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Newsletter for Salesian Missionary Animation
A Publication of the Mission Department for the Salesian Communities and Friends of the Salesian Mission
D ear brothers and friends of
the Salesian missions,
Today we remember the first mission-
ary expedition of Don Bosco on No-
vember 11, 1875 which deeply
marked not only the course of the
Salesian history, but also the very
physiognomy of the Salesian charism.
Don Bosco himself had sent 11 mis-
sionary expeditions. In 1888, 20% of
the Salesians were in the missions
of America! What impact the 11,000 missionaries sent
from 1875 to 2013 had on our charism, spirituality and
mission Salesian!
What was the impact on the Salesian holiness!
Even Papa Francesco recognises the first missionaries in
Patagonia as models of Christian life fruitful (La Civiltà
Cattolica, September 20, 2013). Among the saints,
blessed, venerable servants of God of the Salesian Family
are 25 or missionaries or fruits of the first evangelisation
of the missionaries! Indeed, the DNA of our Congregation
is certainly missionary!
Fr. Václav Klement, SDB
Councillor for the Missions
Why send us missionaries?
We are not a poor country!
It is not rare to hear Salesians from technologi-
cally developed countries asking “Why send us
missionaries? We are not a poor country!” Simi-
larly, some missionaries from countries once con-
sidered ‘mission land’ also wonder the sense of
being sent to a materially well-off or technologi-
cally developed countries. To many Salesians here
lies the non verbalised ‘problem’ regarding the
last General Chapter’s directive to relaunch the
charism in Europe by making the necessary inter-
ventions to renew the Salesian presence in the
continent (GC 26, 108, 111) now known as
‘Project Europe.’
Actually the problem is deeper than mere socio-
geography! It is rooted in the selective compre-
hension of ‘mission’ expressed in Ad Gentes no. 6
understood solely as unidirectional movement
from ‘Christian’ countries to ‘pagan’ lands and of
Evangelii Nuntiandi no. 31 where human promo-
tion and development are seen as the most impor-
tant components of mission. It seems that the un-
derstanding of mission of many has fossilised here.
Yet, already way back in 1991, John Paul II had
insisted in Redemptoris Missio nn. 33-34 that mis-
sion cannot be seen anymore solely in unidirec-
tional geographic terms but primarily as the proclamation of Jesus Christ in interpenetrating contexts
where there is a need of either missio ad gentes, ordinary pastoral activity or new evangelisation. Thus, he
called for interdependence and mutual assistance between churches in what was traditionally called ‘Christian
countries’ and ‘mission countries.’ It is in this light that Pope Benedict XVI invited the Church in Africa “to
contribute to the new evangelisation in secularised countries” which “are today sadly lacking in vocations.”
This, he underlined, is not a weakening of missionary impulse ad gentes but “a concrete sign” of its
“fruitfulness”! (Africae Munus no. 167). With this renewed vision of mission
Pope Francis continually invites Catholics to go “to the fringes of society” to
proclaim the Gospel.
Thus, the Rector Major’s insistence that Project Europe is a
“Congregational Project” which involves “all Regions and Provinces” (GC 26,
p.147) primarily demands from all Salesians a conversion of mind and
heart to appropriate this epochal change in the understanding of ‘mission.’
Only then will there be a multidirectional exchange of Salesian missionaries
animated by mutual trust and openness which, in the final analysis, will en-
rich all Provinces and renew the whole Congregation!
Fr. Alfred Maravilla
Mission Department
