 he travelled to
Port-au-Prince to visit the Sale-
sian works in the Vice Province of
Haiti (HAI) which are within the
area affected by the earthquake in
January last year (2010); on Tues-
day 29 he had a meeting with the
Superior of the Vice Province Fr.
Ducange Sylvain, and his Council.
Finally on Wednesday 30 No-
vember, Fr. Esteban Ortiz made

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70 ACTS OF THE GENERAL COUNCIL
the return journey to Rome to
take part in the winter plenary
session of the General Council.
The Councillor for the
East Asia and Oceania Region
After the conclusion of the ple-
na4r session of the General Coun-
cil, the Regional Councillor for
East Asia - Oceania, Fr. Andrew
Wong, Ieft Rome on 31July and ar-
rived on l August in Manila, where
he stopped briefly to learn about
the state of health of the Provin-
cial, Fr Eligio Cruz. On 3 August
from Manila he went to Japan , al-
so here to learn about the state of
health of the Provincial Fr. Aldo
Cipriani. Both Provincial are car-
rying out their role fully with the
medical attention and the medi-
cines they are receiving.
On 4 August the Regional ar-
rived in Bangkok, Thailand, where
he began t}:.e Extraordinary Visi-
tation of the Province. He contin-
ued this until 31 August, when he
interrupted it in order to go to
Manila to take part in the 'Cura-
torium' of the Region at the Don
Bosco Centre of Studies in
Paraflaque, Metro-Manila. After
this meeting the Regional had per-
sonal meetings with some of the
Provincials.
On 3 September Fr. Andrew
Wong returned to Thailand to con-
tinue the Extraordinary Visita-
tion. On 6 September he arrived in
Cambodia, to visit the community
in the city ofPoipet, on the border
with Thailand. He stayed in this
community until 8 September and
then returned to Thailand, where
he continued the Visitation until
18 of the month.
On 19 September he went to vis-
it the house in the Republic of
Laos. The community of Udon-
thani in Thailand, which the Re-
gional was visiting is close to the
border between Thailand and
Laos. It was only a one day visit;
and it was a good opportunity to
see the place for a new Salesian
foundation which it is hoped to
start in 2012.
On 20 September the Regional
continued his Visitation of Thai-
land until 28 of the month. On
that day he had the opportunity to
meet the Nuncio Apostolic, Arch-
bishop Giovanni d'Aniello.
On 29 September the Regional
left Thailand to go to Rome and
take part in the "intermediate
session" of the General Council
will was held between 3 and
11 October. During this session
Fr. Andrew Wong gave a report on
the East Asia and Oceania. Re-
gron.

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ACTIVITIES OF THE GENERAL COUNCIL 71
On 13 October the Regional left
Rome to go to Cambodia again for
a visit. Here he saw the heavy
flooding which had affected the
population, especially in the rural
areas. On 20 October he returned
to Thailand, where on2l-22Octo-
ber he had a meeting with the
Provincial, his Council and the
Rectors of the houses to bring the
Extraordinary Visitation to an end.
On 24 October the Regional
went to Jakarta to meet the new
Provincial Delegate and his Coun-
cil. He also went to visit Fr. Jos6
Carbonell, the pioneer missionary
in Indonesia, whose health is de-
clining rapidly.
On 30 October Fr. Andrew Wong
travelled to Seoul, Korea, where he
had meetings with the Provincial
and the Provincial Delegates for
the various Sectors. He stayed in
the Provincial House in Seoul until
2 November when, in the after-
noon he went to Hong Kong.
In the Provincial House in Hong
Kong the Regional met the Provin-
cial Fr. Simon Lam, and the
Provincial Delegates for the vari-
ous Sectors.
He stayed in Hong Kong until 4
November. Then Fr. AndrewWong
continued his tour of the Region,
going to Quetta, in Pakistan. In
this community he met the Rector
Fr. Pietro Zago t};.e other three
confreres and the young people
they are looking after. He also had
the opportunity to meet the new
Bishop of Quetta, Mons. Viktor
Gnanapragasam, OMI.
He left Quetta on 8 November to
go to Melbourne, Australia. Here
he met the present Provincial Fr
Francis Moloney and the newly
appointed Provincial Fr Gregory
Chambers.
On 13 November the Regional
left Melbourne to go to Manila to
ask for a Visa to enter Myanmar.
In Manila he had a meeting with
the Provincial Fr. Eligio Cruz and
with the Provincial of South
Philippines, Fr. George Militante.
On 23 November he also met the
Provincial of the FMA.
On 24 November Fr. Andrew
Wong went to Myanmar. Here he
met the Provincial Fr. Maurice
Vallence and his Council. He also
met Archbishop Charles Bo, Arch-
bishop ofYangon.
On 27 November the Regional
completed his visits to the Region
and returned to Rome for the win-
ter session of the General Council.
The Councillor for the
South Asia Region
After the plenary session of the
General Council, the Regional for

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72 ACTS OF THE GENERAL COUNCIL
South Asia, Fr. Maria Arokiam
Kanaga, arrived in Chennai on
1 August, where he held an as-
sessment meeting with the Pro-
vincial Council. Then on 3 August
he went to visit the "Becchi Don
Bosco" Theological Institute. On
5 August at New Delhi he had a
planning meeting with the mem-
bers of the SPCI house. The fol-
lowing day he took part in a meet-
ing of Provincial Delegates for
missionary animation. On 8 Au-
gust he arrived in Guwahati to
take up again the Extraordinary
Visitation, he had interrupted to
take part in the summer plenary
session of the General Council. Be-
tween 18 and Sl August he visited
18 houses in the area of Shillong
and the Khasi Hills. During the
visits to the Salesian houses he al-
so met groups of the Salesian Fam-
ily, such as the Daughters of Mary
Help of Christians (FMA), the Mis-
sionary Sisters of Mary Help of
Christians (MSMHCs), the Sisters
of the Visitation of Don Bosco (VS-
DBs), the Sisters of Maria Auxial-
itrix (SMA) and the Disciples.
Between 1 and 3 September the
Regional led the half-yearly meet-
ing of the Salesian Provincials'
Conference of South Asia (SPC-
SA), in Calcutta, and on 4 Novem-
ber he chaired the Consultative
Committee of the Salesian Family,
with the presence of the Major Su-
periors ofall the Groups ofconse-
crated persons in the Family.
Starting on 5 September the Re-
gional continued the Extraordi-
nary Visitation in Lower Assam,
Gharo Hills and some areas of the
Khasi Hills. In this stage he visit-
ed 12 houses; he also spoke with
the confreres in Sirajuli and Tura.
The Extraordinary Visitation of
the Province of Guwahati ended
on 24 September with a meeting of
all the Rectors. At the same time
in the name of the Rector Major,
he carried out a consultation on
the possible subdivision of the
Province.
Afterwards on 26-28 September
the Regional was in Dimpaur to
meet the Provincial Council and
visit sone houses. During the jour-
ney to Goa - where he went to be-
gun the Extraordinary Visitation
of the Panjim-Konhan. Prouince
(INP) - he went to Mumbai on 30
September to meet the Provincial
Council. The Extraordinary Visi-
tation of the INP Province lasted
until 19 October with the Region-
al visiting the 15 houses and the 3
presences, located in the Indian
States of Goa, Karnataka and Ma-
harashtra.
On 7 November the Regional
went to Hyderabad for a meeting
of the Planning and Development

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ACTIVITIES OF THE GENERAL COUNCL 73
Offices of the Congregation, dur-
ing which he gave a talk about the
relevance of the Spirituality of the
Preventive System in the Ministry
of Development. On 9 November
he arrived in Bangalore, where he
spoke to the Provincial Delegates
of the Salesian Family (SDB and
FMA). After completing the Ex-
traordinary Visitation of the INP
Province, Fr. Maria Aokiam trav-
elled to Sirajuli (ING) for the
opening of the first Salesian Mis-
sionary Aspirantate in India. Fi-
nally on 26 November, the Region-
al celebrated the Silver Jubilee
of his ordination at the "Sacred
Heart College" in Tirupattur and,
after visiting some Salesian pres-
ences at Chennai and the sur-
roundings he left for Rome, where
he arrived on 29 November.
The Councillor for the
North Europe Region
After the conclusion of the sum-
mer session of the General Coun-
cil, the Councillor for the North
Europe Region Fr. Marek Chrzan,
took part in a meeting of the Com-
mission for the "Project for Eu-
rope" held in Spain at Santiago de
Compostela between 31 July and 3
August. Immediately afterwards
he travelled to Poland where at
Czgstochowa he took part in the
VI International Congress of Mary
Help of Christians, organised by
ADMA in the National Polish
Sanctuary at Jasna G6ra, between
3 and 6 August. On 20 August he
took part in the Youth Festival in
the Province of Pila at Trzciniec,
where, during Mass he received
the perpetual profession of 5 con-
freres from the Pila Province
(PLN).
Between 3 and 7 September he
took part in the "Team Visit to the
North Europe Region" for the 10
Provinces of Poland, the Confer-
ence of Cyril and Methodius (PLE,
PLN, PLO, PLS, ESI CEB CRO,
SLK, SLO, UNG), which was held
in Krakow in Poland. Afterwards
he accompanied the Rector Major
to Czgstochowa, where he took parb
in the first profession of 18 Novices
from the whole of Poland at which
the Rector Major presided.
On 9 September he went to War-
saw to begin (10 September), the
Extraordinary Visitation of the
East Poland Prouince (PLE) of
Saint Stanislaus Kostka, with
headquarters in Warsaw. A meet-
ing with the Provincial Council of-
ficially opened the Visitation. Af-
ter this the Regional began by vis-
iting the following houses: Tolk-
micko, Ostr6da, Olsztyn, Sgpopol,
Jaci4lek.

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74 ACTS OF THE GENERAL COUNCIL
On24 September he took part in
the solemn opening of the Acade-
mic Year of the Salesian Post-No-
vitiate in L4d, where he presided
at Mass and met the students, es-
pecially those from the Warsaw
Province. He also took part in the
'Curatorium', held in L4d, after
the opening ceremony. On Sunday
25 September he took up again the
visits to the communities in L6dz
and Lutomiersk. He had a meet-
ing with the Archbishop of L6dz,
Archbishop Wadyslaw Zi6lek, who
expressed his appreciation for the
presence of the Salesians, over so
many years in his Diocese.
On 1' October September he
took part in the solemn opening of
the Academic Year of the theologi-
cal studentate in Krakow, where
he presided at Mass and met the
young confreres from the Warsaw
Province. The he resumed his vis-
its to the houses in the following
order: L6dz - S. Teresa, Zglerz,
Zyr ar d6w, Kutno-WoZn iak6w, Cz-
erwifsk, Plock, Legionowo, Mifrsk
Mazowiecki.
On 17 October he travelled to
Slovenia and at Ljubliana, on 19
October, he chaired a consultation
meeting of confreres in view of the
appointment of the new Provincial
of Slovenia. On 20 October he
went to Croatia, where at Zagreb,
on 21 October, he chaired a simi-
lar consultation meeting of confr-
eres for the appointment of the
new Provincial of Croatia.
On 23 October he again resumed
his visits to the communities of the
Warsaw Province in the following
order: R6Zanystok - Sanctuary,
R62anystok - School, Suwalki, Elk,
Warsaw - Hostel for young people,
Warsaw - Missionary Centre, War-
saw - Provincial house and Basili-
ca, Glosk6w, Sokol6w Podlaski,
Lublin. On 31 October he was
received in audience by the Arch-
bishop of Warsaw, Cardinal Casi-
miro Nycz.
On 18 November he took part in
a Pedagory Seminar about great
educators of the XIX century at
the 'John Paul II" Catholic Uni-
versity of Lublin. In the course of
the Seminar he joyfully took part
in the conferral of a Doctorate hon-
oris causa on the Rector Major of
the Salesians, Fr Pascual Chdvez
Villanueva.
On 22 November he visited the
inter-provincial novitiate in Swob-
nica, meeting the novices from the
Warsaw Province and all the com-
munity which juridically belongs
Pila Province (PLN).
The conclusion of the Extraordi-
nary Visitation took place in War-
saw at the Provincial House on 24
November, in the presence of the
Rectors, parish priests, and repre-

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ACTIVITIES OF THE GENERAL COUNCIL 75
sentatives of the communities.
The Extraordinary Visitation was
brought to a close with a solemn
Mass and closing conference, and a
subsequent meeting with the
Provincial Council.
On 25 November the Regional
went to London to take part in a
meeting of the Provincials and
Vice Provincials of the Atlantic
zone of the North Europe Region
(GBR, GER, IRL, AUS, BEN) With
the Rector Major and his Vicar. Be-
tween 27 November and 1 Decem-
ber he took part in Turin, in a
meeting of the Delegates for mis-
sionary animation of the Provinces
of Europe. On 28 November he al-
so took part in the 'Curatorium'
for the formation community for
Brothers at Turin-Valdocco.
On 1 December he returned to
the Generalate in Rome to take
par in the winter session of the
General Council.
The Councillnr for th.e
West Europe Region
At the end of the summer ses-
sion of the General Council, the
Regional Councillor, Fr Jos6
Miguel Ntflez, left Rome for San-
tiago de Compostela to take part
in the meeting of the Commission
for the "Project for Europe", dur-
ing the first days of August. On 6
August the Team Visit to the West
Europe Region began in Lyon,
France. With the participation of
the Rector Major and of various
General Councillors it lasted until
11 August. The Provincial Coun-
cils of the eight Provinces in the
Region were present.
Afterwards the Regional Coun-
cillor went to Madrid to take part
between 15 and 21 August in the
World Youth Days with the pres-
ence of Pope Benedict XVI and the
participation of about two million
young people. Also present at the
Days were the Rector Major, his
Vicar, several other Councillors as
well as the Mother General.
Between 22 and 28 August Fr
Jos6 Miguel spent a week with his
family.
On 29 August the Councillor
went to Lisbon to take part in the
meeting of the Provincial Council
of Portugal and accompany the
process of re-vitalisation, put into
action following the Extraordinary
Visitation and the Provincial
Chapter of 2010.
On 30 August the Councillor re-
turned to Madrid, where over sev-
eral days he held a number of
meetings with the Provincials of
Spain the National Youth Ministry
Centre and the Madrid Mission
Office.

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76 ACTS OF THE GENERAL COUNCIL
On 4 September Fr Jos6 Miguel
Nrifiez travelled to Chile to begin
the Extraordinary Visitation. of the
"Suint Gabriel the Archangel"
Prouince, in the name of the Rec-
tor Major. The Visitor was engaged
in this task until 20 November,
visiting all the Salesian houses,
speaking with the confreres and
the lay people in the Salesian cen-
tres, presiding at the Provincial
Council and the meeting of Rec-
tors. During the Visitation Fr Jos6
Miguel also presided at the per-
petual profession oftwo confreres
and took part in the priestly ordi-
nation of a Salesian at Punta Are-
nas. Duringthe months of his stay
in Chile he was received in audi-
ence by a number of Bishops in-
cluding the four Salesian Bishops.
After his return to Spain, in the
last week of November the Re-
gional took part in a meeting of
the Iberian Conference, held in
Madrid on22-23. After this, on24-
25 November also in Madrid there
was the first meeting of the
Provincials of Spain and Portugal
with those of Italy and the Middle
East to share thoughts on the
process of charismatic re-structur-
ing and re-vitalisation.
Finally on 27-28 Fr Jos6 Miguel
went to Paris to take part in the
France - South Belgium Provincial
Council meeting. On 1 December
he returned to Rome to take part
in the winter plenary session the
General Council.
The Councillor for the
Italy and Middle East Region
At the end of the summer ses-
sion of the General Council, Fr
Pier Fausto Frisoli took part be-
tween 31 July and 3 August in the
Commission for the "Project for
Europe" in Santiago de Com-
postela. He then went to visit his
parents.
Between 16 and 21 August he
was again in Spain to take part,
with a considerable number of
young people from the Region, in
the World Youth Day in Madrid. On
22 August he accompanied the Rec-
tor Major to the Meeting of the Peo-
ples inRimini. The following day in
Milan he presided at the concele-
bration of the installation of the
new Provincial of the Lombardy-
Emilia Province (ILE), Fr Claudio
Cacioli. On 26 and,27 August he
went to Messina, in Sicily, to visit
the confreres following a course of
preparation for perpetual profes-
sion. On 28 a Pacognano he
presided at Mass with the confreres
of the Southern Province (IME),
for the installation of the new
Provincial Fr Pasquale Cristiani.

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ACTIVITIES OF THE GENERAL COUNCIL 77
On 29 in Venice-Mestre he took
part in the Provincial Assembly of
the North East Italy Province
(INE) and then returned to Rome.
On 2 and 3 September, in Turin,
he took part in the Provincial As-
sembly for the opening of the Ex-
traord,inary Visitation of the Cir-
cumscription of Piedmont, the Val
d'Aostq. and Lithuania (ICP). He
then returned to Rome. On 13
September in San Dond di Piave,
he received the perpetual profes-
sion of four confreres from the
North East Province.
On 22 September he began the
Extraordinary Visitation of ICf;
visiting in turn the communities of
Turin "Andrea Beltrami", Vilnius
and Kaunas in Lithuania, Turin-
Monterosa, Oulx, Colle Don Bosco,
Rivoli-Cascine Vica, Turin-Rebau-
dengo, Cuneo, Turin-San Giovan-
ni Evangelista, Cumiana, Larrzo,
Alessandria, Avigliana.
During this period of time, Fr
Frisoli also took part on 26 Octo-
ber in Rome in the celebration
held in the Campidoglio of the con-
tribution of the Salesians and of
the Daughters of Mary Help of
Christians to the 150 years ofthe
history of the Unification of Italy.
Between 4 and 6 November he
took part in a Seminar for the for-
mation of the Coordinators of the
Pastoral Ministry in Schools and
Vocational Training Centres in the
Region on the subject: "The need
for vocation ministry ". Then be-
tween 7 and 11 November he led
the frrst module of the Course of
formation for New Rectors held at
Mascalucia in Sicily. On 16 No-
vember he chaired the 'Curatori-
um'at Turin-Crocetta; between 23
and25 in Madrid he took part in a
meeting of the Provincials of the
Italy and Middle East Region with
the Provincials of Spain and Por-
tugal. Finally between 25 and 27
November he presided at a Semi-
nar on the Salesian Brother held
in Rome at the Salesianum.
On 1 December he made a con-
tribution to the General Council of
the Sisters of the Infant Mary in
Milan. Then he returned to Rome
to take part in the winter plenary
session of the General Council.

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5. DOCUMENTS AND NEWS ITEMS
5.1 New Salesian Bishops
l. MULENGA Clement, SDB,
Bishop of the Diocese of
Kabute (Zambia)
On 24 October 2011 the Press
Office of the Holy See published
the appointment of the Salesian
priest Clement MULENGA as
Bishop of the new Diocese of KAB-
WE,inZarrbia, which the Holy Fa-
ther erected at the same time as
appointing its first Bishop.
Fr. Clement Mulenga, born on
15 August 1965 at Dismas Lunte
(Zarrl,}.ia), made his first profession
as a Salesian on 31 January 1991
in Maputsoe, where he had made
his novitiate. He then followed the
Salesian course of formation in
formation houses in different
countries: at Walkerville in South
Africa, at Manzini in Swaziland an
at Nairobi in Kenya for theolory.
Perpetually professed on 25 Au-
gust 1996, he was ordained priest
at Luwingu on 26 April 1998.
After ordination, between 1998
and 2000 he exercised his ministry
as curate in Lusaka - Bauleni;
then for a year in the house of
Chingola. Between 2001 and 2004
in Rome he completed his studies
at the Salesian Pontifical Univer-
sity. Having returned to Zambia,
hetween 2005 and 2007 he was
Rector of the community in Chin-
gola, and at the same time Provin-
cial Councillor and Delegate for
Formation. Afterwards he was in
the formation community of the
postnovitiate at Moshi, in Tanza-
nia, as Vice Rector, teacher and
one of the formation personnel.
From 2009 he was the Director of
the Youth Ministry Office in the
Archdiocese of Lusaka, Zambia.
The Holy Father has now ap-
pointed him Bishop of the new
Diocese of Kabwe, erected by the
division of the Diocese of Mpika
and the Archdiocese of Lusaka,
and a suffragan of the Metropoli-
tan see of Lusaka. According to in-
formation provided by the Apos-
tolic See, the new Diocese - at its
erection - covers 63.574 sq.km,
with a population of 1,078,334 of
whom 138,810 are Catholics; with
43 priests; 95 religious. The Sale-
sians in Kabwe have a community
dedicated to Blessed Artemides
Zatti
2. STURLA BERHOUET Da-
niel Fernandn, Auxiliary
Bishop of Monteaid.eo (Uru-
guay)
On 10 December 2011the Press
Office of the Holy See published
the appointment of the Salesian
priest Daniel Fernando STURLA

9 Pages 81-90

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9.1 Page 81

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DOCUMENTS AND NEWS ITEMS 79
BERHOUET as Auxiliary Bishop
of the Archdiocese of MONTEV-
IDEO (Uruguay), with the Titular
See of Felbes.
Fr. Daniel Fernando Sturla
Berhouet, born on 4 July 1959 at
Montevideo (Uruguay), made his
first religious profession as a Sale-
sian on 31January 1980 at Monte-
video. Following the usual Salesian
course of formation he made his
perpetual profession on 31 January
1986 and was ordained priest at
Montevideo on 2L November l-987.
Already having a Baccalaureate
Ciuil Law, he then obtained a Li
cence in Theology.
After ordination he joined the
community of the Theologate in
Montevideo, where he remained
until 1992. In 1992 he was moved
to the Novitiate, from where in
1994 he moved as Rector to Mon-
tevideo-Aspirantate. In 1996 he re-
turned to the Novitiate in Monte-
video as Rector and Director of
Novices. In 1996 he was also called
to be part ofthe Provincial Coun-
cil. Then, between 2002 and 2008
he was Rector of the "Juan )OilII"
Pre-university Institute in Monte-
video. In 2004 he was also en-
trusted with the role of Provincial
Delegate for Ongoing Formation.
In June 2008 the Rector Major
with his Council appointed him
Provincial of the "Saint Joseph"
Province of Uruguay, the position
he still held when he was appoint-
ed Bishop.

9.2 Page 82

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80 AcIs oF THE GENERAL coUNcIL
5.2 Our dead confreres (3" list 2011)
"Faith in the risen Chrlst sustains our hope and keeps alive our communion with our
brothers who rest in Christ's peace. They have spent their lives in the Congregation, and
not a few have suffered even to the point of martyrdom for the love of the Lord....Their re-
membrance is an incentive to continue faithfully in our mission" (C. 94).
SURNAME AND NAME
P ALDUNATEJURIOJoSd
P ALESSANDRINIGig|io
P ANDREATTAAnge|o
P BAJOBEKJoseph
P BENOTTOGiuseppe
P BEBGAMIN Antonio
L BERNABE Angelo
P BETTIN Giuseppe
P BRAVO FERNANDEZ Manuel
P CALEJEBO PEIRO BI6s
P CALV0Jos6
P CANAVESI Angelo
P CANU Alessandro
P CARDILLO Clement
P CARUSO Altio
P C0BBE Ren6
P CUVELIEB Marc
Fu lspeftore per 12 anni
P de ANDRES PENA Ciriaco
L DE JESUS Ellias
P DE ROSS|Pietro
P DELMOTTE Michel
L D|ANAVincenzo
P DOSS|Giovanni
P FEDDEMA Hernan Josel
P FERNANDo Christy
P FERRARIO Marco
P FOLLIS H6olor Mario
P GNIDICA lvan
P GOBETTI Luigi
P GONZALEZ FESTI Carlos
P GOUVEIA DE S0USA Manuel
P GUZETTI Cherubino Mario
P |ACOVACC|ltalo
P IGNACZEWSKIHenTk
P lZlVincenzo
P JACONO Giovanni
L JERALAYENKO Mhko
P JULIIA Carlo
PLACE of death
DATE
AGE PROV
Barcelona (Spagna)
2910912011
76
SBA
Roma
0811012011
92
rcc
Paute-Yugmacay (Ecuador)
Ridgewood, NJ (U.S.A.)
1 3/09/201 1
91
ECU
1410912011
o(
SUE
Torino
0411212011
86
tcP
Venezia-Mestre (ltalia)
fl1112011
79
INE
Arese (llalia)
0710912011
87
ILE
Varazze (ltalia)
2310912011
78
rcc
Sevilla (Spagna)
241012011
76
SSE
Ar6valo (Avila, Spagna)
0511112011
85
SMA
Buenos Aires (Argentina)
1411012011
89
ABS
Arese (ltalia)
1611012011
9l
ILE
Civitanova Marche Alta (ltalia) 05/1 0/201 1
99
rcc
Caldwell, NJ (U.S.A.)
2211112011
86
SUE
Messina (ltalia)
1511112011
89
tst
Saint-Brieuc (Francia)
0911112011
87
FRB
Seoul (Korea)
0411212011
73
KOH
Ar6vab (Avila, Spagna)
Lisbona (Portogallo)
Lugano (Svizzera)
Coux-et-Bigaroque (Francia)
Vigliano Biellese (ltalia)
Sesto San Giovanni (ltalia)
Valencia (Venezuela)
Dankotuwa (Sri Lanka)
Arese (ltalia)
San lsidro (Argentina)
Trstenik (Slovenia)
Bandel, West Bengal (lndia)
Montevideo (Uruguay)
Caracas (Venezuela)
Arese (ltalia)
Boma
Rumia (Polonia)
Boma
Messina (ltalia)
Santiago del Cile
Torino
08/1 0/201 1
oi
SMA
2311012011
88
POR
2411112011
85
ILE
03/09/201 1
78
FRB
03/09/201 1
97
tcP
2911112011
89
ILE
081142u1
86
VEN
2610912011
69
LKC
08/1 0/201 1
95
ILE
1511112011
87
ARS
2910812011
8l
SLO
240912011
90
tNc
1910912011
93
URU
1110912011
65
VEN
1811012011
B8
ILE
3011012011
91
rcc
1110912011
98
PLN
0211212011
89
rcc
1711112011
91
tst
0811112011
95
clL
2311012011
84
tcP

9.3 Page 83

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DOCUMENTS AND NEWS ITEMS 81
SURNAME AND NAME
PLACE of death
DATE
AGE PROV
P LAUB0Victorio Jos6
Buenos Aires (Argentina)
1311112011
81
ARS
L LOPES Virginio Francisco
Barbacena (Brasile)
2111012011
68
BPA
P MARTINEZ REUSVicente
Zapala (Argentina)
240912011
90
ARS
P MOBONE Sebastiano
Civitavecchia (ltalia)
0311212011
89
rcc
P NERI CARVALHO Jos6 Raimundo Manaus (Brasile)
141112011
46
BMA
P NORDERA Luciano (lNE)
Haila (lsraele)
0211212011
MOR
P OPDEWEEGH Christ
Helchteren (Belgio)
1211012011
oo
BEN
P PABEDES REVERON Miguel Anlonio Valencia (Venezuela)
1711112011
B9
VEN
P PASCUCCI Remo
Bahia Blanca (Argentina)
1 3/1 0201 1
88
ARS
P PEISCH Ferenc
L PETRUZIO Canzio
Sz6kesfeherv6r (Ungheria)
1510612011
89
UNG
El Campello, Alicante (Spagna) 2110912011
o'l
SVA
L POLATO Angelo
Castello di Godego (ltalia)
1611012011
89
INE
P PORTATIBALDI C6sar
Santiago del Cile
03/1 1/201 1
oa
clL
P OUINTAS ARANDA Allonso
Santiago del Cile
09/09/201 1
89
ctL
P OUINTAS ABANDA Fernando
Santiago del Cile
1611112011
89
clL
P RAMOS Jos6 Cipriano Silva
Americana (Brasile)
040912011
58
BSP
L REIS Affonso Gongalves
Niterdi (RJ, Brasile)
0711012011
OA
BBH
P R0DRIGUEZ FORERO Jaime
Bogot6 (Colombia)
0411112011
81
coB
P RODRiGUEZ REGALADO EdUATdO Sevilla (Spagna)
0411212011
87
SSE
P ROJAS ARIZA Gustavo
Bogotri (Colombia)
0410912011
96 c0B
P RUSSO Geraldo
Foggia (ltalia)
2511112011
70
IME
P SARlSWilhelmus
Schiedam (Olanda)
1911112011
90
BEN
P SCHAFFLER Siegtried
Memmingen (Germania)
1411112011
96
GER
P SCHNEIDERJeTzy(PLS)
NewYork City, NY (U.S.A.)
2211112011
88
SUE
L STEFANINI Pierpaolo
Civitanova Marche (ltalia)
2511012011
71
rcc
P STELLA Prospero
Boma
2010912011
87
UPS
L VALERI Luigi
Venezia-Mestre (ltalia)
1311112011
72
INE
L VENTUR|Alcides
Campinas (Brasile)
2311112011
83
BSP
L WUTakYim John B,
Hng Kong (Cina)
2810912011
62
clN

9.4 Page 84

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9.5 Page 85

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9.6 Page 86

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9.7 Page 87

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9.8 Page 88

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