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acts
of the General Council
of the Salesian Society
of St John Bosco
OFFICIAL ORGAN OF ANIMATION AND COMMUNICATION FOR THE SALESIAN CONGREGATION
N. 418
year XCV
May 2014
“Witnesses
to the radical approach
of the Gospel”
Work and temperance
DOCUMENTS OF THE GENERAL CHAPTER XXVII
OF THE SOCIETY OF SAINT FRANCIS OF SALES
Rome, 22 February - 12 April 2014
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Editrice S.D.B.
Edizione extra commerciale
Direzione Generale Opere Don Bosco
Via della Pisana, 1111
Casella Postale 18333
00163 Roma
Tipolitografia: Istituto Salesiano Pio XI - Via Umbertide, 11
00181 Roma - Tel. 06.78.27.819 - E-mail: tipolito@pcn.net
Finito di stampare: giugno 2014
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CONTENTS OF THE ACTS OF THE GC27
PRESENTATION. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
9
“WITNESSES TO THE RADICAL APPROACH OF THE GOSPEL”
Work and temperance . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15
INTRODUCTION . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17
I. LISTENING. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25
– Like Don Bosco, in dialogue with the Lord . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25
– Journeying together moved by the Spirit . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26
– Experiencing fraternal life, as at Valdocco . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27
– Available for planning and sharing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28
– Going out to the peripheries . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31
– Becoming prophetic signs in the service of the young. . . . . . . . 32
II. INTERPRETATION . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33
– Like Don Bosco, in dialogue with the Lord,
journeying together moved by the Spirit. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33
– Experiencing fraternal life, as at Valdocco,
available for planning and cooperation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35
– Going out to the peripheries,
becoming prophetic signs in the service of the young . . . . . . . . 39
III. WAY FORWARD. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 43
1. GOAL. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 43
2. PROCESSES AND STEPS. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 43
– Like Don Bosco, in dialogue with the Lord . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 43
– Journeying together moved by the Spirit . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 44
– Experiencing fraternal life, as at Valdocco . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 45
– Available for planning and sharing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 46
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– Going out to the peripheries. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 47
– Becoming prophetic signs in the service of the young. . . . . . . . 49
DELIBERATIONS OF THE GC27 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 51
1. Duration in office of the Rector Major
and the members of the General Council . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 53
2. The possibility of re-election of the Rector Major
and the members of the General Council . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 53
3. Composition of the General Council . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 54
4. The Vicar of the Rector Major . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 55
5. The number and areas of responsibility
of the Councillors for the Sectors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 56
6. Duties of the Regional Councillor . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 57
7. Method of election of the Rector Major . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 57
8. Method of election of the Vicar of the Rector Major . . . . . . . . . 58
9. Method of election of the Councillors for the Sectors . . . . . . . . 58
10. Method of election of the Regional Councillors . . . . . . . . . . . . 59
11. Coordination of the General Council . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 60
12. Configuration of the Regions of Europe and the Middle East . . 61
13. The extraordinary visitation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 63
14. The team visit . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 64
15. The financial commission . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 64
16. Representation in the General Chapter . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 66
17. Personnel for the Salesian places . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 67
18. The Acts of the General Council,
www.sdb.org web portal and Salesian Info Agency . . . . . . . . . 68
19. The six year plan of animation and government
of the Rector Major and the General Council . . . . . . . . . . . . . 68
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APPENDICES . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 71
1. Address of the Rector Major Fr Pascual Chávez Villanueva
at the opening of the GC27 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 73
2. Address of Cardinal João Braz de Aviz,
Prefect of the Congregation for Institutes of Consecrated Life
and Societies of Apostolic Life. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 94
3. Address of homage of the Rector Major to the Holy Father. . . . 106
4. Address of His Holiness Pope Francis
at the Audience for the Chapter Members. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 108
5. Message of the General Chapter to the confreres . . . . . . . . . . . 111
6. Address of the Rector Major Fr Ángel Fernández Artime
at the closing of the GC27 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 115
LIST OF PARTICIPANTS IN THE GC27 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 131
ANALYTICAL INDEX TO THE CHAPTER DOCUMENT . . . 139
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PRESENTATION
Dear Confreres,
As happened at the last General Chapter, the GC27 ended on 12th April.
This date is particularly dear to us as it recalls the beginning of Don Bosco’s
work in Turin Valdocco. It was in fact on 12th April 1846, Easter Sunday,
that Don Bosco was able to settle down in a place that was “all his own”
in order to gather his boys together. Recalling that day as the bicentenary
of his birth draws near, as a Congregation following the path marked out
by the General Chapter we are preparing for a fresh start.
Every General Chapter has a stage of preparation, beginning with the
publication of the Rector Major’s letter convoking it and concluding with
the holding of the Provincial Chapters; a stage of celebration which consists
in the life of the Chapter Assembly from its opening day until its conclu-
sion; a stage of implementation which begins with the closing of the cele-
bration of the Chapter and continues until the next General Chapter. With
the publication of the Acts of the GC27 which I am now presenting to you,
the third stage begins, that of implementation.
The Acts of the GC27 are divided into three fundamental parts: the text
which develops the theme “Witnesses to the radical approach of the
Gospel”; the deliberations; the appendices. All these parts are important
and contribute to an understanding of the Chapter event and of its spirit.
Added to these are my presentation and the analytical index of the devel-
opment of the theme. It should not be forgotten that these Acts find in the
letter of convocation written by the Rector Major emeritus Fr Pascual
Chavez, some ideas which can help with a better interpretation of even the
Chapter itself.
Witnesses to the radical approach of the Gospel
The fundamental theme of the GC27 is “Witnesses to the radical approach
of the Gospel. Work and temperance”. Now I want to tell you about some
of the emphases this received; some other important features are present in
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the introduction, as for example, the biblical icon of the vine and the
branches.
Conversion
The theme of the Chapter is fascinating and promising for the future of the
Congregation, but at the same time it is very demanding. It requires of us
a journey of conversion, which we cannot plan; we may want it to happen,
but that it will cannot be taken for granted. Conversion is the work of the
Spirit Who changes our ways of thinking, our hearts and our lives. It is the
responsibility of each one of us and of every community to ensure that we
are attentive and open to whatever the Spirit may suggest to us. The task
is ours of finding the right conditions to foster spiritual, fraternal and
pastoral conversion. Conversion is the goal which the GC27 sets for all of
us, a conversion which is both personal and communitarian.
Discernment
After the experience of the GC25 and GC26 we have arrived at a method
of discernment that to me seems better defined. It employs three new
expressions more consistent with the action of the Spirit: listening, inter-
pretation and the way forward. During the Chapter it was a method diffi-
cult to understand, especially the part regarding interpretation, but in the
end it seems to me that it was welcomed and put into practice. This method
is one that draws its inspiration from that much used by the Church in Latin
America and again employed in the last General Conference of the Latin
American Bishops at Aparecida.1 If it is used, it can give good fruits in the
life of the confreres, of the communities and of the provinces; discernment
is the way the Spirit is pointing out to us nowadays to find the will of God.
The starting point is to put ourselves in an attitude of Iistening: to life, to
situations, to the expectations people have. God speaks to us through life,
the people He places beside us, the events of history. Listening leads us to
come out from ourselves, to look at reality and to allow ourselves to be
questioned by it and to overcome any ego-centric tendency, and to accept
what is new and challenging in the life of young people and families, of the
Church and the Congregation, of culture and the world. It is a question of
1 Cf. Aparecida Document, 19.
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a reflective listening so that we not only “hear” reality but are helped to “see
it”, to contemplate it in the light of God’s Providence; it is a listening in
faith undertaken by believers.
The second step is also demanding: interpretation. It is necessary to
interpret facts and situations in order to understand them better and to
identify their causes. We must not stop at the symptoms, we need to get
to the roots of the situations. It is a matter of the interpretation of reality
by a believer, which draws on the gospel and on the charism, which
uses criteria coming from faith and from reason, and therefore is a true
communitarian discernment. Sometimes there can be differences in the
interpretations; it is therefore necessary to arrive at a shared interpretation.
We are invited to judge reality according to Jesus Christ, the way, the truth
and the life.
Finally, the way ahead proposes the path to be followed, indicating a goal
towards which to aim, the processes by which some starting points and
some targets can be identified and some steps that can make the journey for
the next few years more concrete.
The three stages form an inseparable unity; they are different but inter-
twined. We must not forget that we are dealing with a discernment process
in order to know the will of God and to put it into practice. “The assent of
faith, joyfilled and trusting in God the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit,
together with integration in the Church [and in the Congregation], are
indispensable prerequisites to ensure the effectiveness of this method”.2
Vocation and the grace of unity
Fundamental elements to be found throughout the Chapter document
regarding witnessing to the radical approach of the gospel are the issues of
vocation and the grace of unity. These are theological issues that need to be
taken up seriously.
The witness of the gospel being lived in a radical manner is a call from God
and not only a decision on our part. With the gift of Salesian consecrated
life that God has given to each of us we are called to be witnesses to
the gospel. The profile of the Salesian that we have to take on therefore
2 Cf. Ibid.
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becomes that of someone who is “called to be a mystic in the Spirit, a
prophet of fraternity and a servant of the young”. Witnessing is first of all
a vocational gift and therefore a task and a responsibility. From this comes
the importance of putting as the foundation of our witnessing acknowl-
edgement and gratitude for the gift of our vocation; without this foundation
our witness would be weak.
The gratuitous gift of God and our response in cooperating with it come
together in a reciprocal relationship. This is the grace of unity; this is the
primacy of God in our life. These are gifts of the Spirit for each one of us.
In those situations in which we come face to face with our personal and
community fragility, in the various difficulties in the cultural and social
context and in the mission, the grace of unity is the way ahead in order to
respond with generosity and to be ourselves: consecrated Salesians, broth-
ers at the service of the young. In welcoming this gift we encounter a char-
acteristic feature of our spirituality – union with God; this fosters the uni-
fication of our life: prayer and work, action and contemplation, reflection
and the apostolate. Here we will discover ecstasy in action. The witnessing
to which we are called is not only with regard to some partial aspects of our
life; if we want it to be authentic it has to cover the whole of it.
Work and temperance
Living a radical approach in the following of the Lord cannot be imposed,
nor is it a command, but rather it is an expression of love for Jesus with
whom we need to be vitally united; for this reason the Chapter document
has chosen the icon of the vine and the branches.
Work and temperance are the Salesian way of living the radical approach
of the gospel. They are our badge and our characteristic feature. For us
it is a question of two inseparable realities: “Work is the visible sign of
Salesian mysticism and the expression of the passion for souls, while
temperance is the visible sign of Salesian asceticism and the expression of
the cetera tolle” (AGC 413, p. 44). There is no mystic element without
asceticism and vice-versa; there is no work without temperance and there
is no temperance without work; this too is the grace of unity.
“Da mihi animas” is visibly expressed in the life of a Salesian and of the
community through apostolic, untiring, passionate and sanctified work;
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“cetera tolle” is expressed in temperance which is renunciation, sacrifice
and the price we are ready to pay for souls. Work and temperance are
united and summed up in the total gift of oneself to God for the young.
They are a vocational criterion for discernment and formation. All of this
takes us back to what article 18 of our Constitutions says.
Deliberations
The 19 deliberations of the Chapter regard the Constitutions, the General
Regulations and the life of the Congregation. For the most part they refer
to the structures of the central government of the Congregation, but they
also have an effect on the life of the confreres, communities and provinces.
Therefore all the deliberations should be studied, on account also of the
practical consequences they have at all levels. By way of example I will
mention some of them.
The deliberation that entrusts the Salesian Family to a Central Secretariat
directly dependent on the Rector Major, implies not simply a change in the
organisation or allocation of responsibilities but also offers an aid to bring-
ing about a change of mentality regarding the way of understanding and
animating the Salesian Family on the part of our Congregation.3
There is a deliberation approved regarding the way of electing the Coun-
cillors for the Sectors. This has introduced an important criterion for the
naming of a confrere for a specific role: it is necessary to know before-
hand the names of candidates to be considered in the discernment process
before any voting, and at the same time to set in motion a process that is
transparent and communitarian so that candidates may emerge. The same
criterion could also be used in the appointments of confreres and of lay
people.4
Another deliberation asks the Rector Major to set up a central financial
commission with the roles of study, consultation and checks. This implies
the need to monitor finances at all levels in a collective manner, to initiate
transparent procedures in arriving at decisions, to make use of the skills of
professionals.5
3 Cf. Deliberation 4.
4 Cf. Deliberation 9.
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The last example of a deliberation concerns the responsibility for the
provision of personnel for the Salesian special places which is entrusted to
the Rector Major and his Council. This requires greater involvement on
the part of provinces called to be generous in offering confreres who are
competent and available for services that regard the whole Congregation;
this applies also to all the other needs of the Congregation.6
Appendices
The third part of the Acts of the GC27 provides some relevant addresses.
These are not offered primarily for the purpose of documentation; above all
they are provided for study and reflection, since they contain important
elements to understand the decisions of the Chapter. They are related to
the interpretative dimension of our actions.
With the publication of the Acts of the GC27 we now have something that
we can examine together; in this way the direction we should go is being
pointed out to us. The Chapter Assembly was committed to providing
essential texts. Now it is up to everyone, confreres, communities and
provinces to study and examine these documents more closely with open
minds and ready hearts. Only by knowing, studying and understanding
what is being offered to us will we be able to move forward together and
bear abundant fruit.
Let us entrust this postchapter journey to Mary Help of Christians, whom
we invoke as the model of a radical gospel approach. She is the Woman
who listens, the Mother of the new community, the maidservant of the poor.
She teaches us to be open to the Spirit; She guides us on our journey of
renewal and conversion. Let us walk with Mary together!
Rome, 24 May 2014
Solemnity of Mary Help of Christians
Fr Ángel Fernández Artime
Rector Major
5 Cf. Deliberation 15.
6 Cf. Deliberation 17.
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“WITNESSES TO THE RADICAL APPROACH
OF THE GOSPEL”
Work and temperance
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INTRODUCTION
“The vine and the branches”
Ancient Icon - Greece: sec. XV-XVII
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The significance of the icon
In the icon what draws our attention is the inter-twining of the branches which
represent the trunk of the vine. This is a reference to the image in the Gospel
“I am the vine” and indicates the foundation and strength that Jesus Himself is
for those called and sent out by Him. The figure of Christ constitutes a single
entity with the root of the vine: his kind and pensive face and his twofold gesture
of blessing make him similar to the iconography of the Pantocrator. Nevertheless
in this context the Lord’s blessing takes on a double ecclesial significance: it
indicates both a protective guardianship and a kind of mandate. He who is the
Master safely gathers his own together in communion but in order to send them
out to proclaim the Kingdom.
Above all this strong link with the Lord is the source of abundant fruit. It is the flour-
ishing life of the Church, and its most visible fruits are the ‘apostolic college’.
This group is the ‘prototype’ of all the disciples-apostles: just as the Son keeps the
Word close to Himself, so each individual is shown with the writings attributed to
him in the New Testament. The blossoming of the Congregation and the Salesian
Family is the same.
It is also worth noticing a certain similarity in iconographic terms between the
Twelve and the Master, a similarity which does not ignore the differences and the
characteristic physical features distinguishing young, mature and elderly men. In
fact, the relationship of listening to and obeying Christ shapes the personality of
the disciple without altering it: simply by taking on the ‘features’ of the Master the
disciple becomes capable of writing with his life the riches of the Gospel.
Finally it should be pointed out that the fruitful relationship of the disciples with
Jesus is not one closed in on itself but gives a certain balance to the human
community: in the picture an harmonious expansion of the vine can be noticed;
this becomes an expression of the service of love we are called upon to offer to the
young.
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Living the “radical approach of the Gospel” is the theme for GC27
launched by the Rector Major, Fr Pascual Chávez, as the “open con-
clusion” to the journey that began with the renewed Constitutions
(1984) and has been followed until today with a view to recognising
the major demands of Vatican Council II and listening to the voice of the
Spirit with particular reference to consecrated life.
The last four General Chapters have focused attention on the target, the
beneficiaries of our mission (GC23), on sharing and communion with
and shared responsibility between Salesians and lay people in the one
mission (GC24), on the community (GC25) and on Salesian spirituality
(GC26). In continuity with these, GC27 highlights the Gospel roots of
our apostolic consecration.
The three core topics (“mystics in the Spirit”, “prophets of fraternity”,
“servants of the young”) on which we have reflected and from which we
have drawn up the path to follow for the next six years, constitute the
single yet threefold dynamic of the “grace of unity”, a gift and task for
our communities and for each one of us.
The Chapter experience has been a continual invitation to intense lis-
tening, interpreting our life in depth, identifying the contours of a way
ahead for the Congregation. The Chapter document aims at reflecting
this, almost like a returning tide and delivering the experience to local
and provincial communities.
The vine and the branches
The book of the Gospels has accompanied the Chapter experience,
with humility and splendour. Every day in the assembly hall, the Word
of the Lord has been proclaimed in various languages and solemnly
enthroned.
Prompted by this daily listening, we have felt particularly challenged by
the Gospel passage of the “vine and the branches” (Jn 15:1-11), an icon
for the theme and a synthesis of our Chapter work. Its central message
takes us back to being deeply united, “rooted”, then, in love for Jesus as
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was Don Bosco whose life was profoundly unified around the person of
the Son of God, bearing “much fruit”.
Remaining, loving, bearing fruit are, therefore, the three verbs that
throw an intense light on the three core topics of GC27. Jesus remains
with us and invites each one to remain with Him, to learn fraternal love
and fruitfully serve the young entrusted to us. In this faithful love we
continually experience the Father’s closeness, thanks to our giving heed
to Jesus’ word.
In love, which translates into gift of self to our brothers, lies the full
realisation of our existence, both of the individual and of the commu-
nity. The love which we learn from Jesus, as we remain united with
Him like the branch to the vine, is always prolific, always bears fruit.
The grace of unity
Preparation by the local and provincial communities, and the Chapter
experience, have helped us rediscover Salesian identity from the four
different angles which were recalled in the letter of convocation of
GC27: “Living in the grace of unity and with joy the Salesian conse-
crated vocation, which is a gift from God and a personal plan of life;
having a strong spiritual experience, taking up the way of life and action
of Jesus obedient, poor and chaste and becoming seekers of God; build-
ing up fraternity in our communities of life and action; generously ded-
icating ourselves to the mission, walking side by side with the young so
as to give hope to the world” (AGC 413, p. 5).
The three core topics – mystics in the Spirit, prophets of fraternity,
servants of the young – are not to be thought of as isolated in them-
selves or separate, but as contained within the “grace of unity”: a single
dynamic of love between the Lord who calls and the disciple who
responds (cf. C. 23). It is the unique and manifold grace of God which
wells up, involving individuals, situations and resources, and generates
a movement of goodness, beauty and truth.
In order to correspond to the “grace of unity” there is a need for a gen-
uine conversion to the radical Gospel approach, a continuous transfor-
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mation of mind and heart, a deep purification. This is the challenge to
be tackled with boldness and courage, the process to be set in motion to
regenerate ourselves, our educative and pastoral communities and the
young.
John Paul II stated: “The spiritual life must therefore have first place...
Apostolic fruitfulness, generosity in love of the poor, and the ability to
attract vocations among the younger generation depend on this priority
and its growth in personal and communal commitment”.1
This reference to the roots, the depths of the heart, allows those around
us who are watching us to glimpse our motives for giving our lives to
God and the young, the ultimate meaning of our lives in this world.
It is about the deepest and truest reality which guides our life.
It is enough to contemplate Jesus, Lord and Teacher, to see in Him the
Son of God united to each human being in the incarnation.2 It is enough
to look at Don Bosco to see that in him “a splendid blending of nature
and grace... in a closely-knit life project, the service of the young”
(C. 21) shines through.
Pope Francis reminded us of this in the audience on 31 March: “I imag-
ine that during the Chapter – which had as its theme “Witnesses of the
Gospel’s radical demands” – you had ever before you Don Bosco and
the young; and Don Bosco with his motto: Da mihi animas, cetera tolle.
He strengthened this programme with two other elements: work and
temperance. ‘Work and temperance’, he said, ‘will make the Congregation
flourish’. When one thinks of working for the good of souls, one over-
comes the temptation to spiritual worldliness, one does not seek after
other things, but only God and his Kingdom. Temperance, then, is a sense
of proportion, being content, being simple. May the poverty of Don Bosco
and of Mamma Margaret inspire every Salesian and each of your com-
munities to live an austere life based on the essentials, on closeness to the
poor, on transparency and responsibility in managing temporal goods”.
Contemplation and action, the practice of the evangelical counsels,
fraternal community and the apostolic mission are thus led back to “a
1 JOHN PAUL II, Vita Consecrata, 93.
2 Cf. SECOND VATICAN COUNCIL, Gaudium et Spes, 22.
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single movement of love towards God and towards our brothers” (C. 3).
With regard to this, “work is the visible sign of Salesian mysticism and
the expression of the passion for souls, while temperance is the visible
sign of Salesian asceticism and the expression of the cetera tolle”.3
“The witness of such holiness, achieved within the Salesian mission,
reveals the unique worth of the beatitudes and is the most precious gift
we can offer the young” (C. 25). For us, holiness consists in the “grace
of unity”, in fully realised humanity, in the harmony of what there is in
and around us of “everything that is true, that is noble, everything that
is good and pure, everything that we love and honour”, everything “that
can be thought virtuous or worthy of praise...” (Phil 4:8).
A point of arrival and a point of departure
GC27 adopted a community discernment approach articulated over three
interrelated and consecutive phases: listening, interpreting, way ahead.
In the first phase we adopted an attitude of listening in order to capture
the situation in its manifold and important aspects: the more positive and
promising ones, the more critical ones which in some way challenge
and question us. Paying attention to the signs and expressions of a
radical Gospel approach already present in our life and the historical
moment we are experiencing, allowed us to distinguish expressions
of fidelity and testimony from expressions of inconsistency and
conformity.
From this listening to the reality, we sought to interpret, throw light on
the situation and signs and expressions of life that had been highlight-
ed earlier, attempting to go back to the causes that produce them and to
recognise the challenges they elicit, going beyond the surface and ap-
pearances. The keys to interpretation were offered by the Gospel, the
Church’s life and teaching, Don Bosco’s charismatic experience, the
Constitutions, the appeals of the young that reach us. By keeping this
perspective in mind it was possible to penetrate to the deep roots of our
identity as disciples and apostles.
3 AGC 413, p. 44; cf. C. 18.
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The third phase, pulling together the results of the first two, allowed us
to outline the way ahead on which we need to embark, consolidating
whatever has been highlighted as positive, identifying new expressions
of being radical in a Gospel way and overcoming manifestations of in-
fidelity, weakness and risk, in order to transform our lives. The way
ahead offers a goal that is the horizon towards which we are moving; it
envisages certain processes which make it more concrete, suggesting a
situation from which to start and a point of arrival which will bring us
closer to our goal. The steps as they have been identified, formulated
and arranged are aimed at giving concreteness to our Congregation’s
journey over the next six years.
The common thread linking these three is summed up in the final ver-
sion by a series of phrases placed at the beginning of each section: Like
Don Bosco, in dialogue with the Lord, we journey together moved by the
Spirit, having an experience of fraternal life as at Valdocco, available
for planning and cooperation, “going out” towards the peripheries,
becoming prophetic signs in the service of the young.
From this “map” each local and provincial community can select and
arrange its own way ahead, fitting in with its context and the many
pointers coming from the experience of GC27 as it listens to the
Congregation and the local and universal Church.
Mary our model of the radical Gospel approach
To Mary the Immaculate Help of Christians, Mother of a “radical and
unconditional ‘yes’”, we entrust our assent of faith, our wish and desire
for communion and our apostolic commitment to the young.
Blessed are you Mary, the Woman who listened,
Because you lived in the search for God’s will for you.
And when His plan for you was revealed
you had the courage to accept it,
abandoning your own life project
to make the Lord’s your own.
Mother of believers,
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teach us to listen to God
and to make His will our own,
so that He may realise his plan
for the salvation of the young!
Blessed are you Mary, Mother of the new community,
who at the foot of the Cross welcomed
as your son the beloved disciple of Jesus
and helped in the birth of the Church,
the new Body of your Son,
a mystical reality of brothers and sisters united by faith and love.
You accompanied the life and prayer of the Apostles,
calling down the outpouring of the Spirit of the Risen One in the Upper
Room.
Mother of the brothers and sisters of your Son,
teach us how to build communities
which are of one heart and soul.
Let our communion, our fraternity and our joy
be a living testimony
to the beauty of faith and of our Salesian vocation.
Blessed are you Mary, Handmaid of the poor,
because you promptly set out along the way
to serve a mother in need
and you were there at Cana,
sharing the joys and sorrows
of a newly married couple.
You did not look to your own needs,
but to theirs,
and you pointed out your Son, Jesus,
as the Lord who could give to the human race
the new wine of peace and joy in the Spirit.
Mother of servants, teach us to go out of ourselves,
to go and meet our neighbours,
so that while we respond to their needs,
we may offer them Jesus, God’s gift, the most precious gift!
Amen.
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I. LISTENING
Like Don Bosco, in dialogue with the Lord...
1. We recognise that the time in which we are living is a place of
encounter with the Lord. We wish, as individuals and communi-
ties, to give primacy to God in our lives, challenged by Salesian
holiness and the thirst young people have for authenticity. We are
more aware that only a personal encounter with God, through his
Word, the Sacraments and our neighbour, can make us significant
and authentic witnesses in the Church and society. The desire for
God, which is something we feel within us, is also alive in young
people and in the laity: we find them responsive to life values ex-
pressed in simplicity, austerity and genuine relationships between
people. Young people in particular are seeking significant adults to
accompany them and help them to mature in life.
2. We find that we are working in different cultural contexts mani-
festing in various ways the sense of God. The yearning to have
God at the centre of our lives can at times be in conflict with a
secular culture which could lead us to be afraid of speaking about
Him, so as not to offend, or out of respect for the other person, or
to protect ourselves from the opinions of others. Sometimes there
is no encounter with the Gospel because of the lack of openness,
or the indifference of the listeners, and at other times because of
our laziness or lack of missionary courage. Sometimes we con-
sider our era only as a problem; our awareness of history and of
modern day cultures is partial and superficial. By uncritically
responding to social needs and demands, we are silent as regards
the experience of God and run the risk of no longer understanding
our specific mission as religious in today’s world.
3. There are signs of the primacy of God in our lives: fidelity to the
Lord through the practice of the evangelical counsels, our service
of poor youngsters, the sense of belonging to the Church and the
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Congregation, our increasing knowledge of Don Bosco and his
Preventive System, the simple and abundant legacy of our every-
day spirituality, marked by family spirit and positive interper-
sonal relationships, sensitivity to accompaniment and spiritual
fatherliness. At the same time we find that who we are and what
we do does not always appear to be rooted in faith, hope and
charity, and does not clearly show that the initiative begins from
God and always returns to Him. At times the Eucharist is not seen
nor experienced as the source and support of communion, and
prayer in common which builds and strengthens fraternal life is
too easily set aside. It is our young people and their families in
particular who question us on our spiritual roots and vocational
motivation, reawakening in us our identity as consecrated persons
and our educative and pastoral mission.
... journeying together moved by the Spirit...
4. We are grateful to God for the fidelity of so many confreres and
for the holiness of some members of the Salesian Family that has
been recognised by the Church. Every day we are in contact with
adults and young people, confreres old and young, sick or at the
height of their activity who bear witness to the fascination of the
search for God, the radical approach of the Gospel lived joyfully
and with a keen passion for Don Bosco.
5. Generally our consecration reveals the sense of God in history
and in the life of human beings, in circumstances of seeking
meaning or of poverty, with the power of a witness that gives
hope and enthusiasm, offering a human way of life that achieves
fulfilment by going against and offering an alternative to a world-
ly mentality.4 The practice of lectio divina, with community
sharing of God’s Word and the personal plan of life have become
for many confreres a great resource for personal renewal, an
effective antidote to the temptation of spiritual superficiality.
4 Cf. POPE FRANCIS, Evangelii Gaudium, 93-97.
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6. Given the difficulties and daily challenges related to proclaiming
the Gospel, we are very much aware that there is a connection
between pastoral charity and spiritual life as the sources of our
fruitfulness.
7. We note certain symptoms of ego-centricity where we do not go
out of ourselves to be open to the demands of God or go out to
meet others: a lack of updating, of reference to a stable spiritual
director and a “do it yourself” spirituality. These forms of self-
sufficiency often make us forget that we are cooperating with God
and hinder us from making Christ the point of reference in our
lives.
... experiencing fraternal life, as at Valdocco...
8. Since GC25 there has been a growing commitment to living our
community life more authentically through better animation of
prayer times, and an effort to grow in sharing and more qualified
and participative apostolic work. Communities have seen an in-
crease in more systematic meeting schedules and the quality of
these has seen improvement. In particular, some community
choices have helped people come together in communion as
brothers who live, reflect and work together: community day, the
annual formative project, lectio divina and spiritual sharing,
reflection on our Salesian experience, times for celebrating and
relaxing together. Community structures, settings and their loca-
tion, the style and rhythms of life express our view of community
and allow us to live it.
9. Some negative influences from society are also noted in our com-
munities. We risk losing our Gospel-inspired ways of thinking by
taking up negative features of today’s culture. For example, we
mask our indifference towards or lack of care for our confrere
with the excuse of showing “respect” or “tolerance”, or we un-
necessarily make public information that should be kept among
ourselves. Creeping materialism and activism make us perceive
community time as time ‘stolen’ from the private sphere or the
mission.
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10. Fraternal life in community especially shows signs of the low
appreciation of the meaning of our consecrated life which is seen
in a weak concern for the Salesian Brother vocation, with its
specific contribution to the community and the Salesian mission,
and the excessive clericalism so often manifested in our commu-
nity and pastoral relationships.
11. We note that prayer and the offering up of a life of sacrifice by
elderly and sick Salesians are a true apostolate with and for the
young; they remain an active part of the community and live out
the “da mihi animas”. Moreover, communities are making every
effort to see they are not excluded from the mission. We still find
some difficulty in accepting and taking care of confreres who are
in situations of fragility, in trouble, senile and sick.5
12. Among our confreres and in our communities there is also the
issue of spiritual fatherliness, expressed in a comprehensive
network of giving and receiving, lived in a harmonious family
spirit. We recognise that over these years, especially in initial
formation, valuable projects have been developed for growth as
human beings in the emotional, relational and spiritual sphere.
... available for planning and sharing...
13. The Community Plan and the Educative and Pastoral Plan
(SEPP) have been drawn up more frequently than in the past in
almost all Salesian communities and works, even though there is
still a limited understanding and little awareness of the essential
function of the Educative and Pastoral Community (EPC). We
recognise the importance of working with shared responsibility,
notwithstanding the struggle to feel that we are an active part of
the EPC and to recognise it as having responsibility for the
mission. Sometimes our Educative and Pastoral Plan is limited to
organising our activities, without shared and ongoing reflection
on the objectives, on priorities, on processes and on the evalua-
5 Cf. Evangelii Gaudium, 209-210.
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tion of the objectives achieved. Some confreres nevertheless
through a tendency to favour areas of personal activity continue
to find difficulty in sharing the mission.
14. Over these years the field of intervention for Rectors/Directors
has broadened. They are fully engaged in managerial tasks as
well as being spiritual guides of the confreres and leaders of
the EPC. Therefore the Rectors/Directors are not always in
the position to fulfil the obligations of their service and often
they do not receive adequate cooperation from the confreres,
and sometimes they are deprived of a systematic formative
accompaniment at provincial level.
15. We see greater involvement and activity by the laity, helped by
sharing and joint responsibility with and within the educative and
pastoral community. A number of difficulties with regard to
Salesian-lay relationships have been overcome in the combined
effort to converge around a single project. Where this kind of
teamwork exists, in a climate of trust and family spirit, respect-
ing roles, that place becomes fruitful and purposeful, also in
vocational terms. Systematic formation of the laity continues to
be weak in certain contexts.
16. Some of us allow ourselves to become caught up in managerial
tasks or take refuge in our comfort zones, delegating assistance
and presence amongst the young to confreres in practical training,
or to our collaborators. Many lay people who are paid for their
leadership roles and assistance offer a truly professional and Sale-
sian service, in comparison with others who have shortcomings
especially due to our lack of involvement in formation proce-
dures.
17. In recent years we have seen the development of a healthy pivotal
role of young people, especially within the Salesian Youth Move-
ment. This factor leads us to feel joy and satisfaction as we ex-
perience the regenerating truth of the Salesian charism: evange-
lising and educating the young with the young. We are ever more
conscious that the volunteer movement helps young people to
mature in a complete way which includes the vocational and mis-
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sionary dimension.6 Within the Salesian youth volunteer move-
ment there is sometimes a lack of adequate spiritual and peda-
gogical accompaniment for it to become an authentic experience
of a meeting with Christ in the poor.
18. We have gained greater awareness of the importance of accom-
panying the young in coming to know and to meet Jesus. The
young have a right to Christ and his Gospel and we owe it to
them. Strengthened by this belief, in certain contexts we have ex-
plored more deeply the inseparable bond between education and
evangelisation, obtaining appreciable results.
19. Our awareness of being a Salesian Family has grown, thanks also
to positive cooperation in provincial and local communities, to
“Salesian Spirituality Days”, the Rector Major’s yearly Strenna
and the Charter of charismatic identity. Some experiences of
working “together” on behalf of the young have helped us to grow
as a united body sharing responsibility within the Salesian Fam-
ily, and thus growing in our awareness that we are a single charis-
matic movement. Moreover, shared responsibility in the mission
between Salesians, other Salesian Family members, lay people
and the young has helped us improve the quality of our ministry,
broaden horizons and expand the heart of our apostolic mission.
20. An emerging apostolic front that we have begun to take better
care of is family ministry, and not only in parish or adult forma-
tion contexts. It needs to be reconsidered in close connection with
youth ministry.
21. Initial formation at times continues to be disconnected from
pastoral processes. After the specific period of formation of can-
didates for the priesthood and brothers, difficulties and problems
arise for these confreres in fitting back into ministry in a signifi-
cant and effective way or returning to the dynamics of community
life. Not all communities accepting confreres at the end of their
initial formation have an explicit plan envisaging appropriate ways
of helping them fit into ordinary educative and pastoral activity.
6 Cf. Evangelii Gaudium, 106.
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... going out to the peripheries...
22. The Congregation is becoming more decisively oriented to
youngsters who are poor and at risk as we listen to their cry for
help. There is a growing sensitivity among confreres to a culture
of human rights, especially those of minors, which is seen in
certain prophetic choices on the new frontiers and at the margins
in the broader sense.
23. Moreover, the Congregation is committed to insisting strongly
that employing any approach which does not respect young peo-
ple, and having recourse to violence of any kind are clearly con-
trary to Salesian pedagogy. All Provinces have taken or are about
to finish taking the necessary steps in order to formulate both
their code of ethics as statutes of our preventive pedagogical
culture, and the protocol for legal procedures to tackle possible
cases of abuse, in accordance with Canon Law and the legislation
of the countries in which we operate.
24. We are becoming aware that there is at times a certain distance
between us and the young; it is a mental and cultural one rather
than a physical one. In some situations we look on the new gen-
erations as if they were a “problem” and not an “opportunity”,
an appeal from the Lord, an eloquent reflection of the “signs of
the times” and a challenge that confronts us.
25. The new technologies of information and communication and the
digital environment in which we are living are a cultural, social
and pastoral space encouraging an experience of life; they are an
integral part of daily life and have an impact on our way of feel-
ing, thinking, living and relating. They allow us to maintain ties
and cultivate healthy relationships among confreres and young
people, reduce geographical distances that would otherwise hin-
der immediate and frequent communication. As Salesians we feel
we are not present as educators and evangelisers in a significant
way in this environment.
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... becoming prophetic signs in the service of the young!
26. We have put consistent efforts into giving new meaning to and re-
structuring presences so that their charismatic identity is relevant
and to guarantee creative fidelity to Don Bosco’s educational
system in response to the needs of the young in our time. In
certain contexts, however, the preference for the poorest young
people is not sufficiently clear. The concern to financially support
traditional structures limits our openness to new forms of poverty
and new social emergencies.
27. The people and the young often admire us for the amount of work
we do on their behalf. Nevertheless, some of us, overwhelmed
by so many activities, experience a sense of tiredness, tension,
fragmentation, inefficiency and burnout. Sometimes we are far
too concerned with and worn down by all the efforts at preserv-
ing and helping works to survive. When we are concerned with
the young, at times we focus only on their social well-being while
neglecting their accompaniment in the spiritual life and in their
vocation.
28. The visibility and credibility of our consecrated life has gradually
lessened. Not always can the witness to the primacy of God be
recognised in us, through the practice of the vows, our modest
lifestyle, commitment to work, dedication to the mission, per-
sonal and community prayer faithfully practised.
29. Intercultural living within our communities is an opportunity, a
witness to unity for the world; it also reveals certain limits to our
charity and uncovers prejudices which resist evangelical frater-
nity. International communities and collaboration in worldwide
projects contribute to creating a greater sense of fraternity and
solidarity.
30. We recognise that the responsibility for caring for the environ-
ment is an emerging sensitivity in our communities as well. How-
ever, we are still not sufficiently convinced of this priority in our
choice of a modest and essential lifestyle and in the education of
the young.
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II. INTERPRETATION
Like Don Bosco, in dialogue with the Lord,
journeying together moved by the Spirit...
31. Immersed in history, marked by limitation and fragility, we are
supported by the certainty that God accompanies the human race
with his interventions of salvation which culminate in the Pasch of
the Lord Jesus: “His resurrection is not something of the past; it
contains a vital power which has permeated this world. Where all
seems to be dead, signs of the resurrection suddenly spring up”.7
Following Jesus’ example in his transfiguration and covering his
disciples in the light of Tabor8 and listening to the warnings in Don
Bosco’s “dream of the Ten Diamonds”, we appreciate the grace of
the Salesian vocation, the fruitfulness of the evangelical counsels,
communion in community and among the young. We look upon the
Virgin Mary who in her Magnificat sings to a God who faithfully
leads his People along the paths of history, working wonders and
miracles in favour of the humble and the poor. With her we redis-
cover the joy of the faith which infuses optimism and hope.
32. As for Don Bosco, for us too the primacy of God is the corner-
stone of our raison d’etre in the Church and in the world. This
primacy gives meaning to our consecrated life, helps us avoid the
risk of letting ourselves become too caught up in our activities and
forgetting that we are essentially “seekers of God” and witnesses
of his love among the young and the poor. We are called, then, to
redirect our heart, our mind and all our energy to the “beginning”
and the “origins”: the joy of that moment when Christ looked
upon us, to recall the meanings and needs that underpin our
vocation.9
7 Cf. Evangelii Gaudium, 276.
8 Cf. Vita Consecrata, 14-16.
9 CONGREGATION FOR INSTITUTES OF CONSECRATED LIFE AND SOCIETIES OF APOSTOLIC LIFE,
Rallegratevi, 4.
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33. Our mysticism is expressed as both our personal and community
lives become more profoundly human.10 It is based on the mys-
tery of the Incarnation: Jesus made his own the needs and aspi-
rations of the people and did the will of his Father in building the
Kingdom. Don Bosco lived and passed on an original style of
union with God to be lived always (cf. C. 12, 21, 95) and every-
where according to the oratory criterion (cf. C. 40). The Salesian,
then, bears witness to God when he spends himself for the young
and remains with them in sacrificial dedication “to his last
breath”, lives the “cetera tolle”, and knows how to tell them of his
own experience of the Lord.
34. The experience of our encounter with God demands a personal
response that is developed over a journey of faith and in deep
relationship with the Word, because “being Christian is not the
result of an ethical choice or a lofty idea, but the encounter with
an event, a person, which gives life a new horizon and a decisive
direction”.11
35. Today, other than noting cultural changes, we are convinced that
we are experiencing an historic turning point,12 perhaps without
precedent. This has significantly modified the reasons which
induce people to choose and live consecrated life. Pope Francis
invites us to hear the cry of the poor, to go out to meet those most
urgent needs, to live the culture of encounter and dialogue,13
avoiding self-referentiality and embodying a missionary spiritu-
ality.
36. The difficulties we experience in responding to God’s call to live
the ‘sequela Christi’ in a radical way, are due to our weak faith in
the fruitfulness of the evangelical counsels in bringing about com-
munion in community and in our mission to the young. Taking up
the gift of vocation and being responsible for the processes of our
ongoing formation help us to mould the culture with the Gospel
and to be people of compassion, especially for the poor.
10 Cf. Evangelii Gaudium, 87, 92, 266.
11 BENEDICT XVI, Deus caritas est, 1.
12 Cf. Evangelii Gaudium, 52; cf.61-70.
13 Cf. Ibid., 220.
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37. Called as we are to testify to the reality of the Kingdom and to
dialogue with thinking that sometimes tends to relativise and
marginalise religious discourse, we become irrelevant when we
back away from our prophetic role in proposing a culture inspired
by the Gospel.
38. The risk of easily being considered mere “social workers” instead
of educators and pastors capable of witnessing to the primacy of
God, of proclaiming the Gospel and of spiritual accompaniment,
demands that we take care of our vocation. The most significant
challenge consists in finding creative ways to state the impor-
tance of spiritual values and a personal encounter with the God of
life, love, tenderness and compassion. This requires that we
encourage the experience of faith and the encounter with Jesus
Christ: young people demand a down-to-earth and coherent
lifestyle of us.
... experiencing fraternal life, as at Valdocco,
available for planning and cooperation...
39. We believe that the community “is put forward as an eloquent
witness to the Trinity”14 and our living together is the result of the
initiative of God the Father who calls us to be disciples of Christ
for a mission of salvation (cf. C. 50). In order not to lose this
particular gift, offered to us and the whole Church, the visibility
of the fraternal dimension of our life must be more conscious,
direct, effective and joyful (cf. Ps 133:1).
40. We recognise that community life is one of the ways of having an
experience of God. Living “mystical fraternity”15 is an essential
element of our apostolic consecration and a great help in being
faithful to it. There is another clear link with our mission and with
the world of the young thirsting for authentic communication and
transparent relationships. At a time when families and society are
14 Vita Consecrata, 21; cf. 16.
15 Cf. Evangelii Gaudium, 87, 92.
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coming apart, we offer an alternative lifestyle based on respect
and cooperation with the other person; at a time marked by
inequality and injustice, we offer a witness of peace and recon-
ciliation (cf. C. 49). Community is also revealed in the common
mission. Unanimity in our apostolic activity brings about the
prophecy of the community and such testimony gives rise to new
vocations.
41. Our limitations of mutual misunderstanding, our being closed
in on ourselves and our daily fragility, depend on a lack of
acceptance of the love and grace poured into our hearts by the
Spirit of Christ (cf. Rm 5:5). We recognise that the communion
with the Body and Blood of Christ (cf. 1Cor 10:16), with which
we nourish ourselves each day, makes us “one heart and one
soul” (Acts 2:42; C. 50). The Eucharist is the source and sum-
mit of our fraternity, consecration and mission.16 Urged on by
the charity of Christ and being part of the gift of self of Jesus
the Good Shepherd, we participate in Don Bosco’s spiritual ex-
perience and spend ourselves as he did for the salvation of the
young.
42. Personal relationships in community can become formal, frag-
mented and less significant due to a number of factors: individu-
alism and personal reticence, less than engaging formation, ex-
cessive concern for one’s own work or being under-occupied, re-
lationships limited to the functional, retreat into our private sphere
and a not always balanced use of personal media. These factors
become a facile excuse for not facing up to the demands of com-
munity life. Conflict situations should not be seen as negative
things but as an opportunity to mature: they need to be enlightened
by the Gospel, tackled and then resolved with greater courage,
human skill and mercy.17
43. A certain tendency to perfectionism and, on the contrary, resist-
ance to change lies behind the lack of community renewal. The
capacity to be realists and at the same time know how to dream,
16 Cf. SECOND VATICAN COUNCIL, Lumen Gentium, 11.
17 Cf. Mt 5:20-26; Evangelii Gaudium, 226-230.
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is diminished. We find ourselves challenged by Pope Francis:
“I prefer a Church which is bruised, hurting and dirty because it
has been out on the streets, rather than a Church which is
unhealthy from being confined and from clinging to its own se-
curity... I dream of a missionary option capable of transforming
everything, so that the Church’s customs, ways of doing things,
times and schedules, language and structures can be suitably
channelled for the evangelisation of today’s world rather than
for her self-preservation”.18
44. What we offer as a community is meant to reveal an “outgoing
Church”,19 and to realise an open educative environment and an
“outward-looking” Educative and Pastoral Community. The
Salesian community has the task of creating fellowship too with
lay people who share responsibility with us, especially with mem-
bers of the Salesian Family, overcoming every kind of clericalism
and directing ourselves towards new frontiers, “leaving the doors
always open”.20
45. Living out the spirituality of communion is what the Church asks
of us today, integrating community life and service in our work,21
in a renewed sense of belonging. To build community we need to
shift from life in common to communion of life, in such a way
that each confrere establishes deep ties and gives himself unre-
servedly, feeling no need to alienate himself or seek worldly com-
pensations.22
46. In the Church, which is the People of God on the march and a
communion of individuals with different charisms and roles, we
share with the laity the service of building the Kingdom of God.
The Salesian charism requires us to cultivate the involvement and
shared responsibility of all the members of the animating core of
the Educative and Pastoral Community (cf. C. 47), Salesians and
lay people, to foster a planning mentality and common action on
18 Evangelii Gaudium, 49. 27.
19 Cf. Evangelii Gaudium, 20-24, 46.
20 Cf. Ibid., 46-47.
21 Cf. Novo Millennio Ineunte, 43-45.
22 Cf. Evangelii Gaudium, 93-97.
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behalf of the young, of families and of adults among the ordinary
people.
47. The Preventive System is not only about pastoral animation but
also shapes relationships in the community in a Salesian way.
It inspires us to be prophets of fraternity for one another in the
community, especially in times of suffering and when seeking
more meaningful relationships. We are, then, “signs and bearers
of God’s love” (C. 2) not only for young people but also for our
confreres.
48. “Home” and “family” are the two terms frequently used by Don
Bosco to describe the “spirit of Valdocco” that must be clearly
visible in our communities. In this respect we respond to the evan-
gelical and charismatic appeal for mutual understanding and
shared responsibility, for fraternal correction and reconciliation.
49. Formation, both initial and ongoing, is called to have an impact,
by making use of the human sciences, on our deep relational
dynamics, on our emotional life and on sexuality, all of which
influence a balanced community life. In our formation processes,
it would be good to tackle such issues more competently,
frequently and in a more shared way, without limiting them ex-
clusively to spiritual direction and to the practice of the sacra-
ment of reconciliation.
50. Formation, when taken up personally, helps us to purify our
motivations, accustoming us to live with the right intention; it
educates us to work and temperance through disciplined and
detached apostolic involvement which knows how to set the
necessary boundaries within interpersonal relationships; it trains
us in a moderate lifestyle which enables us to undertake manual
work and ordinary and humble services in community.
51. The Rector/Director is a central figure; more than a manager he
is a father who brings his family together in communion and
apostolic service. Because of the complexity of our work, the
diversity of functions and less than adequate formation, he is not
always in a position to look after fraternal life, discernment and
shared responsibility in accordance with the community plan of
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life and its pastoral and educative plan. In some situations, weak
support from the confreres has its effect.
... going out to the peripheries,
becoming prophetic signs in the service of the young!
52. Young people are “our burning bush”23 through which God is
speaking to us. This is a mystery to be respected, accepted, its
more profound features recognised, and before which we should
remove our sandals to contemplate God’s self-revelation in each
and everyone’s story. This strong experience of God can allow
us to respond to the cry of the young.24
53. We are aware that union with God is something to be experienced
among the young: “We believe that God is awaiting us in the
young to offer us the grace of meeting with him and to dispose us
to serve him in them, recognising their dignity and educating
them to the fullness of life”.25 The mission is strengthened
authentically when we see it as coming from God, and when
we draw sustenance for our service from Him.
54. We are aware that the strength and the sharing of motivations of
faith and daily seeking union with God enrich pastoral reflection,
confer creativity on the proclamation of the Gospel, and induce us
to give our life to the young. Thus a double movement, one prop-
er to the preventive system, occurs; in the school of God’s love
where God goes before us by loving us first, (cf. 1 Jn 4:10.19)
including through the young, we become capable of an ‘antici-
pating love’ (C. 15).
55. We want to be a Congregation of the poor for the poor. Like Don
Bosco we maintain that this is our way of living the Gospel in a
radical way and of being more available and prompt in respond-
ing to the needs of the young, bringing about in our life a genuine
23 Cf. Ex 3:2ff.; cf. Evangelii Gaudium, 169.
24 Cf. Evangelii Gaudium, 187-193; 211.
25 GC23, 95.
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exodus towards the most needy. Migrants, refugees and unem-
ployed youth challenge us as Salesians in all parts of the world:
they invite us to find ways of collaborating and provide concrete
responses, and to adopt ways of thinking that are more open,
supportive and courageous.26
56. A pastoral ministry without a specific focus does not effectively
reflect the Salesian charism and is the result of inadequate plan-
ning (cf. AGC 334). This is due to insufficient recognition of the
deepest longings of the young, a lack of appreciation of the indi-
cations coming from Salesian magisterium and weak observance
of the Constitutions.
57. Our educative and pastoral activity is in tune with the local
Church and cooperates with institutions around us, for a more
incisive and appropriate service of the young and workingclass
areas. Youth ministry and the Salesian pedagogical proposal
are not our ‘private property’ nor for exclusive use within our
Congregation, but a precious gift for the Church and for the
transformation of the world.
58. The Preventive System is for us Salesians a pedagogical approach,
a proposal of youthful evangelisation, a profound spiritual expe-
rience. There is need on our part for a greater commitment to its
renewed understanding and practice in today’s altered circum-
stances. We would like to highlight in particular that it is a “spir-
ituality to be lived”; the fruitfulness of our work is the result of
an intense spiritual life lived with the young (cf. C. 20) and for
their salvation.
59. Salesian assistance is a fundamental aspect of our spirituality.
Being with the young, making ourselves their neighbour, earning
their confidence and accompanying them in their allegiance to
the faith, allows us to encounter God and listen to him, expend-
ing all our efforts “until our last breath”27 and bearing witness by
the gift of our life according to the spirit of the cross. By living
26 Cf. Evangelii Gaudium, 210.
27 Cf. BM XVIII, 216.
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this way we share in the paschal dynamic, and are certain that the
beauty of the resurrection will fill this authentic gift of ourselves
with joy and peace.
60. Practising the twofold work and temperance replenishes a Sale-
sian’s life, nourishes his apostolic zeal and brings him close to
the young, the Lord and his confreres. The apostolic front must be
proportionate to the required quality and number of the commu-
nity and the Educative and Pastoral Community.
61. We insist on the need for formation to take into account the train-
ing and preparation for serving the young, including through
deeper study, cultural dialogue and significant pastoral experi-
ences, ensuring a constant updating in accordance with the guide-
lines of the Church and of the Congregation.
62. The digital world, “the new areopagus of modern times”,28 chal-
lenges us as educators of the young: it is a “new playground”, a
“new oratory” which demands our presence and encourages us to
new forms of evangelisation and education. Our “knowledge and
information era”, however, tends towards the commodification
of human relationships and a monopolisation of human knowl-
edge, in this way becoming a source of “new and often anony-
mous kinds of power”29 which we must tackle through our pas-
toral and educative involvement.
28 JOHN PAUL II, Redemptoris missio, 37.
29 Cf. Evangelii Gaudium, 52.
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III. WAY FORWARD
1. GOAL
63. To witness to “a radical Gospel approach” by means of continu-
al spiritual, fraternal and pastoral conversion:
1. living the PRIMACY OF GOD by contemplating what hap-
pens each day and by following Christ;
2. building up authentic communities through relationships and
work in accordance with the FAMILY SPIRIT;
3. putting ourselves more decisively and significantly at the
SERVICE OF the poorest of the YOUNG.
2. PROCESSES AND STEPS
Like Don Bosco, in dialogue with the Lord...
64. To be MYSTICS in the Spirit we need to move:
1. from a fragmented spirituality to a unifying spirituality,
the result of contemplating God in Jesus Christ and in the
young.
2. from an attitude where we feel we are already formed, to
humbly and constantly listening to God’s Word, our con-
freres and the young.
65. To bring about these processes we commit ourselves to:
1. Experiencing our daily Eucharist as the source of our apos-
tolic fruitfulness and celebrating the Sacrament of reconcilia-
tion as a way of frequently setting out once more on our path
to conversion.
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2. Cultivating personal prayer in daily contact with the Word of
God, making our daily meditation and cultivating the quality
of community prayer, sharing it with the young and members
of the EPC.
3. Giving a special character to the project of animation and
government at all levels for the next six years, by putting
God’s Word at its heart.
... journeying together, moved by the Spirit...
66. To be MYSTICS in the Spirit we need to move:
1. from a weak testimony of the evangelical counsels to a life
filled with passion for following Jesus which is able to wake
up the world, calling it back to a life of simplicity.
2. from a pessimistic outlook on the world to a vision of faith
which discovers the God of joy in the events of life and in
the history of the human race.
67. To bring about these processes we commit ourselves to:
1. Living the grace of consecration with joy and authenticity by
drawing up or redefining our personal plan of life and the
community plan.
2. Having a stable spiritual director and referring to this person
periodically.
3. Exploring our spirituality through frequent reading of the
Constitutions and the study of Salesian Sources.
4. Arranging times for community spiritual sharing starting out
from the Word of God, making use of lectio divina in parti-
cular.
5. Evaluating and promoting the harmony between prayer and
work, reflection and apostolate, as a community and as indi-
viduals, through appropriate scrutinies.
6. Seeing to the translation of the Fonti salesiane (Salesian
Sources) in different languages.
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7. Updating the prayer book known as In dialogue with the
Lord and other aids to prayer.
8. Setting in place formation initiatives for Salesians and lay
people and suitably preparing a Centre for Ongoing Formation
at Regional level or making use of those in other Regions.
... experiencing fraternal life, as at Valdocco...
68. To be PROPHETS of fraternity we need to move:
1. from functional and formal relationships to warm and sup-
portive ones, relationships of profound communion;
2. from prejudice and closure to fraternal correction and
reconciliation.
69. To bring about these processes we commit ourselves to:
1. Making room for the practice of dialogue with others,30 using
positive dynamics of interpersonal communication amongst
confreres, young people, lay people and Salesian Family mem-
bers, also making use of the contributions of the human
sciences.
2. Having relationships of fraternity and empathy, where we
listen to our dependants and collaborators, avoiding authori-
tarian attitudes and counter witness.
3. Encouraging every confrere to share the task of responsibility
for the community with the Rector/Director and his Council.
4. Meeting the needs of sick and elderly confreres and invol-
ving them in the life and common mission in accordance
with their real possibilities.
5. Giving special support to communities working on the
“frontiers”.
6. Ensuring consistency in number and quality of communities
by wisely and courageously reshaping communities.
30 Cf. Evangelii Gaudium, 88.
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7. Seeing to the two complementary forms of the Salesian reli-
gious vocation by following the guidelines from GC2631 and
continuing reflection both on the consecrated life aspect and
the specific nature of the Brothers with regard to fraternal
life and the mission.
8. Reinforcing ways of maturing in spiritual and human terms,
and providing adequate support processes for confreres in
difficulty.
9. Ensuring adequate accompaniment processes for individuals
involved in possible cases of abuse.
10. Evaluating and relaunching the proposal for formation of
Rectors/Directors32 as part of the next six year plan.
11. Seeing to the updating of the Handbooks for Rectors/
Directors and for Provincials, on the part of the Rector
Major and General Council.
... available for planning and cooperation...
70. To be PROPHETS of fraternity we need to move:
1. from individualistic pastoral initiative to unconditional
availability for the mission and community and province
planning.
2. from considering young people as simple beneficiaries and
lay people as collaborators to promoting young people in
leading roles and lay people as sharing responsibility for the
one mission.
71. To bring about these processes we commit ourselves to:
1. Growing in communion and shared responsibility by taking
up the community plan and SEPP, developing and giving
visibility to “a Salesian culture”.33
31 GC26, 74-78.
32 Cf. GC21, 46-57; GC25, 63-65.
33 Cf. AGC 413, p. 51.
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2. Creating teamwork with other Salesian Family Groups who
are working for the young and promoting their rights.34
3. Networking by linking effectively with the local Church,
other Religious Families, educational, social and govern-
ment agencies.
4. Setting up more suitable processes in initial formation aimed
at involvement in youth ministry, the acquisition of an abi-
lity to understand the social problems in the locality and to
undertake educational and pastoral planning.
5. Integrating family ministry into the Provincial and local
SEPP, providing for the formation and involvement of lay
leadership.35
6. Organising a unified and comprehensive Salesian ministry
in provincial and local communities in accordance with the
Youth Ministry Frame of Reference and with the agreed
planning by Sector and Regional Councillors.
7. Ensuring attention is given to family ministry and lay forma-
tion at all levels and encouraging coordination of reflection
and intervention by the Sectors for the Salesian mission and
for Formation.
... going out to the peripheries...
72. To be SERVANTS of the young we need to move:
1. from being distant from the young to an active and enthusi-
astic presence among them with the passion of the Good
Shepherd.
2. from a ministry of preservation to an outgoing ministry that
starts with the deepest needs of the poorest young people
from their family and social perspective.
34 Cf. Charter of Identity of the Salesian Family, 21, 41.
35 Cf. GC26, 99, 102, 104.
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73. To bring about these processes we commit ourselves to:
1. Promoting in Provinces a profound assessment of our signif-
icance for and presence among poorer youth in our works in
accordance with the criteria offered by General Chapters and
the Rector Majors, in view of “structural pastoral conversion”
and a shift towards new poverties (cf. Reg. 1).
2. Taking up, together with lay people, the Youth Ministry Frame of
Reference, activating renewal processes, making use of existing
voluntary service efforts and considering the new existential
and geographical frontiers of young people who are poorer.
3. Promoting and defending human rights and the rights of
minors through the innovative approach of the Preventive
System, paying particular attention to child labour, the sex
trade, drug dependency and all forms of exploitation, youth
unemployment and migration and human trafficking.
4. Encouraging in our centres an atmosphere of respect for the
dignity of minors, committing ourselves to creating condi-
tions which prevent any form of abuse and violence, where
every Province follows the guidelines and directives of the
Rector Major and General Council.
5. Educating the young to justice and lawfulness, to the socio-
political dimension of evangelisation and charity, walking
side by side with them as agents of social transformation in
a spirit of service for the common good.
6. Sensitising communities and the young to respect for crea-
tion, educating them to ecological responsibility through
concrete activities which safeguard the environment and
sustainable development.
... becoming prophetic signs in the service of the young!
74. To be SERVANTS of the young we need to move:
1. from a life marked by the trend to upward mobility to a mis-
sionary and prophetic community which shares with the young
and the poor.
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2. from a ministry of events and activities to a complete and
systematic ministry able to accompany processes of voca-
tional maturing, in tune with new Church and Salesian per-
spectives.
75. To bring about these processes we commit ourselves to:
1. Developing a culture of vocation and care for vocations to
Salesian life, cultivating the art of accompaniment and prepar-
ing Salesians and lay people to become spiritual guides of the
young.
2. Living the twofold “work and temperance”, cultivating a vi-
sibly poor lifestyle, eliminating waste and making ourselves
available for domestic and community services.
3. Practising real solidarity with those who find themselves in
need, with the poor and among Salesian houses.
4. Entering into the digital world where the young in particular
are at home in a significant and educational manner, ensu-
ring the appropriate professional and ethical formation of
confreres and collaborators, and applying the Salesian Social
Communication System (SSCS).
5. Encouraging international communities also through a
worldwide redistribution of confreres and the promotion of
missionary projects in the Congregation.
6. Putting procedures in place, including auditing, which gua-
rantee transparency and professionalism in the management
of goods and works.
7. Carrying out a careful assessment of the Generalate and
other building structures in the Congregation, so that they
are a clear and credible sign of our radical Gospel approach.
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DELIBERATIONS OF THE GC27
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On the basis of the assessment of the structures of central government
of the Congregation undertaken by the Rector Major and the General
Council as requested by GC26 n. 118 and on the basis of the proposals
sent in by Provincial Chapters, individual confreres, and also the Chap-
ter Assembly itself, after they were examined by the Juridical Com-
mission and the Assembly, the General Chapter approved the following
deliberations. Some of them concern articles of the Constitutions and
of the General Regulations; others are operative guidelines for the
government of the Congregation.
1. DURATION IN OFFICE OF THE RECTOR MAJOR
AND THE MEMBERS OF THE GENERAL COUNCIL
76. The 27th General Chapter,
with reference to articles 128 and 142 of the Constitutions, that
set the duration in office of the Rector Major and the members of
the General Council at 6 years,
having considered that 6 years are a sufficient period of time for
the governance and animation of the Congregation,
confirms the duration of 6 years in office for the Rector Major
and the members of the General Council as articles 128 and
148 of the Constitutions provide.
2. THE POSSIBIITY OF RE-ELECTION
OF THE RECTOR MAJOR
AND THE MEMBERS OF THE GENERAL COUNCIL
77. The 27th General Chapter,
with reference to article 128 of the Constitutions which foresees
that the Rector Major could be re-elected only for a second con-
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secutive six-year period, and in reference to article 142 of the
Constitutions which foresees that the Vicar of the Rector Major,
the Councillors in charge of the Sectors and the Regional Coun-
cillors could be elected for only a second consecutive six-year
term in the same office,
having considered that the present formulation of articles 128
and 142 leaves the Chapter Assembly free to:
– confirm or not the Rector Major, the Vicar of the Rector Major,
the Councillors in charge of the Sectors and the Regional
Councillors, for a second six-year term in the same office;
– take into consideration the acquired experience for the possi-
bility of holding another office in the General Council,
A. confirms the possibility of electing the Rector Major only
for one consecutive second six-year term as provided by
article 128 of the Constitutions;
B. confirms the possibility of electing of the Vicar of the
Rector Major, the Councillors for the Sectors and the Regional
Councillors only for one consecutive second six-year term in
the same office, as provided by article 142 of the Constitutions.
3. COMPOSITION OF THE GENERAL COUNCIL
78. The 27th General Chapter,
with reference to articles 130, 131, 133 of the Constitutions,
regarding the duties and the composition of the General Council;
having considered that the present structure of the General
Council composed of the Vicar, Councillors in charge of special
Sectors and of the Regional Councillors in charge of groups of
Provinces, permits the integration of the global vision of the Con-
gregation (proper of the Rector Major, the Vicar and the Coun-
cillors in charge of special Sectors), with the in-depth vision of the
groups of Provinces, proper of the Regional Councillors,
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confirms the present composition of the General Council, as
given in article 133 para 1 of the Constitutions.
4. THE VICAR OF THE RECTOR MAJOR
79. The 27th General Chapter,
with reference to article 134, para 3 of the Constitutions, that
attributes the duty of animating the Salesian Family to the Vicar
of the Rector Major;
having considered the request of the 26th General Chapter to
carry out an assessment of such an assignment at the end of the
six years;1
since it holds that it is preferable to assign the animation of the
Salesian Family to a Central Secretariat, directly dependent on
the Rector Major in accordance with article 108 of the General
Regulations, for the following reasons:
a) in these years a strong impetus has been given to the Salesian
Family whose members have grown in number and in the
knowledge of the Salesian charism and in its visibility at world
and provincial levels, through the acceptance of the Charter of
Identity of the Salesian Family and the Strenna of the Rector
Major;
b) the only charismatic reference point for the entire Salesian
Family is the Rector Major as he is the Successor of Don
Bosco;
c) a central Secretariat instituted by the General Chapter and
directly dependent on the Rector Major can better ensure
this link, in a stable way and with greater availability and
continuity, through persons called to make up the Secretariat;
1 Cf. GC26, 116.
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d) the duties assigned to the Vicar of the Rector Major by article
134 of the Constitutions are potentially many, as are his
various and clear duties described by the Vademecum for the
life and action of the General Council, so as to require a very
demanding commitment,
A. suppresses paragraph 3 of Article 134 of the Constitutions
which attributes to the Vicar of the Rector Major the task of
animating the Salesian Family;
B. establishes a Central Secretariat for the Salesian Family,
directly dependent on the Rector Major, in accordance with
article 108 of the Regulations, with the following duties:
– to animate the Congregation in the Sector of the Salesian
Family and ensure interaction with the other Sectors of the
Congregation at world level;
– to promote, in accordance with article 5 of the Constitu-
tions, the communion of the various groups, respecting
their specificity and autonomy;
– to direct and assist the Provinces so that in their own
territories they develop, according to their own statutes,
the Association of the Salesian Cooperators, the Movement
of the Past Pupils and ADMA.
5. THE NUMBER AND AREAS OF RESPONSIBILITY
OF THE COUNCILLORS FOR THE SECTORS
80. The 27th General Chapter,
with reference to articles 133, 136 and 138 of the Constitutions,
confirms that the Councillors in charge of special sectors are:
the Councillor for formation, the Councillor for the youth
apostolate, the Councillor for social communication, the
Councillor for the missions and the Economer general as
indicated in article 133 § 2 of the Constitutions.
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6. DUTIES OF THE REGIONAL COUNCILLOR
81. The 27th General Chapter,
with reference to articles 140 and 154 of the Constitutions
regarding the duties of the Regional Councillors and the groups
of Provinces (or Regions) respectively,
having considered that the duties assigned by the Constitutions
to the Regional Councillors are adequate for the present require-
ments of the Congregation, because, without constituting an
intermediary level of government, they make it possible to:
– promote the unity of the Congregation and the good function-
ing of the processes of animation in different contexts;
– keep alive the liaison between the Rector Major and the Gen-
eral Council on the one hand, the Provinces, the local commu-
nities and the individual confreres on the other;
– have, within the General Council, a real and up-to-date vision
of the various areas of the Congregation, such knowledge being
decisive for animation and government;
– make present a fundamental aspect of our charism, namely the
attention and listening given to individual confreres, particu-
larly during the course of the extraordinary visitation,
confirms the duties assigned to the Regional Councillors by
article 140 of the Constitutions.
7. METHOD OF ELECTION OF THE RECTOR MAJOR
82. The 27th General Chapter,
with reference to article 141 of the Constitutions and to articles
126, 127 and 128 of the General Regulations, regarding the
method of the election of the Rector Major and the members of
the General Council;
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having seen that the process of discernment, guided and coordi-
nated by a facilitator from outside the Congregation permits the
creation of a positive climate of searching for God’s will,
confirms the method of the election of the Rector Major, as in-
dicated by article 141 of the Constitutions and by articles 126
and 127 of the General Regulations.
8. METHOD OF ELECTION
OF THE VICAR OF THE RECTOR MAJOR
83. The 27th General Chapter,
with reference to article 141 of the Constitutions and to articles
126, 127 and 128 of the General Regulations, regarding the
method of the election of the Rector Major and the members of
the General Council,
having seen that
– the present method assigns complete and exclusive responsi-
bility to the General Chapter that holds in the Society supreme
authority and exercises it according to law (C. 147),
– the direct election of the Vicar of the Rector Major on the part
of the Assembly highlights better his institutional role,
confirms the method of the election of the Vicar of the Rector
Major, as indicated by article 141 of the Constitutions and by
articles 126 and 127 of the General Regulations.
9. METHOD OF ELECTION
OF THE COUNCILLORS FOR THE SECTORS
84. The 27th General Chapter,
with reference to article 141 of the Constitutions and to articles
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126, 127 and 128 of the General Regulations, regarding the
method of the election of the Rector Major and the members of
the General Council,
considering that in the phase of discernment for the election of
the Councillors for the Sectors, it is necessary to:
– identify the candidates more suitable for their capacity and
competence;
– facilitate the shared responsibility and the participation of all
the Regions “in the choice of those responsible for govern-
ment” (C. 123) at world level;
– involve the members of the Chapter, gathered according to
Regions, in the process of discernment that matures through
dialogue and common search;
– arrive at convergence on some candidates,
deliberates that the election of the Councillors for the Sectors
be preceded by a process of discernment on the part of Chap-
ter members divided according to Regions, on the important
challenges of the Sector and on the profile of the candidates.
Such a process of discernment concludes with the proposal to
the Assembly of one candidate from one’s own Region and of
another from outside the Region, identified through secret
ballot. Accordingly, article 127 of the General Regulations
shall be modified.
10. METHOD OF ELECTION
OF THE REGIONAL COUNCILLORS
85. The 27th General Chapter,
with reference to article 141 of the Constitutions and articles
126, 127 and 128 of the General Regulations regarding the
method of the election of the Rector Major and of the members
of the General Council;
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having considered that the formulation of article 128 of the
General Regulations as modified by the 26th General Chapter2
allows the Chapter Assembly to know with greater clarity the
consensus opinion of the confreres of the Region,
confirms the modality of the election of the Regional Coun-
cillors indicated in article 128 of the General Regulations.
11. COORDINATION OF THE GENERAL COUNCIL
86. The 27th General Chapter,
having studied article 133 of the Constitutions and article 107 of
the General Regulations;
having studied the deliberation of the 26th General Chapter,
no.117;
having considered the outcome of the consultation in the
Provinces, with the motivations and suggestions expressed by
them, and the Assembly discussions prior to the election of the
members of the General Council from which the need for a
greater coordination of action of the Councillors in charge of
specific Sectors among themselves and with the Regional Coun-
cillors clearly emerged,
and because it maintains:
a) that the composition of the General Council, as envisaged in
article 133 of the Constitutions, is meant to favour simultane-
ously action at world level in specific Sectors and action from
close at hand with the Provinces in the geographical areas
(Regions or groups of Provinces);
b) that such an articulation, in order to be effective, calls for syn-
ergy and coordination so as to avoid their interventions being
unfocused and unconnected,
2 Cf. GC26, 119.
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deliberates to modify in the following way article 107 of the
General Regulations:
“The animation of the Salesian mission at world level calls
for the identification of common objectives and for synergy
among the Councillors in charge of specific Sectors and for
the coordination of their interventions with the Regional
Councillors, through systematic meetings of planning and
evaluation.
The General Councillors in charge of specific Sectors can
avail themselves of the services of technical offices and
consultant boards in carrying out the duties confided to
them.
Their establishment, mode of operation and internal organi-
zation are to be determined by the Rector Major with the con-
sent of his Council”.
12. CONFIGURATION OF THE REGIONS
OF EUROPE AND THE MIDDLE EAST
87. The 27th General Chapter,
having seen the results of the consultation among all the
Provinces of Europe and of the Middle East,
having considered the opinion of the General Council,
having considered that the internal configuration of the three
Regions has significantly changed after the recent re-structuring
of France-Belgium South (2008), of Italy (2008) and of Spain
(2014),
taking into account the decrease in the number of confreres in
the whole of Europe and the re-dimensioning of the works in
progress in various Provinces,
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having considered that the “Project for Europe” set in motion
by the 26th General Chapter3 is meant to promote and strengthen
the synergy among the various Provinces in view also of re-
invigorating the charism,
having considered that within the Regions more provincial con-
ferences could be established in order to guarantee closer inter-
action (C. 155),
having considered that while the importance of the extraordi-
nary visitation for the knowledge of the confreres and the situa-
tion of each Province remains important, different ways of car-
rying out the visitations could be used (for example, with an
extraordinary visitor other than the Regional Councillor), in such
a way as to guarantee the service of animation by the General
Councillor as an expression of communion and co-ordination,
establishes in the place of the Regions (Northern Europe,
Western Europe, Italy and Middle East) the following two
groups of provinces:
– MEDITERRENEAN REGION: made up of the Circum-
scription of Central Italy, the Circumscription of Piedmont
and Val d’Aosta, the Italian Provinces of Lombardy-
Emilia, Southern Italy, North-Eastern Italy, Sicily, the
Provinces of the Middle East, Portugal, Barcelona-Spain,
Bilbao-Spain, León-Spain, Madrid-Spain, Seville-Spain
and Valencia-Spain.
– CENTRAL and NORTH EUROPEAN REGION: made up
of the Provinces of Austria, North Belgium, Croatia,
France-South Belgium, Germany, Great Britain, Ireland,
Krakow-Poland, Piùa-Poland, Warsaw-Poland, Wrocùaw-
Poland, Czech Republic, Slovakia, Slovenia, Hungary and
the special Circumscription of Ukraine.
3 Cf. GC26, 108-111.
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13. THE EXTRAORDINARY VISITATION
88. The 27th General Chapter,
with reference to article 104 of the General Regulations,
having considered the positive opinion of the Provinces con-
sulted and the motivations cited;
having considered the opinion of the General Council and the
motivations cited;
considers that the extraordinary visitation is a valid and fraternal
way of animating the Provinces, the local communities and the
individual confreres, besides being also the juridical instrument of
government according to Canon Law.
It also considers that
a) taking into account the number of Provinces in a Region, the
languages spoken, the total number of confreres, and in order
to give the Regional Councillor also the possibility of carry-
ing out other duties assigned to him by the Constitutions
and the General Regulations, the Rector Major, according to
article 104 of the General Regulations, can assign the making
of the extraordinary visitation, in addition to the Regional
Councillor, to another member of the General Council or to
one or more confreres who will work in conjunction with the
Regional Councillor;
b) it is necessary that every Region should have a research and
documentation centre to support the work of the Regional
Councillor also in view of the extraordinary visitation;
c) during the extraordinary visitation, it is indispensable for the
visitor to listen personally to each confrere and to meet with
the bodies which participate in our mission and with the lay
people in positions of responsibility;
d) the preparation for the extraordinary visitation, its follow-up
and periodic meetings with the Provincial and his Council
are fundamental elements of fraternal support, unity with the
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Rector Major and the active assimilation of the guidelines
of the General Chapters.
Therefore,
it confirms the method of the extraordinary visitation, as laid
down in article 104 of the General Regulations.
14. THE TEAM VISIT
89. The 27th General Chapter,
having considered the present practice of making one or more
“team visits” in each Region, midway in the term of office of the
Rector Major and the General Council,
since it considers that this is a useful way of animation that per-
mits, in flexible ways,
– greater knowledge of the Regions,
– a sharing on the common problems and directives of the Con-
gregation,
– communion with the Rector Major and his Council,
– direct listening to the provincial Councils, and
– verification of the implementation of the deliberations of the
previous General Chapter,
confirms the validity of the “team visit” as an instrument of
animation of the Congregation, according to flexible ways,
that permit direct listening and sharing.
15. THE FINANCIAL COMMISSION
90. The 27th General Chapter,
having studied the report of the Economer General to the Chap-
ter Assembly;
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having considered the need to give a stable form at world level
to what is envisaged in article 185 of the General Regulations,
asks the Rector Major and the General Council to set up a
non-resident “Financial Commission”, composed of Salesians
and non-Salesian professionals, to collaborate on a regular
basis with the Economer General.
The Financial Commission will have the following duties:
a) to analyse the budget and the balance statements of the
Provinces and Vice-provinces of the Congregation;
b) to submit an annual report to the General Council on the
economic and financial situation of the Provinces and of the
Vice-provinces;
c) to study the administration of the moveable assets of the
Generalate in keeping with the required ethical criteria and
the responsible and prudent management of the resources;
d) to undertake a review of the material structures of the Gene-
ralate, their use and the cost of ordinary and extraordinary
maintenance;
e) to review the budget and the annual balance sheet of the
Generalate, suggest ways of improvement in keeping with
the criteria of poverty, functionality and transparency, and to
keep the Provinces and the Vice-provinces informed of the
use of the resources;
f) to propose forms of solidarity;
g) to study the situation of the Provinces and the Vice-pro-
vinces which are in financial difficulties and to suggest the
necessary remedial measures;
h) to study annually the financial situation of the Salesian Pon-
tifical University and the Vice-province of the UPS, with a
view to their sustainability;
i) to make an annual study of the agreements in place with the
Special Circumscription of Piedmont and Val d’Aosta (ICP)
for the major “Salesian places” (Valdocco-Mother House,
Colle Don Bosco);
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j) to offer advice to the Economer General on particular issues
or on issues indicated by the Rector Major and the General
Council;
k) to prepare with the Economer General the programme of the
courses of formation for the Provincial Economers.
16. REPRESENTATION IN THE GENERAL CHAPTER
91. The 27th General Chapter,
having examined article 114 of the General Regulations regard-
ing participation in the General Chapter;
having examined article 123 of the Constitutions which ratifies
the principle of the participation of the confreres in the choice of
those responsible for government and in the working out of their
decisions “in the most suitable way” (C. 123);
having considered that:
– by its nature the General Chapter in its composition should be
representative of the entire Society, and on the basis of what
is stated in article 151 of the Constituions, which lists first the
“ex officio” members by right and then the elected delegates
from among the perpetually professed members in the various
circumscriptions of the Congregation;
– to ensure a majority of the elected Chapter members in com-
parison with those taking part by right in the General Chapter,
the procedure for the election of delegates was organised ac-
cording to a quantitative criterion;
– the progressive unification of Provinces which has taken place
in the Congregation with very high numbers of confreres, and
the existence of Provinces with smaller numbers makes neces-
sary a revision of the election criteria for the delegates to
the General Chapter in view of a more equitable representa-
tion according to the number of confreres present in the
Province;
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modifies as follows article 114 of the Regulations:
Provinces with less than 200 professed members, and Vice-
provinces, will send to the General Chapter one delegate
elected by the respective Chapters. Moreover, Provinces will
send another delegate for every additional two hundred mem-
bers or fraction thereof. Other eventual juridical circum-
scriptions referred to in article 156 of the Constitutions will
have their representation defined in their decree of erection.
17. PERSONNEL FOR THE SALESIAN PLACES
92. The 27th General Chapter,
having studied the request made by the Provincial Chapter of
the Circumscription of Piedmont and the Val d’Aosta (ICP);
having studied the guideline of the 26th General Chapter which
asked the Rector Major and his Council to promote “an interna-
tional team of confreres to provide for the animation of the places
of origin of the Salesian charism” (GC 26, 12);
having considered the historical and charismatic importance
of the Salesian places which are the inheritance of the entire
Congregation to be preserved, promoted and valued;
having considered the need for a project that can utilize fully
the places of Salesian origins in pastoral and vocational terms
for the young and for the Salesian Family, especially in view of
the bicentenary of the birth of Don Bosco,
deliberates that the finding of Salesian personnel for the com-
munities of Valdocco Turin “Maria Ausiliatrice” and of Colle
Don Bosco be within the competence of the Rector Major and
his Council, within a comprehensive project that involves the
General Council, in dialogue with the Provincial and the
Provincial Council of ICP, and the solidarity of all the
Provinces.
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18. THE ACTS OF THE GENERAL COUNCIL,
WWW.SDB.ORG WEB PORTAL
AND SALESIAN INFO AGENCY
93. The 27th General Chapter,
having seen the results of the consultation in the Provinces,
having seen the opinion of the General Council,
taking into consideration that:
– the Acts of the General Council is the official bulletin
of information from the Rector Major and the General
Council;
– the sdb.org web portal assists knowledge and the diffusion of
a great wealth of contents;
– the Salesian INFO Agency (ANS) has been consolidated as a
necessary means of information both within and outside the
Congregation,
confirms the validity of the Acts of the General Council, of
the sdb.org web portal and of the Salesian INFO Agency
(ANS), as means of information and formation.
19. THE SIX YEAR PLAN OF ANIMATION
AND GOVERNMENT OF THE RECTOR MAJOR
AND THE GENERAL COUNCIL
94. The 27th General Chapter,
having considered the outcome of the consultation in the
Provinces;
having considered the opinion of the General Council;
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having considered that:
– the six-year plan of animation and government of the Rector
Major and of the General Council is a means that allows the
main lines of the plan of animation and government at world
level to be indicated starting from the guidelines of the General
Chapter;
– it helps the General Council to identify objectives, create
synergy and coordinate the manner and the timing of their
interventions;
– dialogue with the Regions and with the world consultative
bodies of the specific Sectors allows for the understanding of
the expectations and sensibilities of all concerned prior to the
actual plan being drawn up,
– a basic, operative and verifiable text with clear deadlines for
the lines of action favours the communication and the harmo-
nization of the planning in all the Provinces and the provincial
conferences,
confirms the validity of the six-year plan of animation drawn
up by the General Council to implement the guidelines of the
General Chapter and respond to the needs of the Congre-
gation.
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APPENDICES
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APPENDIX 1
ADDRESS OF THE RECTOR MAJOR
FR PASCUAL CHÁVEZ VILLANUEVA
AT THE OPENING OF THE GC27
“You must live your whole life according to the Christ
you have received - Jesus the Lord; you must be rooted in him and built on him,
and held firm by the faith you have been taught,
and full of thanksgiving”
(Col 2:6-7)
1. A word of welcome and a greeting
Your Eminence
Cardinal João Braz de Aviz,
Prefect of the Congregation for Institutes of Consecrated Life and Societies of
Apostolic Life
Your Eminences
Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone
Cardinal Riccardo Ezzati
Cardinal Raffaele Farina
Cardinal Oscar Rodríguez Maradiaga
Most Reverend Gino Reali,
Bishop of Porto and Santa Rufina
Most Reverend Francesco Brugnaro,
Archbishop of Camerino - Salesian Past Pupil
Most Reverend Salesian Archbishops and Bishops
Mother Yvonne Reungoat,
Superior General of the Institute of the Daughters of Mary Help of Christians
Dear Leaders of the various Salesian Family Groups
Very Reverend Father David Glenday,
Secretary General of the Union of Superiors General
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In the name of all Chapter members, a heartfelt thanks for having accepted the
invitation to be with us and to share our joy and prayer on the day on which
we are opening the 27th General Chapter of the Society of St Francis de Sales.
We appreciate your presence as a sign of your fraternal interest and we count
on your understanding and prayers for the success of this Assembly. Thank
you, all of you.
Dear Chapter members, Provincials and Superiors of Vice Provinces, Provin-
cial Delegates, Observers by invitation from all over the world taking part in
this important gathering of our beloved Congregation.
2. Led by the Spirit
On Sunday 10 November 2013, the final day of my visit to the Kolkata
Province, I had the grace of visiting the Mother House of the Sisters of Char-
ity of Mother Teresa once again. On the first occasion I was welcomed by
Mother Nirmala, but this time it was Mother Prema who received me and came
with me to pray beside the bed on which Mother Teresa had breathed her last,
in the same room she had occupied up to the moment of her ‘Passover’. Our
prayer then continued before her sepulchre, in the chapel at the Mother House.
I must confess that at that moment I felt a deep inspiration, similar to the one
I had felt before the Casket of Padre Pio last July, concerning what it implied
for our “radical Gospel approach”. The Saints, especially Padre Pio and Moth-
er Teresa, are a testimony, like Don Bosco, for how we should live the Gospel
radically.
2.1. Following on from the ‘radical approach of the Gospel’
Right then, in those holy places, I prayed for the entire Congregation and for
the spiritual and pastoral success of our General Chapter. I so much hope that
this particular experience of prayer and reflection may lead us back to Christ
– to his grammar, which is his Gospel, and to his logic, which is the cross.
I would very much like to say that what concerns us is not the future of the
Congregation, almost as if it were a matter of survival, but rather our prophetic
capacity, that is to say, our charismatic identity, our apostolic passion which
constitutes our true social and ecclesial relevance, following the criterion which
Jesus himself gave us: “By this will everyone know that you are my disciples,
that you love one another” (Jn 13:35).
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Charismatic identity and apostolic passion come from a “radical Gospel
approach”, which is none other than contemplating Christ in such a way that
it allows us to become, little by little, a faithful image of him. Our conformity
with Christ, on the other hand, consists in making his way of being and acting
our own, obedient, poor and chaste, filled with compassion for the poor, loving
them and loving poverty. He made this a true beatitude such that it can be lived
joyfully, humbly and simply.
2.2. Listening to the Lord
Hence the importance of this Chapter, which is offered us as a kairos, a pow-
erful and graced opportunity in the history of the Congregation, and thus in
the history of salvation, in so far as the Congregation participates in the com-
munion and mission of the Church, until the Lord comes again.
In the life of the Church
I believe it behoves me here to refer to the captivating and charismatic model
which Pope Francis has introduced into the Church. By his gestures, attitudes
and interventions he is already profoundly renewing it, seeking to enlighten
minds, warm hearts and strengthen the will of all through the light and vigour
of the Gospel to make us all courageous witnesses, “missionary disciples of
Christ”, sent into the world, fearlessly, to serve the poor and the excluded and
thus transform this society. I do not believe that as a Congregation we can
remain indifferent or detached concerning this; through Pope Francis, I am
convinced, the Spirit is speaking to the Churches and proposing that we
undertake a true “personal and pastoral conversion”.
I would highlight especially his attitudes and gestures. These are not simply
news items for journalists and newspapers who are emphasising everything
he does, and how he does it. They are already communicating his view of the
Church, his teaching and way of governing.
Actually, since his very first address to the Cardinals who elected him, Pope
Francis has proposed a model of Church in harmony with the great choices of
Vatican II - even though he does not mention it so often; in harmony naturally
with new evangelisation - even if he has not explicitly emphasised this either
- under the influence of Latin American pastoral ministry, from Medellín with
its option for the poor, to Aparecida with its choice of a Church made up of
disciples, missionaries of Christ, fully part of daily reality.
The first thing to note with Pope Francis is, then, how he pays attention to the
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everyday, but with exquisite pastoral sensitivity, seeking to contemplate God
in everything and look at everything from God’s perspective. This way we can
discover the need this society has for salvation and the urgency of setting
processes of transformation in motion which are suited to making it more
human and fraternal, more in keeping with God’s plan. He tries to do all this
by maintaining and building unity, without exacerbating social differences.
This is the Church that Pope Francis feels called to build in fidelity to Jesus and
his Gospel: a Church at the service of this world. It is about a Church free from
a spiritual worldliness which leads to vanity, arrogance, pride; all things that
are really part of idolatry. He wants a Church free from theological narcissism
and the temptation to freeze itself within its own institutional framework; free
also from the risk of self-reference, a bourgeois mindset, being closed in on
itself, from clericalism.
He also wants a Church that is truly the body of the Word incarnate, embod-
ied in our reality as He was, attentive to the poor and suffering; a Church that
cannot be reduced to being a small chapel since it is called to be a home for all
of humanity; a Church always on the road towards those who are the least and
for whom it expresses predilection without abandoning others; a Church that
feels comfortable on the frontiers and fringes of society.
This does not mean that the Church must make sons and daughters out of every
man and woman in the world nor does it mean that we must force everyone to
enter it. Pope Francis’ Church wants to offer itself as an open place where
everyone can feel at home and meet because there is room in it for dialogue,
diversity, acceptance. We should not oblige the world to enter the Church; it is
rather the Church which must welcome the world as it is, that is, as a place for
salvation.
The current Pope’s dream is a Church that goes out on the street to evangelise,
gains first-hand experience of people’s hearts; a Church ready to serve and
that proposes to go out not only to geographical confines but also to people on
the edge where our brothers and sisters are often struggling to survive; a poor
Church which favours the poor and gives them a voice and that sees in the
elderly, the sick or in disabled young people the “wounds of Christ”; a Church
that commits itself to overcoming the terrible culture of indifference we are
going through, that leads those who feel increasingly let down, exploited and
excluded to choose violence; a Church that gives proper attention and rele-
vance to women, both in society and within its own institutions.
We can find many of these things in daily and weekly newspaper reports, or in
religious magazines, as if they were simply curious anecdotes. But it is not
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like this. What the Holy Father is proposing in simple, daily terms is part of an
abundant magisterium of a new Gospel approach. There is a new concept of
Church here! There is a new way of thinking about how to govern the Church
here! There is so much we can learn from it!
Speaking to the Bishops of Brazil, he said that it seems the Church has for-
gotten that there is nothing more lofty than Jerusalem, stronger than the abase-
ment of the cross, more convincing than kindness, love, the pace of pilgrims;
because ours is not a marathon but a pilgrimage. So we need to measure our
pace with that of the people we wish to stay beside, find the time to be with
those who are walking, be able to accompany them patiently, with a readiness
to listen to and understand situations that are so different. We should not be
travelling so fast that we see nothing around us!
In Rio de Janeiro, speaking to political and cultural leaders the Pope sought
to emphasise the importance of the culture of encounter for promoting a soci-
ety which can make room for everyone, excludes no-one, and which regards
no human being as disposable. A culture of encounter which should eliminate
the social exclusion of the young people who are so often denied possibilities
for work and a future.
In his address to the young particularly, he invited them to join the fray them-
selves, invest their energies in building a Church and a new society, spend
their life for things that are worth living for, especially Jesus Christ and service
of the poor, not allowing themselves to be stripped of hope and joy nor giving
in to promises of a cheap paradise of happiness.
At times the Church lacks the vitality, fascination, visibility and credibility
for continuing to attract to itself the men and women of our time, especially
the new generations. In less than a year of his pontificate, Pope Francis has
presented himself as a new wind of the Spirit blowing on the Church, slimming
down its bureaucracy, making the Church poorer and more simple, and above
all urging it to go out into the world’s highways and byways to evangelise. He
has made us feel that the Church is a Mother filled with tenderness and love,
filled with kindness, humility, patience. He has taught this through his gestures,
attitudes and personal choices, his way of relating to the world.
All of this is an outstanding example and a powerful stimulus for us, dear
Chapter members! If we want to lead the young to an encounter with the
mystery of God, this should happen through great experiences of love which
can open hearts and not merely transmit ideas about or knowledge of Him. We
need to do this within the limitations of our means. Indeed, as Pope Francis told
the Brazilian Bishops, the Church is not an “ocean liner”, but a little boat, a
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simple fishing boat. This means that God works through poor means. Success
does not depend on human sufficiency but on God’s energy and creativity. All
this is clearly valid for us too.
The Congregation’s way forward
It seems to me that it is important to recognise, understand and take up this
splendid ecclesial moment we are living through. Without being too preten-
tious, I would say that the road we are on as a Congregation and a Salesian
Family, in preparation for the bicentenary of the birth of our beloved Father and
Founder Don Bosco, is in fact along these same lines. We are aware, I am sure,
as Chapter members, that this event demands the greatest responsibility of
everyone, and all of us, if we are to hear the Lord’s voice, discern His will and
take it up as our project of life. Only this way will we be able to interpret the
situation of young people today and deal with it as Don Bosco did yesterday.
I would like to invite you then to put the Word of God at the centre of our As-
sembly, right from this opening celebration for the General Chapter, so that it
will be Him who tells us and gets us to understand what Christ wants of the Con-
gregation today. We know what He asked of Don Bosco and how he gave over
his entire life “to the glory of God and the salvation of souls” in order to realise
God’s ‘dream’ and then entrust it to us to continue, extend and consolidate.
Today so many people do not come to believe in Christ because His face has
been obscured or even hidden by religious institutions lacking transparency.
Over these last 12 years we have suffered much due to many unpleasant events
confreres and provinces have been involved in. I am certain, however, that
with God’s help, these ills can be fully overcome and that this sorrowful ex-
perience will lead the Congregation to recover its splendour and credibility
right where these things have been lacking. At any rate, for this to be possible
we need to tackle the problems with humility and courage.
Let us take a step forward now by asking ourselves what, at this moment, is
God’s will for us as an institution? I am convinced that as it is for the Church,
so also is it for the Congregation – that its identity, unity and vitality be the
summum desideratum of Christ, who wants His disciples to be “salt of the
earth”, “light of the world”, “a city built on a hill-top” (cf. Mt 5:13-16).
Challenges to be faced up to
Thanks be to God the Congregation has thus far not experienced division and
has been loved and blessed by the Lord. Thanks be to God it has grown im-
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mensely over these 150 years, multiplying its presences throughout the world.
Today, however, there are new and powerful challenges on the horizon. In my
view, and with the experience of these 12 years of government, there are three
we must pay particular attention to:
Community life
Before he died, in his letter of convocation of GC25, Fr Vecchi maintained
that community life was not only a topic to be studied but rather a turning
point for renewal of the Congregation’s life. He was convinced that if we were
able to create communities that were engaging and rich in humanity, at the
same time animated by spiritual energy that would urge us to get back amidst
young people as companions on their journey, the Congregation would be
profoundly renewed.
Life in common does not find its greatest assurance just in numerical consis-
tency, which is not an indifferent factor, but it is based especially on our
capacity or otherwise to create deep personal relationships. The great chal-
lenge, then, is precisely that of shifting from community life to communion of
life. Community life sometimes risks deteriorating into a kind of communi-
tarianism: just because we gather in the same locations, are together at prayer
time, or in the workplace, does not necessarily mean sharing what we feel,
think and want, things that would truly make us companions on the journey;
living together is not yet sharing a charismatic project, an apostolic mission.
In our General Council we set about the renewal of communities, looking
for superiors, provincials and rectors who could really be the soul of their
communities (provincial or local), and who might firstly be people with a
triple focus.
Above all a charismatic focus in the sense that the superior should be the point
of reference for everything regarding Salesian identity. His exercise of
authority, channelled through a fatherly and benevolent presence among the
confreres, fosters the building up of a ‘Salesian culture’: goodnights, selection
of readings, the kind of monthly and quarterly recollections prepared, the
spiritual accompaniment offered to the confreres.
A second aspect for the Rector or Provincial is the particular focus on frater-
nal life. We need to choose and form superiors who have a real spiritual
fatherliness, who are able to create a climate of fellowship, a genuine family
spirit, and who are always ready to welcome and accompany confreres.
The third dimension is a pastoral focus. It is our hope that we can have supe-
riors who can really be the heart and soul of the pastoral plan, especially at a
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time like this when there is much sharing with lay people of the mission and
important roles.
To succeed in this we need to be totally dedicated, body and soul. It is not
possible to carry out these functions entrusted to us part time, still less those
connected with the exercise of authority.
The young
When we hear Pope Francis say that “we cannot keep our church doors closed,
that we must open the doors, keep them open and go out into the street”; that
he prefers “a Church bruised on the streets to a Church dying from suffoca-
tion”, I feel confirmed in the profound belief that I have been expressing for
some time: if we do not go out to meet young people – especially those who
do not come to us – if we content ourselves with the thousands of young people
who frequent our works and then think that we know and are serving the
young, we are making a huge mistake. The great challenge today in fact, is how
to reach the young who are furthest from us and most in difficulty, how to truly
reach into their world, how to understand their culture, language, needs, ex-
pectations. Remaining locked up in our works, the risk is that we think we are
pastorally alive while we are suffocating. The young, especially those who do
not come looking for us and wander through life without a compass, are our
‘homeland’, our mission.
On a personal note, I would like to tell you that one of the great gifts the Lord
has given me is to have been called to live amongst the young, to love the
young. That is my confession! I cannot understand my life, my ministry with-
out thinking of the young! They have never been just a pastime for me, a stage
in the history of my Salesian life, as when I was a practical trainee; indeed it
was precisely then, during my practical training, that I began to understand
that it was for them that the Lord was calling me to spend my life.
Young people have become a huge challenge for us. The serious risk we run
and, at the same time, the great temptation we can be subject to, is that of be-
coming administrators of our works but ceasing to be pastors and educators
of the young. We can be driven to this by age or an incorrect Salesian educa-
tional culture or also by the limited way in which we understand mission,
often identified with the management of works. If we do not succeed in getting
back among the young and working not only for them but with them, we will
not truly succeed in getting to know them, understand them, and especially
– the most tragic thing of all – in loving them. “It is enough that you are young
for me to love you very much”. This cry of Don Bosco’s cannot be suffocated.
It has to be continuously transmitted through our life.
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When the Pope says that the shepherd must have the smell of the sheep on
him, he is reminding us of our Salesian experience, what we have all experi-
enced among the youngsters, playing and sweating with them. It is a very elo-
quent expression, but one especially in tune with what Don Bosco experienced
and with what so many of us have experienced. In my letter of convocation of
the previous General Chapter, I wrote that young people are very sensitive to
three values in particular – freedom, life and happiness, and that at times they
can be badly understood and this leads to dangerous delinquency. Today
I would no longer speak of the dangers young people face; I have come, rather,
to the belief that for us the challenge is the young people themselves, their
world, their culture.
Vocation and formation
The third challenge the Congregation is called to tackle is the point regarding
the “vocation and formation” of Salesians. I consider this topic to be of vital
importance. This is why I wanted to make it the topic of my last letter as Rector
Major. I consider the problem of vocation and formation to be a very strategic
one!
Unfortunately there are so many confreres, and not only the young ones, who
live their Salesian life as if they were part of a volunteer movement. It begins
when and where they want to; they interpret it, live it, and leave it because and
how they want to. No thought is given to a salvific plan, to God’s will that in-
volves me in such a way that it helps me see that it is worth living and making
it a reality, giving God a hand – with my very life. Without this faith per-
spective, but with a merely social motivation, vocation is experienced as a free
and temporary service, an arbitrary form with no reference to some ultimate
project.
In the last visit I made to the Kolkata Province I had an opportunity to meet
with the religious superiors of that region. While I was talking with them
I referred to something that had struck me during the Symposium on Conse-
crated Life organised by the USG and the UISG, which was held in Rome. On
that occasion a woman theologian representing South Asia, highlighted a
problem she had come across in her country. She said that “people, when they
want to resolve their particular social needs, usually come to us, but when
they need spiritual experiences, they go elsewhere”. On the same occasion,
speaking with the Superior General of the Sisters of Charity founded by
Mother Teresa, she confirmed that this was actually the case. What is killing
the more profound meaning of consecrated life is the fact that it is known and
appreciated only for the social service rendered by Congregations. And so it
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happens that consecrated individuals are considered to be social service
providers and nothing more. This distorted view is often one of the causes of
the fall in vocations.
These two observations have remained impressed in my heart. I think that
what continues to be a great challenge for all of us is the grace of unity which
harmonises our giving of ourselves to God and our service of our brothers and
sisters. Living like Don Bosco, we need to realise in ourselves a splendid
blending of nature and grace, living our consecration to God and at the same
time dedicated tirelessly to those to whom we are sent (cf. how Don Bosco is
presented in article 21 of the Constitutions).
In my last circular letter I wanted, besides, to highlight the fact that ours is,
before anything else, a vocation we have received freely from God and that
needs to be accepted by nurturing a commitment to ongoing formation. It is
already a worrying fact that many who knock on our doors to enter the
Congregation do not come from our works, and that means they may not have
a suitable Salesian and family background. For many confreres the charism has
not been assimilated almost by osmosis since their pre-teen years, as used to
happen among us in the past. On the contrary, and this is not a rare occur-
rence, not a few confreres have had experiences that have not been favourable
to the choice of Salesian life. To this we need to add the fact that the person
selecting candidates does not always choose individuals of a proactive psy-
chological disposition, able to make courageous decisions and then order their
lives around them.
Today in formation we find ourselves responding to a threefold problem that
emerges from psychological fragility, vocational inconsistency and a certain
ethical relativism. At our recent Superiors General meeting, Pope Francis
insisted on the importance of selection, which needs to be careful and
responsible. It is necessary, he said, to not accept people who are mentally ill
or morally corrupt. People who primarily think of themselves and do not
accept that they are a gift of God for others do not serve our cause.
We Salesians have often been trained in the main to create a community en-
vironment, to lead and animate groups of young people, but have not always
been enabled to accompany individuals on their particular human and spiri-
tual journey. Sometimes in our educational settings, but also in formation
houses, we take in boys and young men with very different family, social,
religious, Salesian backgrounds and quite unwisely in formation terms we
put them all together, ignoring whatever they have previously experienced
and getting all of them to simply do the same things. Evidently all this does
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not form an individual within, but rather trains him to conform to a setting,
situations and external rules. Indeed it is clear that if the Lord is calling me,
he is calling me not only with my temperament but with my history, my
sensitivities, my qualities, and with the path in life I have already followed.
Forming our young people and confreres, taking account of all this, is very
demanding and much more difficult. So I repeat that formation is a key
problem, and to carry out formation correctly we need new formation
personnel able to understand, motivate, correct, accompany, enthuse. So this
also raises the issue of preparing new formation personnel and re-qualifying
those already working in this field.
The Chapter’s tasks
Therefore the Congregation is called in this Chapter, which is an extraordinary
moment for spiritual and charismatic preparation for the celebration of the
bicentenary of Don Bosco’s birth, to understand its Founder and Father ever
more deeply, to take up with conviction his pedagogical experience, his
preventive system and to make its own his spirituality which is marked by
pastoral and educative charity. In this Chapter the Congregation is called to
renew itself in such a way as to have the freshness of its origins, the mis-
sionary impulse of its teenage years, the energy of its youth, the holiness of
its mature years.
We must recover our spiritual fruitfulness by becoming saints, while living the
precious gift of our Salesian vocation; a pastoral fruitfulness, while carrying
out the Salesian mission on behalf of the young, and a vocational fruitfulness,
while helping young people to understand their lives as vocation, to discover
the beauty of ‘being for others’ and to involve themselves in causes worth
espousing. Accompanying them with the same love as Don Bosco had, walk-
ing with them, we want to help them to draw up true projects of life.
But unity in the Congregation does not mean uniformity. Salesians are called
to embody and inculturate Don Bosco’s charism in very different contexts from
a social, economic, political, cultural and religious point of view. It is evident
therefore that the Chapter must open the doors to a discussion that takes ac-
count of all these things. Everyone is free to express his thoughts regarding the
Congregation’s task today and its more urgent challenges. At the same time, all
proposals should start from the spirit and guidelines of the Gospel, in fidelity
to what the Constitutions indicate, since they are our Salesian way of reading
and wanting to live the Gospel, and in conformity with what is a healthy
tradition of the Congregation, the result of its history.
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Certainly, laws and traditions which are purely accidental can be changed, but
not every change means progress. We need to discern whether such changes
will really contribute to reaffirming our identity, reinforcing our unity, foster-
ing our vitality and the holiness of the Congregation. We certainly must avoid
every change that does not have these positive results for its criteria.
All this will be possible on condition that we allow the Holy Spirit to contin-
ue to enliven and renew our life, to give an impulse to our mission, make our
presence fruitful. He transcends any sociological analysis or historical forecast.
He overcomes scandals, internal politics, social climbing and other social prob-
lems which could obscure the face of Christ, which instead should shine out
through the dense clouds of daily complexity.
2.3. Reinterpreting the charism for today
At the Assembly of the Union of Superiors General in November 2011 we
made an analysis of consecrated life in Europe and this revealed an alarming
situation resulting from certain very strong factors. Among these, ageing
of personnel, a weak or minimal inflow of vocations, the imbalance between
people available and works to be run. But this picture, while worrying, was not
entirely desperate. New projects and fields of mission are always possible.
One item of data was highlighted: many institutes of religious and apostolic life
were founded following the French Revolution, in and for a society which had
fragmented from a spiritual and moral perspective. However, what religious
need to do is to clarify the basic objectives for their presence in today’s world,1
remaking themselves according to the founding features of their origins.
The urgent need to understand our origins
The invitation of the Superiors General to look back to the origins was not
motivated by nostalgia for the past, but by the need to know how founders and
religious institutes tackled social challenges and the apostolic needs of their
time and responded to them. At the same time they sought to ask themselves
how we can respond today – in a renewed fidelity to the original charism – to
the challenges of mission, education and evangelisation, in a spiritual and
cultural climate which is very similar (in Europe for the moment, but with a
constant tendency to extend throughout the world) to the one in those days.
Two eras (that of our Holy Founders in the 19th century and our own) which
1 Cf. E. BIANCHI, Testimoni, No. 14, 2011.
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have a similar character in so far as they have given rise to “major turning
points”.
The invitation of the Superiors General seems timely and necessary: we need
to go to the roots of how so many Congregations came into being. They came
into being at a precise historical moment as a response of the Spirit to partic-
ular issues in society and in the Church. Today it is our task to question our-
selves so we can see how to respond in our historical moment to the current
needs of the young and to the demands of society and the Church, without
however reducing ourselves to being simple social service providers. We need
to do this by “reinvestigating” the charism of our origins to recognise its
relevance and capacity to respond to such situations.
Over these three years of preparation for the bicentenary of Don Bosco’s birth,
but already since the last Chapter and its appeal to ‘return to Don Bosco’ we
have asked ourselves how he went about things in his time. He founded the
Congregation at a time when an atmosphere of de-Christianisation was already
beginning to assert itself. He knew how to find strategies, approaches and a
particular proposal of human and Christian formation to respond to teenagers
and young men coming from the countryside and finding themselves in Turin
without a roof over their heads, no preparation for a trade, no point of refer-
ence, and exposed to exploitation and delinquency.
Like other founders who were his contemporaries, Don Bosco had a profound
sense of urgency and of the need to form consciences, firstly of people but
also of institutions that were central to society. Hence the attention he gave to
the world of the young (through school and other settings peculiar to young
people), to family (a place of convergence for so many of life’s factors), to
catechesis (for a Christian and non-superficial education), to preaching
(for a relevant proclamation of the Word of God). These were all sectors
of apostolate he left us as a legacy. They are all settings we need to tackle
professionally and with apostolic passion.
Today, as then, the challenge is the same: bringing the values of the Gospel
back into moral, social, cultural, political life through education, not creating
a new “Christianity” or even regaining areas or privileges we have lost, but
making a contribution to forming an individual and collective culture which
knows how to bring to the fore the real needs of the human being.
Historical and ecclesial significance of Don Bosco
In my view, Don Bosco’s original contribution is to be found, prior to it being
in the many “works” and in certain relatively original methodological elements,
such as the famous “preventive system of Don Bosco”
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– in the intellectual and emotional perception he had of the universal, the-
ological and social import of the problem of “abandoned” youth, that is,
of the enormous quantity of young people in whom no one was interest-
ed or whose interest was inappropriate, with unsuitable solutions;
– in his insight into the presence – in Turin first of all, later in Italy and the
world – of a strong sensitivity, in the civil and political world with regard
to the problem of the education of youth and the understanding on the part
of intellectuals attentive to social situations and clergy who were open to
new responses and, in general, by a large cohort of public opinion;
– this contribution is also to be found in his idea of launching much-needed
projects on a large scale in the Catholic and civil world, as a first-order
need for the life of the Church and its very survival in the social order;
– and in his ability to communicate his project and involve large groups of
collaborators, benefactors and admirers.
Neither politician, nor sociologist, nor trade unionist ante litteram, but simply
a priest and educator, Don Bosco started from the idea that education could
achieve so much, in any situation, if it happened with the best of good will,
commitment and the ability to adapt. He set about changing consciences, form-
ing them to honesty in human terms, to civic and political loyalty and in view
of this, to “changing” society through education.
He transformed the strong values in which he believed – and which he defend-
ed against everyone – into social activity, concrete gestures, without retreating
from the spiritual dimension or the ecclesial setting as an area free from the
problems of the world and of life. Indeed with a strong sense of his vocation as
a priestly educator, he nurtured a style of daily life that was not without its hori-
zons, but filled with values and ideals. He did not want it to be a protective niche
and a refuge from open encounter but rather a sincere measuring up to wider and
more diversified circumstances. His choices were not under the banner of a re-
fusal of every tension, or demanding sacrifice, risk, struggle. He maintained
freedom for himself and his Salesians and was proud of his autonomy. He did
not want to tie the fate of his works to the unpredictable vagaries of political
regimes. The glory of God and the salvation of souls were his only project.
3. The General Chapter
I chose to put a quotation from the Letter to the Colossians at the head of this
opening address, because it seems to me that it expresses very well what we
are called to do in this General Chapter.
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Actually, by means of a heartfelt exhortation, Paul is telling us that we must live
in Christ, remaining faithful to the Gospel against whatever false theory there
might be. If the exhortation to “walk in the Lord” is an appeal to a life corre-
sponding to the vocation we have received, the expression “rooted in him and
built on him, held firm in the faith”, which uses images taken from nature
(‘root’) and the building industry (‘built’), reaffirms the absolute need for an in-
timate bond with Christ. The conclusion to the comparison “as you have been
taught”, in parallel with “as you have received”, on the other hand expresses the
bond with what is essential and ongoing, not dependent on cultural sensitivities.
If it is true that any General Chapter is an event that in substance goes beyond
the merely formal fulfilment of what is prescribed by the Constitutions, then
there is even greater reason, I believe, to state that GC27 must be this. It will
be a Pentecostal event which will have the Holy Spirit as its main protagonist.
This is why it will take place between memory and prophecy, between faith-
ful recognition of the origins and unconditional openness to the novelty of
God. And we will all be active players, with our responsibilities and expecta-
tions, abundant experience, ready to listen, discern, accept God’s will for the
Congregation.
From this point of view GC27 points to something new and unprecedented.
The urgency of the radical approach of the Gospel is what is driving us. We are
called to return to the essential, to be a poor Congregation for the poor, and to
rediscover inspiration from the very apostolic passion of Don Bosco. We are
invited to draw on the bountiful wellsprings of the charism and at the same time
open ourselves bravely and creatively to new ways of expressing it today.
For us it is how to discover new facets of the same diamond, our charism,
which better allow us to respond to the circumstances of the young, to under-
stand and serve their new poverties, to offer new opportunities for their de-
velopment as human beings and their education, for their journey of faith and
their fullness of life.
3.1. Attitudes for taking part
So then, how are we to live this experience of the Chapter in a constructive
way? What kind of commitment should every Chapter member take on board?
What are the attitudes one should have when taking part in a General Chapter?
The awareness of being called by God reawakens in us the prophetic spirit
which means a sense of dependence on Him and profound acceptance of the
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mission He entrusts to us. That demands that we allow the Holy Spirit to be the
chief character because it will be Him who gets us to understand God’s will,
what is good, what will be pleasing to Him. We are asked to be in a constant
attitude of humble, obedient listening, an attitude of discernment and debate
concerning the life of the Congregation and our charism, which is a great gift
of God for the Church and for the young.
GC27 requires our complete involvement. We are all called to live this event
responsibly, to see its vital importance and to refresh our interest and avail-
ability each day for the road on which the Spirit is leading us.
This discernment in the light of what the Spirit wants to reveal to us, requires
of the assembly and each Chapter member in particular, serious reflection,
calm, profound prayer, a personal contribution, awareness that we are called
individually to be part of it, a readiness to listen to God and ourselves.
I am certain that the days spent at the Becchi and in Turin, the Retreat, and the
two days of presentation of the Congregation through reports by the Sectors
and Regions have contributed to creating this spiritual atmosphere.
The Spirit acts, breathes His yearning for life and scatters His tongues of fire
wherever there is a community gathered in the name of Christ and united in
love. It is the communion of hearts that calls us together around the same apos-
tolic project, Don Bosco’s project, and makes possible unity amidst the diver-
sity of contexts, cultures, languages.
It is the Spirit who lets us hear God’s voice in our history. And today the situ-
ation of the world and the Church asks us to walk with God in history. The
Christian vocation in general and the religious vocation in particular is marked
by the prophetic dimension which leads us to be ‘sentinels’ of the world and
‘sensors of history’, able to interpret the signs of the times and set new signs
and transforming forces in place in history, and this has to do with our identi-
ty, credibility and visibility.
Our openness to the questions, provocations, stimuli and challenges of mod-
ern man, in our case those of the young, frees us from every kind of sclerosis,
tonelessness, stalemate or bourgeois mentality and sets us on the road “in step
with God”. Only this way can we overcome the risk – by no means an imagi-
nary one – of the ‘spiritual worldliness’, ego-centrality, theological narcissism
decried by Pope Francis since the beginning of his pontificate.
Historical sensitivity has been a typical element of Don Bosco and of the
Congregation, and today more than ever we cannot overlook this. It makes us
attentive to situations in the Church and the world. It sets us “on the way” and
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“pushes us out” in search of the young. It all needs translating into an essen-
tial, courageous Chapter document, one which is able to fill the hearts of the
confreres with fire. This is why an interpretation of the “signs of the times”
is important, some of which I have pointed out in AGC 413 in the letter of
convocation of GC27.
There is no way of becoming ‘witnesses to the radical approach of the Gospel’
without being built on Christ. This is the only secure guarantee for building on
rock. Among the numerous attempts to renew consecrated life over the last 50
years, we have the word ‘refounding’. Well, Paul warns us, “everyone doing
the building must work carefully. For the foundation, no one can lay any other
than the one which has already been laid, that is Jesus Christ” (1 Cor 3:10b-11).
The explanation is very simple: our community and our life cannot be built on
any other foundation than Christ nor can it be built with outmoded materials.
Many experiences confirm the suspicion that at times, here and there, we have
tried to build the house on sand, and not on rock. Every attempt to refound
consecrated life which does not lead us back to Christ, the foundation of our
life, and which does not make us more faithful to Don Bosco, our founder, is
destined to fail.
If we wish to recover the enthusiasm of our origins and be God’s presence in
the Church and the world, we have to avoid the temptation to conform to a
secularised, hedonistic and consumer mentality, and to allow ourselves to be
led by the Spirit who gave rise to consecrated life as a privileged way of
following and imitating Christ.
3.2. The theme
The theme chosen for GC27 regards testimony to the radical approach of the
Gospel, found in the motto “work and temperance” (cf. C. 18) an explicit for-
mulation of Don Bosco’s programme of life, the “Da mihi animas cetera tolle”.
It is aimed at helping us explore our charismatic identity more deeply, make
us aware of our vocation to faithfully live out Don Bosco’s apostolic project.
It is a huge topic. This is why we sought to focus the attention of GC27 on four
thematic areas: living our Salesian consecrated vocation in the grace of unity
and joy since this vocation is God’s gift and a personal project of life; having
a strong spiritual experience, taking on the way of being and acting of the
obedient, poor and chaste Jesus and becoming seekers of God; building
fraternity in our communities of life and action; dedicating ourselves gener-
ously to the mission, walking with the young to give hope to the world.
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Being “witnesses to the radical approach of the Gospel” is an appeal addressed
to the entire Congregation which finds its Salesian translation in the twofold
“work and temperance”. In the well-known dream of the ‘ten diamonds’, in the
first part, we are presented with the Salesian ‘sicut esse debet”, marked strong-
ly by theological features – faith, hope and charity – given a particular tone
through work and temperance and characterised by a life consecrated to the
Lord which finds its support in fasting and prayer.
In the second part of the dream we are presented with a warning of what could
happen if our personal, community and institutional life is not up to the meas-
ure of the gift of vocation we have received. The image of that worn out and
ugly personage could not be more eloquent. This is why we went to the Bec-
chi and Valdocco: not out of nostalgia, but to nurture the flame of enthusiasm
and the faithful commitment of those early Salesians.
The theme of the Gospel and its radical approach can be well illustrated by
taking into consideration a semantic and etymological perspective. Actually,
the word ‘radical’ is connected with ‘root’, putting down roots. To understand
things better we could use the image of a plant and its seed. Let us look at the
features and value of the roots:
– Stability and firmness of the plant tell us that a tree without roots will dry
up or collapse. In this sense the image is analogous – not equal – to a
building without foundations.
– Vitality, since the substances that nurture a plant come from the roots
above all, even if it is clear that air, sun, etc. are also involved.
– “Planted in the ground”, meaning that their natural place is underground,
they are “hidden”.
In this sense the title of our theme, “witnesses to the radical approach of the
Gospel”, expresses an interesting paradox in itself. On the one hand, the word
witnesses speaks of public manifestation, and therefore of visibility, “sacra-
mentality”, while paradoxically the term “radical” alludes precisely to what is
not seen, to what is hidden, “buried”.
I believe that often when we speak of being radical, we start out from the
semantic idea of the word, emphasising the significance of it being uncondi-
tional, of absolute fidelity, choice without compromise, of the desire to be “all
of one piece”, etc., overlooking the more precise etymological meaning.
At times there is a tendency to identify our being radical with perfection or
seeking it, but it is not so: we do not expect fruit from a small plant, and even
more so from a seed just planted in the ground, but that it puts down good,
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deep roots. For someone who wants to enter Salesian life, or religious life in
general, we cannot demand that he be “holy” (unfortunately, at times, not even
after many years of consecrated life) unless he is well-rooted/radical in his life
choices.
I believe this has implications for formation, in the first place for the initial
formation stage, where I would emphasise two aspects along the semantic lines
of this word ‘radical’. The first is depth (typical for a root) of life, inviting
young confreres to row against the current, since they are part of a culture that
places more emphasis on the superficial and outward appearances than the
ability to see deep down what is true, just, valid and noble for human life, and
even more so for the religious. The second aspect refers to a much forgotten
virtue in our day, perhaps because it is often misunderstood: humility. We know
that the roots of this word come from humus... Humus and root are inseparable.
Humility is none other than “life hidden in Christ”, from which and only from
which, can spiritual, apostolic and vocational fertility (fruits!) spring forth.
So for all of us, being radical is a fruitful return to Christ, the Gospel, being
faithful to the sequela Christi and it is also a return to the specifics of our
charism. Going to the roots of our Congregation’s birth means thanking God
for Don Bosco, for his spiritual maturity and the apostolic path he set out on;
questioning ourselves on the call that God gives us now and responding at this
historical moment, faithfully and generously to the needs of the young and the
demands of society and the Church.
3.3. Aims and results
GC27 aims to help every confrere and every community to faithfully live out
Don Bosco’s apostolic project. GC27 desires then, in continuity with GC26, to
further strengthen our charismatic identity. This aim is presented in the initial
articles of the Constitutions: we Salesians are called to “carry out the Founder’s
apostolic plan in a specific form of religious life” (C. 2); also in our specific
form of life, “our apostolic mission, our fraternal community and the practice
of the evangelical counsels are the inseparable elements of our consecration
which we live in a single movement of love towards God and towards our
brothers” (C. 3).
As a result of GC27 we expect to make our Salesian life still more authentic
and thus visible, credible and fruitful. That is possible when it is profoundly
and vitally built on God, courageously and convincingly rooted in Christ and
in His Gospel. The logical consequence is the strengthening of its identity. For
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the same reason, over the last six years we have committed ourselves to
returning to Don Bosco, reawakening the heart of every confrere with the
passion of the “Da mihi animas, cetera tolle”.
Living Don Bosco’s apostolic project with fidelity, or in other words our charis-
matic identity, makes us more authentic; from our lived identity, then, comes
clearer visibility, more convincing credibility and renewed vocational fruit-
fulness. Visibility is not principally looking to our image, but it is a beautiful
testimony to our vocation. If we give witness joyfully, generously and faith-
fully to Don Bosco’s apostolic project, that is, the consecrated Salesian voca-
tion, then our life will become attractive, fascinating, especially for the young
and then we will see a new vocational fruitfulness everywhere.
4. Conclusion
My dear confreres and Chapter members, on 25 March 2008 I was re-elected
as Rector Major by GC26 and on the days that followed the Vicar and other
Sector and Regional Councillors were elected, with the task of animating and
governing the Congregation for the six year period, 2008-2014. Over these
six years we have sought to live this task intensely, investing our best energies
in it.
Thanks be to God, over these six years we have not experienced the death of
any member of the General Council – including myself. I overcame a critical
moment of illness, and have been graced and blessed by the Lord who has
given me the necessary health, energy, enthusiasm and serenity to bring the
mandate entrusted to me to its natural conclusion.
Nevertheless circumstances have not been wanting that have led to the need
for changes in the make-up of the Council. Firstly a serious heart problem led
Fr Stefan Turanský to the decision to offer his resignation as the Regional for
the North Europe Region on 21 July 2010. To take his place, and with the
consent of the General Council, six days later on 27 July 2010, I appointed
Fr Marek Chrzan, then provincial in Krakow Province.
Then just 6 months later, on 26 January 2011, the Economer General, Bro.
Claudio Marangio, left his role to undertake a period of discernment accom-
panied by myself, which concluded on 10 October 2011 with an indult to leave
the Salesian Congregation, dispensation from his vows and the obligations
of religious profession. And again with the consent of the General Council, on
25 January 2011, I appointed Bro. Jean Paul Muller, then Director of the Bonn
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Mission Office, as the new Economer General. In both cases we made a choice
of someone who had already been indicated as a candidate for these roles at
GC26.
While I thank each of the Councillors for their closeness and loyal, generous
and expert collaboration in the various roles entrusted to them, today is the
day to give the word once more to the Chapter Assembly, the highest expres-
sion of authority in the life of the Congregation. Over to you, then, dear con-
freres, but yours is also the invitation to open your hearts to the Spirit, the great
inner Teacher who always guides us to the truth and fullness of life.
I conclude by entrusting this Pentecostal event of our Congregation to Our
Lady, to Mary the Immaculate Help of Christians. She has always been there
in our history and her presence and help will not be lacking at this time.
As she did in the Upper Room Mary, who is an expert in the Spirit, will teach
us to let ourselves be guided by Him “to discover the will of God, and know
what is good, what it is that God wants, what is the perfect thing to do”
(Rm 12:2b).
Rome, 3 March 2014
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APPENDIX 2
ADDRESS OF CARDINAL JOÃO BRAZ DE AVIZ
PREFECT OF THE CONGREGATION
FOR THE INSTITUTES OF CONSECRATED LIFE
AND THE SOCIETIES OF APOSTOLIC LIFE
Witness to the radical approach of the Gospel in consecrated life
I greet you cordially, also in the name of His Excellency Archbishop José
Carballo and the Dicastery. Greetings to the Salesian Cardinals and Bishops,
the Rector Major, Fr Pascual Chávez, Mother Yvonne Reungoat, Superior
General of the Daughters of Mary Help of Christians, and all Salesian Chapter
members.
Introduction
In his letter of convocation of this 27th General Chapter, the Rector Major,
Fr Pascual Chávez asked himself: “What kind of consecrated life is necessary
and significant for today’s world?” He then went on: “The reply can only be
that which is a mystical, prophetic and servant religious life with the radical
approach of the gospel both personal and communitarian, a life therefore full
of humanity and of spirituality, the source of hope for mankind. Our Congre-
gation too is called to pursue this path”.1 It seems to me to be the way Don
Bosco translated his programme, “da mihi animas, cetera tolle” into real life
(cf. C. 4).
He explained the three adjectives: “mystical, prophetic, servant”, at another
stage in the letter thus: “centring our lives on God, the only Absolute, who is
calling and inviting us to follow his Son in giving our lives in love; living the
prophecy of communion and fraternity; rediscovering the mission among the
young as the place par excellence for encountering the God who continues to
speak to us”.2
1 P. CHÁVEZ, Letter of convocation of the XXVII General Chapter, 8 April 2012, AGC 413,
p. 22.
2 Ibid, p. 5.
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Among the many aspects in which we are called to express our radical witness
to the Gospel, and which Fr Chávez has summed up in the three ways indicated
above, I would like to highlight just one which seems to me to be so important
in today’s ecclesial and social context, for our consecrated lives to be authen-
tic and truly a credible witness to our choice of God and to the validity of the
Gospel for our time: living the prophecy of communion and fraternity. It is
from here that we can gain a new impulse for recovering the beauty of our
choice of life in the service of the Gospel and a new incentive to carry out the
mission which – for you Salesians specifically – is to be bearers of the love
of God for young people, as it says from the outset of your Constitutions
(cf C. 2).
Following Christ together
For you Salesians too, as is the case for all consecrated individuals, the fun-
damental elements of your identity are the choice of God expressed through the
practice of the evangelical counsels, fraternal life in community, and the mis-
sion, as well summed up in article 3 of the Constitutions: “Our apostolic mis-
sion, our fraternal community and the practice of the evangelical counsels are
the inseparable elements of our consecration which we live in a single move-
ment of love towards God and towards our brothers”.
As I have had occasion to say at other times, it seems to me that this shift from
the sequela Christi as an individual thing, albeit still necessary, to the sequela
Christi as a community is a novel element for consecrated persons, and really
needed in today’s culture. Someone, paraphrasing St Teresa of Avila’s image,
has written that today we should be involved in building an ‘exterior castle’ in
addition to an ‘interior castle’ or personal relationship with God: going to God
together with our brothers and sisters. For sure, this is true not only for conse-
crated people but for everyone baptised in the Church, for all Christians. But
for those of us who are consecrated, this should be especially true. Indeed the
Church entrusts us with the special role of being an example to other Christians
of how to live out this radical choice of God and the Gospel, not alone but in
communion: communion with God and communion amongst ourselves
In the document Religious and human promotion by the Congregation for In-
stitutes of Consecrated Life and Societies of Apostolic Life, religious are de-
scribed as “experts in communion”. We read in no. 24: “Experts in commun-
ion, religious are, therefore, called to be an ecclesial community in the Church
and in the world, witnesses and architects of the plan for unity which is the
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crowning point of human history in God’s design. Above all, by the profession
of the evangelical counsels, which frees one from what might be an obstacle
to the fervour of charity, religious are communally a prophetic sign of inti-
mate union with God, who is loved above all things. Furthermore, through the
daily experience of communion of life, prayer and apostolate – the essential
and distinctive elements of their form of consecrated life – they are a sign of
fraternal fellowship”. In fact, in a world frequently very deeply divided and
before their brethren in the faith, they give witness to the possibility of a com-
munity of goods, of fraternal love, of a programme of life and activity which
is theirs because they have accepted the call to follow more closely and more
freely Christ the Lord who was sent by the Father, so that, first born among
many brothers and sisters, He might establish a new fraternal fellowship in
the gift of his Spirit”.3
A new paradigm – the spirituality of communion
Today we are at a new moment of human history and the history of the Church,
marked by phenomena like secularism, globalisation, taking refuge in the
private sphere, and other phenomena as well which tend to lead humankind to
new choices for meaning in life. The new millennium we are now living in
means that the Church too must be aware of this change and practise Gospel
values in this new moment so as to open up horizons of life and hope for the
entire human race.
The most significant proposal for us Christians, it seems to me, may be the one
from 2001 from Blessed Pope John Paul II who, introducing the Church in the
new millennium indicated fostering a spirituality of communion as a new
paradigm for the life of the Church and an educational principle everywhere
where the human being and Christian is shaped, where ministers of the altar,
consecrated individuals, pastoral workers are formed, where families and
communities are being built up.4
We can neither understand nor practise relationships amongst consecrated
individuals and with all other vocations in the Church as communion, mission
and service, without being aware of and decisive in taking up this vital princi-
ple of the spirituality of communion. It is the essential theological and eccle-
siological feature of our time, telling us what the Holy Spirit is asking of the
3 CONGREGATION FOR INSTITUTES OF CONSECRATED LIFE AND SOCIETIES OF APOSTOLIC LIFE,
Religious and human promotion, 25 April 1978, no. 24.
4 Cf. JOHN PAUL II, Apostolic Letter Novo millennio ineunte, 6 January 2001, n. 43.
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Church today in order to provide new thrust to the evangelising mission. “To
make the Church the home and the school of communion: that is the great
challenge facing us in the millennium which is now beginning, if we wish to
be faithful to God’s plan and respond to the world’s deepest yearnings”.
The spirituality of communion proposed by John Paul II can certainly not be
reduced to mere intimacy. After recalling how its source is in the very life of
the Triune God, he lists some very practical consequences which are directly
related to the life of our consecrated communities: “The spirituality of com-
munion indicates above all the heart’s contemplation of the mystery of the
Trinity dwelling in us, and whose light we must also be able to see shining on
the face of the brothers and sisters around us. A spirituality of communion also
means an ability to think of our brothers and sisters in faith within the profound
unity of the Mystical Body, and therefore as “those who are a part of me”. This
makes us able to share their joys and sufferings, to sense their desires and
attend to their needs, to offer them deep and genuine friendship. A spirituality
of communion implies also the ability to see what is positive in others, to
welcome it and prize it as a gift from God: not only as a gift for the brother or
sister who has received it directly, but also as a “gift for me”. A spirituality of
communion means, finally, to know how to “make room” for our brothers and
sisters, bearing “each other’s burdens” (Gal 6:2) and resisting the selfish temp-
tations which constantly beset us and provoke competition, careerism, distrust
and jealousy. Let us have no illusions: unless we follow this spiritual path,
external structures of communion will serve very little purpose. They would
become mechanisms without a soul, “masks” of communion rather than its
means of expression and growth”.5
If the whole Church is meant to take up this indication from John Paul II,
consecrated individuals do so as “specialists”, since this is the very essence of
their choice of life: union with God and union among themselves in fraternal
life. This is why the Church entrusts consecrated communities with the special
task of “helping the spirituality of communion to grow first among themselves
and then in the ecclesial community and beyond”.6 We can well understand too
that living together in community, as consecrated persons do, even when things
are well set up and with the best of projects, is reduced to being a sociological
fact unless it is deeply informed by this soul of communion. Putting this in
Fr Chávez own words: “A community without communion, with all that this
implies with regard to acceptance, appreciation and esteem, mutual assistance
5 Ibid, no. 43.
6 JOHN PAUL II, Post-Synodal Exhortation Vita consecrata, 25 March 1996, no. 51.
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and love, is reduced to a group in which people may have a place but where
in fact they are left isolated”.7 And this can happen even where “the family
spirit” (according to the expression so dear to Don Bosco) that belongs to your
charism should be so evident.
“On earth as it is in heaven” – the model is the Trinity
Among the many images we can use to describe the Church (and Lumen
Gentium briefly lists some of these: sheepfold, flock, God’s field, building,
family, church, spouse, body; all drawn from the Scriptures), the Council
preferred the people of God (LG gave an entire chapter to it, the 2nd). This
people has Christ as its head, the new precept of love as its law, based on His
love, and is “ a lasting and sure seed of unity, hope and salvation for the whole
human race” (LG no. 9). The Trinity is the source and model of communion
among those who make up this unique people, to the point where it describes
the Church as “a people made one with the unity of the Father, the Son and the
Holy Spirit” (LG no. 4), according to the famous expression of St Cyprian.
It follows that the task of the Church in history is to help human beings to
practise the communion with God and among themselves which Jesus had
already definitively wrought by his death and resurrection, but which must
now gradually inform the life of believers and then of the entire human race so
that it may put into place the “on earth as it is in heaven” which we ask for each
day when we pray the Our Father, that “all may be one” (Jn 17:20).
Just as a migrant leaving his country to go to some distant land brings with
him the habits, language, way of living of his country of origin, so Jesus – the
divine migrant – coming to earth brings us His way of living in His place of
origin, the Trinity. He not only made us aware of that but taught us to live
among ourselves in the same way. This is how I like to interpret that part of the
“Our Father” which says: “Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven”: help
us to live here on earth as you live in heaven, practising the same relationship
and dynamic that goes on in the Trinity.
Consecrated life, being a living part of the Church, plays a special part in the
unique ecclesial communion and expresses this in a significant and character-
istic way, thus offering itself as a privileged place for experiencing and
witnessing to the life of the Trinity. “Every kind of community in the Church
in fact draws from the depths of the very being of the Trinitarian community,
through the communication that the Trinity makes of itself and of the mystery
7 P. CHÁVEZ, “Witnesses to the radical approach of the Gospel”, in: AGC 413, p. 34.
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of its very unity... The Trinitarian dimension, then, envelops consecrated life
in all its dimensions of consecration, communion, mission”.8 Also in the vari-
ety of inspirations and forms in which it has been historically expressed, con-
secrated life has always been aware that it needs to look not only to the exam-
ple of communion indicated by the Acts of the Apostles among the primitive
Christian community in Jerusalem, where they were all “one heart and one
soul” (Acts 4: 32), but even more radically to its original model, the prototype
of communion of the three divine persons in the Trinity.
This normative reference to Trinitarian communion has certainly not always
been explicit for Founders and Foundresses. But in the Rules and writings of
many of them it is possible to rediscover this basic inspiration. One who says
it quite precisely is St Vincent de Paul who writes to the Daughters of Charity
whom he founded: “In the same way that God is one in himself, and the three
Persons exist within him without the Father being greater than the Son nor the
Son than the Spirit, so must the Daughters of Charity be; they are to be an
image of the Holy Trinity; although many, let them be one heart and one soul...
This way you will make this Society a reproduction of the Most Holy Trinity.
And this way your Society will represent the unity of the Most Holy Trinity”.9
It is wonderful that your Constitutions too, contain explicit reference to this
lofty and normative model of our life which is the unity of the three Persons
in the Trinity. As it explains the value of living and working together it says:
“This is why we come together in community, where our love for each other
leads us to share all we have in a family spirit, and so create communion
between person and person. The community is a reflection of the Mystery of
the Trinity; there we find a response to the deep aspirations of the heart, and
we become for the young signs of love and unity” (C. 49). This then is how
community life lived according to the model of love in the Trinity becomes
the source of joy and self-fulfilment for everyone, and makes us capable of
carrying out our apostolic mission to the young”.
We need to explain that the life of communion stamped by the Trinity which
is part of the identity and mission of the Church in the first place, and then
of consecrated life, is first of all a gift; otherwise it would be a superhuman
pretence and an impossible ideal to achieve. In the Post-Synodal Apostolic
Exhortation Christifideles laici (no. 31) the gift of ecclesial communion is
8 F. CIARDI, Koinonia. Itinerario teologico-spirituale della comunità religiosa, Città Nuova,
Roma 1992, pp. 206-207.
9 Quoted in: F. CIARDI, Esperti di comunione. Pretesa e realtà della vita religiosa, San
Paolo, Cinisello B. (Milano) 1999, p. 113.
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“the reflection in time of the eternal and ineffable communion of the love
of God”; and being a gift it is compared to a talent that “must be put to work
in a life of ever-increasing communion”. And in turn “communion generates
communion”10 and spreads out like concentric circles through the Church, to
Christians of other confessions, to the faithful of other religions and to the
whole human race. It is this that makes Christian witness and the Church’s
witness credible: “Thus the life of ecclesial communion becomes a sign for the
world and an attractive power leading people to believe in Christ: ‘As you
Father are in me and I in you, may they also be one in us, so that the world may
believe that you have sent me’ (Jn 17: 21)”.11
Applied to the religious community, Vita consecrata expresses it thus: it is “a
human community in which the Trinity dwells, in order to extend in history the
gifts of communion proper to the three divine Persons”.12 It is because they are
made partakers, as indeed are all the baptised, in the Trinitarian life, and are in
fact introduced to it, that consecrated individuals can then become credible
and prophetic witnesses of it in the Church and in the world, including among
young people.
The third precept of love – “love one another”
The commitment to practise fraternal relations in community modelled upon
Trinitarian communion is made possible because the same love that binds the
three in the Trinity has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit
(cf. Rom 5:5). By implementing the new commandment given us by Christ:
“Love one another as I have loved you” (Jn 13,:34-35; 15:12-13.17), we practise
the mutual love which is a sign of the communion which exists among the di-
vine persons of the Trinity. Before being the result of our good will, this love in
fact, to the extent that Christ practised it (the Cross is its true measure) is a con-
sequence of the divine love itself at work in us. It was God who first loved us
and through the redemption healed our capacity to love Him and our neighbour.
As is well explained in the document Fraternal life in community: “Before
being a human construction, religious community is a gift of the Spirit. It is the
love of God, poured into our hearts by the Holy Spirit, from which religious
community takes its origin and is built as a true family gathered together in
10 JOHN PAUL II, Post-Synodal Apostolic Exhortation Christifideles laici, 30 December
1988, no. 32.
11 Ibid, no. 31.
12 Vita consecrata, no. 41.
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the Lord’s name. It is therefore impossible to understand religious community
unless we start from its being a gift from on high, from its being a mystery,
from its being rooted in the very heart of the blessed and sanctifying Trinity”.13
Naturally the duty of personal response (relationship with God) and building
up fraternity on a daily basis arises from the gift of Trinitarian communion.
This twofold dimension of personal communion with God and communion
amongst the members “is the fundamental element constituting the unity of the
religious family”.14 If from God’s side the gift of communion is full from the
outset, from our side it is earned and regained daily along a path that demands
everyone’s involvement and which can also be an effort, with some falling
back. Bringing about fraternal community life is something that requires self-
denial, accepting our confreres’ limitations; in a word, a courageous and per-
severing ascetical journey.
Some may see this address as somewhat tough. We can only understand and
accept it by beginning from the logic of the Cross, the total gift of self out of
love, to God and one’s confreres: “Love one another as I have loved you”. Let
me read another passage from Fraternal life in community: “It must be admit-
ted that this kind of reasoning presents difficulty today both to young people
and to adults. Often, young people come from a culture which overrates sub-
jectivity and the search for self-fulfilment, while adults either are anchored to
structures of the past or experience a certain disenchantment... Right from the
beginning, it is necessary to prepare to be not only consumers of community,
but above all its builders; to be responsible for each other’s growth; to be open
and available to receive the gift of the other; to be able to help and to be helped;
to replace and to be replaced. A fraternal and shared common life has a natu-
ral attraction for young people but, later, perseverance in the real conditions of
life can become a heavy burden”.15
This is how I understand the famous phrase of the young Jesuit St John Berch-
mans (1599-1621): “Vita communis mea maxima poenitentia”. Perhaps it has
often been interpreted negatively, highlighting the difficulty of living together
in community. But it says much more, really. For those called by God to follow
Christ together with their brothers or their sisters in a religious community,
there is no need to look for any other penances or ascetical ways of being holy.
13 CONGREGATION FOR INSTITUTES OF CONSECRATED LIFE AND SOCIETIES OF APOSTOLIC LIFE,
Fraternal life in community, 2 February 1994, no. 8.
14 CONGREGATION FOR RELIGIOUS AND SECULAR INSTITUTES, Essential Elements of the
Church’s Teaching on Religious Life, 31 May 1983, no. 18.
15 Fraternal life in community, nos. 23-24.
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The daily requirements of loving a brother, a sister, with all the nuances that
evangelical charity demands, is where we exercise our virtue, it is the charac-
teristic place for becoming holy together. This certainly implies one aspect of
ascetics, renouncing the old man, but it is also our great opportunity to en-
counter and love God practically in the brother or sister around us. So the as-
ceticism that fraternal life demands is not an end in itself, but flourishes in a
new experience of God’s love: it is “the ‘mystique’ of living together” which
Pope Francis hints at, that makes our life “a holy pilgrimage”.16
From the ideal to real life
This Trinitarian communion we partake of is a lofty gift then, but also a great
responsibility to make fruitful the gift received and to effectively demonstrate
that divine life in each of the members leads to overcoming differences and ob-
stacles which are implied by any kind of human shared existence. We do not
want to delude ourselves: without losing sight of the human-divine model
which we seek to be inspired by, we know that we have to deal daily with hu-
man limitations and the root of sin and selfishness still there in us. We are very
different from each other, with temperaments, tastes and stories that distin-
guish us from each other, and this makes fraternal life difficult.
We also know that the first community in Jerusalem, ideally described in the
so-called ‘summary’ in Acts (cf. Acts 2:42-47; 4:32-35; 5:12-16) and which re-
ligious life has always looked to as its paradigm,17 was not without its diffi-
culties and problems. Jesus Himself, knowing human frailty, before He died,
asked the Father as a special gift from on high for the unity of the apostles and
of all believers: “Holy Father, keep those you have given me true to your name
so that they may be one like us... I pray not only for these, but for those also
who through their words will believe in me. May they all be one... may they
be completely one” (Jn 17:11. 20-21. 23).
It is interesting to note, running through the letters to the Apostles addressed
to the early communities, what and how many were the practical pointers they
offered on the new commandment of Jesus to love one another. Together, these
practical pointers became a real “handbook” for fraternal life in community:
– “love each other as much as brothers should, and have a profound respect
for each other” (Rm 12:10);
16 POPE FRANCIS, Apostolic exhortation Evangelii gaudium, 24 November 2013, no. 87.
17 Cf. SECOND VATICAN COUNCIL, Perfectae Caritatis, 15.
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– “there must be no competition amongst you, no conceit” (Phil 2:3);
– “treat everyone with equal kindness” (Rm 12:16);
– “treat each other in the same friendly way as Christ treated you” (Rm
15:7);
– “advise one another” (Rm 15:14);
– “wait for one another” (1 Cor 11:33);
– “serve one another rather in works of love” (Gal 5:13);
– “give encouragement to one another” (1 Thes 5:11);
– “bear with one another charitably” (Eph 4:2);
– “be friends with one another and kind, forgiving each other” (Eph 4:32);
– “nobody thinks of his own interests first but everybody thinks of other
people’s interests instead” (Phil 2:4);
– “give way to one another in obedience to Christ” (Eph 5:21);
– “pray for one another” (Ja 5:16);
– “wrap yourselves in humility to be servants of one another” (1 Pt 5:5);
– “let your love for each other be real and from the heart” (1 Pt 1:22);
– “do all that has to be done without complaining or arguing” (Phil 2:14).
I found a beautiful echo of these practical indications in a text of your founder
Don Bosco as well: “Firstly let us be charitable to one another, bearing with
faults patiently and being mutually indulgent. Let us encourage each other to
do good, to observe our rule, and to love and respect each other like brothers.
Let us pray, that we may all form one heart and one soul to love and serve
God”.18
At the same time, mutual love among confreres in community ensures unity
among the members without ignoring each one’s differences and gifts. Just as
in the Trinity we have perfect unity because of the divine love circulating
amongst them, but at the same time the Three are not confused and operate in
distinct ways from one another, so in the community, mutual love strengthens
communion and fraternity, guaranteeing each his freedom according to God’s
plans for him. This dynamic of unity and distinction too, modelled on the rela-
tionships between the three Persons, is the result of mutual respect and shared
commitment to achieving fellowship. So that the community can foster both the
human and spiritual fulfilment of all its members and the achievement of com-
mon apostolic purposes, “we must continue to seek a just balance, not always
18 Biographical Memoirs of Saint John Bosco, IX, p. 168.
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easy to achieve, between the common good and respect for the human person,
between the demands and needs of individuals and those of the community,
between personal charisms and the community’s apostolate... Religious com-
munity is the place where the daily and patient passage from “me” to “us” takes
place, from my commitment to a commitment entrusted to the community, from
seeking “my things” to seeking “the things of Christ”. In this way, religious
community becomes the place where we learn daily to take on that new mind
which allows us to live in fraternal communion through the richness of diverse
gifts and which, at the same time, fosters a convergence of these gifts towards
fraternity and towards co-responsibility in the apostolic plan”.19
The presence of the Risen Lord
The most important result of this community life style stamped with Trinitarian
communion and guided by the logic of the Cross, is the stable and palpable
presence of the Risen Christ, given His promise: “Where two or three are gath-
ered in my name, I am with them” (Mt 18:20; cf. PC 15 a). Coming together “in
his name” means in His love, in fulfilling His will, summed up in the com-
mandment that He Himself called “His” and “new”. So, He makes Himself
present, so mystically but real, and you can experience, almost touch His pres-
ence, especially thanks to the gifts of Easter that the Risen Christ among us will
let us experience: peace, the joy of being together, light, “family spirit” (to use
an expression dear to Don Bosco), apostolic zeal.
“In the life of the community”, Vita consecrata notes once more “it should in
some way be evident that, more than an instrument for carrying out a specific
mission, fraternal communion is a God-enlightened space in which to experi-
ence the hidden presence of the Risen Lord”,20 according to the promise in
Mt 18:20. Your Constitutions too make reference to this Gospel verse: “The
profession of the counsels helps us to live a life of fellowship with our broth-
ers in the religious community as in a family which enjoys the presence of the
Lord” (C. 61). The Father and the Spirit are also present in Christ: the com-
munity united by the bond of mutual love enjoys the presence of the Triune
God and becomes its sign and witness.
The ‘family spirit’ your Founder and the Constitutions speak of is the atmos-
phere of joy and freedom where all members of the community feel at ease,
19 Fraternal life in community, no. 39.
20 Vita consecrata, no. 42c.
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enjoy one another’s presence, feel accepted and understood, where their gifts
are appreciated and excuse is made for their inevitable weaknesses. So then
“how good, how delightful it is for all to live together” (cf Ps. 132), and the
most visible fruit is joy, as Pope Francis also reminded us speaking last October
to the Poor Clares at Assisi: “See to friendship among you, family life, love.
May the Monastery never be Purgatory, but a family. Problems there are and
will be, but as we do in a family, through love, look for the loving solution;
don’t destroy one thing to resolve another; do not compete with one another.
Look after community life, because when community life is like this, like a
family, it is the Holy Spirit who is in your midst. Always with great heart, let
things go, no bragging, put up with everything, smiling from the heart. Joy is
its sign”.21
May the Risen Christ in the community united in His love, fascinate many
young people today and call them to join the Salesian religious family to
continue to be witnesses for young people today of God’s love for them.
21 POPE FRANCIS, Per una clausura di grande umanità, Assisi, 4 ottobre 2013, in: L’Osser-
vatore Romano, Sunday 6 October, p. 6.
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APPENDIX 3
ADDRESS OF HOMAGE OF THE RECTOR MAJOR
TO THE HOLY FATHER
ON THE OCCASION OF THE PAPAL AUDIENCE
Dear Pope Francis,
Dear Father,
We are very happy to be here with you. Thank you for this opportunity to meet
you. For us it is a very precious gift and a unique occasion, allowing us to
express the feelings we bear for you in our hearts. We love you, Father! We
greatly value your courage and your testimony. With joy we see your great
love for the Lord Jesus, for the Church, and your desire for the profound
renewal of the whole Christian community over which you preside in service
and love.
We know very well that for Don Bosco, love for the Pope meant love for the
Church and love for the mission. Our meeting would have no meaning were it
not accompanied at the same time by the desire to express to you, dear Father,
our willingness to renew our charismatic and missionary commitment to the
Church and the world with particular attention to the young, especially the
poorest and most abandoned. So we accept your invitation to open the doors
of our houses and our hearts, to be announcers of Gospel joy, believing strong-
ly in a God who loves human beings and desires their salvation. In the words
of “Gaudium et spes”, we want to share the joys and sorrows of today’s world
and of the young people who live in it, fully committing ourselves to building
the Kingdom of God.
During this General Chapter, with the theme of being “Witnesses to the radical
approach of the Gospel”, we have felt that we are deeply in tune with your
Apostolic Exhortation “Evangelii Gaudium”. This text has enlightened and
guided our reflection.
It has been an occasion to reflect deeply on our Salesian charismatic identity,
bearing in mind at the same time the need to interpret what Don Bosco expe-
rienced and passed on to us, in a way that is relevant. We have identified a
path to renewal in which we commit ourselves to living the mystical dimension
of consecrated individuals who intend to give absolute primacy to God, the
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Lord of our life. Moved by the Spirit of Jesus therefore we want to be “seek-
ers and witnesses of God”, joyfully accompanying young people on a journey
of human and Christian growth.
We are proposing to renew the prophetic witness of our fraternal life. In a
world often torn by conflict at every level, it seems to us that our religious life
has as one of its principal tasks witnessing to the joy of a communion of broth-
ers who feel they are all disciples of the Lord. It is a fellowship that involves
our daily life, our work, our prayer and it becomes in itself a proclamation of
a life expressed in new relationships inspired by the words of the Gospel and
able to attract young people to the precious experience of a life given for others
according to Don Bosco’s charism.
In our mission we want to reaffirm our desire to be servants of the young,
through an educative proposal inspired by Gospel values and with a generous
commitment to transforming the world. We want to reaffirm the criterion of
Don Bosco’s choice: preferential availability for the poorest of the young, the
most disadvantaged peoples, those on the margins, in traditional missionary
settings and in the more secularised societies.
We welcome, dear Pope Francis, your words and proposals for an ecclesial
choice of the major guidelines which will guide us over the next six years.
With the entire Salesian Family I take this opportunity to thank you for hav-
ing agreed to come to Turin for the Second Centenary of Don Bosco’s birth.
With the affection of children we assure you of our prayers, as we entrust your
mission to the Virgin Help of Christians, Mother of the Church, and we ask for
your paternal blessing.
Rome, 31 March 2014
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APPENDIX 4
ADDRESS OF HIS HOLINESS POPE FRANCIS
AT THE AUDIENCE FOR THE CHAPTER MEMBERS
ON 31 MARCH 2014
Dear Brothers,
Welcome! I thank Father Angelo for his words. I hope that he and the new
General Council will ably serve the Salesian Congregation by leading, by guid-
ing and supporting it along its journey. May the Holy Spirit help you to grasp
the expectations and challenges of our time, especially those of young people,
and interpret them in the light of the Gospel and your charism.
I imagine that during the Chapter – which had as its theme “Witnesses to the
radical approach of the Gospel” – you had ever before you Don Bosco and the
young; and Don Bosco with his motto: “Da mihi animas, cetera tolle”. He
strengthened this programme with two other elements: work and temperance.
I remember that at boarding school it was forbidden to take a siesta!... Tem-
perance! For the Salesians and for us! “Work and temperance” – he said –
“will make the Congregation flourish”. When one thinks of working for the
good of souls, one overcomes the temptation of spiritual worldliness; one does
not seek after other things, but only God and his Kingdom. Temperance, then,
is a sense of proportion, being content, being simple. May the poverty of Don
Bosco and of Mamma Margaret inspire every Salesian and each of your com-
munities to live an austere life based on the essentials, on closeness to the poor,
on transparency and responsibility in managing temporal goods.
1. The evangelization of youth is the mission which the Holy Spirit has en-
trusted to you in the Church. It is intimately joined with their education: the
journey of faith is inserted into that of their growth and the Gospel also enriches
human maturation. It is necessary to prepare young people to work in society
in harmony with the spirit of the Gospel as workers of justice and peace, and
to live as active members of the Church. You therefore avail yourselves of
needed pedagogical and cultural advancements and updates in order to respond
to the current educational crisis. May Don Bosco’s experience and his “pre-
ventive system” always sustain you in your commitment to life with the young.
May your presence among them be distinguished by that tenderness which
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Don Bosco called loving-kindness, employing other forms of language too,
but well aware that the language of the heart is fundamental for approaching
and befriending them.
The vocational dimension here is fundamental. Sometimes a vocation to the
consecrated life is confused with a choice of voluntary work, and this distort-
ed view is not good for Institutes. Next year – 2015 – which has been dedicated
to consecrated life, will be a favourable occasion to present its beauty to young
people. Partial visions should always be avoided so as not to arouse vocation-
al responses that are frail and based on weak motives. Apostolic vocations are
ordinarily the result of good youth ministry. Caring for vocations requires spe-
cific attention: first, prayer, then appropriate activities, personalised pro-
grammes, courage in making the proposal, guidance and family involvement.
The vocational geography has changed and is changing, and consequently
more demanding formation, guidance and discernment is needed.
2. In working with young people, you encounter the world of excluded
youth. And this is dreadful! Today, it is dreadful to think that there are more than
75 million unemployed young people here, in the West. Let us consider the vast
reality of unemployment, with its many negative consequences. Let us think
about the dependencies, which unfortunately are many but which derive from
the common root of a lack of true love. Reaching out to young people who have
been marginalised requires courage, human maturity and much prayer. The best
should be sent to do this work! The best! There can be a risk of getting caught
up in enthusiasm, sending people to these frontiers who are keen, but not suit-
able. Careful discernment and constant guidance are therefore needed. The cri-
terion is this: the best go there. “I need this one to be a superior here, or to study
theology...” But, if you have that mission, send him there! The best!
3. Thanks be to God, you do not live or work as isolated individuals but
as a community: and thank God for this! The community supports the whole
of the apostolate. At times religious communities are fraught with tensions,
and risk becoming individualistic and scattered, whereas what is needed is
deep communication and authentic relationships. The humanizing power of
the Gospel is witnessed in fraternity lived in community and is created through
welcome, respect, mutual help, understanding, kindness, forgiveness and joy.
The family spirit that Don Bosco left to you helps greatly in this respect, it
promotes perseverance and draws people to the consecrated life.
Dear brothers, the bicentenary of the birth of Don Bosco is almost upon us. It
will be a propitious moment to propose your Founder’s charism anew. Mary
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Help of Christians has never failed to help the Congregation, and certainly she
will never let it be lacking in the future. May her maternal intercession obtain
for you from God the desired and longed for results. I bless you and pray for
you and, please, pray for me, too! Thank you!
Rome, 31 March 2014
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APPENDIX 5
MESSAGE OF THE GENERAL CHAPTER
TO THE SALESIAN CONFRERES
Dear Confreres,
All of us who have taken part in the 27th General Chapter wish to share with
you the extraordinary experience we have had over these months, called to
Rome in the Lord’s name and sustained by the power of His Spirit. For each
one of us the Chapter has been an event of grace to which we want to witness
when we return home. When we take up our tasks and concerns once more we
would like to tell you “what marvels indeed he did for us and how overjoyed
we were!” (Ps 125/126:3).
In the beginning there was Valdocco
We began our journey in the Salesian Holy Land, at Valdocco, a place of the
Gospel and daily miracles. We went there as people who are tracing a river
back to its source. Our thirst was quenched and the fresh water of our origins
refreshed us. Our father’s story is an ever new invitation. We sought inspira-
tion from his life and what he offers so we could revive his charism today.
Rediscovering Don Bosco has helped our evangelical vocation to take root
more deeply and has revived the reasons for giving ourselves for the King-
dom as he gave himself on behalf of the poorest of the young. In the light of
his experience, we set out under the gaze of Mary Help of Christians, sure of
her maternal intercession.
God gifted us with a Father
When we came back to Rome we began our work of demanding reflections and
decisions. Fraternal spirit and common seeking made it possible for us to
weave warm and sincere relationships among us immediately. These gave us
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a first-hand experience of multicultural abundance and the prophecy of frater-
nity during the days of the Chapter.
We have felt in communion with those communities which, in countries ex-
periencing conflict, are living through tragic times in their history: Syria,
Venezuela, the Central African Republic, Sudan have been very much in our
prayers. In remembering them, we have been brought face to face with the
suffering of so many peoples and the stark reality of the witness of the many
confreres who are living the radical approach of the Gospel in very complex
situations and who encourage us in our commitment.
God then gifted us with a father. While we express our gratitude for the out-
standing and fruitful ministry of Fr Pascual Chávez Villanueva, we feel that
the election of Fr Ángel Fernández Artime as Rector Major and tenth Succes-
sor of Don Bosco was a gift of Providence for us all, for the entire Salesian
Family and for the young. His open and sincere smile, his simplicity, his great
humanity and spontaneous rapport with each of the confreres immediately
let us see the face of the promised father in him: “A new Rector Major will be
chosen who will take care of you and your eternal salvation. Listen to him,
love him, obey him, pray for him...” (Don Bosco). Thank you, Fr Ángel, for
your heart of the good shepherd and for your generosity.
Pope Francis fascinated us
A very special and intense occasion was our meeting with Pope Francis. He
made us welcome and in blessing us he blessed each one of you and the young
people the Lord has entrusted to us. His word, which was precise and trench-
ant, touched our hearts. He reminded us that we must be, like Don Bosco,
men of the Gospel who live our daily lives simply and generously, austerely
and freely. He reminded us that our father taught us to love the young with the
loving kindness that is proper to the Preventive System and that makes God’s
tenderness for the weakest of his children present. He asked us insistently to
go out to the peripheries where the young dwell and where we see their var-
ious forms of poverty more acutely. He begged us to spare no effort in as-
signing our best individuals to the poorest, those who have no prospects and
no future. Really, Pope Francis set fire to our Salesian hearts. His embrace was
an expression of sincere affection for Don Bosco’s sons and as he took our
hands in his it renewed the filial devotion to Peter’s Successor that Don Bosco
always wanted his Salesians to have. The Holy Father’s message will remain
in our hearts and will be a programme for all of us to follow.
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Going against the flow, in hope
The theme of our General Chapter, the Gospel’s radical approach, has given
rise to deep reflection, stimulating us to conversion. What we have experi-
enced over these weeks is already in anticipation of the journey we wish to
undertake with all of you and with our educative and pastoral communities.
We have dreamed of the future and now we commit ourselves to making it a
reality.
United with the vine like new branches (cf. Jn 10:1-10), we Salesians dream
of a consecrated life which is able to question the culture and social reality in
which we live when we live it with profoundly evangelical attitudes. For our
communities we want a simple lifestyle, one marked by the joy of the Gospel
and passion for the Kingdom. We want to live as men who are marked by a
strong experience of God, with their feet on the ground, able to give reason for
the hope we bear in our hearts, our life completely given over, authentic, whole.
We are committed to seeking out the peripheries and deserts where the most
abandoned young people are to be found.
We will be significant today if we go against the flow. When individualism
grows around us, then fellowship becomes a credible alternative. We take up
the challenge of building communities in which we learn to move from “I” to
“we”, always putting our brother’s good before our own. We must be able to
open up room for acceptance and dialogue which can help heal wounds
through mature and regenerating relationships. We need to be decisively com-
mitted to humanising our common life so that we overcome loneliness and
multiply mercy. Taking the risk of pardon and peace makes our way of living
credible in our world, and makes our proclamation more clearly evangelical.
For Francis, this is the pastoral conversion of mercy and tenderness.
Refocused
Aware of the new ecclesial moment we are living through, we are convinced
that our consecrated life is a cry against selfishness and self-reference: it is
about meeting the needs of others and beginning from our poor and support-
ive lifestyle. Our cloister is the world of the young who are in difficulty and
our prayer is our hands raised up and our action in giving dignity back to those
who are most excluded. This is why we cannot spare our energy, nor do we
have any more time for “our things”, or to close ourselves within our person-
al interests. We are faced with an exodus which will help us reach another
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land, one promised a thousand times over: the land of the most abandoned and
poorest. As Salesians we will find our Tabor there.
Francis invited us to place ourselves at the frontiers, on the margins, on the
peripheries of the world, in the existential deserts where there are many like
sheep without a shepherd and who have nothing to eat (cf. Mt 9:36). This is the
key to interpretation which the Pope offers us to refocus ourselves: to seek
other vistas offering us different points of view and which help us interpret
reality beyond ourselves. This is the challenge for religious life today: think-
ing and living in a way that refocuses our way of looking at reality where we
are too certain of ourselves, too settled in guaranteed works, too occupied with
structured and satisfying work. When we think of the renewal of our Congre-
gation, do we not have here a criterion of significance that can help us offer
new horizons to our structures? It is not so easy to refocus, but it is urgent to
do so if we want to continue to be faithful to God’s call.
Dear confreres,
Over these days we have felt the breath of the Spirit “making all things new”
(Ap 21:5). This is the moment to go to work on the guidelines for the way
ahead which our General Chapter is proposing to us. Moved by the power
of the Holy Spirit and enlightened by Him, we want to “put out into the deep”
(Lk 5:4), navigate towards deeper waters in our consecrated life and mission
to the young and ordinary people. We sense the urgency of boldly proclaiming
the liberating Gospel of Jesus Christ, good news for the little ones and the
poor. And if, seeing the dedication of our life and our joy, someone should
ask: “Why are you doing this?” we will answer in all freedom that God fills our
life and His great love is challenging us so that the young “may have life and
have it to the full” (Jn 10:10).
Rome, 12th April 2014
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ADDRESS OF THE RECTOR MAJOR
FR ÁNGEL FERNÁNDEZ ARTIME
AT THE CLOSING OF THE GC27
APPENDIX 6
THE GC27:
AN OPPORTUNITY FOR BELONGING MORE TO GOD,
THE CONFRERES, THE YOUNG
“Whoever remains in me, with me in him, bears fruit in plenty,
for cut off from me you can do nothing.
It is to the glory of my Father
that you should bear much fruit,
and become my disciples”
(Jn 15:5.8)
Dear Confreres,
With this address of mine, and the final greetings we will exchange, we con-
clude our 27th General Chapter, a true and proper time of Grace and Presence
of the Spirit.
I believe we have translated what is indicated in our Constitutions into reali-
ty. It has been a particularly important occasion, a “sign of the Congregation’s
unity in diversity” (C. 146) in which, at a meeting which has certainly been
fraternal, we have brought to completion the community reflection which will
help us remain faithful to the Gospel and the Charism of our Founder, and
sensitive to the needs of times and places (cf. C. 146).
Through these simple pages which I am addressing to the confreres at the
Chapter and all the confreres of the Congregation, I would like to offer some
points that seem to me to be the more important ones to accompany the
reflection and assimilation of what is central: what the General Chapter is
offering the entire Congregation as the result of its work, reflection and the life
we shared while it was taking place.
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1. A brief review of the different stages of GC27
The seven weeks we have spent as a General Chapter have been marked by
various moments which have given it its own special character and which have
helped our journey to be a more profound one:
We began our Chapter in Turin and its surroundings with a personal and
community Pilgrimage to ‘our birthplace: the Becchi’. With great insight, the
Rector Major, Fr Pascual Chávez, proposed beginning our journey with this
Icon that we so much love: all of us, given that we are Salesians, were born at
the Becchi. It was, then, a return to the place of our birth, not only Don Bosco’s.
Our Salesian heart felt enveloped, there is no doubt, by that historical and
spiritual atmosphere. Places like the Becchi and Colle Don Bosco, Valdocco
(Pinardi Chapel, St Francis de Sales and the Basilica of Mary Help of Chris-
tians), Valsalice, the Consolata and the church of St John the Evangelist were
scenarios which challenged us strongly but in a beautiful climate of meditation,
prayer and fellowship. We began getting to know each other more, and better,
and laying the foundations for what was a very special feature of our GC27:
a strong experience of communion and fraternity along with the diversity and
universality of our Congregation.
Many of us were not coming to this ‘birthplace’ for the first time since we
had already been there, but this occasion was marked by something quite
singular: the hic et nunc of the General Chapter. Other confreres were visiting
‘the Becchi’ and “our holy places” for the first time, as a spiritual and charis-
matic experience to be relived, a space and occasion for remaining more united
and ‘conquered’ by the fascination that Don Bosco awakens in everyone and
especially in us, his sons. Undoubtedly these were days that touched everyone’s
heart profoundly, because the Becchi and Valdocco never leave someone with
a Salesian heart feeling indifferent.
When we arrived in Rome we devoted some days to the presentation and
understanding of the state of the Congregation, with the Rector Major’s
report and presentations by the various Sectors and Regions. The consignment
of the book containing all the items on the state of the Congregation concluded
this well-prepared occasion in which we had a presentation of data, statistics,
evaluation of the six year programme showing goals achieved and indicating
the shortcomings that we recognise. It certainly was a great help in getting
to know this report better so we could be more aware of the reality of our Con-
gregation with its lights and shadows, and with the certainty that we are all the
Congregation and we all give it life and light or limit it by our shortcomings.
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The report really did allow us to focus more precisely on further approaches
to the theme awaiting us as the core of GC27.
I believe it would not be an exaggeration to say that during the days of Retreat,
right from the outset we were surrounded by a very special atmosphere.
On various occasions over the days and weeks that followed, we have shown
the belief that we were experiencing very important moments of Faith, Hope
and the Presence of the Spirit. In this regard, we experienced these Spiritual
Exercises as being focused on interpreting what the Word of God was saying
to us, in attentive silence, many personal and community moments of prayer,
well-prepared celebrations of the Eucharist and a Reconciliation celebration in
which we all felt joyfully involved. And all this - framed by reflections invit-
ing us, on the basis of the Gospel, to authenticity - prepared us for what we then
experienced as we worked on things during the days that followed.
I have the feeling that a spiritual and faith experience was engendered in us,
at a personal and community level, in which we expressed the very best of
ourselves. When one experiences abandonment to God’s love, a Love that is
always healing in itself, the Spirit sees to it that each individual is ready to
give of his best. And I believe this was the vital attitude with which we began
the work of the Chapter properly so-called.
The first three weeks of Chapter work were marked by that involvement in
work which allowed us to make contact with the challenge proposed in the
Rector Major’s letter of convocation: being Witnesses to the radical approach
of the Gospel as Mystics in the Spirit, Prophets of Fraternity and Servants of
the Young. The work in commissions and their first contribution to the
assembly gave us the sense of having many lights and some shadows that
we would not want to let hinder us from being, in reality, what we dreamed of
being, the beautiful choice we made of our religious and consecrated life as
Disciples of the Lord in Don Bosco’s style.
In those first moments I believe I was able to read between the lines a kind of
nostalgia: being able to look at the reality of every community, every Salesian
presence, every Province and the whole Congregation, truly as a living body
filled with authenticity, a body in which we suffer when one or other of us
does not achieve the desired heights or where the attitudes proper to someone
who truly loves the young, looks after their lives, gives Life and gives his
own life, are lacking. We felt a desire to fly higher through truth, authenticity,
and by being radical, and felt that at times we were flying too close to the
ground.
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The Rector Major, Fr Pascual Chávez, invited us to look ahead, with hopeful
realism and courage, when the time comes to propose challenges as a Con-
gregation. Following this, the reflections, dialogue, interventions in the audi-
torium took place for the most part in tune with this climate. Let me add some-
thing else. The fruits of our Chapter cannot consist merely in looking for nov-
elty. The strength of GC27 first of all passes through the personal conversion
and transformation of spirit and mind of all of us who took part; it passes
through our ability to enthuse our confreres and communicate the ‘Good News’
to them of what we have seen and heard, of what we have dreamed and shared,
the fellowship we experienced over these weeks. And all this in the hope of be-
ing able to generate life and arouse the desire to tackle in our Provinces with
true courage this new moment of our Congregation and our life, a new moment
of evangelisation and passion for the young.
Accompanied in a special way in discernment by Fr José Cristo Rey Garcìa
Paredes, we began the week that led us to the election of the new Rector
Major and General Council.
Much of what has already been said about the pilgrimage to the Salesian holy
places and the Retreat, was made concrete that week. Everyone experienced it
with his own sensitivities and very personal resonances, but I would dare to say
that most of us feel that it was a week of searching for the best from the point
of view of faith: a quest made conscientiously, in freedom and truth. I believe
I would not be the only one to say that what was approved as the method
for electing Sector Councillors was a success. It could also be that a further
exploration of this in the next General Chapter could allow us to perfect
the method a little further, even extend this discernment to the election of the
Rector Major, his Vicar and Regional Councillors.
The week was marked therefore, by a profound experience of search, in the
truth that comes from the Spirit, and also of true gratitude for those who
accepted a new responsibility and even more so for the confreres finishing six
years or more of service, beginning with the Rector Major, Fr Pascual Chávez,
his Vicar, Fr Adrian Bregolin and the other members of the General Council.
They gave of their very best over these years, with unlimited dedication to the
good of the Congregation and of the mission. The moving applause, such as at
the Goodnight by the Rector Major, Fr Pascual Chávez, was a clear manifes-
tation of this deep gratitude.
On Monday 31 March we received a much awaited gift. The audience with
Pope Francis certainly fulfilled the expectations of even the most demanding
of us. The Pope fascinated us by his empathy and simplicity, which are so
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much spoken of, but also with his spontaneity and his much applauded deci-
sion to greet personally every member of our Chapter Assembly. Each confrere
was presented by Fr Pascual Chávez and since I was by his side, I was witness
to this very special moment.
Moreover, we took away with us a message from Pope Francis that cannot be
reduced to a simple anecdote amongst us. In fact it will not be that since it
forms part of our Chapter conclusions, of these final words of mine and also
of the planning and decision-making process that will be the responsibility of
the Rector Major with his Council, and the Chapter members in their provinces,
once they have returned.
The Pope underscored many important things for us, some of which I simply
list here, while others will be developed in the following pages:
– “It is necessary to prepare young people to work in society in harmony
with the spirit of the Gospel as workers of justice and peace, and to live
as active members of the Church”.
– “Keep before you Don Bosco and the young; and Don Bosco with his
motto: “Da mihi animas, cetera tolle”. He strengthened this programme
with two other elements: work and temperance”.
– “May the poverty of Don Bosco and of Mamma Margaret inspire every
Salesian and each of your communities to live an austere life based on the
essentials, on closeness to the poor, on transparency and responsibility in
managing temporal goods”.
– “Reaching out to young people who have been marginalised requires
courage, human maturity and much prayer. The best should be sent to do
this work! The best!”
– “Thanks be to God, you do not live or work as isolated individuals but as
a community: and thank God for this!”
– “Apostolic vocations are ordinarily the result of good youth ministry.
Caring for vocations requires specific attention”.
2. Keys for interpreting the reflections of GC27
2.1. Like Don Bosco, caught up in God’s storyline
“Through our religious profession we offer ourselves to God in order to follow
Christ and work with him in building up the Kingdom” (C. 3). We recognise
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in our Chapter document that even though the times we are living in are not the
best ones for being open to transcendence, we do desire, both personally and
as communities, to give primacy to God in our life, encouraged by Salesian
holiness and the thirst for authenticity that young people have. The Pope
invited us to this when at the beginning of his greeting he told us: “When one
thinks of working for the good of souls, one overcomes the temptation to
spiritual worldliness, one does not seek after other things, but only God and his
Kingdom”. This was Don Bosco’s great certainty and passion, that he was
so completely caught up in ‘God’s storyline’ and, abandoning himself to Him,
he pushed on to the point of recklessness.
It is in this transcendent dimension, in ensuring that all of our life is caught
up in God’s storyline and that He has pre-eminence in our lives, that we find
our strength when this becomes reality, and it is also where we discover our
fragility.
We are called to take our heart, mind and all our energies back to the ‘begin-
ning’ and the ‘origins’, to our first love where we experienced the joy of being
looked upon by the Lord Jesus and for which we said yes. We want to experi-
ence the primacy of God in the daily contemplation of ordinary existence, in
following Christ.
As I suggested earlier, it is here that our major conversion has to take place.
Certainly we find many confreres who are exemplary in this respect. However,
when so many Rector Majors (just to refer to the most recent: Fr Viganò, Fr Vec-
chi and Fr Pascual Chávez) have warned us of this fragility, it means that it is
something we have to take more seriously. GC27 invites us to turn this tenden-
cy around. It would be really worrying if someone came to the conclusion that
‘the fragility we see in living the primacy of God in our lives’ was something
that was part of our Salesian DNA. It is not! It was not for Don Bosco who, on
the contrary, lived by being radically caught up in God’s storyline. Therefore,
for us it is nothing more and nothing less than the central point of our conver-
sion, which will lead us to being much more radical for the Kingdom.
2.2. A fraternity that is ‘irresistibly” prophetic
“Our apostolic mission, our fraternal community and the practice of the evan-
gelical counsels are the inseparable elements of our consecration” (C. 3)
On different occasions during the Chapter assembly we have expressed the
conviction that fraternity lived as community is one of the ways of having an
experience of God, of living the mysticism of fraternity in a world in which at
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times human relationships are so damaged. “The humanising power of the
Gospel is witnessed in fraternity lived in community and is created through
welcome, respect, mutual help, understanding, kindness, forgiveness and joy”,
Pope Francis also told us.
And this is another key for interpreting not only the Chapter document but
especially our life and the revision we are making of it and which we want to
continue making. Young people need us to really be their brothers. Brothers
who, with the simplicity and family spirit typical of Don Bosco, live an au-
thentic fraternity which, though not exempt from daily problems, grows and is
purified by faith to the point where it becomes ‘counter-cultural’ and attractive
as the Gospel proposes it to be.
In the prophecy of true fraternity experienced in the simplicity of daily life we
have a great opportunity for renewal and growth.
This will also often mean a change of mentality. Not infrequently, in the four
corners of the world where our Congregation has been established, we run a
certain risk of sacrificing the community, our fellowship, and at times even
our communion, for the sake of work, activity, or simply sheer activism. Hence
our Constitutions, with preventive pedagogy, state that the three elements of
our consecration are inseparable. When one of them is weak or non-existent,
we cannot speak of consecration according to Don Bosco’s charism; it will be
something else, but it will not be Salesian.
2.3. A very Salesian way of being radical: “work and temperance”
“Work and temperance will make the Congregation flourish” (C. 18). We know
these two words so well that Fr Viganò, in his reflections on the Grace of
Unity, defined them as ‘inseparable’. “The two weapons armed with which”,
Don Bosco wrote, “we will succeed in winning over everything and every-
one” (Don Bosco as quoted in AGC, 413, p. 42).
The Pope also referred to these two words as he spoke to us at the audience
while encouraging us with this challenge: “Temperance, then, is a sense of
proportion, being content, being simple. May the poverty of Don Bosco and of
Mamma Margaret inspire every Salesian and each of your communities to live
an austere life based on the essentials, on closeness to the poor, on transparency
and responsibility in managing temporal goods”.
In our Chapter reflection we have made several suggestions on this point. The
teaching that Fr Pascual Chávez left us regarding these two words in his letter
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of convocation of GC27 is very clear, and we can read Fr Vecchi and Fr Viganò
speaking in a similar vein. There is no lack of enlightenment on this. I believe
that the challenge must become part of our lives, and while it is true that in
many parts of the Congregation we have presences which have as their prior-
ity the least, the poor, the excluded, it is equally true that this testimony will
shine out brightly if our way of life is characterised by sobriety, austerity and
also poverty. Undoubtedly dealing with this situation according to the profes-
sion we have made is a matter of personal conscience, but we have to help
each other in the community over these coming six years. We are invited to act
in such a way that the witness of poverty and sobriety becomes more evident
where it may be lacking. Any change, advance, improvement in our various
Provinces in this regard will be a sign of authenticity and will make the radical
Gospel approach we are proposing more concrete.
2.4. Servants of the young, owning nothing and no one...
“Our vocation is graced by a special gift of God: predilection for the young.
‘That you are young is enough to make me love you very much’. This love is
an expression of pastoral charity and gives meaning to our whole life” (C. 14).
With Don Bosco we follow the Lord Jesus who placed a child at the centre
when asked who was the most important in the Kingdom. We Salesians of Don
Bosco, carried in the womb at the Becchi like him and born in Valdocco, have
offered our life to the Father to be Consecrated by Him, so that we can live for
the young. As we have said in the Chapter document, the young are “our burn-
ing bush” (cf. Ex 3:2 ff). In them God speaks to us and He awaits us in them.
They are the reason why we felt able to say yes to the Lord’s call; they are the
reason for our life as Salesians, educators, pastors of the young. How could we
stop halfway? How could we dedicate ourselves to them only for a short time
as if it were a matter of a working day? And even more so, how can we remain
at peace when in our suburb, district, city there are poverty-stricken young
people, suffering from loneliness, family violence, aggression...? We are called
to give them a voice in circumstances where they have none, called to offer
them friendship, help, acceptance, the presence of an adult who likes them,
who only wants them to be happy, ‘here and in eternity’. To be their friends,
brothers, educators and fathers who only want them to play their part and be
masters of their own lives.... Only from this perspective is it possible to be a
servant and never a master, employer, “authority”...
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3. Where to direct our future choices following GC27
As can be easily understood in an address such as this, I am not attempting to
suggest all the options we could take after this Chapter. Everything we expe-
rienced in it, the ample reflections we shared, and the study we made of the
state of the Congregation allow us to glimpse some of the ways forward that
I consider to be essential and of prior concern. Provinces no doubt will deter-
mine some other options appropriate to their specific context and always with-
in the framework of the GC27.
I simply list those that seem to me to be more universal and of priority. Later
the General Council in its subsequent planning, and Provinces with theirs, will
be able to establish an appropriate set of strategies to be followed throughout
the Salesian world.
3.1. Knowledge, study and assimilation of GC27
In some of the early interventions in the assembly hall, as also in commission
meetings, there was a concern that we arrive at a final document not destined
to be consigned to a library, making no impact on renewal. With a view to
overcoming this fear I consider that the first step has to be a commitment on
the part of us all to think of ways and a spiritual approach – rather than simple
strategies – that can encourage a knowledge of what GC27 offers the whole
Congregation. Subsequently, I invite you to find an appropriate manner of ar-
riving at personal and community assimilation including conversion (if the
Spirit grants this to us). Only this assimilation and conversion will generate
new life.
I believe it would be a mistake to think that by encouraging knowledge of
GC27 at a Retreat or a weekend meeting, the objective had been achieved.
This is why I am proposing that we dedicate at least these first three years
to reading it, reflecting on it, meditating on it, and making it the object of
our local and provincial planning, and of the various animation and gov-
ernment plans of the Provinces; evaluating it then at the next Provincial
Chapter (the one known as the Intermediate Provincial Chapter) to see what
results it is producing.
3.2. Depth of interior life: witnesses to the God of life
As I have said on previous pages I believe that speaking in general terms, we
need to recognise that in the Congregation depth of interior life is not our
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strength. I refuse to think, I told you, that this is part of our Salesian DNA,
because Don Bosco was not like that nor did he want us to be. Having recog-
nised this weakness (mentioned quite abundantly by previous Rector Majors,
and also by some General Chapters), with the help of the Holy Spirit we need
to find the strength to reverse this trend. It requires authentic conversion to the
radical approach of the Gospel, which needs to touch hearts and minds. When
Pope John Paul II was talking about Consecrated Life, he asked that we put
spiritual life ‘in the first place’. He was not inviting us to a strange kind of
spiritualism but to a depth in life that at the same time makes us really brothers
and generous in giving ourselves to others, to the mission and especially to the
poorest ones, thus making our choice of life truly attractive.
This depth of life, this authenticity, this radical Gospel approach, this way to
holiness is the “most precious gift we can offer to the young” (C. 25). In fact
we cannot explain Don Bosco’s radical predilection for the young without
Jesus Christ. “In the following of Christ we find the life-giving source of his
vitality. This is the initial gift from the Most High; the first ‘charism’ of Don
Bosco” (Fr E. Viganò, AGC 290, p.16).
This is why I suggest that each Local community ‘tell itself’ in a concrete
way, and as a result of GC27, what it thinks and proposes could be done
about putting ‘God in the first place’, while being a Salesian community
called by the Lord, that not only comes together but lives in his name.
3.3. Taking care of ourselves, our confreres, and our communities
“This is why we come together in communities, where our love for each other
leads us to share all we have in a family spirit, and so create communion
between person and person” (C. 49).
For us Salesians community life, ‘communion of life in common’, is not only
a circumstance, a way of organising ourselves, a way of being more effective
in our activity. For us the authentic fellowship we experience in communion
of persons is essential, constitutive; it is one of the three inseparable elements
which the already quoted article 3 of our Constitutions speaks about.
It is on account of the power of our witness to evangelical fraternity that
I invite everyone to be really aware that we have to take care of ourselves, to
be well and vocationally fit, and that we have to take care of our confreres in
the community with an attitude of “welcome, respect, mutual help, under-
standing, kindness, forgiveness and joy” (cf. the audience with the Pope). In
order to live a spirit of true brotherly love which, in the end, accepts and
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integrates differences and combats loneliness and isolation we have to take
care of our communities in the Provinces.
I have already implied this earlier. We often sacrifice community life, spaces
and occasions for the sake of work. In the end this makes us pay too high a
price and a tremendously painful one.
This is why I ask each Province to undertake a real study and practical effort
to look after and consolidate our communities, ensuring a robust human
quality and also number of confreres, even at the price of there not being a
religious community in some presences, and making progress in giving new
meaning to and ‘reshaping’ Houses and Provinces, as has been asked of us
in recent years and in various Team Visits to the Regions. We certainly have
to overcome great resistance that comes from attachments, from having spent
so many years in a house, from the pressure of the educative community itself,
of the suburb or citizens’ associations, right up to local and regional govern-
ment..., however the foreseeable difficulties should not impair either our clear-
sightedness or our capacity to act in prudent freedom.
3.4. It is enough that you are young for me to love you
In GC26 we read that returning to the young means ‘being in the playground’,
and we know that being in the playground goes well beyond physical space.
It means wanting to be with and among them, meeting up with them in our
daily life, getting to know their world, encouraging them to play their part,
accompanying the awakening of their sense of God and encouraging them to
live their lives as the Lord Jesus lived his.
When we contemplate Don Bosco in what those who have studied him well tell
us about him, and in the fascination he himself awakens, we are struck by the
force of his vocational passion for the young. Fr Ricceri wrote something in
one of his letters that I think is very valuable when he said: “The pastoral
predilection for youngsters and older youth showed up in Don Bosco as a kind
of ‘passion’, or better, as his ‘super vocation’; he had to dedicate himself to it
by-passing every obstacle and leaving behind all things, even good ones that
could in any way hinder its accomplishment” (cf AGC 284, 1976, p. 33).
Predilection for the young became the basic and most fundamental option in
his life, and it is the mission of the Congregation. We can find much already
written and thought through about this aspect of Don Bosco. In our General
Chapters much has also been said about this. The most recent of them, GC26,
dedicated a number of guidelines to “returning to the young”.
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As a Chapter Assembly we did not speak about this ‘returning to the young’,
and because of this I am not sure to what extent it was realised over the last six
years, however it will continue to be something that will always be relevant.
This is why I dare to ask each Province and local community that, as a
response to the plan of animation and government for each Province, where
a confrere has the strength, the educative and evangelising passion, the
authentic vocation to be with and for the young and amongst them, whatever
his age, everything possible be done to free him of other tasks and manage-
ment roles, so that he can do what we should know best what to do accord-
ing to our vocation: be educators and pastors of the young. I invite you to take
the practical steps and translate into decisions of government what we well
know to be the result of our Salesian heritage.
3.5. For us as it was for Don Bosco: our priority is the young who are
poorest, the least, the excluded
Fr Vecchi wrote in one of his letters: “Poor youngsters therefore were and still
are a gift for the Salesians. Returning to them will enable us to recover the
central element of our spirituality and our pedagogical practice: the friendly
rapport which creates correspondence and the desire for growth” (AGC 359,
p. 25). It is clear that no one could interpret Fr Vecchi as defending poverty by
this, but we do recognise that poverty and poor young people exist. If we are
with them and among them they are the first to do us good, evangelise us and
help us to really live the Gospel with the charism of Don Bosco. I dare to say
that it is poor young people who will save us.
Our being Servants of the young means, as we said in our General Chapter,
leaving behind our securities, not only of life but of pastoral activity in order
to move towards ‘an uphill’ ministry which begins from the deepest needs
of the young and especially the poorest of them. “In working with young
people, you encounter the world of excluded youth. And this is dreadful!”
(Pope Francis in his Audience).
This is why I dare to ask that with the “courage, maturity and much prayer”
with which we are sent to the most excluded young people, we choose in
each of our Provinces to take another look at where we must remain, where
we should go and where we can leave... Needy young people challenge us
with their groans and their cries of pain. In their own way they are calling out
to us. This is to be translated into times for reflection in each Province during
these six years so that, in the light of GC27 and of our option to be Servants
of the young.... going out to the peripheries, we arrive at decisions at the level
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of provincial government, always in dialogue with the confreres, so that with
courage, maturity and a profound gaze of faith we can make what I am asking
happen. Let us not be afraid of being prophetic in this.
3.6. Evangelisers of the young, ‘companions on the journey’, boldly
putting challenges before them
Article 6 of our Constitutions contains in essence all the richness of the mis-
sion entrusted to us by our charism: “Faithful to the commitments Don Bosco
has passed on to us, we are evangelisers of the young, and the more so if they
are poor; we pay special attention to apostolic vocations; we are educators of
the faith for the working classes, particularly by means of social communica-
tion; we proclaim the Gospel to those who have not yet received it”. This is and
will continue to be our great challenge because even in our most successful
achievements, we can always do more; it will never be enough and all too
often we see that we are only halfway there.
Don Bosco is our great model in this ‘knowing what to do’ with a Salesian
heart for the education and evangelisation of the young. His boys were con-
vinced that Don Bosco loved them, wanted what was good for them, both in
this life and in eternity. This is why they accepted his proposal to know and be
friends with the Lord. As educators we must know how to be with the young
and walk side by side with them in their circumstances and concrete situation,
in their personal process of growing to maturity. As evangelisers, our aim is to
accompany young people so that in freedom they can encounter the Lord Jesus.
So dear confreres, even in these brief few lines I cannot but emphasise this as
being essential: we are evangelisers of the young, and as a Congregation, as
concrete Provincial and local communities, we must live and grow in a gen-
uine pastoral love for the young. It will be very difficult to do this if we do not
make the proclamation of the Lord Jesus to the young a matter of priority and
urgency and at the same time are not capable of accompanying them in the
circumstances of their lives. This ought to be our strength: accompanying each
young person in his situation but it is often a task we leave to others, or one we
say we do not know how to do. In this accompaniment it is of vital importance
to begin with the culture of vocation that we have spoken so much about. We
have not yet succeeded in it. Often it frightens us, or we excuse ourselves with
the ‘self-justification’ that we do not believe that we should be ‘fishing’ for
vocations. If we really believe this and ‘sell this line’ we are killing something
that is very much ours, very much our charism: the ability to accompany each
teenager, each young person in their personal quest, their challenges, their
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questions about life, their choices in life. Something that is fascinating in our
Salesian vocation we are putting aside or into someone else’s hands... or no
one’s.
Therefore I ask each Province to appoint the most capable confreres to
youth and vocational ministry, with truly evangelising projects, developing
systematic processes of education in the faith, giving priority to individuals
and to their personal accompaniment, proposing bold challenges for the
discernment of their life choices with equally bold proposals for every kind
of vocation in the Church, including the Salesian vocation in its various
forms, involving the whole community.
Hopefully it will not happen as GC23 said it could – one of the most brilliant
insights of our Chapter magisterium on educating young people to the faith –
when it says that in this process that I have just referred to, someone could ar-
rive at the point of dropping out, “not only because of the difficulties linked
with faith, but because of mistakes or inadvertence on the part of educators
more concerned with extraneous things than with a fraternal accompaniment
of the dialogue between the youngster and God” (GC23, 137).
3.7. With lay people in the urgency of a shared mission
In our Chapter reflection we have noted the more pivotal role being played by
lay people, encouraged by shared responsibility and the shared mission in the
educative and pastoral community. Already eighteen years previously, in GC24
– without going back to earlier magisterium – the Rector Major and his Council
were asked to make known initiatives and experiences of collaboration
between SDBs and lay people (GC24, no. 127), and it was recognised in the
same Chapter reflection that “the process of involvement leads to communion
in spirit, to shared responsibility, and then to sharing of the Salesian mission.
Communion and sharing, involvement and shared responsibility, these are the
two faces of the same medal” (GC24, no. 22).
We have made progress in our view of the shared mission. Fr Pascual Chávez
said this several times, as a result of his reflection on the matter, that with the
outlook and theological vision of ecclesiology today, the Salesian mission
cannot be thought of without the laity, for what they bring to it is also vital for
our charism.
Let me add this, dear confreres: The shared mission between SDBs and lay
people is no longer optional – I say this in case there is anyone who still
believes it – and it is because the Salesian mission in the world today so clearly
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demands it. It is true that in the Congregation we have different ‘speeds’ in our
Provinces and in relations between them, however the shared mission between
SDBs and laity, reflection on this mission, the process of conversion by our
SDB confreres in this regard, is something we cannot go back on.
This is why I dare to ask each Province that in the first three years after
GC27 it makes the programme for shared mission between SDBs and lay
people that is in place more concrete still – where this already exists –
or that the situation in the Province be studied and the concrete project
and planning be developed over the years leading up to the next General
Chapter.
3.8. Mission ‘ad Gentes’, Project for Europe and the Bicentenary
I am not going to develop these topics. I just want to point out that they are not
being overlooked. On the contrary, they are three issues that already have their
place in the planning for the next six years. The last two, Project for Europe
and the Bicentenary, are already well developed in their own right, and we
need to continue to keep a watch on them, and the Missionary activity of the
Congregation (‘Missio ad Gentes’) will be given special attention within the
overall coordination of all the Sectors for the mission, including youth ministry,
especially for the poorest, the education of ordinary people, with particular
oversight from social communication, and the proclamation of the Gospel to
peoples who have not yet received it – Missio ad Gentes – (cf. C. 6).
3.9. Thank you – from the heart
I could not conclude these words without making reference to the former
Rector Major and his Council. It is 18 years since the last time a Rector Major
followed on from his predecessor.
With all my heart, I thank you, dear Fr Pascual, 9th Successor of Don Bosco,
who have been our Rector Major for the last twelve years, giving life, com-
mitting your life, being a Father, leading our Congregation surely and certainly,
like a good captain who knows how to navigate despite fog and nightfall each
evening. Thank you for being a Father for all the Salesian Family, the Succes-
sor of Don Bosco for young people all over the world. Thank you for your
rich, solid magisterium, thank you for bringing home the ship of the Congre-
gation in this long twelve year journey. May the Lord bless you and may Don
Bosco reward you for your devoted service in his name.
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I am fully certain that these words of mine as Rector Major are the words of
the entire Chapter Assembly of GC27, of all the confreres in the Congregation,
the entire Salesian Family and all the many young people around the world
who would like to have a voice at this moment.
A lively thank you, full of affection, for your Fr Vicar, and all the members of
the General Council who for six or twelve years have zealously looked after
each of the parts (I mean Sectors of animation or Regions in the world) which
the Congregation entrusted to them. In the name of all the confreres, of the
Salesian Family and of all young people a huge thanks for so much generosity
and dedication.
I conclude by calling on our Mother, our Mother the Help of Christians
whom, in the prayer Fr Pascual prepared for this Chapter document, we invoke
as the Woman who listens, the Mother of the new community and Handmaid
of the poor. May She, through her intercession obtain for us the gift of the
Spirit so that we may have a heart which belongs above all to God, together
with our confreres, for the young and among them.
May Don Bosco guide and accompany us in bringing to life what we have
experienced, thought and dreamed in this GC27. May he give us a heart like
his and make us true seekers of God (Mystics), brothers capable of loving
those whom God gives us along life’s journey (Prophets of fraternity), and true
Servants of the young with the heart of the Good Shepherd.
Rome, 12 April 2014
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LIST OF PARTICIPANTS
AT THE 27th GENERAL CHAPTER
General Council
1 P CHÁVEZ VILLANUEVA Pascual
2 P BREGOLIN Adriano
3 P CEREDA Francesco
4 P ATTARD Fabio
5 P KLEMENT Václav
6 P GONZÁLEZ Plascencia Filiberto
7 L MULLER Jean Paul
8 P BASAÑES Guillermo
9 P CHRZAN Marek
10 P FRISOLI Pier Fausto
11 P KANAGA Maria Arokiam
12 P NÚÑEZ MORENO José Miguel
13 P ORTIZ G. Esteban
14 P VITALI Natale
15 P WONG Andrew
16 P STEMPEL Marian
17 P MARACCANI Francesco
Rector Major, President
Vicar of the Rector Major
Councillor for Formation - Moderator
Councillor for Youth Ministry
Councillor for the Missions
Councillor for Social Communication
Economer General
Regional Councillor
Regional Councillor
Regional Councillor
Regional Councillor
Regional Councillor
Regional Councillor
Regional Councillor
Regional Councillor
Secretary General
Procurator General
Salesian Region: AFRICA - MADAGASCAR
18 P GEBREMESKEL Estifanos
19 P TAKELE Seleshi
20 P NGOY Jean-Claude
21 P MAKOLA MWAWOKA Dieudonné
22 P ROLANDI Giovanni
23 P ASIRA LIPUKU Simon
24 P DUFOUR François
25 L MHARA Marko
Sup. V. Prov. Africa Ethiopia - Eritrea
Delegate Africa Ethiopia - Eritrea
Provincial Africa Central
Delegate Africa Central
Provincial Africa East
Delegate Africa East
Sup. V. Prov. Africa South
Delegate Africa South
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26 P GARCÍA PEÑA Faustino
27 L CORDERO Hernán
Provincial Africa West French-speaking
Delegate Africa West French-speaking
28 P CRISAFULLI Jorge
29 P OCHE Anthony
Provincial Africa West English-speaking
Delegate Africa West English-speaking
30 P SWERTVAGHER Camiel
31 P NGOBOKA Pierre Célestin
Sup.V. Prov. Africa Great Lakes
Delegate Africa Great Lakes
32 P RODRÍGUEZ MARTIN Filiberto Sup.V. Prov. Angola
33 P SEQUEIRA GUTIÉRREZ Victor Luis Delegate Angola
34 P JIMÉNEZ CASTRO Manuel
35 P NGUEMA Miguel Ángel
Sup.V. Prov. Africa Tropical Equatorial
Delegate Africa Tropical Equatorial
36 P CIOLLI Claudio
37 P BIZIMANA Innocent
Sup.V. Prov. Madagascar
Delegate Madagascar
38 P CHAQUISSE Américo
39 P SARMENTO Adolfo de Jesus
Sup. V. Prov. Mozambique
Delegate Mozambique
40 P CHALISSERY George
41 P MBANDAMA Michael Kazembe
Sup. V.Prov. Zambia-Malawi-Namibia-
Zimbabwe
Delegate Zambia-Malawi-Namibia-
Zimbabwe
Salesian Region: AMERICA SOUTH CONE
42 P CAYO Manuel
43 P ROMERO Héctor Gabriel
44 P FERNÁNDEZ ARTIME Ángel
45 L VERA Hugo Carlos
46 P MARÇAL Márcio
47 P SHINOHARA Lauro
48 P FIGUEIRÓ Tiago
49 P ALVES DE LIMA Francisco
50 P RIBEIRO Antônio de Assis
51 P FISTAROL Orestes
52 P DA SILVA Gilson Marcos
53 P VANZETTA Diego
54 P RODRIGUES João Carlos
Provincial Argentina North
Delegate Argentina North
Provincial Argentina South
Delegate Argentina South
Delegate Brazil Belo Horizonte
Provincial Brazil Campo Grande
Delegate Brazil Campo Grande
Provincial Brazil Manaus
Delegate Brazil Manaus
Provincial Brazil Porto Alegre
Delegate Brazil Porto Alegre
Provincial Brazil Recife
Delegato Brazil Recife
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55 P CASTILHO Edson
56 P SIBIONI Roque Luiz
57 P LORENZELLI Alberto Riccardo
58 P ALBORNOZ David
59 P LEDESMA Néstor
60 P ZÁRATE LÓPEZ Nilo Damián
61 P CASTELL Néstor
62 P COSTA Daniel
Provincial Brazil São Paulo
Delegate Brazil São Paulo
Provincial Chile
Delegate Chile
Provincial Paraguay
Delegate Paraguay
Provincial Uruguay
Delegate Uruguay
Salesian Region: EAST ASIA - OCEANIA
63 P CHAMBERS Greg
64 P GRAHAM Bernard
Provincial Australia
Delegate Australia
65 P FEDRIGOTTI Lanfranco
66 P FUNG Ting Wa Andrew
Provincial China
Delegate China
67 P CRUZ Eligio
68 P GARCES Alexander
Provincial Philippines North
Delegate Philippines North
69 P MILITANTE George
70 P GERONIMO Honesto Jr.
Provincial Philippines South
Delegate Philippines South
71 P CIPRIANI Aldo
72 P YAMANOUCHI Mario Michiaki
Provincial Japan
Delegate Japan
73 P GUTERRES João Paulino
74 P SOERJONOTO Yohannes Boedi
Sup. V. Prov. Indonesia - East Timor
Delegate Indonesia - East Timor
75 P NAM Stephanus (Sanghun)
76 P YANG Stefano
Provincial Korea
Delegate Korea
77 P VALLENCE Maurice
78 P SOE NAING Mariano
Sup. V. Prov. Myanmar
Delegate Myanmar
79 P PRASERT SOMNGAM Paul
Provincial Thailand
80 P SUPHOT RIUNGAM Dominic Savio Delegate Thailand
81 P TRAN Hoa Hung Giuseppe
82 P NGUYEN Thinh Phuoc Giuseppe
83 P NGUYEN Ngoc Vinh Giuseppe
Provincial Vietnam
Delegate Vietnam
Delegate Vietnam
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Salesian Region: SOUTH ASIA
84 P D’SOUZA Godfrey
85 P FERNANDES Ajoy
86 P ELLICHERAIL Thomas
87 P PUYKUNNEL Shaji Joseph
88 P GURIA Nestor
89 P CHITTILAPPILLY Varghese
90 P VATTATHARA Thomas
91 P ALMEIDA Joseph
92 P RAMINEDI Balaraju
93 P THATHIREDDY Vijaya Bhaskar
94 P ANCHUKANDAM Thomas
95 P KOONAN Thomas
96 P VETTOM Jose
97 P RAPHAEL Jayapalan
98 P SWAMIKANNU Stanislaus
99 P ANTONYRAJ Chinnappan
100 P PEEDIKAYIL Michael
101 P PARAPPULLY Jose
102 P FIGUEIREDO Ian
103 P RODRIGUES Avil
104 P MALIEKAL George
105 P LENDAKADAVIL Anthony
106 P JOHNSON Albert
107 P JOSEPH Antony
108 P KAHANAWITALIYANAGE Nihal
109 P SAJEEWAKA Paul
Provincial India Bombay
Delegate India Bombay
Provincial India Calcutta
Delegate India Calcuttta
Provincial India Dimapur
Delegate India Dimapur
Provincial India Guwahati
Delegate India Guwahati
Provincial India Hyderabad
Delegate India Hyderabad
Provincial India Bangalore
Delegate India Bangalore
Delegate India Bangalore
Provincial India Madras
Delegate India Madras
Delegate India Madras
Provincial India New Delhi
Delegate India New Delhi
Provincial India Panjim
Delegate India Panjim
Provincial India Silchar
Delegate India Silchar
Provincial India Tiruchy
Delegate India Tiruchy
Sup. V. Prov. Sri Lanka
Delegate Sri Lanka
Salesian Region: NORTH EUROPE
110 P OSANGER Rudolfo
111 P KETTNER Siegfried
112 P TIPS Mark
Provincial Austria
Delegate Austria
Provincial Belgium North
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113 P WAMBEKE Wilfried
114 P VACULÍK Petr
115 P CVRKAL Petr
116 P ORKIÃ Pejo
117 P STOJIÃ Anto
118 P COYLE Martin
119 P GARDNER James Robert
120 P GRÜNNER Josef
121 P GESING Reinhard
122 P VON HATZFELD Hatto
123 P CASEY Michael
124 P FINNEGAN John Christopher
125 P WUJEK Andrzej
126 P KUÙAK Wojciech
127 P YASHEUSKI Aliaksandr
128 P CHMIELEWSKI Marek
129 P KABAK Vladimir
130 P KLAWIKOWSKI Zenon
131 P LEJA Alfred
132 P LOREK Piotr
133 P BARTOCHA Dariusz
134 P KIJOWSKI Tomasz
135 P MANÍK Karol
136 P IÞOLD Jozef
137 P POTOÈNIK Janez
138 P MARŠIÈ Franc
139 P PISTELLATO Onorino
140 P VITÁLIS Gábor
141 P DEPAULA Flavio
Salesian Region: WEST EUROPE
142 P FEDERSPIEL Daniel
143 P ROBIN Olivier
Delegate Belgium North
Provincial Czech Republic
Delegate Czech Republic
Provincial Croatia
Delegate Croatia
Provincial Great Britain
Delegate Great Britain
Provincial Germany
Delegate Germany
Delegate Germany
Provincial Ireland
Delegate Ireland
Provincial Poland Warsaw
Delegate Poland Warsaw
Delegate Poland Warsaw
Provincial Poland Piùa
Delegate Poland Piùa
Delegate Poland Piùa
Provincial Poland Wrocùaw
Delegate Poland Wrocùaw
Provincial Poland Kraków
Delegate Poland Kraków
Provincial Slovakia
Delegate Slovakia
Provincial Slovenia
Delegate Slovenia
Sup. Circ. Ukraine
Substitute Hungary
Delegate Hungary
Provincial France - Belgium South
Delegate France - Belgium South
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144 P PEREIRA Artur
145 P MORAIS Tarcízio
146 P ASURMENDI Angel
147 P CODINA Joan
148 P URRA MENDÍA Félix
149 P VILLOTA José Luis
150 P RODRÍGUEZ PACHECO José
151 P BLANCO ALONSO José Maria
152 P ONRUBIA Luis
153 P VALIENTE Javier
154 P GARCÍA SÁNCHEZ Fernando
155 P RUIZ MILLÁN Francisco
156 P PÉREZ Juan Carlos
157 P SANCHO GRAU Juan Bosco
158 P SOLER Rosendo
Provincial Portugal
Delegate Portugal
Provincial Spain Barcelona
Delegate Spain Barcelona
Provincial Spain Bilbao
Delegate Spain Bilbao
Provincial Spain León
Delegate Spain León
Provincial Spain Madrid
Delegate Spain Madrid
Delegate Spain Madrid
Provincial Spain Seville
Delegate Spain Seville
Provincial Spain Valencia
Delegate Spain Valencia
Salesian Region: INTERAMERICA
159 P PICHARDO Victor
160 P SANTIAGO Hiram
Provincial Antilles
Delegate Antilles
161 P LÓPEZ ROMERO Cristóbal
Provincial Bolivia
162 P APARICIO BARRENECHEA Juan F. Delegate Bolivia
163 P HERNÁNDEZ Alejandro
164 P SANTOS René
Provincial Central America
Delegate Central America
165 P MORALES Jaime
166 P GRAJALES Wilfredo
Provincial Colombia Bogotà
Delegate Colombia Bogotà
167 P GÓMEZ RUA John Jairo
168 P BEJARANO Rafael
Provincial Colombia Medellín
Delegate Colombia Medellín
169 P FARFÁN Marcelo
Provincial Ecuador
170 P GARCÍA ITURRALDE Robert GermánDelegate Ecuador
171 P SYLVAIN Ducange
172 P MÉSIDOR Jean-Paul
Sup. V. Prov. Haiti
Delegate Haiti
173 P MURGUÍA VILLALOBOS Salvador Provincial Mexico Guadalajara
174 P OROZCO Hugo
Delegate Mexico Guadalajara
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175 P HERNÁNDEZ PALETA Gabino
176 P OCAMPO URIBE Ignacio
177 P DAL BEN Santo
178 P PACHAS José Antonio
179 P DUNNE Thomas
180 P PACE Michael
181 P PLOCH Timothy
182 L VU Alphonse
183 P STEFANI Luciano
184 P MÉNDEZ Francisco
Provincial Mexico México
Delegate Mexico México
Provincial Perù
Delegate Perù
Provincial United States East
Delegate United States East
Provincial United States West
Delegate United States West
Provincial Venezuela
Delegate Venezuela
Salesian Region: ITALY - MIDDLE EAST
185 P MANCINI Leonardo
186 P BERTO Gino
187 P COLAMEO Roberto
188 P MARCOCCIO Francesco
189 P MARTOGLIO Stefano
190 P BESSO Cristian
191 P STASI Enrico
192 L MANZO Piercarlo
193 P CACIOLI Claudio
194 P CUCCHI Daniele
195 P VANOLI Stefano
196 P CRISTIANI Pasquale
197 P BELLINO Fabio
198 P DAL MOLIN Roberto
199 P BIFFI Igino
200 L PETTENON Giampietro
201 P RUTA Giuseppe
202 P MAZZEO Marcello
203 P EL RA’I Munir
204 P CAPUTA Giovanni
Sup. Circ.
Delegate
Delegate
Delegato
Italy Central
Italy Central
Italy Central
Italy Central
Sup. Circ.
Delegate
Delegate
Delegate
Italy Piedmont - Val d’Aosta
Italy Piedmont - Val d’Aosta
Italy Piedmont - Val d’Aosta
Italy Piedmont - Val d’Aosta
Provincial Italy Lombardy Emilia
Delegate Italy Lombardy Emilia
Delegate Italy Lombardy Emilia
Provincial Italy South
Delegate Italy South
Provincial Italy North East
Delegate Italy North East
Delegate Italy North East
Provincial Italy Sicily
Delegate Italy Sicily
Provincial Middle East
Delegate Middle East
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Salesian Pontifical University
205 P D’SOUZA Joaquim
206 P NANNI Carlo
Sup. V. Prov. UPS
Delegate UPS
Generalate and the Vatican Community
207 P LÓPEZ Horacio Adrián
Delegate RMG
Invited Observers
208 L KURIAS Cyriac
209 L CALLO Raymond
210 L BEHÚN Rastislav
211 L PIÑUELA Matías
212 P BAQUERO Peter
213 P POOBALARAYEN Ferrington
214 P KARIKUNNEL Michael
215 P OBERMÜLLER Petrus
216 P DERETTI Asídio
217 P DOS SANTOS Gildásio
218 P BICOMONG Paul
219 P GOMES Nirmol
220 P CAUCAMÁN Honorio
Invited
Invited
Invited
Invited
Invited
Invited
Invited
Invited
Invited
Invited
Invited
Invited
Invited
India New Delhi
Philippines North
Slovakia
Spain León
Philippines North
Africa East
Africa West English-speaking
Austria
Brazil Porto Alegre
Brazil Campo Grande
Philippines North
India Calcutta
Argentina South
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ANALYTICAL INDEX
TO THE CHAPTER DOCUMENT
Accompaniment of the young
– Accompaniment in their maturing process 1, 73.5
– Spiritual Accompaniment 17, 18, 27, 38, 59, 75.1
– Vocational Accompaniment 74.2, 75.1
Authenticity
– Authenticity, sought by the young 1, 17, 40
– Authenticity, as witnessed in Salesian life 1, 8, 55, 59, 63.2, 67.1
Care for confreres
– Care for confreres in difficult situations 9, 11, 47, 69.4
Collaboration and collaborators
– Salesians open to collaboration 19, 29, 55, 57, 71.3
– Collaborators of the Salesians 16, 69.2, 70.2, 75.4
Communication in relationships
– Interpersonal communication 25, 40, 69.1
Communion
– Communion in community 3, 36, 41, 45, 46, 51, 68.1, 71.1
Community
– Consistency 60, 69.6
– Community in relation to God 1, 5, 33, 39, 40
– Community and fraternal life 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 31, 36, 40, 42, 45, 47, 48, 49, 50, 63.2, 67.5,
69.3, 69.6
– Community and the mission 11, 21, 40, 43, 44, 60, 63.2, 69.5, 74.1
– International communities 29, 75.5
Consecrated life
– God, at the heart of consecrated life 5, 31, 32, 41, 67.1
– Fraternity and consecrated life 40, 69.7
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– Identity of consecrated life 3, 10, 31, 69.7
– Vocations to consecrated life 35, 75.1
Conversion
– Spiritual, fraternal and pastoral conversion 63, 65.1, 73.1
Co-responsibility
– Co-responsibility in the Salesian community 48, 51, 69.3, 71.1
– Co-responsibility with the EPC and the Salesian Family 13, 15, 19, 44, 46, 51, 70.2, 71.1
Dialogue
– Openness to dialogue 35, 37, 61, 69.1
Digital environment
– The challenge of the digital world 25, 42, 62, 75.4
Director/Rector
– A need felt for his spiritual fatherliness 12, 14, 51
– Helping the Director/Rector 69.3, 69.10, 69.11
Distance from the young
– Distance from the young 24, 72.1
Don Bosco
– Following Don Bosco 3, 4, 31, 32, 33, 41, 48, 55
Ecology
– Educating communities and the young to respect the environment 30, 73.6
Education of the young
– Our consecrated life ought to stand out in the work of education 3, 18, 38, 44, 53
– New fields for the education of the young 25, 30, 62, 73.5, 73.6, 75.4
Educative pastoral community
– Proactive role of the Salesians regarding the EPC 13, 14, 15, 44, 46, 60, 65.2
Eucharist
– The Eucharist, source and support of consecrated life 3, 41, 65.1
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Evangelisation of the young
– The challenge of evangelising the young 2, 17, 18, 27, 37, 47, 54, 58
– New fields for the evangelisation of the young 25, 62, 73.5
Faith
– Living by faith 3, 31, 34, 66.2
– Fostering development in the faith 38, 54, 59
Family ministry
– Looking after families 3, 20, 46, 71.5, 71.7
Family spirit
– Genuine communities with the family spirit 3, 12, 15, 48, 63.2
Fidelity
– God is faithful 31
– Our fidelity 3, 4, 26, 28, 40
Following Jesus
– Following Jesus in consecrated life 33, 36, 63.1, 66.1
Formation of Salesians
– Initial formation 21, 49, 71.4
– Ongoing formation 7, 8, 36, 42, 49, 64.2, 67.8
– Affective, interpersonal and spiritual formation 12, 49, 50, 69.8
– Pastoral formation 21, 50, 61, 71.4, 71.5, 75.4
– Formation of Directors/Rectors 51, 69.10
Fraternal correction
– Acceptance of fraternal correction 48, 68.2
Fraternity
– Means for building fraternity 3, 10, 29, 31, 41, 47, 51, 68.2, 69.7
– Fraternity with collaborators 44, 69.2
– The witness of fraternity 39, 40, 63, 68, 68.2
God
– Seeking God 2, 33, 40, 41, 52, 64.1
– Meeting God 1, 2, 17, 18, 34, 38, 53, 59, 66.2
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– Experience of God 2, 33, 40, 41, 52, 64.1
– Primacy of God 1, 2, 3, 7, 28, 32, 38, 63.1
– Union with God 33, 53, 54
– God the Father 33, 39
– God the Spirit 41, 64, 66
Grace of unity
– Meeting God in the young 1, 53, 64.1, 64.2
– The spiritual and the human 6, 27, 32, 33, 67.5
– Evangelisation and education 17, 18, 25, 38, 58
– Consecration, fraternity and mission 36, 40, 41, 63
Individualism
– Excessive preoccupation for one’s own work 13, 42, 70.1
Jesus Christ
– Love for Jesus 32, 41, 64.1, 66.1, 72.1
– The call of Jesus 24, 32, 33, 39, 66.1
– Meeting with Jesus 1, 18, 31, 34, 38, 60, 64.1
Joy
– The joy that comes from our faith 31, 66.2
– The joy that comes from our vocation and mission 4, 17, 32, 39, 59, 67.1
Laity
– Sensitivity to values 1
– Formation of lay people 15, 16, 20, 67.8, 71.5, 71.7, 73.2
– Co-responsibility of lay people 15, 19, 44, 46, 69.1, 70.2, 71.5
– Contribution of lay people 15, 16, 71.5 75.1
Lectio divina
– Beneficial contact with the Word of God 5, 8, 67.4
Listening
– Listening to God in the young and poor 22, 35, 52, 59, 64.2
– Listening to Don Bosco 31
– Listening to collaborators and dependants 69.2
Management of property and works
– Excessive attention to management issues 14, 16, 27
– Transparency and a professional approach in management 75.6
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Mary
– Mary helps us to rediscover the joy of faith 31
Materialism
– Seeking an easy life 9, 16, 45, 74.1
Meditation
– Daily practice 65.2
Ministry
– Difficulties in ministry 21, 56, 70.1
– Dynamic/proactive ministry 71.6, 72.2, 74.2
Mission and the missionary spirit
– Experience of God and the Salesian mission 2, 3, 41, 53
– Fraternity and the Salesian mission 11, 39, 40, 69.4, 69.7, 70.1
– Consecrated life and the Salesian mission 9, 10, 28, 36
– Co-responsibility in the Salesian mission 13, 19, 70.2, 71.7
– Missionary spirit 2, 17, 35, 43, 74.1, 75.5
Mysticism
– At the basis of the whole relationship with God 33, 40, 64, 66
Openness to culture
– Openness to aspects of culture in the world 2, 5, 35, 37, 43, 62, 71.4
Outreach
– Going out to those in need 7, 35, 43, 44, 72.2
Passion
– Passion for Jesus Christ 66.1, 72.1
– Passion for Don Bosco 4
Planning
– Pastoral and Salesian planning 56, 71.4, 71.6
– Personal plan of life 5, 67.1
– Community plan 13, 67.1, 70.1, 71.1
– Provincial plan 70.1, 71.5
– Salesian educative pastoral plan (SEPP) 13, 51, 71.1, 71.5
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Prayer
– Prayer, a real apostolate 11
– Personal prayer 28, 65.2, 67.5
– Community prayer 3, 8, 28, 65.2 67.5
– Manual of Prayer to be updated 67.7
Presence among the young
– Being with the young 16, 24, 59, 62, 72.1
Preventive System
– A renewed understanding and practice is necessary 3, 16, 26, 47, 54, 58, 59, 73.3
– Preventive System, a spirituality 54, 58, 59
Protagonism of the young
– Youth at the helm 17, 70.2, 73.5
Protection of minors
– Respect for the dignity of minors 23, 73.4
– Accompaniment of those involved in cases of abuse 69.9
Radical approach of the Gospel
– Witness to the radical approach of the Gospel 4, 36, 55, 63, 75.7
Reconciliation
– Reconciliation in order to be prophets of fraternity 40, 48, 68.2
– Sacrament of Reconciliation 49, 65.1
Reflection
– Reflection on ministry 13, 54, 67.5, 71.7
– Reflection on vocation and Salesian life 8, 69.7
Relationships
– Superficial relationships to be overcome 10, 42, 62, 68.1
– Fraternal relationships 1, 3, 12, 15, 25, 40, 45, 47, 68.1, 69.2
– Formation fosters interpersonal relationships 12, 49, 50, 69
Restructuring
– Reshaping communities 26, 69.6
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Rights
– The promotion and defence of human rights and those of minors 22, 71.2, 73.3
Salesian Brother
– Care for the vocation of the Salesian Brother 10, 69.7
Salesian Culture
– Promotion of Salesian culture 67.3, 67.6, 71.1
Salesian Family
– Working with other groups of the Salesian Family 19, 44, 69.1, 71.2
Salesian Youth Movement
– Young people maturing through the SYM 17
Servants of the young
– Serving God in the young 53
– At the service of poor young people 3, 63.3
– Prayer and sacrifice in the service of the young 11
– Formation, preparation for the service of the young 61
– Service with others 57
Sharing
– Spiritual sharing 5, 8, 54, 65.2, 67.4
– Sharing the mission 13, 46
– Sharing with lay people and the young 15, 46, 65.2, 74.1
Spiritual Guide
– Need for a stable spiritual guide 7, 67.2
Spiritual life
– Work and the spiritual life 6, 58
– Accompanying the spiritual life of the young 27
Spirituality
– Spirituality of everyday life 3
– Missionary spirituality 35, 45, 64.1
– Salesian spirituality 19, 58, 59, 67.3
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Temperance
– A modest and essential lifestyle 30
Understanding
– Mutual understanding 41, 48
Valdocco
– Fraternal life as at Valdocco 48, 68
Vocation
– Salesian vocation 3, 10, 31, 32, 36, 38, 69.7
– Care of vocations 15, 17, 27, 40, 74.2, 75.1
Voluntary service
– Appreciating voluntary service 17, 73.2
Witness
– Witnesses to God 1, 3, 4, 5, 28, 32, 33, 37, 38, 39
– Witnesses to unity 40
– Witnesses to the radical approach of the Gospel 59, 63, 66.1
Word of God
– Contact with the Word of God 5, 34, 52, 64.2, 65.2, 65.3, 67.4
Work
– Work of little significance 27, 28, 38, 42
– Fruitful work 8, 50, 58, 63.2, 67.5
– Working together 8, 13, 19, 71.2, 71.3
Work and temperance
– Living according to work and temperance 50, 60, 75.2
World
– Consecrated life witnessing to the world 5, 29, 40, 66.1, 66.2
Youth Ministry
– Youth Ministry, a gift to the Church and the world 20, 57
– Renewal of Youth Ministry 71.4, 71.6, 73.2
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Youth Peripheries
– Service for poor young people 3, 5, 6, 17, 22, 26, 31, 32, 35, 36, 63.3, 74.1, 75.3
– New frontiers and “peripheries” 22, 26, 35, 43, 44, 55, 63.3, 69.5, 72.2, 73.1, 73.2, 73.3
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