APPENDIX 1

Message of His Holiness JOHN PAUL II

for the beginning of the 23rd General Chapter

To my beloved son Fr EGIDIO VIGANO

Rector Major

of the Society of St Francis de Sales

I send my greetings and good wishes to you and to all your confreres who are taking part in the 23rd General Chapter of your Congregation.

For every religious Institute the General Chapter marks a milestone, from which to set out for a new and deeper understanding of its particular charisma. The one therefore that you are about to begin must be for you a special occasion not only for a further examination of the mission entrusted to you by St John Bosco, but also to improve ever more the quality of the pastoral activity carried out by Salesians in so many particular Churches, with special attention to the young.

In effect, the commitment of your institute is especially to the education of youth. on whose response depends the future of the faith. The hope of a better world is, in fact, reborn with every new generation, provided that it be given the benefit of an adequate education drawing its inspiration from the Gospel. And so even today it is necessary to bring to maturity in young people a convinced personal synthesis between faith and life, so that they can become in society courageous and credible witnesses of the great mystery of Christ: the principle and coronation of all christian hope.

I am sure that, following the well tried pedagogical tradition of your Congregation, you will not fail to draw up for this purpose practical and relevant plans. St John Bosco, in fact, invites you not only to dedicate yourselves to youth, but to 'educate according to a plan'. As I said at the closure of the centenary of the death of your founder, he has left you "a vital synthesis between pedagogical wisdom and educational practice, and you must study how to apply it in the development of a theme providing "a unifying synthesis of the complex elements destined to promote the overall development of the boy and young person".

In this perspective I would like to remind you who are members of the Chapter of two aspects that call for your careful study: "youth spirituality" and the "social dimension" of charity. These are two of the Church's great pastoral concerns.

In the first place, in the education of the young it is not sufficient to rely on the simple rationality of a human ethic, nor will suffice a religious instruction which is only academic. We must stir up deep personal convictions which will lead to a life commitment inspired by the perennial values of the Gospel. We have to aim at forming saints. "In the Church and in the world," as I wrote in the letter Iuvenum patris, "the integral educative vision that we see incarnated in John Bosco is a realistic pedagogy of holiness. We need to get back to the true concept of 'holiness' as a component of the life of every believer. The originality and boldness of the plan for a 'youthful holiness' is intrinsic to the educational art of this great Saint, who can be rightly called the 'master of youth spirituality' (n.16)."

Secondly there must emerge from your educational and pastoral activity the 'social dimension of charity'. To this in fact the signs of the times are giving new importance in the light of a renewed awareness of the common good. Opening up at the present day before the charity of christians with ever wider horizons, are the many sectors of civic and political life. St John Bosco has taught you to form responsible citizens through the maturing of concrete convictions of faith to be translated into practical activity to meet the needs that gradually emerge. You have the task of singling out the objectives to which priority must be given at the present day, and towards which must converge the commitment of the youth entrusted to you.

May Mary Help of Christians give you her motherly guidance. A sincere and filial devotion to her will prompt you to face up with generosity to the many difficulties you may find in your way, and to overcome them successfully.

In wishing you a happy conclusion to the work of the General Chapter, I invoke upon you and on the Chapter members an outpouring of the gifts of the Holy Spirit, as a pledge of which I impart to all of you the desired Apostolic Blessing, which I willingly extend to all your Congregation and to the entire Salesian Family.

From the Vatican, 22 February 1990, the feast of the chair of the Apostle St Peter.

JOANNES PAULUS PP. II