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DIREZIONE GENERALE OPERE DON BOSCO
Via della Pisana, 1111, C. P. 18333 - 00163 ROMA
Consigliere generale per la formazione
“The formation process of the Salesian Brother”
Péliföldszentkereszt, 18th October 2013
The present “Ratio” concerning the formation of Salesians was published in the year 2000.
As time went by, it needed revision to meet new situations arising in the Congregation and urgent
challenges in the area of formation. At the beginning of this six-year term, the Rector Major and the
General Council decided not to produce a new “Ratio”, since the existing one still remained quite
valid on the whole; it asked instead for a re-write of those parts that appeared to be insufficient.
Accordingly, in line with this decision of the Rector Major and the General Council, chapter
6 on the prenovitiate was rewritten in 2009; in January 2012 a new text was approved concerning
the formation of Salesian Brothers; finally in July 2012 the guidelines for studies during initial
formation were approved as a substitute for Appendix 3 of the “Ratio”. In collaboration with the
Youth Ministry Department, guidelines were also approved in July 2011 on the “Aspirantate
Experience” in continuity with the orientations of the “Ratio”, and of the prenovitiate in particular.
1. Reasons for revising the “Ratio”
We now ask ourselves why it became necessary to review the formation of Salesian
Brothers and consequently to rewrite some parts of the “Ratio” connected with it. Here in brief are
some reasons.
1. In the first place, it had become apparent for some time that the existing formation
programme of Salesian Brothers was limited, uncertain and easily subject to improvisation. It
therefore became necessary to offer the Provinces a clear and comprehensive programme of
formation that would be on a par with the programme of formation for candidates to the Salesian
priesthood.
2. In addition, there was a growing realization that very little attention was being paid to
vocational discernment throughout the formation process: Brothers were being given hardly any
experience and a very limited understanding of the lay dimension of their vocation; there was not
much clarity about the criteria to be applied in distinguishing a vocation to the Salesian priesthood
from that to the Salesian brotherhood; there were also frequent requests from Salesian Brothers
asking to switch over to the priesthood.
3. It was also noticed that in some parts of the Congrgation academic studies were not seen as
important for Salesian Brothers; not many were convinced of the necessity of a theological and
pastoral as well as a philosophical and pedagogical foundation for Salesian Brothers. These studies
were in some cases more or less “tolerated”.
4. Finally, not much importance was being paid to the professional formation of Salesian
Brothers; in fact, it did not even form part of their formation process. This led to a poor and
uncertain sense of their identity and a weak impact of their work among the young.

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In this context and with this awareness, when the 26th General Chapter introduced a new
outlook on the Salesian Brother’s vocation by highlighting the oneness of the Salesian consecrated
vocation in its two forms, there was a feeling that the time had come to give Salesian Brothers a
“quality formation” that would enable them to live their true identity as lay consecrated Salesians
and meet the apostolic needs of the present day.
Accordingly, paragraph 323 of the “Ratio” was rewritten so as to offer an overview of the
Brother’s formation. It offers a summary of the changes that were introduced:
“In all the phases of formation, account should be taken of the basic equality and of the
differentiation due to the specific nature of the vocation of each person in formation. In particular:
in the prenovitiate, the Salesian consecrated vocation is presented in its two forms,
ministerial and lay, and also by meeting significant figures; in this way the prenovice can become
better acquainted with the forms of the Salesian vocation and reach a first orientation, without
arriving at a decision about them;
“in the novitiate, each novice under the guidance of the director of novices, carries out a
process of discernment regarding both forms of the Salesian vocation, in order to arrive at a
specific option for his future as a Salesian Brother or a Salesian Priest/Permanent Deacon; this
discernment and vocational choice precede the request for admission to the first profession, in
which it is necessary to express one’s own vocational decision; in this process the Provincial is also
involved;
“in the postnovitiate period, the Salesian Brothers with the help of their Rector and
Provincial carry out a process of discernment with regard to the professional area in which they
feel called to develop their own gifts and capabilities in response to the needs of the Province; in
this phase they undertake two or three years of philosophical and pedagogical studies;
“having completed at least two years of philosophical and pedagogical studies, the
Salesian Brothers begin or continue a period of “technical, scientific or professional training” for
the purpose of acquiring a recognised “specific qualification,”1 if possible before practical
training;
“for practical training the Salesian Brothers are preferably placed in situations where they
can exercise their professional qualification and assess the discernment undertaken in the
postnovitiate regarding their future professional area;2
“the specific formation for the Salesian Brothers, as for the Salesian clerics, immediately
follows practical training,3 it lasts for two years and is carried out in one of the regional or inter-
regional centres approved by the Rector Major with the General Council;
“preparation for perpetual profession is done as far as possible, by the Salesian Brothers
and the clerics together, before or during the specific formation;
“the “quinquennium” involves both the Salesian priests/permanent deacons in the first five
years after their ordination and the Salesian Brothers in the first five years after their specific
formation;
“after specific formation, at a suitable time, if necessary every Salesian Brother should have
the possibility of completing some specialization in the specific field of his profession and in the
skills needed to fulfil the various tasks and roles that will be entrusted to him. In this way he
completes the professional qualification begun during the time of temporary profession.”
*
1 Cf. R 95.
2 Cf. FSDB 442.
3 Cf. C 116, FSDB 479.
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2. Contribution of the various stages to the Salesian Brother’s formation
In this second part of my talk, I wish to lead you, step by step, through the new formation
programme of the Salesian Brother, which is not limited to paragraph 323 of the “Ratio” but revisits
and retouches all the formation phases; in this way you will be able to understand the practical and
formative implications of what has been laid down in the revision of the “Ratio”.
Prenovitiate
To the 26th General Chapter goes the credit of bringing about a change in our way of looking
at and presenting the vocation of the Salesian Brother. The identity of our Salesian consecrated
vocation is not primarily a matter of what we do but of who we are. We are consecrated persons
who, called by God, have chosen to follow the Lord Jesus by giving ourselves completely to God in
the service of the young after the example of Don Bosco - which service we carry out in two ways:
as Salesian priests or as Salesian Brothers.
To help the Provinces present this perception of the Salesian vocation in the proper way, the
Formation Department, in 2009, prepared and circulated some ready-made material in the form of
15 sessions for use in aspirantates and prenovitiates.4
Subsequently, in 2012, the Rector Major and his Council promulgated a curriculum of
intellectual formation for initial formation. Among other things, it called upon prenovitiates to
foster a knowledge of and love for Don Bosco, an awareness and appreciation of the Salesian
Congregation in the world, and an understanding of and attraction to Salesian consecrated life in its
two forms, the ministerial and the lay. Furthermore, the prenovices were to read the biographies of
some outstanding examples of both forms of Salesian consecrated life.5
Significantly too the Congregation asked that on the team of formation guides of the
prenovitiate “there be at least a Salesian Brother in order to enable the prenovices to have a direct
knowledge of the two forms of the Salesian vocation”.6
Thus, the new guidelines made it clear that in the early years leading up to the prenovitiate,
all the candidates and prenovices are to be given a good knowledge and experience of the Salesian
vocation in its two forms, but are not yet required to choose between Salesian priesthood and
brotherhood. That decision is to be made later – during the novitiate.
All the foregoing changes are concerned with formation in the prenovitiate. But, they also
affect the aspirantate and vocation promotion. The practice of some Provinces of having separate
aspirantates for candidates to the Salesian priesthood and candidates to the Salesian brotherhood no
longer seems valid today. And it is clear that in vocation animation a correct presentation of the
Salesian vocation to the young must always include the Salesian priesthood and the Salesian
brotherhood as two ways of living out the same Salesian vocation.
Novitiate
The novitiate is a time of intense formation and discernment. The new guidelines require
every novice to clarify his own specific vocational orientation as a future Salesian Priest or as a
future Salesian Brother before he makes his request to be admitted to profession; as a matter of fact,
he must state his vocational decision in his application to first profession.7
4 FORMATION DEPARTMENT, The Vocation to Salesian consecrated life in its two forms: Salesian brother, Salesian
priest, Rome 2009.
5 THE RECTOR MAJOR AND THE GENERAL COUNCIL, Assessment and Guidelines concerning Intellectual
Formation during Initial Formation, Rome 2012, p. 4.
6 Revision, 345.
7 Cf. Revision, 323.
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The novice director helps him to carry out this process of discernment, making use
especially of the criteria expressed in “Criteria and norms”, numbers 84-87.8 The novice discerns
whether, in the educative and pastoral work with the young, he has a greater propensity for “the
specific qualities of his lay status, which make him in a particular way a witness to God’s Kingdom
in the world, close as he is to the young and to the realities of working life”9 or for the “ministry,
which makes him a sign of Christ the Good Shepherd, especially by preaching the Gospel and
administering the sacraments”.10 In this process of discernment the Provincial is also involved.11
To encourage a proper discernment and to highlight the Salesian consecrated vocation, if
there is a custom of giving the Salesian clerics the cassock during the novitiate, this is deferred to
the time of conclusion of the novitiate.12
Postnovitiate
The postnovitiate formation programme comprises a number of subjects like philosophy,
pedagogy, Salesian studies, psychology, sociology and communication. Philosophy is the major
subject; it enables one to use his reason to arrive at a deeper understanding of the person, his
freedom and his relationship with the world and with God.13 The study of philosophy is not only for
all candidates to the priesthood, but important also for anyone who wants to understand the
postmodern thinking of the young, the relativism prevalent in many parts of the world, the issue of
creationism versus evolution, and a host of many other current issues. That is why it is part and
parcel of the formation of the Salesian Brother, who is called to be an educator of the young.
As things stand, in many postnovitiates of the Congregation, the postnovitiate formation is
usually completed in the space of three years; some postnovitiates even have a fourth year.
According to the new guidelines for the formation of Salesian Brothers, “the length of philosophical
and pedagogical studies for the Salesian Brother during the postnovitiate ought to be at least two
years. So as to allow a suitable time for professional qualification, in ordinary circumstances it is
not convenient that he extend the philosophical and pedagogical studies of the postnovitiate for
more than three years”.14
During the final year of the postnovitiate, each Salesian Brother postnovice, assisted by his
Rector and the Provincial, carries out a discernment regarding the professional area in which he
feels called to develop his gifts and capabilities in response to the needs of the Province: academic
school, professional training, social communication, social work, different aspects of administration
and management, etc.15
Technical, scientific or professional training
Immediately after the postnovitiate, the Brother is given an opportunity to engage in
“technical, scientific or professional studies” to qualify himself in the profession he has chosen in
his postnovitiate dialogue of discernment.16 Everything possible is to be done to ensure that the
studies give the Brother a competence that puts him on a par with a lay person exercising the same
profession in civil society.17
8 Cf. Revision, 371, 384.
9 C 45.
10 C 45.
11 Cf. Revision, 323.
12 Cf. Revision, 384.
13 Cf. Pastores dabo vobis, 2.
14 Revision, 425.
15 Cf. Revision, 323.
16 Cf. Revision, 417.
17 Cf. Revision, 409.
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This step is something new in the Brothers’ formation programme but it is not difficult to
understand why it has been included. On the one hand, it does not seem correct that, following the
previous formation programme, the Brothers have to go through all the various stages of their
formation and make their perpetual profession without ever having had a serious and direct contact
with the professional field, that is, with the lay aspect of their vocation. On the other hand, it seems
obvious that, if the Brothers are to be educators among the young during their practical training,
they need to have some training and qualification in the professional field.
I believe that on this point there is a lot of convergence in principle, but plenty of difficulty
in practice. All this points to the need for each Province to devise a good and practical plan to
ensure the professional training of its Brothers, if possible before practical training.
Practical training
From what has just been said about professional training, it follows that during practical
training Salesian Brothers should preferably be placed in situations in which they can exercise the
professional qualifications they have acquired. This also helps them to strengthen and verify their
motives for choosing the lay Salesian consecrated vocation.
Specific formation
Specific formation is not an optional phase for Salesian Brothers; it is a part of their regular
pattern of formation. Just as, after practical training, clerics immediately proceed for their specific
formation, likewise Brothers, after practical training, immediately proceed for their specific
formation.
Article 116 of the Constitutions says: “After practical training the Salesian goes on to
complete his initial formation. The specific formation of a candidate for the priestly ministry
follows the norms and directives laid down by the Church and the Congregation, and has for its
scope the preparation of a priest who will be a genuinely Salesian pastor and educator. The specific
formation of the lay Salesian offers him the opportunity to deepen his knowledge of the spiritual
heritage of the Congregation. He receives an adequate theological preparation appropriate to his
consecrated lay status, and completes his formation with a view to his subsequent apostolic work of
education.”
This article was promulgated in 1984, but for almost twenty years, the specific formation of
Salesian Brothers did not materialize, in spite of a few attempts made here and there. In 2005 we
took the initiative of organizing this formation phase for the Brothers. Today in all parts of the
world there are six regional or inter-regional centres approved by the Rector Major and his Council
for the two-year programme of specific formation for Salesian Brothers: at Manila in the
Philippines for the Region of East Asia – Oceania; at Shillong in India for the Region of South
Asia; at Yaoundé in Cameroon for the French-speaking Salesians of Africa, and at Sunyani in
Ghana for the English-speaking; at Guatemala for the two Regions of the Americas; and at Turin for
the three Regions of Europe. In addition, Turin also serves as an international centre, open to
Salesian Brothers from all the Regions of the Congregation. Just as some clerics are sent to Rome or
Jerusalem for their specific formation because of the particular advantages these places have to
offer, so too Brothers can be sent to Turin for their specific formation for the advantages that derive
from living at the holy places of Don Bosco.
The specific formation of Salesian Brothers is the response to a particular need: Brothers
need to nourish their life on the Word of God; this implies a study of Sacred Scripture. The faith
conveyed in the catechism taught in the prenovitiate and novitiate needs to be deepened; this is done
in Theology, which is nothing else but a deeper understanding of the faith. There are many moral
questions today that call for a good grasp of Catholic teaching about each of them; suffice it to
mention a few like abortion, euthanasia, contraception, gay marriage and population control; this is
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the field of Moral Theology. Educated Catholics today, including Salesian Brothers, need to be
acquainted with the Social Teaching of the Catholic Church because it throws light on a wide
variety of issues, like human rights, peace and justice, the morality of war, human trafficking, third
world development and globalization. It is also important for Brothers to engage in a deeper study
of the theology of consecrated life and of the process of growth in the spiritual life, and have a
greater understanding of Salesian spirituality; at the same time, they must be better prepared for
Salesian youth ministry, for communicating the faith through catechesis, and for a fruitful educative
and pastoral involvement in the field of social communication.
For this phase there needs to be a separate community for the Salesian Brothers with their
own Rector and formation staff drawn from the various Provinces. Besides, with the exception of
Salesian studies, separate classes ought to be taken for the Brothers. The academic courses remain
open also to other religious. The duration of the phase is generally two years.
Preparation for Perpetual profession
The preparation for perpetual profession does not consist in a course conducted in the last
weeks before the profession itself, after the admissions have taken place. The “Ratio” says that it
comprises “the process of discernment and verification prior to making a definitive option,
including the application, admission and immediate preparation for the act of profession”.18 The
programme of preparation may last a year or several months; it may be carried out in the ordinary
course of practical training or specific formation by way of suggested activities, personal and group
experiences, suitable guidance, etc.19 Ordinarily, this preparation is done by the Salesian Brothers
and the clerics together.20
During the preparation the confreres are invited to meditate once again on the Constitutions
and on the fundamental themes of consecrated life; a competent and experienced spiritual guide is
offered them to follow each individual and the group. In particular, all the Salesian clerics and
Salesian Brothers are asked to pay careful attention to a discernment concerning the two forms,
ministerial and lay, of the Salesian vocation in view of a definitive choice.21 Concretely speaking,
this means that they verify their vocation in the light of their lived experience, mature a new
personal synthesis of their motivations, and conclude their discernment with the decision to
permanently embrace Don Bosco’s apostolic project as a Salesian Priest or a Salesian Brother.22
In Provinces in which specific formation precedes perpetual profession, “this same careful
discernment should be undertaken before the start of specific formation”.23
“Quinquennium”
The first years of full involvement in pastoral work are especially important for the Salesian
Priest and Brother because they pose new challenges and problems. “The transition from a directed
and supervised life – such as that obtaining in formation communities – to full personal
responsibility for one’s apostolic work generally entails a rearrangement of one’s life, an adjustment
to a new pace of life and work, and calls for a new synthesis in one’s life”.24 This is the time when
some needs begin to be felt more strongly: self-affirmation, the quest for fruitfulness, personal
initiative and creativity. Tension arises as one notices the discrepancy between what one learned
18 FSDB 503.
19 Cf. FSDB 507.
20 Cf. Revision, 323.
21 Cf. Revision, 512.
22 Cf. FSDB 504.
23 Cf. Revision, 512.
24 FSDB 532.
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and what one actually finds in daily life. There may also be a feeling of inadequacy for one’s new
roles and responsibilities, with consequent feelings of frustration and disaffection.25
Accordingly, each Province chooses the ways in which it intends to accompany and help its
young Priests and Brothers in their first five years of insertion in the educative and the pastoral
work of the Province after their specific formation. It devises particular initiatives and programmes
in which both Priests and Brothers take part together. In this connection there are also initiatives
and programmes at the level of the Region.
Specialization
As we have seen, specialization or professional qualification is different from specific
formation. At a suitable time after his specific formation, every Salesian Brother, as a rule and
according to need, “should have the possibility of completing some specialization in the specific
field of his profession and in the skills needed to fulfil the various tasks and roles that will be
entrusted to him. In this way he completes the professional qualification begun during the time of
temporary profession”.26
In my letter on the qualification of the confreres,27 I have warmly recommended that the
Provinces have a plan for the qualification of their confreres, that it correspond to the needs of the
Province and that it take into account the abilities and inclinations of the confreres. Without
qualifications it is not possible to ensure the quality of Salesian communities and of their educative
and pastoral work.
Ongoing formation
In addition to the personal, community and provincial initiatives of ongoing formation, I
would like to point out something that the Regions are doing: over the course of a six-year period
they hold one or two regional Congresses on the Salesian Brother, to which they invite also
Provincials, provincial formation and youth ministry delegates, formation personnel and others…
One could perhaps consider holding also a European Congress.
*
3. Expected results
What are the results expected from this revision of the Salesian Brother’s formation? I shall
not dwell at length on this point, because you can find a longer treatment of the subject in the
guidelines appearing in the Acts of the General Council at the beginning of the previous six-year
period.28
It is my hope that in the Congregation there matures a greater awareness and a clearer
understanding of the identity of the Salesian Brother; further, I am hopeful that we shall be able to
offer a “quality formation” to Salesian Brothers; I feel confident that in our vocation animation we
shall be more committed to promoting this vocation within the framework proposed by the GC26,
that is, of a single Salesian consecrated vocation in two forms; finally, I expect a new kind of
insertion of the Salesian Brother in our educative and pastoral communities in a way that enables
25 Ibid.
26 Revision, 323.
27 The letter is dated June 4, 2012 and is addressed to Provincial and Provincial Formation Delegates.
28 F. CEREDA, The care and promotion of the vocation of the Salesian Brother, in: AGC 382, Rome 8 June 2003.
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him to offer his own specific contribution within our works and makes him in this way a visible
sign of the consecrated vocation among the young.
What I have presented to you is an overall picture of the formation of the Salesian Brother
today in the Salesian Congregation. All that now remains to be done is to bring about a change of
mentality and practice in the life of the Provinces, beginning with the revision of the Formation
section of the Provincial Directory.
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