One hundred years have elapsed since the arrival of the first Salesians, and we cannot but be amazed at the enormous expansion of Don Bosco’s charism, the flowering of vocations, the development of the Salesian Family to the point where we can say today that the Congregation has an Indian face. Looking at this Indian face of the Congregation, let me tell you my dreams for Salesian India:

I dream of a Salesian India which offers the Congregation the richness of Don Bosco's charism faithfully inculturated, with a strong identity, marked by the passion of the da mihi animas which is a passion for God and a passion for the young.

I dream of a Salesian India which collaborates in the transformation of the nation starting, like Don Bosco, from the poorest of young people, and re-enacting the spiritual and apostolic experience of Valdocco through the loving-kindness of the Preventive System.

I dream of a Salesian India which is decisively missionary, within the country and in the mission ad gentes, in the same way that other countries have done in the past when they experienced strong vocational growth.

• I dream of a Salesian India with educational and pastoral presences of quality, with communities of the right quality and number who, while being a pledge of hope for the poorest of young people and those in a situation of risk, will at the same time become a stimulus for unity and integration in the midst of its diversity of regions and peoples.

• I dream of a Salesian India with a spread of works answering the multiple needs of those to whom our mission is directed, works which show, as much as they can, all the dimensions of Salesian vocation and mission, and will be at the service of evangelisation, with a capacity for fostering inter-religious dialogue, having the Madonna as their Mother and Teacher.

My concluding address is built on my dream for the Salesian India of the future and on what has come up in these days of the Team Visit. Rather than multiply directives, I invite you to concentrate all your forces on four particular areas for action through which you can face the powerful social and cultural challenges of India today and so make my dream --and yours -- come true. Afterwards, in each Province, these need to be translated into goals to be achieved, identifying those who will be responsible for implementing them and determining a timeframe for their assessment.

I.Primacy of the spiritual life

The key to the renewal of the provinces and communities is to be found, as I have indicated in the presentation of the Acts of the CC25, in Const. Art. 3: Our Apostolic Consecration. “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 to wards God and towards our brothers. Our Mission sets the tenor of our whole life.” So, mission is for us Salesians the centre of our life.

T he crucial point is to understand what mission is all about. Mission is not mere activities, initiatives, or works. It is a passion for the salvation of the young (DMACT), a passion that has its source “in the very heart of Christ, apostle of the Father” (C 11), without whom we can do nothing (cf. John 15,5).

Priority should be given to evangelizing witness; and this in two key areas:

Giving to God an absolute primacy. The Indian cultural atmosphere breathes God. Confreres are to be helped to give this fundamental Indian spiritual reality a name, a living face, the One revealed, the person of Christ, through the Word and the Sacraments.

Building up fraternal common life. A community life together, of consecration and mission, is the most efficacious instrument for bringing the Gospel to people. An evaluation of the places where we work should be carried out, so that fraternal life is assured and any kind of discrimination or inequality contrary to the Gospel and damaging to evangelization is overcome.

To maintain this striving for holiness at a constantly high level, we need: to “re-plan our sanctity” (E. Viganò) as a permanent attitude of ongoing formation, both at personal and community level.

1.1The Personal and Community Plan of Life

The Provincial and his Council will ensure:

that the lectio divina becomes a constant practice in the community;

that each confrere draws up his personal project of life;

that each community draws up its community project of life, in which are to be included the celebration of the Day of the Community, the monthly and tri-monthly recollections, the scrutiny of prayer, the annual retreat;

that formation programmes are held during the year for the updating of confreres.

1.2The Role of the Rector

In this effort the role of the Rector as Father, Guide and Animator of the community is crucial. Hence the provincial and his council will ensure:

that each Rector is aware of his primary responsibility to lead the confreres and the community by word and example, to keep alive the passion for the salvation of the young by being close to and taking care of the confreres, qualifying himself in spiritual direction, prioritizing his commitments, keeping himself available to the confreres;

that new Rectors are sent for special courses of spiritual direction, and that in-service training is provided for the others;

that a sufficient number of spiritual directors and counsellors are prepared.

II.Planning Mentality

Salesian charism gives rise to an apostolic community that, as Don Bosco said, lives as one – in unum locum, in unum spiritum, in unum agendi finem (GC 20, 498).

Today there is a felt need to help Salesian communities to live and to deepen this style of life and presence among young people, thus overcoming the danger of fragmentation, individualism, activism and compartmentalisation.

For this, in keeping with GC 25, I propose the following guidelines:

2.1Community consistency

Ensure the numerical and qualitative consistency of the Salesian communities so that they live a fraternal religious life according to Salesian style, guarantee an educative and evangelical presence among the young, and fulfil their role in the Educative Pastoral Community of guaranteeing the charism. In order to achieve this:

Every province, in the coming years, keeping to the criteria and indications of the OPP, will draw up a concrete plan for consolidating the communities, so that:

a proper balance between expansion and consolidation of houses and works in the province;

the number of confreres in a community is in proportion to the apostolic mission entrusted to that community;

there is a delimitation of the complementary roles of the rector and administrator;

fraternal communion and mutual acceptance are fostered in multi-ethnic and pluri-cultural and pluri-linguistic communities, in such a way that they could become living witnesses of the Gospel, enhance evangelization and promote unity within the society.

2.2Planning mentality

To inculcate a planning mentality that will deepen in the communities, awareness of a common mission, a shared mentality, and a convergence of criteria, objectives and lines of action. For this:

Create awareness among Salesians, especially the leaders of communities, that planning is an essential aspect of our mission, and ensure that they develop management skills (e.g. PSP) through training programmes so as to make them more effective.

The Provincial with his Council, in collaboration with the Provincial Commissions, will accompany the SDB communities, as also the Educative-Pastoral Communities, in planning and systematic evaluation of their community life and Educative-Pastoral Plans.

The Provincial Council and the Provincial Commissions, in their task of animation, will take care of the three levels of planning:

the Province as a whole (OPP),

the SDB and Communities (Plan of Community life, Personal Plan of Salesian life), and

the content of the youth pastoral (EPP).

These should be made known to all concerned, and used as a frame of reference.

2.3Focus on evangelisation

In the area of presence among the young, it is a matter of urgency that, in every province, we concentrate our energies on evangelisation by developing harmoniously these three levels of our evangelising presence:

The Christian formation of the baptised, to help them to make the gospel values personal, to discover their vocation in the Church, and to insert themselves actively and with responsibility into the Christian communities.

The proclamation of the Gospel to arouse faith and meeting with Christ, by dedicating persons for it and giving attention to the catechumenate.

The presence of the Gospel among the poor, by a clear and meaningful witness of the Salesian community and of the Christian community involved in the mission, and by the service of integral human promotion, giving special attention to value education, the meaning of life, and the religious dimension of the person.

The option for the poor should not be just a presence or a network of presences, but a kind of hermeneutic of all the Salesian Presences in the Region, so that we commit ourselves to the transformation of society and the evangelization of culture.

III.The choice for Formation

Formation is the due response to God’s vocation. In order to answer to the challenges of the times we have to put in the state of ongoing formation our provinces and confreres to get spiritual renewal, professional competence and updated pedagogical practice. The following are the points that need to be taken care of.

3.1Inculturated Formation

Gratitude for the fruitfulness in vocations needs to be translated into an ever greater care and a competent accompaniment of them. I would rather refer in particular to the main aspects:

The inculturation of the charism makes unavoidable the knowledge of Don Bosco. It is a real need. This implies:

• a revision of the programmes of Salesian studies followed in the various stages of formation;

• the formation of Salesians in Salesianity; the Salesian Pontifical University is to be esteemed as a center of study of the congregation;

• the fostering of the Salesian spirituality and pedagogy in the Region.

Religious inculturation obliges us to study the great religions of the region and the formation in inter-religious dialogue.

3.2Ongoing Formation

Provinces are to help Rectors ensure that the community plan, which includes also the section on ongoing formation, is formulated and implemented keeping in mind its objectives. Hence, they are to be well chosen and suitably trained so that they can animate the community satisfactorily so that all can live in faithfulness to the Salesian vocation and to the Constitutions.

Ongoing formation is to be carried out through:

an updated library, encouraging a reading culture (already from the prenovitiate onwards),

a quality life within the community, motivating confreres to benefit from courses and meetings at local and other levels, and other moments of community building.

An all-out effort is to be made to make the day of the community an effective experience of ongoing formation through deeper level sharing by confreres, lectio divina, inputs given also by the rector as well as other confreres, and periodic scrutinia.

3.3 Provincial Qualification Plan

The abundance of Salesian vocations requires, also, of every province to study carefully what choices to make for the qualification of all the confreres.

All this will be put down in the provincial plan of formation drawn up by the Provincial and his council with the help of the provincial commission for formation.

3.4Vocation of the Salesian Brother

There is the need in the entire region to bring about a change in the mentality of confreres and the Salesian Family regarding the vocation of the Salesian Brother. This requires also that his image is made more visible and his vocation better animated.

In view of presenting the one Salesian vocation in its two expressions, it is important that inclusive language be used by all Salesians when referring to the Salesian Congregation.

Further all provinces should make greater efforts to promote the vocation of the Salesian Brother and to facilitate his initial and ongoing formation as prescribed in the Ratio, making use of the formation structures that are already provided for (Kalyani, Matthias Institute, Sacred Heart Theological College of Shillong).

3.4Charismatic unity in the cultural diversity

Provinces in which there is a marked presence of different cultures, ethnic background or castes among the confreres, are to study and initiate processes, which help to appreciate the differences and, at the same time, to overcome uneasiness or misunderstandings. It may be useful to deal with such questions also at the regional level to arrive at better discernment and make choices that are characteristic of the congregation in South Asia.

Ongoing formation initiatives at the province level can contribute much towards overcoming such difficulties (for example, seminars, training programmes in interpersonal relationships, formation of rectors of communities and involvement of the formators).

A periodic report on ongoing formation is to be demanded of each community.

Also the regional center of ongoing formation in Bangalore is to offer suitable programmes.

IV.Networking for the mission: Concrete steps

In the context of globalisation, which is characteristic of today’s world, it is necessary for all the provinces as groups, and for all the confreres as individuals to grow into the concept of networking for the mission. We need to look beyond the boundaries of our own houses and provinces to develop a Salesian mentality that is not limited by local or provincial boundaries. In the spirit of collaboration and networking we need to create a united Salesian reality in the entire Region of South Asia. More concretely:

4.1At the Local Level

Through constant animation, especially by the Rector,

create an atmosphere of collaboration and networking among the different departments of the house, making the community plan and the EPP the constant frame of reference for the life and work of the community;

foster networking with the other members of the Salesian family, the local clergy and other like-minded organizations in the neighbourhood.

4.2At the Provincial level

At this level, create the spirit of cooperation and networking through

constant effort at conscientisation regarding the need for networking and synergy at all levels, thus creating a better sense of adherence to the provincial community and the Salesian Family. Frequent and opportune use of the communications media to sensitise communities on the need of networking is of great importance;

more appropriate use of the various commissions and other organs of animation like the Development Office to coordinate and link together works of a similar nature thus maximising results in terms of mission and minimising the efforts to attain them.

creating greater solidarity among the communities, particularly with regard to finance, making known the need of the communities that are in financial straits. ‘Regional meetings’ within a province for sharing common concerns and plans would help to create such solidarity.

Fostering collaboration with the other members of the Salesian Family through periodic joint meetings centred, if possible, around common projects.

4.3 At the Regional Level

At regional level make networking more of a reality by

strengthening inter-provincial collaboration by readily providing competent personnel and adequate financial support for the national structures of animation (SPCSA, DBYP, BOSCOM, etc.), and for the inter-provincial formation houses;

collaborating for mission ad gentes in the subcontinent by making missionaries available and facilitating the movement of personnel from one province to another;

appreciating and facilitating the animation roles assigned to the National Delegates by promoting their programmes of animation at the provincial level;

• using better information channels such as websites and newsletters to link provinces together and to undertake common ventures.

Don Pascual Chávez V.

New Delhi, 5 March 2005

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