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Newsletter for Salesian Missionary Animation
AN APPEAL FOR NEW MISSIONARIES
Dear Confreres,
My cordial greetings from Czestochowa, one
of the most popular Marian shrines in the
world, during several days of missionary ani-
mation in the Provinces of Poland. I came here to en-
trust to Mary all the processes outlined in this letter -
appeal to missionary generosity .
Almost three years ago, the 26th GC asked each Prov-
ince to “foster the missionary spirit, generously place at
the Rector Major's disposal Salesian personnel for mis-
sio ad gentes, and encourage missionary vocations
among lay people and families” (n.49) . Thank you to all
the 43 Provinces who have responded so far to this call
of the General Chapter. Vietnam was the most generous
with 29 missionaries in the last three years, and we note
that in 2010 for the first time the young region of Africa
- Madagascar has sent more confreres than it received.
I have asked myself many times: What happens when
a particular Church or a Province stops sending more
missionaries for the needs of the universal Church?
Surely there are some serious consequences: the
Church stops growing, looking only inward to its needs
leads to a lost of its catholicity, it does not continue on
the path of the mission and, in the process, jeopardises
the growth of its own faith. Closing oneself to the needs
of the universal Church, it also loses the courage to face
its own challenges.
In fact, we already find in the Acts of the Apostles
(Acts 20:35) Jesus’ saying that “it is more blessed to give
than to receive”. In Latin America they have discovered
that “giving from our poverty” bears much fruit even in
the evangelization of the local context. Asia and Africa
are convinced that the faith they have received re-
cently, thanks to the missionaries who came from afar,
is a gift to be shared. The attitude of some European
Provinces is very significant, despite a sharp drop in vo-
cations and the aging of the confreres they generously
allow their very few young confreres to go to the mis-
sions. This is the sense of the Church (Const. 13), be-
sides the thought of four billion non-Christians, do not
leave us in peace!
Celebrating the centenary of the Blessed Michael
Rua, we want to learn from him what it means to be
loyal to Don Bosco. During the 22 years of his ministry
as Rector Major he had sent as many as 31 missionary
expeditions with 1465 missionary confreres to many
incipient missions in America, Africa and Asia. In every
January issue of the Salesian Bulletin Fr. Rua shared
with the Cooperators new developments in our mission
and asked their help in the realisation of the daring
plans for the year that was about to begin. Trying to
imitate the ways of Fr. Rua I present to you this year
the fruits of missionary expedition No. 141 and urgent
needs of the Salesian missions today, updated by the
Rector Major in July 2010.
Every 11th of the month we pray for missionaries
and for new missionary vocations , I hope the newslet-
ter missionary animation “Cagliero11” reaches all your
communities. In order to help the confreres to discern
this missionary vocation within the Salesian vocation
here are the steps of the journey of the candidates to
be missionaries ad gentes:
1. Without an updated mission information and training
during their initial formation, we cannot expect for the
new missionary vocations.
2. The whole journey begins with an application addressed
to the Rector Major, obviously based on the initial dis-
cernment of the confrere. Each candidate makes himself
available to the disposition of the Congregation, although
he may express its preference or predisposition to a spe-
cific concrete mission territory.
3. First of all, it is important to have a good discernment of
the missionary vocation. After the application made to
the Rector Major, the Superior of the candidate is asked
to help in the discernment process according to set crite-
ria. Discernment is the key to a good collaboration among
the three levels - local, Province and Department of Mis-
sions. Above all, the opinion of the Provincial and his
council in consultation with the formators is very impor-
tant.
4. After a positive outcome of discernment, the Rector Ma-
jor assigns the candidate to his future mission. A good
