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Newsletter for Salesian Missionary Animation
Are You «Mobile» Like St. Callixtus Caravario?
Dear Salesian missionaries and
friends of the Salesian Missions!
Human mobility is a sign of our times.
A lot of people move for political,
social or economic reasons. At the
beginning of January 2011 I vis-
ited Courgnè, near Turin, the
birthplace of our saintly mis-
sionary Fr. Callixtus Caravario.
His letters to his mother are at
your fingertips (www.sdb.org,
ed. LAS Rome, 2000). It is a
strikingly short life, just 27
years. He lived a mobile life for a
different reason. Callixtus was al-
ways available for the mission as a
young man. He traveled thousands of kilo-
metres [Piedmont - Shanghai - Hong Kong -
Guangzhou - Dili in East Timor - Shiu Chow
(the Vicariate entrusted to the Salesians).
He had to learn many different languages
(English, Cantonese, Shanghainese, Portu-
guese) in a few months, all for the mission!
But not a word of complaint about the
difficult challenges could be found in
his letters! I invite you to pray to
our saintly Martyred Missionaries
Bishop Luigi Versiglia and Fr. Cal-
lixtus Caravario that Salesians
may maintain the same "mobility"
for the missions. In practical
terms: to date we have only nine
confirmed candidates for the 142nd
missionary expedition (September
25, 2011). Our willingness to be mo-
bile depends on our rootedness in Jesus
Christ!
Fr. Václav Klement, SDB
Councilor for the Missions
«Da Mihi Animas» Until the Shedding of Blood
Pope Benedict XVI recently pointed out that «our world continues to be marked by
violence, especially against the disciples of Christ» (December 26, 2010). In fact 1
bishop, 15 priests, 1 religious (lay brother Luis Enrique Pineda SDB), 1 sister, 2 seminari-
ans and 3 lay pastoral workers were killed in 2010. These brothers and sisters offered their lives,
almost always in the silence and humility of daily work, «in order to bear witness to their faith, in the
conviction that every human being needs Jesus Christ, who has conquered sin and death and reconciled
humankind to God» (Redemptoris Missio, 11). March 24, the anniversary of the death of Archbishop
Oscar Romero, is a Day of Prayer and Fasting for Missionaries and Pastoral Workers who were killed in
2010. Let us remember them by proposing concrete actions which foster awareness among young people
and the community.
In 1983 on the occasion of the beatification of the Salesian protomartyrs Fr. Viganò wrote a letter where
he underlined that every asceticism has its own particular style of oblation and self-donation in the
bloodless sharing in the passion of Christ. In the spirit of Don Bosco this particular style is countersigned
in the light of our da mihi animas lived every inch of the way to its extreme consequences: martyrdom of
love and sacrifice for the good of others.
Fr. Viganò pointed out that «it is this same "apostolic charity for the good of others" that characterised
the sufferings and shedding of blood of our two martyrs: they were killed because they were active Chris-
tian apostles and particularly because they were defending the human dignity and virtue of three young
Chinese girls. It was from this characteristic Salesian spirit that Bishop Versiglia and Father Caravario de-
rived their supreme capacity for suffering and the shedding of blood. Indeed we know that Bishop Ver-
siglia had foreseen the fulfillment of his Salesian missionary vocation according to Don Bosco's prophetic
dream, when he said to Fr. Sante Garelli, “You are bringing me the chalice seen by our Founder; it is I
who must fill it with blood”!» (Matryrdom and Suffering in the Apostolic Spirit of Don Bosco, ACS 308).
