CIMATTI: NEW BOOK THROWS LIGHT ON 'MAESTRO'
FOR OUR TIMES
Julian Fox sdb
ROME: 2nd October -- 'That photo' (of the
cassocked Octogenarian Cimatti playing soccer!) left behind in communities
throughout the Region by Fr. Klement, now has a substantial book behind it,
written by Fr. John Fedrigotti, former Regional for Italy and the Middle
East. Does that sound odd? It might, if we were to consider the
Servant of God, Vincenzo Cimatti, as simply the missionary in Japan. The
title of Fedrigotti's work 'Il Sistema Preventivo di Don Bosco
nell'interpretazione di Vincenzo Cimatti' - unfortunately, the work just
published is still in Italian - is a study of all of Cimatti's life of
application of Don Bosco's Preventive System, including the solid 20 year long
phase at Valsalice, as teacher of pedagogy and philosophy to many a young
Salesian.
This is a valuable book, not the least for the fact
that it takes off where so many others leave off - a handful of years after Don
Bosco dies. Valsalice becomes almost as important as the Oratory itself
for its role in developing Don Bosco's approach especially in the school-college
context, something which has become of extreme importance in the East
Asia-Oceania region where it is the school that has largely focused our
presence. And it was Cimatti who gave a particularly professional twist to
that System, avoiding the pitfalls that so many have fallen into, reducing it to
this or that trend in history or pedagogy. He did it professionally - his
writing and his teaching bear witness to that - but he did it by incarnating the
system through his own life, and then attempting to enculturate it into
Japan.
Fedrigotti is on safest ground, understandably, in
the 'Italian' phase of his study, and he humbly admits that it would require
scholars familiar with Japan to adequately comment on the applications
of PSDB to that Asian cultural scene. Nevertheless, he appears to
have successfully demonstrated , according to this reader, what Cimatti himself
set out to prove in the flesh - that the PSDB is of its nature a
global system aimed at the complete education of the human being wherever,
whenever.
Cimatti was not only an educator. He was a
musician and agriculturalist, and a highly regarded Church leader in Japan - in
a sense everything he did was 'professional' and recognized
professionally. The Church has begun to put its own 'stamp' on that now by
cooperating in the process for the professional 'degree' of
canonization.
For non-Italian speaking readers, what could be
taken from Fedrigotti's text that would encourage pressure to have this book
translated into English as soon as possible? A series of points, I
believe, that could be immediately worked into Principals' newsletters, talks
and other circumstances where they wish to pass across the true elements of PSDB
for our schools today:
1. Charity - Cimatti's core quality made the PS a
spirituality, a pedagogy and a life for anyone who knew him. His own
shorthand description of the PSDB was simply, 'sacrifical love'. Herein
lies the holiness that we are now being constantly called to from the Rector
Major down. The demand extends beyond ourselves to those who work with
us.
2. Daily work as the meeting point for charity,
professionalism and service as seen in Cimatti. He put it this way: "Not
big things. The little way. Carry out all your duties with
simplicity - and do it for the Lord".
3. His view of the one being educated - speak
tirelessly to the freedom of the young person, he would say. He would also
encourage findong a language you are professionally competent in to do it with -
amongst his 'languages' was music.
4. The educator - he viewed him or her as an expert
in humanity, first.
5. Education: something he defined as 'a soul
listening to a soul'. And to do that he comes back to good old Salesian
language again with an interesting twist - first take care of your own
soul Be an assistant to yourself, ad then.....
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for
the Salesian Family of Asia-Pacific.
