AGC438_Artime_young_people_at_risk


AGC438_Artime_young_people_at_risk

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1. LETTER OF THE RECTOR MAJOR
"YOUNG MAN, I SAY TO YOU, RISE!" (Lk 7:14)
The Salesian option for young people at high social risk
as a commitment to justice, peace and care for creation
INTRODUCTION. In tune with the direction taken so far by the Congregation -1. JESUS'
EDUCATIVE AND PASTORAL APPROACH IN THE LIGHT OF THE GOSPEL ACCORDING TO
LUKE. 1.1 Crossing the borders of unknown cultures. 1.2. Bearers and sowers of hope amid
a culture of death 1.3 God's love is also a mother's love 1.4. An educative process 1.5. Spread-
ing the good news. - 2. THE OPTION FOR THE POOREST 2.1 With a youth ministry for liber-
ation and reintegration through our educational works and services 22 Pastoral care and
accompaniment with suitable and prepared animators 2.3 Ministry that takes the family Into
consideration. -3. COMMITMENT TO INTEGRAL HUMAN DEVELOPMENt 3.1 The Importance
of works for young people at risk and social Innovation. 3.2 Complementarity of Salesian
know-how and Institutions. a. The Salesian contribution in the approach to human rights in
our contexts. b. Social pedagogy from a Salesian perspective. c. Complementarity of know-how.
3.3 lnvo/vement In active citizenship. a. Formation to active citizenship. b. Volunteering for building
up social friendship. 3.4 Education to the faith and accompaniment in Sales/an social works. -
4. THE SCOPE OF THE PREVENTIVE SYSTEM. 4.1 A constant response. 4.2 New form of mis-
sion. a. The devastating effect of the COVID pandemic. b. The dastardly war in Ukraine. c. Other
places ofpain, death and hunger. 4.3 Salesian social works and services among migrants and
refugees. - 5. SUSTAINABILITY OF SOCIAL WORKS AND SERVICES. 5.1 The organisational
structure In Salesian development activities. 5.2 Decision-making process 1. We must have
a vision of the future. 2. We must have an integrated vision. 3. Always with an overall perspective
on things. 4. Let us keep our eyes focused on the young- CONCLUSION - BIBLIOGRAPHY
Turin, 8 September 2022
Feast ofthe Nativity ofthe Blessed Virgin Mary
"Don Bosco saw clearly the social implications of his work. We
labour in economically depressed areas and for poor youth. We collab-
orate with them, educating them to a sense ofmoral, professional and
social responsibility. Ina this way we contribute to the development of
both people and environment. We share in a way appropriate to reli-
gious in the witness and commitment of the Church to justice and
peace. While not getting involved in ideologies or party politics, we re-
ject everything that encourages deprivation, injustice and violence.
We cooperate with all who are trying to build a society more worthy
ofman's dignity. The advancement to which we dedicate ourselves in
the spirit ofthe Gospel makes tangible the love ofChrist which makes
men free, and is a sign that the Kingdom of God is among us."1
c1 33.

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4 ACTS OF THE GENERAL COUNCIL
INTRODUCTION
Dear confreres,
The immense gift that our charism represents in the Church
has had a marked social character from the very beginning. The
fact that Don Bosco is recognised as one of the social saints of
19th century Turin manifests the identity and intention ofa par-
ticular mission carried out by the Salesians over the years and
across five continents through a wide variety ofpastoral settings.
The Gospel example of mercy embodied by Jesus led Don
Bosco to fix his gaze on the poorest and most abandoned children
and young people, those without a family, without a roof over
their heads, the illiterate and unemployed, those lacking religious
and moral formation, the weakest of the weak... In a word, on all
those who are considered "excluded", easy prey to a despair that
can lead them to forms of delinquency or to being abused by
unscrupulous exploiters. Hence, individuals who run the risk of
being discarded by society, of losing their dignity, of not experi-
encing the beauty and goodness of being free children of God the
Creator Father.
Once he had understood that the mission entrusted to him
by God was not among those who were already in prison, rotting
away in desperation, Don Bosco grasped the fact that his system
had to be truly preventive, and as a result he channelled his pas-
toral intelligence into preventing the risks run by young people
in 19th century industrial Turin and other cities.2
Together with his spiritual director he underwent a journey
of discernment of his vocation and, open to the action of the
Spirit, over the course of his life he discovered how to win souls
over to God among those who seemed condemned to obscurity.
2 Cf. SALESIANS OF DON Bosco, "What kind of Salesians for the youth of
today?". Post-Chapter refl,ection Editrice S.D.B., Rome 2020, p. 74 no. 7. Hence-
forth GC28.

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THE RECTOR MAJOR 5
The result of this discernment was translated into an educative,
evangelising and charitable proposal. Every personal encounter,
every project undertaken with his Salesians and co-workers were
nothing but proof of God's love for his favourite children: the
little ones and the poor.
This charity was translated into an integral experience of ac-
companying young people, strengthening their personalities so
that they could reach maturity as free and autonomous individ-
uals. They were all interventions to help them prepare for life.3
It is therefore understandable that the concept of the salvation
of souls in Don Bosco's ministry was not an abstract argument
but a concrete response capable oftaking in each individual with
the loving attention of a family which takes care of the basic
needs of the little ones, educates them with appropriate skills so
that they can earn an honest living, and helps them open up to
relationships with others and with God so that they can find their
"place in the world", their place in society and in the Church.
We sum up the totality of these educative and evangelising
experiences that we discover in Don Bosco's life and the life of
the community at Valdocco as the "Oratory criterion". With this
same criterion, opening ourselves to the realities of our time, we
Salesians continue to respond to the various forms of youth risk
that can lead to situations of social exclusion.4 Forming good
Christians and upright citizens among those whose human rights
have been violated produces remarkable results in every part of
the world where we are found. Even in the most radically secu-
larist countries, our Salesian contribution to the most needy is
positively recognised by civil societies and various governmental
bodies as a positive proposal for building social cohesion.
Indeed, in many Salesian presences in the world, those who
work in our Educative and Pastoral Communities (EPCs) in the
• Cf. C 40.
• Cf. CG28, pp. 73-74, no. 6.

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6 ACTS OF THE GENERAL COUNCIL
social domain have established partnerships with local Churches,
private associations,5 with regional and even national state
governments, giving rise to strategies, intervention tools and
structures that allow us to be credible and appreciated for the
work we do.
Convinced that working with the young and with communi-
ties at high risk is one of the most beautiful kinds of sanctifica-
tion that we have inherited from our Founder, we recognise, in
all humility and without triumphalism, that we are called to con-
tinue to work with evangelical spirit and professionalism within
these social works and services: it is the Salesian contribution to
building up the Kingdom of God. As part of this same dynamic
we are called to open up spaces for dialogue with non-believers
from the perspective of what Pope Francis today calls "social
friendship",6 the point of convergence of all human efforts in
building justice and peace: "Goodness together with love, justice
and solidarity, are not achieved once and for all; they have to be
realized each day. "7
Undoubtedly, among the various settings of our Salesian
Youth Ministry, the one known as "Salesian Social Works and
Services" clearly shows the merciful gaze ofJesus, because there
we encounter the various dramas of children, adolescents and
older young people in high-risk social contexts that can lead them
to multiple life-threatening situations. They live in impoverished
communities where their rights are violated, forgotten on the in-
visible frontiers of today's human geography, with little or limited
access to education, health care and healthy food; where the
possibility of employment is sporadic or non-existent and where
the absence of quality of life is a common denominator.8
5 Cf. SALESIAN YOUTH MINISTRY DEPARTMENT, Salesian Youth Ministry.
Frame ofReference, Editrice S.D.B., Rome 20143, p. 111.
6 FRANCIS, Fratelli tutti, 2; 5; 6; 94; 99; 106; 142; 154; 180; 233; 245.
7 FRANCIS, Fratelli tutti, 11.
8 Cf. GC28, p. 104, n. 2.

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THE RECTOR MAJOR 7
As we have learned from the spirit of Valdocco, breaking the
circle of poverty implies accompanying the young on the path
that in today's language, in Pope Francis' words we call integral
human development. This evangelising movement of Salesian
Social Works and Services, born from the heart of the Church's
Social Doctrine, has been the precursor of a community on the .
move, the same one that sets out and goes in search of those who
are left behind in society, in order to recover them and, as far
as possible, restore their dignity and future prospects.
The journey which the Salesian Educative and Pastoral Pro-
ject (SEPP) aims at for this setting sees to the articulation of its
four dimensions with true apostolic zeal, so that by accompany-
ing the educational process of young people in relation to their
family (if they have one) and their environment, a true redesign-
ing of culture takes place, mitigating the devastation of social
evil found in their personal story. In our ecclesial commitment
for the salvation of humanity, we strive to build processes ofrein-
tegration of these young people once left on the margins, exclud-
ed from society, to return them to it as people capable of
autonomous development, as active and believing citizens - with
absolute respect for their freedom.
Thus, by consolidating the Social Works and Services setting
in our Congregation with renewed spirit, a safe path opens up
along which we can walk without fear, with Salesian identity,
with the methodology of social development and with the aware-
ness of being a spiritual family that reaches out to the young
people most in need. It is, therefore, an invitation to return to
the sources of the charism and to be more daring and merciful,
in the style of our Master, Jesus, in the Gospel.9
• Cf. The Rector Major's Guidelines for the Salesian Congregation after
GC28, inAGC 433 (2020), pp. 35-38 (priority no. 5).

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8 ACTS OF THE GENERAL COUNCIL
In tune with the direction taken up till now by the Con-
gregation
Already during the Salesian Special General Chapter 20,
when the Congregation was doing an excellent job of adapting to
the renewal demanded by the Second Vatican Council, we find
pages which exude a great sensitivity and concern for the poorest
young people, and in particular for those living in the harshest
situations of marginalisation caused by a world that changes at
great speed and often overwhelms the most defenceless in these
changes. An authentic priority in Don Bosco's charism: "Don
Bosco used this expression frequently, particularly in Art. 1 of
the Constitutions. It is therefore a priority among priorities:
help to the most needy. "10
In 2010, the Rector Major, Fr Pascual Chavez, dedicated one
of his Letters to Salesian Youth Ministry, and in one of the sec-
tions in it we find an expression of concern for the world ofyouth
marginalisation in the Congregation's journey. ''Attention to
young people in situations ofrisk has always been a characteristic
ofthe Salesian apostolate. The new situation of our societies chal-
lenges us to find new solutions."11 ln the same text Fr Chavez
expressed his concern about an ever-increasing poverty that is
becoming a tragic reality affecting people and social groups, in-
cluding many young people. It becomes a structural and global
problem. "For this reason, during the last fifty years there have
been many projects initiatives and works with the intention of
responding to this situation and of offering young people a fresh
opportunity to build their lives in a positive fashion and to take
their place in society in a responsible way."12
Continuity of this journey undertaken by the Congregation
sac lO
(1971), no. 48.
11 P. CHAVEZ, And he took pity on them because they were like sheep without
a shepherd, and he set himselfto teach them at some length (Mk 6:34), inAGC.
407 (2010), p. 41.
12 Ibid., p. 41.

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THE RECTOR MAJOR 9
and the steps taken even over the last twelve years, beginning
with the text I have just referred to, is what led me to consider it
timely, after General Chapter 28, to turn our gaze towards this
growing and increasingly significant educative and pastoral field
of our Congregation. The fact that there are more than 1,100 (one
thousand one hundred) specific Salesian social works and services,
together with the strong teaching of Pope Francis in recent years
regarding the field of the excluded, the marginalised and the
discarded, makes it very opportune, in my opinion, for a Salesian
reflection on this field of educative and pastoral activity today.
1. JESUS' EDUCATIVE AND PASTORAL APPROACH IN
THE LIGHT OF THE GOSPEL ACCORDING TO LUKE
Our charismatic patrimony teaches us, from Don Bosco on-
wards, that to accompany the young it is necessary to establish
approaches that allow for an encounter between educator and
young person, and among these is the educative and pastoral
community where the family and the various representatives of
the social system meet.
One ofthe aspects of Luke's Gospel that strikes me most is pre-
cisely the 'encounter'. An encounter that generates joy and life, an
encounter that creates expectations, an encounter that leads one
to sense the presence and action of the Spirit of God in the his-
tory of every individual, every family, every group, every people.
Pope Francis speaks about a "culture of encounter" so that
we can cultivate merciful attitudes towards others. It is "an in-
vitation to work for 'the culture of encounter', in a simple way,
'as Jesus did': not just seeing, but looking; not just hearing, but
listening; not just passing people by, but stopping with them; not
just saying 'what a shame, poor people!', but allowing yourself
to be moved with compassion; and then to draw near, to touch
and to say: 'Do not weep' and to give at least a drop oflife"'.13
13 FRANCIS, Morning meditation in the chapel of the Domus Sanctae
Marthae. For a culture ofencounter, Rome 13 September 2016.

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10 ACTS OF THE GENERAL COUNCIL
In the last General Chapter, GC28, listening to the young peo-
ple present we perceived that they no longer asked us for building
or structures but only for our physical presence. They asked us
to be with them and among them, to share their life,14 to meet
with them and be mutually enriched; to be with them. Because
it is they who, thanks be to God, give meaning to our vocation
and encourage us to discover pathways to travel together.
In the Gospel passage about the "raising of the son of the
widow of Nain" in Chapter 7 of the Gospel according to Luke,
we discover what could be understood as a beautiful approach
proposed by Jesus, full of compassion and mercy in the face of
the situation of the death of a young man, the disintegration of
a family, the loneliness of a poor widowed mother and the impo-
tence of a social group. In the light of this Gospel episode we can
interpret our youth ministry as a ministry to family yet a social
ministry at the same time, since the ultimate effect will be a com-
munity that generates dynamics such that its members live with
dignity, in the freedom of the children of God
1.1. Crossing the borders of unknown cultures
''Soon afterwards he went to a town called Nain,, (Lk 7:11).
Jesus goes beyond the Jewish geographical and cultural.bound-
aries of his time. This time he goes to Nain, a place where even
the trade routes ofthe time did not pass through. Nain is perhaps
a region without hope. Jesus leaves the borders ofhis homeland,
accompanied by people who are most likely unaware of the scope
and reasons for his journey.
This novelty that bursts forth in changes and new forms is
also found in the Church of our time, and has been strongly re-
called since the Second Vatican Council and in recent decades. In
an attempt to renew itself and respond to the new times, to move
out of its "known territory", as ifgoing to another Nain, our Con-
14 Cf. GC28, pp. 72-73, no. 5.

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THE RECTOR MAJOR 11
gregation has responded to this call to renewal by also turning its
gaze to the least, with a more decisive commitment to those most
in need. Already in the middle of the last century, in many
provinces, Social Works became important, and from which the
decision to respond to the phenomenon of marginalisation and
poverty arose. These differed from the Oratories, Schools and Vo-
cational Training Centre settings - all undoubtedly wonderful
services for young people - in responding with special attention
and priority to the specific condition of their beneficiaries. Spe-
cialised and specific programmes were developed to assist street
children and young people, some ofwhom had come out of the old
orphanages; health care centres were opened even in very remote
places for the most destitute; soup kitchens and food distribution
centres were set up to help families with limited resources; even
the missionary presence among native peoples created its own
strategies and specific activities to better accompany and serve
the most vulnerable communities and peoples.
There were Salesians and Daughters of Mary Help of Chris-
tians who gave impetus to this kind of work with a social vision.
These men and women full of faith, courageous "dreamers", to-
gether with an innumerable and perhaps invisible multitude of
lay people - women and men committed to dealing with the pain
of others - have taught that alleviating the suffering ofthe little
ones, the ignored, those who do not count, is an expression of
divine mercy and a concretisation of Don Bosco's charism and
his preventive system.
This has allowed us as a Congregation to be ever more signs
ofa Church going forth towards the existential peripheries of hu-
manity, where we find those who do not fit into the categories of
utilitarian economic systems of exclusive economic advantage,
and where we experience the joy of encountering those most in
need. This undoubtedly gives strength to our charismatic identity
and our awareness of serving the Kingdom of God. We also know
that some of them - Salesians and lay people - have even been
deprived of their lives to defend this cause.

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12 ACTS OF THE GENERAL COUNCIL
On the road to Nain, Jesus is accompanied by "his disci-
ples and a large crowd,, (Lk 7:11). Jesus' disciples had been
drawn to him, had abandoned their earlier life and followed him;
they had committed all their efforts, heart and whole being to
the Master's project. He had called them by name, and sent them
to cooperate in proclaiming the Gospel and they followed him.
Jesus was also accompanied by many people who were fasci-
nated by some aspect of his personality. They joined him along
the way, saw the wonderful works he had done: he had healed
some, had cast out demons from others, He taught many the
Word of the Father with authority; many were filled with the
multiplication of food, and so on. This multitude has discovered
the immense benefit of being with Jesus. From here, new disci-
ples will arise in the future - like the seventy-two he will send
out two by two.
Others who have become part of this crowd will abandon Je-
sus: some will go away with a sense of gratitude in their heart
and will certainly be witnesses to Jesus in other places; others
will leave without even a goodbye or word of thanks. But all, in
general, will have been looked upon with mercy by Jesus.
This is the pastoral condition in working with the poorest and
most abandoned. Many vocations of all kinds and for all forms of
Christian life have arisen from Salesian social works and services.
In many of the contexts in which we find ourselves working,
where religious denominations other than Christianity are dom-
inant, we have experienced the joy of contributing to the forma-
tion of a beautiful human family with those who are welcomed
into our presence - at times with their families - and have shared
the many values we live by from the Gospel. The language of
charity overcomes the barriers ofbeliefs and political structures,
leading us to work alongside those who are concerned about
building peace.
It is necessary to recognise that the pastoral option in the
social field entails many difficulties and that the effort to find

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THE RECTOR MAJOR 13
the human and financial resources to support it represents a ma-
jor challenge for those who carry out these programmes, since it
requires strengthening "initiative and apostolic creativity",15
characteristic qualities of the life and mission of our Founder.
In any case, it is all immensely important and gratifying at the
same time.
The needs of the young affected Don Bosco's heart deeply,
and he developed numerous initiatives with an inventive and en-
terprising spirit. These prophetic initiatives drew the attention
and respect of many people from different social classes in Turin
at the time. Even today, as Salesians in the Church, through the
educational, evangelising and charitable dimension both in our
social works and services and in the other settings in which we
provide educational and pastoral services, we want to show that
the Lord is present and that all our activities are an expression
of God's love for the least. An urgency as alive today as it was in
Don Bosco's time.
1.2. Bearers and sowers of hope amid a culture of death
"Hope is the smallest but the strongest of virtues."16 ~'As he
approached the gate of the town" (Lk 7:12). The Gospel nar-
rative identifies Jesus' action by pointing to a concrete place: the
town gate. Jesus, who has crossed the borders of Galilee to go to
pagan lands to bring the good news ofthe Kingdom of God to those
who want to receive it, stops precisely at the town gate of Nain.
The .image of the town's gate allows us to think about and
be aware of the many people, groups or populations who are not
only distant from God for geographical reasons, but because walls
have been erected around them: walls that condemn entire
societies to stay away from social welfare, to shut themselves in
because of racial status, or even to be isolated in refugee camps
c16 19.
16 FRANCIS, Angelus, 15 November 2015.

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that act as containment walls against the advance of what are
considered unwanted migratory masses. The walls that enclose
these people are sometimes invisible and can also be found in our
cities. This is when we classify people according to social affilia-
tion. Obviously, such walls not only enclose those who are "un-
welcome", but even make them invisible with the consequent
dulling of the conscience and sensitivity of all others.
The gate in the Gospel account is the place of a very special
encounter. Indeed, it will not be just an everyday event that hap-
pens at Nain, but something extraordinary and salvific. Interest-
ingly, in the text of Luke's Gospel, Jesus is also given authority
in Nain, an unknown and pagan town. An action, his, realised
by the very power of God. This manifestation will not be a "circus
act", nor the expression of empty demagogy of some jumped-up
politician. On the contrary, it will be the most evident manifes-
tation of a God who loves his children.
'"~ man who had died was being carried out,, (Lk 7:12).
The image this scene offers us has much to say to our Salesian
charism. On the one hand we see the group of followers accom-
panying the Master; and on the other, at the town gate, people
walking amid tears and grief because they are saying goodbye
to a young man who has died.
This scene continues to be reproduced day after day. It shows
the encounter of life that brings hope and joy in the face of
situations of despair and death in every corner of the earth.
The Salesian proposal in the social field seeks to be a sign of
hope and life capable of encountering on a daily basis the cruelty
carved on the sad faces ofso many young people wounded by mis-
ery, violence, ignorance, exploitation and other types of abuse.
Salesian social works and services aim to serve and restore dig-
nity to those who have lost it and, in the name of the Lord, to
transform mourning into joy. This is the conviction that accom-
panies so many educators and pastoral workers who, on a daily
basis in Salesian houses, grasp what is happening beyond the

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THE RECTOR MAJOR 15
"walls of our conventional activities", and allow themselves to
be challenged by the situations that affect so many oppressed
adolescents and young people, individuals and groups, among
whom the most common victims are always the youngest.
1.3. God's love is also a mother's love
The young man who had died was "his mother's only son,
and she was a widow; and with her was a large crowd
from the town" (Lk 7:12). It is a painful scene, almost a cruel
one. We see a mother who has lost her beloved son. We know that
it is not "natural", in the cycle of life, for a son to die before his
parents. Besides, this suffering is not just any loss that can be
understood by reason. Here the evangelist offers those who know
how to interpret the Word as believers a direct connection with
the deepest fibres of love, the love of God which, being immea-
surable, in human language is comparable only to the love of a
mother for her children. This is how God loves, with a paternal
and maternal love. Unconditional. At birth, children's umbilical
cords are cut, but a mother's bond with her children never fails.
There are sons and daughters who, in the course of their lives,
may forget their mother and father, but God never forgets his
children.
General Chapter 27 offered important reflections on Salesian
fatherliness and reminded us that "work and temperance"17 are,
for us Salesians, an expression of our disinterested dedication
and love for the young. As happened to Don Bosco, feeling and
knowing that we are truly "fathers" urges us to dedicate our best
energies to them so that they will be good, so that they will
achieve their objectives. From our understanding of Don Bosco's
paternal identity, we Salesians feel the pain of so many young
people who suffer; we are saddened by their suffering because
they are our children. It is no coincidence that we say that Don
c17 18.

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16 ACTS OF THE GENERAL COUNCIL
Bosco always felt that he was the father of his children. He him-
self expressed this many times in writing.
It is necessary and urgent that, as religious, we discover more
and more that our chastity is fruitful and that it must generate
life in caring for those to whom we are sent, especially in those
who have no one to care for them. In this respect, one of the most
beautiful lessons that we consecrated men and women can learn
from the laity who are employed in our works and who are often
fathers and mothers of families, is the special sensitivity that
many of them have for the situations of injustice that assail many
of our children, adolescents and young people. We Salesians can-
not live without feeling that we are educators, friends, brothers
and fathers of our young people. And it is clear that one of the
most opportune places to strengthen this dimension of our voca-
tion is our work with young people at high social risk, those who
walk "between life and death".
"But it was precisely this experience of emptiness that would
make the young priest Don Bosco aware of the difficulties of
his own children, of the human and spiritual qualities that he
himself would have to learn to take on in his own life in order to
be the father of those who did not have a father and who would
see him as the one who would let them savour life, in every way."
"The paternal void in Don Bosco's life is transformed into a fruit-
ful womb, rather than a trauma." His family experience "would
leave an indelible mark on his vision of life and his idea of
education and evangelisation of youth. "18
In the knowledge that we are educators and fathers, Salesians
and lay people, we can learn to meet young people in their world,
in their environment, in their digital culture which is becoming
more and more complex and which is getting a little (or a lot) out
of hand for us adults. Sometimes, with their vulnerability, they
18 SALESIAN YOUTH MINISTRY DEPARTMENT, Youth Ministry and Family,
Editrice S.D.B., Rome 2021, p. 18-24.

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THE RECTOR MAJOR 17
find themselves in the social networks of video calls and instant
messaging, frequenting playgrounds such as Triller, Houseparty,
Tik Tok, Genies, Lomotif, Bunch, Discord, WhatsApp,. Telegram,
etc. On these virtual meeting and entertainment platforms,
many of them express their emotions, exhibit themselves to the
world and share their daily lives trying to attract the attention
ofnew friends. In light ofthis reality, it is important to emphasise
that unaccompanied teenagers and older youth often become vic-
tims not only ofmedia addiction, but also ofmany criminals who
contact them through these media, exploit them and enslave
them in various forms of illegal trade. Many minors, in search of
easy money, fall victim to these situations. Many of them do not
have adequate educational spaces in the family or at school and
experience multiple situations of orphanhood and violation of
their rights that have deprived them of social welfare. The pain
and tragedy of these children cannot leave us indifferent.
As a Salesian, I believe I have been sensitive and attentive to
the reality of youth exploitation to date, and as Rector Major I
have promoted the openness ofour communities to the presence
ofthose young people who need us most, convinced also that they
give us the possibility of exercising true fatherhood like Don
Bosco, and of having truly profound concerns for which to "con-
sume" our lives.19 I am certain that the provinces that have seri-
ously chosen to work with the most fragile young people, those
most deprived of support, are moving to strengthen their identity
and ensure their significance. Young Salesians must also learn
to be educators, brothers and fathers ofthe young to continue to
ensure that the charism of Don Bosco, father of youth, is imple-
mented in our Congregation. Together with the laity, a careful
look at today's contexts helps us to discern the kinds ofassistance
we can offer to ensure that young people have experiences that
make them feel the love of a family.
19 The Rector Major's Guidelines for the Salesian Congregation after GC28,
inAGC 433 (2020), pp. 35-38 (priority no. 5).

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18 ACTS OF THE GENERAL COUNCIL
The story told in the passage of the widow of Nain presents
us with the dramatic situation of a mother who lost her son and
who was also a widow, having lost her husband. She could not
count on the social support of a man to protect her, in a culture
in which women had no autonomy as citizens. This woman could
not even reach old age in the bosom of a family, could not reach
the end of her life receiving the love of a son, could not aspire to
a dignified death. The social system of the time (and the Mosaic
law itself) determined mutual responsibilities in families, with
the stronger taking care of the weak.er. Parents cared for their
children and children, as they grew up, cared for their parents
in old age; this was the social basis of the fourth commandment
"honour thy father and thy mother", which responded to the cy-
cle of life. We see in the gospel text how Luke, in so few lines,
narrates the drama of the disintegration of a family and gives us
a glimpse of the social consequences. The father had died off-
stage; the son had died and, as a result, the mother was left alone
and unprotected. Jesus knew well what could have happened to
this widow.
In our case, our preferential option for the poorest young peo-
ple means we must necessarily look at the different environments
they come from. So the focus of these social works and services
demands reflection and interdisciplinary intervention which of-
fers processes of accompaniment for young people, their families
(when they have one) and their core social group. This says that
situations of poverty, wherever they arise, must be analysed se-
riously and in depth. It is clear that we must have as much prepa-
ration and expertise in accompanying people and communities
in situations of vulnerability just as we do in the other "common
and traditional" areas of our pastoral work, where we take care
to respond to various needs with professional and quality offers.
Charity and quality must go hand in hand when planning social
works and services for young people at risk, because if we are
not clear about this, we risk being insignificant in the face of the
violation of these people's rights.

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THE RECTOR MAJOR 19
1.4. An educative process
In the situation he encounters in Nain Jesus does not give
superficial answers, but every word that comes out ofhis mouth,
every gesture and every movement has a precise meaning and
intention, as we see in Luke's account.
a. "When the Lord saw her, he had compassion for her and said
to her, 'Do not weep.'" (Lk 7:13).
Where Jesus is present, everything will be permeated with
his love, and he cannot pass through people's lives without
radically changing things in them.
Serious biblical studies agree that the adjective most frequent-
ly used in the Holy Scriptures to describe God - the attribute that
best indicates his way of acting- is "mercy". Jesus loves each per-
son with the same mercy of the Father, who created all things and
each person with tender love, because each person is part of his
plan of salvation. When Jesus "sees" he perceives the evil that
causes pain to this poor widowed mother; and it is she, the widow,
for whom Jesus feels mercy, initiating the action that follows.
Jesus does not hold back and tells her: "Do not weep". How
is it possible for a stranger to tell a mother not to weep for the
son she has just lost? Jesus tells the woman "do not weep" be-
cause he feels, in unity with the Father, that he can change that
sorrow into joy and gladness. His words are not empty consola-
tion. He acts, he intervenes because human grief must be accom-
panied and consoled.
How important it is for us to experience this same divine mer-
cy, to let ourselves be challenged by the evils that afflict so many
people everywhere. This question. will hardly enter our lives as
consecrated men and women if we remain sheltered within the
safe walls of our houses waiting for good young people to come
and register or participate in our initiatives. In the manner of
Jesus, Pope Francis reminds us that it is we who must go out to
meet the other in order to create communion, to bring about so-
cial change that allows us to participate in the living community
of the Lord.

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20 ACTS OF THE GENERAL COUNCIL
b. "Then he came forward and touched the bier, and the bearers
st;ood still. And he said, 'Young man, I say -to you, rise!"' (Lk 7:14).
Jesus approaches, he does not stand off at a distance, does
not remain calmly in the comfortable atmosphere of his group
offollowers and disciples. He knows what his mission is and why
he was sent into the world. Coming close allows him to enter into
a relationship, be challenged by others, to get to know their
situation and love them as they are Jesus' action requires his
presence and decision.
Going to meet a young person who is in a situation of death
is a bold and courageous act; the only certainty lies in the knowl-
edge that there is a young person there and that it is worth being
at his side and doing something for him.
Jesus takes a further step. He goes further. As he did with
the widowed mother, Jesus does not merely observe what is hap-
pening, but enters into communion with the young man: "He
touched the bier". There is no life without communion with the
Master. Jesus' touch is not indifferent. In fact, his hand reaches
out to the bier and in that mutual contact he transmits, passes
on the gift of life.
In our case, inhabiting the culture of youth means being at-
tentive to the elements of death that may surround them, but
above all knowing what generates life.
In the experience of meeting young people at risk, the support
and offer of help are a salvific experience both for the young per-
son and for the educator - lay or religious - who feels increasingly
touched, committed and involved in the existence of the other
where there seemed to be only death or no hope.
Of course, the process of changing a young person in the daily
dynamic of Salesian social works and services is slow and diffi-
cult: sometimes discouragement can appear in those who invest
their maximum energy every day. But it is also true that observ-
ing the change that God works in the lives of these boys and girls
is the greatest reward one can experience as a Salesian educator.
Then, according to the Gospel text, Jesus says the words:

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THE RECTOR MAJOR 21
"Young man, I say to you, rise!" Once again, when Jesus speaks
he generates life. His is a way of speaking and saying things with
authority, an imperative that is, however, given in a loving way,
with the offering of the hand to the young man so that he may
rise, so that he may rise again.
This solemn process aimed at restoring to life so many young
people who are dying all over the world is carried out in our Con-
gregation, in the name of the Lord, by thousands of people pas-
sionate about humanity who are proud to work in the Salesian
social sector and continue to think about formative approaches
that help young people to consolidate their personality and be-
come aware of their situation and reality.
Don Bosco continues to reach out to so many young, contin-
ues to extend his hand and offer opportunities for "resurrection",
and he does so through the many lay people who collaborate and
support social works and services with their goods. He does so
together with the many Mamma Margarets represented by edu-
cators of all kinds, fields and disciplines, who intervene in our
projects for the accompaniment of young people at high risk; he
does so through the response of so many Salesians who have
found the concrete possibility of expressing their vocation in pas-
toral work and social education;20 and he continues to do so also
through the very many "collaborative networks" that his sons
and daughters weave together for the good of others. Jesus
continues to say to many today: "Young man, I say to you, rise!"
c. "The dead man sat up and began to speak, and Jesus gave
him to his mother" (Lk 7:15).
We are witnessing the raising up of the young man, a raising
up that - as we have said - ·is no magic act but a merciful act in
God's name.
The young person becomes self-aware and is thus able to re-
late to others: '~d he began to speak". If speaking is an expres-
sion of life, we can understand that not speaking, the lack ofcom-
20 Cf. GC28, pp. 74-75, no. 8.

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22 ACTS OF THE GENERAL COUNCIL
munication, is an expression ofdeath. Many young people live in
situations of death because the channels ofcommunication with
their parents, with the whole family and with their roots have
broken down. As long as there is communication between people
it is possible to accompany them on their journey through life.
By approaching the young person and touching his reality of
death, Jesus also knows what his possibility of life is.
Jesus has truly ended the woman's grief because he has
brought an end to the situation that had caused it.
If the young man grows up, the family is re-established; by
re-establishing the communication links between mother and
son, the journey to the cemetery no longer makes sense and they
set out for home again.
"He gave him to his mother": the young man can continue to
grow, mature and take his place as an adult in society, a society
that will no longer allow a helpless widow to be left alone to beg.
No, because there will be a son to take care of her, who will guar-
antee her a dignified old age. In this way, social order will also
be safeguarded.
This is the great miracle of this resurrection story: the pres-
ence ofa God who accompanies his people, who restores hope and
life to people, and who generates unity in families and society.
As the Salesian Congregation, we witness daily how the Lord
continues to raise up thousands of young people and their fami-
lies. In the different environments in which we accompany young
people, we have the great mission of getting to know and inhabit
the culture of young people, especially those who live in difficult
situations that put their personal development at risk. Conse-
quently, it is clear that our Salesian social option runs
cross all pastoral settings. Directing our SEPP to this choice
means offering services or programmes that open the doors
to the less favoured with an oratory criterion21 that helps our
EPCs not to· get lost in the monotony and indifference that
21 Cf. CG28, p. 79, no. 13e.

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THE RECTOR MAJOR 23
becomes complicit in the various forms of injustice suffered by
so many people. This option of ours makes Salesian communities
authentically salvific.
Along the same lines, but with a specific SEPP,22 the Salesian
social works and services setting responds to these situations of
social evil that put young people at risk, violate their rights and
those of their communities, and marginalise them from society.
The impact of this Salesian setting facilitates the timely reinte-
gration of children and young people into their families and their
environment, with its own methodologies that aim at restoring
violated rights, healing the various wounds that have lacerated
the life of each individual, and enhancing capacities that guar-
antee them the full use of their freedom by giving them full
meaning. It is the miracle of bringing young people back to life,
which happens to the extent that we are able to implement the
preventive system.
All this prompts us to engage more and more in processes of
education and evangelisation through the social response of our
presences, which adopt multiple legal forms of civil or ecclesias-
tical recognition as a requirement to be able to offer their services
in different countries in a professional and transparent manner.
Our face in this sector is therefore one of Associations, Co-
operatives, Non-Governmental Organisations (NGOs), Indepen-
dent Businesses for Humanitarian Aid, Joint Agreements for
the concerted provision of specialised services, Social Centres
that provide psycho-social and health care in general, and which
are also employment agencies, etc. As in other areas of our
youth ministry, what distinguishes us from other similar organ-
isations is this: we Salesians evangelise through the provision of
social services, offering everyone a search for meaning and an
openness to transcendence, while respecting the freedom of each
individual.
To meet these needs, Don Bosco set up a Congregation at the
22 Cf. CG27, no. 78.

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24 ACTS OF THE GENERAL COUNCIL
same time that religious orders were being expelled from Pied-
mont. Before civil society, in fact, the Congregation appeared as
a charitable association of citizens. Thus he was the first in the
Church to found a Pious Society and a Work of Men of God. This
double dimension continues to enrich our works and social ser-
vices and, at the same time, gives them an original and specific
charismatic identity.
1.5. Spreading the good news
We know that the Kingdom of God grows in the midst of the
world in a silent and discreet manner and that we are part of a
Church that works generously for the good of the people. It is in
this context that the Social Works and Services setting of the
Congregation has been formed and strengthened in the various
provinces, faithful to the charism of Don Bosco. With this same
attitude of grateful humility, but convinced that we are witness-
ing a moment in history that requires the witness of charity, it is
urgent that we develop an increasing ability to communicate in
order to give visibility, in an exercise of transparency, to our ac-
tions and the good that is being done, and that we tell the world
about the human fruits of the work we do.
It is striking that Jesus does not ask to be alone in Nain with
the bier to carry out this raising up, nor does he do so in the pri-
vacy of the young man's family. This action takes place before
the eyes of everyone. He communicates the power of God's love
to everyone, without discriminating against anyone. This caused
the witnesses to tell what they had witnessed everywhere; they
themselves were the spreaders of the good news, and "this word
about him spread throughout Judea and all the surrounding
country" (Lk 7:17).
The Kingdom of God produces radical changes in those to
whom it is announced and Jesus, in this event at Nain, does not
impose silence or prevent others from communicating it. More-
over, in the following verses the Master himselfwill say: "Go and

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THE RECTOR MAJOR 25
tell John what you have seen and heard: the blind receive their
sight, the lame walk, the lepers are cleansed, the deaf hear,
the dead are raised, the poor have good news brought to them"
(Lk 7:22). Sharing the faith is the result of walking with Jesus;
celebrating it expresses the joy of belonging to the group that
walks with him, and seeking social justice is one of the most im-
portant commitments of a Church that embraces the teachings
of its Master.
In his two social encyclicals Laudato si' and Fratelli tutti,
Pope Francis teaches that the contribution of the whole Church
to human development is integral; that working for justice and
peace also requires care for creation, which is our common home.
Similarly, our Salesian pastoral action in every local community
and in every province is called to be an integral pastoral action
that is preferably addressed to young people, even if it is not
limited to them. To really help them, we must look at their
families (again, if they have any) and their social groups.
Integral human development is also directed towards estab-
lishing a dialogue with other faiths, with governments, social in-
stitutions and with all men and women of good will who unite
their efforts in defence of human dignity. As Salesians, we par-
ticipate in the construction of social friendship, expressing it
openly and with concrete methods of intervention through the
setting of social works and services. This setting is not new in
our charism, since it responds to the founding inspiration, and it
is for this reason that I invite all the confreres, the provincials
and their councils, the rectors and their communities, as well as
the educative and pastoral communities, to be courageous and
to listen to the cry of the young - a cry provoked by social sin -
and, therefore, to offer proposals that respond to this structural
damage of today's culture. To do this, we must "see the other"
and feel compassion for him or her; only then will we find a way
out of ourselves and see how to allocate the human and financial
resources that will guarantee the implementation of solid accom-
paniment approaches for young people and communities at risk.

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26 ACTS OF THE GENERAL COUNCIL
"Yet they [the excluded] are the majority of the planet's
population, billions of people. These days, they are mentioned in
international political and economic discussions, but one often
has the impression that their problems are brought up as an
afterthought, a question which gets added almost out of duty or
in a tangential way, if not treated merely as collateral damage. "23
This is also an invitation, addressed to us Salesian religious,
to learn to be very free and modest, not to accommodate and re-
spond to the adverse circumstances of life. We must also learn to
translate our religious languages into those of civil societies and
engage in the necessary dialogue. It is, therefore, an appeal that
in the charismatic option for the social works and services setting
we move towards a convergence of criteria which, while respect-
ing the experience and work of every Salesian presence in the
world, safeguards our evangelising and charismatic identity, to
tell the world, with humility, simplicity and transparency, the im-
pact of our presence in the social sector as a response to the love
of Jesus.24
2. THE OPTION FOR THE POOREST25
With the language and methodologies of his time, Don Bosco
proposed a new way of caring for teenagers and older youth. It
was precisely the choice of the poorest that would guide all his
action and the consequent consolidation and expansion of the
Salesian Congregation, a Congregation that he himself founded,
accompanied by some young men who lived and learned at Val-
docco what it was to know and love Jesus and to want to serve
the young people they met there. This led them to mature and
dream "their own life project" (in today's words), at the service
23 Cf. FRANCIS, Laudato si', no. 49.
2• Cf. FRANCIS, Fratelli tutti, no. 95.
26 The Rector Major's Guidelines for the Salesian Congregation after GC28,
in AGC 433 (2020), pp. 35-38 (priority no. 5).

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THE RECTOR MAJOR 27
of the mission of which they were the fruit. Being with the poor
stems from Don Bosco's own conviction, which he maintained
faithfully throughout his life.
The young people who came to the Valdocco Oratory felt
truly at home because there was room for everyone, without
exception or discrimination. They all arrived with dreams, joys,
frustrations, sadness and many of them were victims of the
many harmful forms of social poverty. They all found the possi-
bility of starting out on or resuming a path that ensured them
a dignified life and a future they would have access to in order
to achieve their goals. In his direct relationship with each one
of them, Don Bosco allowed his heart to be moulded as an edu-
cator/pastor, and he bequeathed this characteristic to his sons;
so that in any part of the world, and at any time in history, it is
their poverty that would continue to inspire them to feel the
need to be fathers, educators, brothers and friends. It is our at-
titude of faith that leads us to accompany children and young
people in the difficult situations in which they live. Rather
than responding to the cultural emergency of the times before
us, we try to walk with young people on a path that gives them
dignity and new opportunities.
Our Constitutions summarise the choice for the poorest
young people26 and show us the way to sanctify ourselves together
with all the members of the EPC, a place where God asks us to
be present in a family spirit, accompanying them ~n their daily
lives. The capacity to be an "magnificent laboratory of youthful
experiences" that characterised the preventive system of Don
Bosco which he lived and applied, has given rise, over time, to a
rich heritage that feeds the pastoral life of the provinces and has
been carefully collected in the Salesian Youth Ministry Frame of
Reference.
26 Cf. C 6; 26; 29 and 41.

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28 ACTS OF THE GENERAL COUNCIL
2.1. With a youth ministry for liberation and reintegration
through our educational works and services
I think we would agree that the educational task with chil-
dren and young people must generate life, open them up to life
and form them to life. In many circumstances and places it will
be necessary to offer young people the opportunity to reintegrate
into the core group from which they were expelled or from which
they had to flee. One of the many ways of reintegration has been
to foster specific environments that remove young people from
the risk or the very fact of the violation of their rights. In other
cases, the task of reintegration has focused on building social co-
hesion, trying to educate them to overcome rejection and exclu-
sion, xenophobia and racism, and even language barriers and the
lack of vocational training to prepare them for work. The social
curricula thus conceived go beyond traditional academic struc-
tures and must also focus on safeguarding people's rights, on
seeking their emotional, physical and spiritual stability, on em-
powering them through the formation of the social skills that
will be indispensable in their relationship with the world and in
their integration into the labour market.
In many contexts, due to particular legislation, the moment
ofintervention with young people at high social risk is a variable
that pushes us to be creative and to have the capacity to establish
partnerships in order to carry out our task effectively, minimising
any situation that might again violate their dignity. Therefore,
the educational task in the social sector is broad and varied, and
for this reason, besides the fact that the social option must run
across all our pastoral settings, we recognise Salesian social
works and services as a specific setting for the provision of ed-
ucative and pastoral services that can be conceived in various
ways in both OPPs and SEPPs.27
By way of example:
21 Cf. GC28, p. 112, no. 45g.

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THE RECTOR MAJOR 29
a. Social programmes associated with other pastoral settings
In many provinces there are educative and social services that
function in the same structures as other pastoral settings, or that
are a response to the social projection of a specific work.
In some of these cases, the idea is to educate people to spend
their leisure time, or to offer academic complements and artistic
or sports training workshops, for the promotion of civil coexis-
tence, among others.
These are very effective ways in which our presences open
their doors to the neighbourhoods in which they are located and
bring them to participate in local life, making us close to the real
situations of families and allowing us to get to know the some-
times very harsh reality of these boys and girls.
In other places, this service has developed through parishes,
youth centres and oratories, where sensitivity has grown towards
the inclusion of people with disabilities, children with learning
difficulties, help for the advancement of women, help for families,
multicultural and multi-religious encounters and the culture of
non-violence.
In some countries, the provincials provide motivation and en-
sure the conditions for Salesians to have the opportunity to be
integrated into social services; in others, the question of the "pas-
toral conversion" that motivates some confreres to want to live
and serve in these peripheries is still pending. It is important for
consecrated Salesians to be involved in these programmes be-
cause they are part of the preferential option of our mission, and
for this reason we cannot abandon it, nor leave it to the laity
alone, who sometimes feel and complain about the absence ofthe
religious. This imbalance jeopardises the Salesian mission in the
field of social service. Together we are called to revive, recreate
and sometimes even re-found the spirit ofValdocco, in an atmo-
sphere of mutual trust, since each is invited to contribute their
own specific nature and qualities. Sometimes this can be a real
return to the origins.

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30 ACTS OF THE GENERAL COUNCIL
b. Presences dedicated exclusively to the social works and
services setting
There are many provinces with Salesian presences whose ded-
ication to the mission in the social sector is absolute. Because of
the impact of the institutions in this sector, Salesian social works
constitute a setting in their own right, as there are a series of
charismatic factors, legal and regulatory requirements to which
they must respond and which give them their own identity and
dynamic. It is more and more common for this setting to be de-
scribed and specified in the Overall Province Plans, with clear
options and criteria for its development in the life of the province.
In our Congregation we have simple social works and others that
are more complex, both because of the number of programmes
and services they offer, and because of their articulation and
connection with other settings.
As in any process of growth and maturation of institutions,
it is necessary to plan the future of these works, but always en-
suring that they respond with quality and dignity' to the needs
of their beneficiaries. It is necessary to overcome the mentality,
still persistent in some provinces, that causes there to be a gap
and a difference between the buildings, equipment and profiles
of the educators and operators of the works that cater to young
people living without economic deprivation and those that cater
to the poorest. This perpetuates the difference between those
who have more opportunities and those who are less favoured
and, to be faithful to the Lord Jesus and Don Bosco, we cannot
allow this, because the poor deserve the best from us - as we
iearned from Don Bosco.
The situations in which the disadvantaged find themselves
must never frighten us. On the contrary, every time we as Sale-
sians meet these young people we must be enthusiastic about ac-
companying them in their process of preparation for life. Hence
the need to be very professional in the formative processes we
offer them, since each young person is a project of God that we
have a responsibility to accompany.

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THE RECTOR MAJOR 31
Our strength as Salesians lies in letting ourselves be helped
and also in learning from others. We cannot do good alone. For
this reason, in the social works setting we must involve a large
number of suitable people, trained in different areas of knowl-
edge and disciplines, who can enlighten the reflection and action
to be carried out on behalf of these young people and the com-
munities they accompany. On the other hand, in the animation
and shared governance of our works, we need to generate the
necessary mechanisms so that the decision-making process is also
shared with the laity and the culture of evaluating processes is
established.
Ofcourse, the question ofprofitability and economic sustain-
ability of this type of work is always a concern. To ensure this,
we have recourse to our pastoral intelligence and the ability to
establish agreements with governments, regional or local admin-
istrations, private associations or organisations working in de-
velopment cooperation, both nationally and internationally. What
we must never forget is whose sons we are and what protection
we have when working those he loved most.
A very important criterion to pay attention to at this point is
the question of who to enter into partnerships with, so that in
the search for financial resources we do not allow ourselves to
be forced into actions that run the risk of selling out our identity.
I must say that our evangelising intention in social works and
services is non-negotiable. So the goodness of this setting lies in
the fact that we sow the seeds of the Kingdom, even in non-Chris-
tian religious contexts, by our actions in the midst of the most
disadvantaged communities, and always with respect and free-
dom for others, but without losing one iota of our Christian and
Salesian identity.

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32 ACTS OF THE GENERAL COUNCIL
2.2. Pastoral care and accompaniment with suitable and
prepared animators
Every programme, every service and every social work of our
Congregation shows that in the various provinces and EPCs, con-
secrated individuals and lay people have experienced a great
openness of heart in feeling sent to young people at risk; they
have reflected on the best strategies to follow in order to propose
the relevant accompaniment processes for them and have made
the appropriate decisions to guarantee the continuity required
by the projects. This is a courageous action, because it is not easy
to pursue initiatives that defend those who "create problems and
annoyances".
At this point I would like to express a well-deserved acknowled-
gement to the many lay men and women who work at the various
levels of our works and social services, both as educators, as ser-
vice staff and as specialists in the various sectors (social peda-
gogues and re-education experts, social workers, psychologists,
health experts, school teachers and workshop instructors, work
placement staff, management and administration staff, direc-
tors). To all of you I say: Thank you, in the name of our Father
Don Bosco, for your good work, because through the contribution
of each one ofyou, children, adolescents and older youth and the
communities and neighbourhoods where rights are violated find
true fathers and mothers who care about them and who make
them feel God's care.
I know that many of you live your profession with deep pas-
sion to the point of taking it on as a true vocation. This makes
you true apostles of the Gospel. Many of you, in so many coun-
tries of the world, come from cultures and religious traditions
proper to their contexts, and this makes us even closer, because
it is on the basis of the values we share that we recognise our-
selves as members of the same family born in Valdocco.
I know that you, dear lay people, return home at the end of
your busy days to continue the work of your beloved families,

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THE RECTOR MAJOR 33
and that you often sacrifice part ofyour personal time to respond
to the call of the young people in Salesian work.
I also know that on some occasions some of you have experi-
enced moments of misunderstanding.
I encourage you to go forward, knowing that in the certainty
of the vocation you have received you will always find the
strength for a sincere dialogue that will help you to grow and
mature. Thank you for your life, your friendship and your
accompaniment of the young people, of the EPC and of us
Salesians.
And I also address profound recognition to my dear Salesian
confreres, coadjutor brothers and priests, who with immense pas-
toral charity have given themselves, or continue to give them-
selves, to the service of the poorest.
Many of my confreres have sanctified themselves in silent
obedience and communicated God's grace to the suffering, to
those who are most afflicted and needy, assisting them, standing
by their side, counselling them, offering them new possibilities
in which to direct their gaze. Many have faced misunderstand-
ings because we have not always nor everywhere been prepared
to understand the educational and social proposals. Many Sale-
sians find a vibrant dynamic of our charism in the methodology
of social works and services, because they are spaces that move
away from rigidity, offering freshness and launching bold pastoral
missions.
I ask the Lord for the grace that many young Salesians, start-
ing from the formation houses themselves, may become enthu-
siastic about apostolates in contact with the streets and de-
pressed environments where, as happened to John Bosco as a
young priest, they may be moved by the situations of degradation
ofhumanity, and find happiness in the friendship and being with
these young people.
Thanks be to God there are many confreres today who direct

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34 ACTS OF THE GENERAL COUNCIL
their vocational life project to working in this setting that allows
us to see the face of the Risen Lord without any veil. It remains
a challenge for our processes of initial, specific and ongoing for-
mation to offer the tools that will enable Salesians to know and
love the social dimension of our presence, so as to be competent
in this field and thus pertinently propose the pastoral action that
it requires.
2.3. Ministry that takes the family into consideration
The family is the natural home of every human being. It is in
the family that one learns to be a person and a citizen. Many of
the dramas experienced by teenagers and older youth in social
services have their origin in their family situation.
There are families that are harmonious, stable, welcoming
and attentive to the well-being of each of their members, but
there are also families, faced with the problems of one of their
children, where they have neither the capacity nor the resources
to facilitate the healing and reintegration process. Some ofthese
situations are, for example, drug use, involvement in criminal or
violent groups, threats to personal integrity from third parties
or legal proceedings.28 In some cases, families fall victim to ex-
ternal causes that break them up, and children are left without
supportive ties and bonds to support them, as in the case of re-
gions where there are situations of war, forced displacement due
to violence, natural disasters and, in particular, all types of mi-
gration. The phenomenon of poverty, combined with the emo-
tional instability of some parents, leads them to have behavioural
problems that often affect their children. The family becomes
dysfunctional and ends up being an adverse and even abusive
environment.
"The reality has become so complex that today we cannot
think offamily in the singular, but in the plural. There is not just
28 Cf. GC28, pp. 69-70, no. 2.

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THE RECTOR MAJOR 35
one family, rather there are families. Despite the various configu-
rations of families, we can affirm that the family relationship is
a component of major importance because for better or for worse,
it is the only access to construction and development of one's
own identity. The family is is a relational context that supports
transformation; it is in fact the institution that 'organises' the
primary relationships and fundamental differences of humans...
When it comes to caring for the family, first and foremost, this
necessarily implies caring for the members of the family, in their
diversity and in their dignity; no institution must be above people
and their integral human development."29
The re-integrative element of Salesian social pedagogy seeks
to enable the young person, in their process of personal matura-
tion, to rebuild the broken ties with their family. From this
point of view, the recent Salesian document "Youth Ministry and
Family" teaches us that since our ministry is addressed primarily
to young people, we cannot isolate them from the world to which
they belong, and we are therefore called to accompany family
realities to guarantee them the right conditions, both for living
together and for mutual support, from affective to economic sta-
bility. A fragmented family puts each of its members at risk, and
social intervention aims to establish the causes of this malaise
in order to activate in the young person the possible paths to
follow so that they can reintegrate into it, being part of a
welcoming, affectionate and formative environment of which
they feel an important part, and which they can help consoli-
date.30 In this same movement, it is ideal that families join in the
reintegration process of young people as a sure key to their
recovery. 31
29 SALESIAN YOUTH MINISTRY DEPARTMENT, Youth Ministry and Family,
Editrice S.D.B., Rome 2021, p. 12.
30 Cf. CG28, p. 81 n. 15.
31 Cf. CG28, p. 82 n. 15h.

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3. COMMITMENT TO INTEGRAL HUMAN DEVELOPMENT
The social doctrine of the Church has inspired and continues
to inspire Salesian work. Our educational proposals have a
spiritual perspective because we act in the name of God and di-
rect our actions towards him; but they also have a socio-political
perspective, because we are committed to the transformation of
reality, and in this same respect we accompany young people to
commit themselves and be dynamic agents of culture. This
change of mentality requires that we break with the logic that
enslaves and people by offering them ideologies, and move
forward together towards integral human development. This con-
cept is tied to the idea of "growth"32 which for many years guided
indicators that sought to measure the evolution of societies from
a financial point of view alone. Church teaching leads us to un-
derstand that every beneficial change in the material and social
dimension of people is directly linked to their transcendence,33
and is a call to be truly human, for this is God's plan for all
humanity and also, of course, for believers who find in Christ the
measure of the perfect man.34
This process brings together many efforts for justice, peace
and care for creation. Pope Francis has published his valuable
encyclicals Laudato si' (2015) and Fratelli tutti (2020) around
this proposal, and since 2016 has even set up a specific Dicastery
to regulate and administer issues relating to migrants, the poor-
est, the sick, the excluded and marginalised, victims of armed
conflicts and natural disasters, prisoners, the unemployed and
victims of all kinds of slavery and torture; as well as the COVID
19 pandemic accompaniment programme and the coordination
of integral ecology through the Laudato Si' platform. It is clear
that we cannot speak of Salesian Social Works and Services with-
out recognising that we are involved in this call to participate in
82 PAUL VI, Populorum progressio, 14.
88 FRANCIS, Laudato si', 225.
34 Cf. Eph 4:13.

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THE RECTOR MAJOR 37
the path of integral human development to which Pope Francis
has invited the Church and the world. It is, so to speak, the offi-
cial agenda ofthe Church to which we are institutionally aligned
as a Congregation. This adds value to the significance of our
works, reinforces the charismatic identity of our educational and
social intervention and enlightens us in our choice of allies and
stakeholders.
3.1. The importance of works for young people at risk
and social innovation
The Salesian mission, in all its institutional manifestations
and in programmes of assistance to populations in situations
where rights are violated, generates processes that start from re-
spect for each individual, accompanying them to discover their
place in the world in dialogue with the evangelical values of the
Christian faith or their own beliefs. Development theory calls
this phenomenon of change "social innovation", which takes into
account the wealth existing in a population, seeking to generate
habits in people starting from their possibilities, so that they can
find their own path towards a more dignified life. In this way,
Salesian charism and social innovation are like two sides of the
same coin: the former in the theological and pastoral and spiri-
tual sense, and the latter in today's academic and civil language,
which seeks to indicate processes of cohesion within the culture,
leading individuals and communities to integral human develop-
ment and, hence, from our worldview of life, to transcendence.
Pope Francis establishes an important and necessary dialogue
in his magisterium between the language of the Church's social
commitment, which defends human dignity, and that of interna-
tional organisations that guarantee policies for the well-being of
peoples.
In recent decades, there have been many agendas promoted
by Church and civil organisations working in the field of devel-
opment cooperation, most of which converge on the concept of

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38 ACTS OF THE GENERAL COUNCIL
sustainability. An organisation, in this case a social work or ser-
vice, is sustainable when it generates a healthy balance between
fulfilling its mission, the impact it has on the environment arid
the financial sustainability that sustains it. From this point of
view, it is interesting to consider sustainability as a component
that helps to evaluate the meaning of Salesian works and social
services. It is an opportunity to overcome the danger that exists
in many social (and sometimes ecclesial) institutions of reducing
the values of the Gospel and social doctrine to merely philan-
thropic actions, by drawing real processes of accompaniment
to transcendence from our intervention plans.
3.2. Complementarity of Salesian know-how and institu-
tions
The pastoral model leading to integral human development
in the Salesian social works and services is enriched by the
contribution of various disciplines, among which I would like to
highlight the following:
a. The Salesian contribution in the approach to human rights
in our contexts
Cultural plurality and legal requirements have led the Sale-
sian Family to feel the challenge of having to respond in a par-
ticular way to the needs ofyoung people at risk in every context.
However, the phenomenon of globalisation is making the factors
that cause social injustice and the violation of people's rights, as
well as the strategies that are generated to combat them, increas-
ingly common and similar in all societies and places.
Understanding the sociological keys of each historical mo-
ment in the various contexts is an opportunity to strengthen
Salesian work in the Salesian social works and services setting,
and is a concrete way of projecting it into the future to ensure
its significance. This discipline provides us with the tools to
ensure that our commitment to the young is ongoing, because
society is always evolving; it helps us to be profound and passion-

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THE RECTOR MAJOR 39
ate in our work, because the more we are able to analyse the con-
dition of human change, the more opportunities we will have to
find the keys to the changes that lead to integral development.
Using an interdisciplinary methodology, by setting up obser-
vatories that facilitate a careful and constant sociological inter-
pretation of the phenomena that drive the dynamics of children
and young people, the way is indicated for configuring educa-
tional processes to be followed and entrance is given to various
forums, such as those that are set up in every country and in
every region to denounce the violation of the rights of minors.
At the same time, the opportunity is offered to work for the de-
fence of these rights. The task of observing these phenomena is
essential in this setting, because in the formulation of the
SEPP a proper analysis of the context will make the offer of
our. social services conspicuous and will keep us relevant among
social sector institutions.
As a Church and as a Salesian Congregation, we recognise
that human rights are a precious gift that we must defend and
promote. Our local and provincial communities have come a long
way in this regard. In 2009, with the Preventive System and Hu-
man Rights Congress, the Congregation made the choice that
this approach run across all settings and levels of our structures
in the world. In a special way, we look at the Convention on the
Rights of the Child that the United Nations proclaimed in 1989
as a global agreements which gives importance to children as
people who have the right to be educated in an integral manner,
helping them to develop all their capacities and strengthen their
personalities. In this way, a pathway is ensured through which
humanity can safely advance towards the attainment of peace
and human dignity, insofar as the new generations are respected
and formed in this attitude.
It should reassure us to know that as religious and lay people
of the EPC we take the necessary measures and develop the nec-
essary tools to safeguard the integrity of children and the entire
community, knowing that all its members must know, internalise,
respect and observe them.

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40 ACTS OF THE GENERAL COUNCIL
b. Social pedagogy from a Salesian perspective
When we speak of social risk, we mean the concrete possibility
that people's human rights are affected or radically violated. In
the most diverse human contexts we find many forms of poverty
that affect children in general. However, contexts of high socio-
economic poverty concentrate a large number of elements that
put people's dignity at risk. There are many human peripheries
that bring with them the marginalisation suffered by millions
of people compared to some of the benefits enjoyed by ordinary
citizens. In more scandalous and degrading cases, we see how
millions of other human beings live in total exclusion, unable to
have the opportunities that should be guaranteed in all societies.
Our charismatic option on behalfofthe poorest demands that
we commit ourselves, as far as possible, to help break cycles of
poverty and exclusion, and we do this, fundamentally, through
education. In most provinces that have social programmes there
is the challenge of training social educators and social peda-
gogues, since it is not easy to find the right profiles in all contexts
and, in many cases, there is not even an academic offer to prepare
them as such.
From a lay perspective, social educators and social peda-
gogues are a very similar figure to the Salesian assistant
that Don Bosco wanted for his settings. Through social peda-
gogy, we ask ourselves about the type of citizen we must accom-
pany towards maturity, starting from the recognition of the
uniqueness of the children, teenagers and older youth of these
presences of ours.
Among the many valuable writings on social pedagogy,
I would like to simply suggest the up-to-date reading'lS ofthe Pre-
ventive System offered by our Fr Jean Marie Peticlerc, who notes
that there are three key moments in which Salesian social works
and services currently propose accompaniment processes for
35 Cf. PETICLERC JEAN MARIE, I ualori piu significatiui del Sistema Preuentiuo,
in AA. Vv., Sistema preuentiuo e diritti umani, Roma 2009.

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THE RECTOR MAJOR 41
young people at risk: the pedagogy of welcome, the pedagogy of
hope and the pedagogy of alliance.
- The pedagogy of welcome identifies the first steps that edu-
cators take to make contact with each individual young
person. From there, the link is generated that will allow each
of them to open up to the pedagogical proposals. This is pos-
sible because the young person recognises the credibility of
the educator who accompanies him. Indeed, iftrust is lacking,
there will be no educational process.
- The pedagogy of hope allows one to see how educators and
specialists from different disciplines propose approaches to
accompany the young person, helping him (or her) to mature
in an integral manner. One perceives that there is a path to
follow, based on trust that will bear fruit.
- Finally, the pedagogy of alliance allows us to discover the net-
work of networks that is being built and that must guarantee
people, in this case young people who turn to our works and so-
cial services, the opportunities that will help them grow as citi-
zens, exercise their rights and duties and participate in a healthy
development of culture. This demonstrates the regulatory func-
tion of society as a guarantor of rights, channelled through the
role of the state and public institutions, as well as the bodies
that are supposed to ensurethe well-being of citizens.
c. Complementarity ofknow-how
.As I have already said, the pastoral and psycho-social model
is based on building trust, hope and alliance. It is marvellous to
observe how Don Bosco's Preventive System has the capacity to
involve so many people - lay and consecrated - who enrich our
presence with new languages, new educational experiences, new
paths to follow in order to reach out to the young people most in
need. In this work of complementarity, we consecrated Salesians
also have the opportunity to contribute to the great wealth of
personal and spiritual accompaniment of minors, their families
and their neighbourhood or local communities.

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42 ACTS OF THE GENERAL COUNCIL
In addition to a rich pastoral experience in our Congregation,
we have an abundant intellectual patrimony that has given rise
to schools, institutes, vocational training centres, centres for
the care of minors, research groups and numerous scientific
publications that make our Universities and Institutions of
Higher Education true focal points enlightening reflection in
the various spheres of knowledge, and that take on particular
significance when this has an impact on the process of accompa-
nying individuals and groups. This enormous capacity has been
carried forward by Salesians and lay people who have offered,
and continue to offer today, their intellectual capacities at the
service of the mission.
Among the important higher education offerings, our Pontifical
Salesian University in Rome, as a university ofthe Congregation,
has seen significant academic productions in the fields of peda-
gogy and social pedagogy, psychology and sociology. We must
continue along these lines and increase collaboration with other
IUS (Institutes of Higher Education) and universities in the com-
mitment to human development in multiple fields.
I appeal to the provinces, and to those who serve in social
works, that in the midst of their intense apostolic work (educa-
tional and social), they perform a healthy exercise of pastoral in-
telligence so as not to give in to the tyranny of responding only
to the urgent. We need to systematise our educational action and
keep it constantly updated, with an ongoing analysis of reality,
contexts and achievements that can make the mission meaning-
ful. It is true that not all communities have the capacity to per-
form this task, so it is ofgreat value to generate networks in this
aspect too.
This is why I also invite our higher education institutions to
ensure that much oftheir reflection on the social sector can come
from the territories where our Salesian works are located and
from the experience we undergo in them. May university re-
search truly fulfil its social function ofproviding data and reflec-
tions that lead to a wise understanding of human and cultural
phenomena, and may this enable the various social agents and

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THE RECTOR MAJOR 43
educators to make decisions, thus generating the necessary and
even innovative actions for each environment.
Finally, I invite our Social Works and Services, our Salesian
Universities, the Youth Ministry Sector, the Congregation's Mis-
sions and Social Communication Sector, the Mission Offices and
NGOs of Salesian inspiration, and the Provinces to unite and co-
ordinate more and more, and to work in multi-sectoral projects
with a sense of communion and shared responsibility, to continue
to offer the best possible and responsible responses to these mi-·
nors and young people, and to their impoverished communities;
and, all this, always in fidelity to the charism.
3.3 Involvement in active citizenship
From the logic with which I have presented the reflection up
to this point, it is easy to conclude that it is not possible to have
a proposal for integral human development that favours people
without involving them in this very process, so I emphasise two
very important aspects that help us to strengthen this purpose:
a. Formation to active citizenship
Active citizenship leads to the formation of people who are
sensitive and attentive to the great challenges of humanity and
the desire to do something to find common solutions.
It is very important to motivate and teach young people to
reflect and propose paths, objectives and processes based on the
value and wealth of the people in their place, territory and con-
text. This will enable them to exercise leadership in the pursuit
of the common good and the improvement of their own lives and
those of others. From a faith and Christian perspective, this
means preparing young people who will be true "missionary dis-
ciples" (using Pope Francis' words)36 capable of being significant
here and now.
There are specialised programmes for formation in active
36 FRANCIS, Evangelii Gaudium, nos. 119-121.

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44 ACTS OF THEE GEENEERAL COUNCIL
citizenship in a significant number of provinces, designed both
to form young people and adults in this field and to generate pro-
jects that strengthen this dimension of active citizenship in the
various pastoral settings.
b. Volunteering for building up social friendship
Volunteering is one of the realities found in Valdocco since
the origins of the charism (even ifit is a term more suited to our
times than to those of that time). It was the young people them-
selves who wanted to help Don Bosco carry out his mission. From
that experience some of them stayed with l:i.im, and with some of
them Don Bosco founded the Salesian Congregation. It is beau-
tiful to imagine what Mamma Margaret must have thought when
Don Bosco asked her help to be the mother of his young people.
She must have felt a lot of emotion and a deep joy in knowing
that she was helping her son in something important. She may
have felt nostalgia at leaving the house where she had lived for
so many years: the land she had worked so hard for, her family
and neighbours. She must have felt uncertainty in leaving for
the unknown, as the life that awaited her at Valdocco was un-
doubtedly an unknown one. In spite of everything, she accepted
her son's invitation and contributed to improving the lives of
many young people.
The Salesian mission continued to spread throughout the
world, fruit of the Holy Spirit (the true inspirer of the charism),
and many people joined in. Like Don Bosco, we too need help
today to continue building the Kingdom of God wherever the
Lord has planted us. Like Don Bosco, we too can propose to
young people that they be shepherds and educators of other
young people, and one way of doing this, among the many ways
of living and committing ourselves, is through volunteering.
We can promote a culture of solidarity through this experi-
ence, the opening of the heart's mind. Through encounters with
others, in other cultures and geographies, the volunteer experi-
ence should offer people, especially young people who have been
beneficiaries of our accompaniment processes in some Salesian

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THE RECTOR MAJOR 45
settings, an experience that helps them to gain a valid and rich
perspective on their lives. The same Salesian presences that host
volunteers are positively impacted by their presence.
There are various types of volunteer work in our youth min-
istry in which people generously donate their time, their work
and their lives in Salesian houses or in the various services of-
fered, which is also a very important indicator ofthese presences
in the consolidation of integral human development. This expe-
rience, which takes place above all in our social and missionary
works, is a gift from God that is lived in the Salesian world and
has created bonds of friendship and belonging between volun-
teers, Salesians and young people in the works. The Salesian
communities that welcome volunteers are also challenged by
their very presence and often feel the challenge that contact and
collaboration with volunteers represent in order to live being
Salesians of Don Bosco in an ever more witnessing way.
3.4. Education to the faith and accompaniment in Salesian
social works
At a time when Salesian social works seek above all to priori-
tise people (children, teenagers and older youth) rather than
structures, services and management itself, we cannot forget that
"for us evangelisation and catechesis are the fundamental dimen-
sions of our mission". Like Don Bosco, "we are all called to be
educators of the faith" 37 on every occasion and in every context.
Catechesis and education in the faith are not something we
should offer only to the most fortunate, able and capable boys
and girls. It is precisely those most in need who are the first to
be enriched by the gift of the Lord's presence in their lives, by
the gift of faith - whatever their religion. Let us not fall into the
error of thinking that these privileged beneficiaries of ours are
never sufficiently prepared to make this journey of Christian ini-
tiation or maturing in the faith. This is why we wrote that "Don
37 Cf. C 34.

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Bosco passed on a passion for the salvation of the young, through
his constant involvement in simple, essential catechesis adapted
to the circumstances, age and culture of the young and linked
with other educational and :recreational offerings by the Oratory.
Salesian catechesis does not happen as the end-point of a
preparatory course but is implicitly at the heart ofinitial encoun-
ters and explicitly part of everything we offer. Don Bosco did not
make a distinction between first proclamation and catechesis,
but when he met a boy he immediately found a convenient mo-
ment to invite him to embark on a journey of Christian life."38
Faithful to the Salesian tradition, I believe it is essential not
to overlook the fact that education in the faith and catechesis are
placed at the service ofthe integral formation of the human per-
son, always with respect for each individual.
4. THE SCOPE OF THE PREVENTIVE SYSTEM
The Preventive System, in which we find the Salesian educa-
tional and spiritual identity, takes concrete form in a very special
way in the care of teenagers and older youth at social risk in dif-
ferent educational and pastoral models. Every pastoral setting
must be able to give an adequate and specific response to the re-
ality of the young people with whom we share our lives, according
to the Oratory criterion as a permanent source of inspiration.
Salesian social works and services have a twofold task: to pre-
vent situations that may violate the rights of children and young
people, and to heal the wounds caused by the violation of these
rights, which have led to painful conditions of marginalisation.
The defence, restitution and safeguarding ofthe rights of chil-
dren, teenagers and older youth - as well as their families, groups
and neighbourhoods - give the Salesian Preventive System a very
38 SALESIAN YOUTH MINISTRY DEPARTMENT, Salesian Youth Ministry Frame
ofReference, Editrice S.D.B., Rome 20143, pp. 150-153.

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THE RECTOR MAJOR 47
concrete characterisation and implementation. Mitigation of so-
cial risk, the restoration of rights, and reintegration into social
life are the expected results of this pastoral action. Starting from
our evangelising option, all our settings are called to have a social
outlook in favour of the poorest and most disadvantaged.
We cannot judge young people only from their problems. It is
true that it is not easy to work in the social works and services
setting. Like Don Bosco, patience and a high tolerance of frus-
tration must be enriched by faith and the certainty of working
for the Kingdom of God. But at the same time, the enormous sat-
isfaction of seeing the results in many of these young people, in
each of them, each at their own pace and according to their own
possibilities, each with their own gifts, continues to be a "sign of
resurrection" as at Nain.
It is a joy that we experience as Salesians and lay people
because we are certain that the option for Salesian social works
and services reflects the very face of God.
4.1. A constant response
Don Bosco's charism is a manifestation of God's predilection
for the young and, among them, for the least favoured. This is
demonstrated by the multiplicity of projects that make up the
Salesian Congregation's social works and services sector in 134
countries. At present, Salesians and lay people in our presences
care for children, teenagers, older youth and communities at risk
in about 1,120 programmes in five continents, linked to the var-
ious pastoral settings of some works, or that make up educative
and pastoral communities with specific projects based on the so-
cial model. These experiences are the result of many decades of
generous work in which the local and provincial communities
have responded with faith to the voice of the Spirit, reacting to
the needs of the young people in their contexts and circumstances
renewing and updating the way of interpreting and applying the
preventive system.

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48 ACTS OF THE GENERAL COUNCIL
In spite of the distances and cultural differences in which the
various proposals were born, this setting is becoming increasingly
consolidated, both because ofthe systematisation and profession-
alisation of the processes proposed in the face of the various
youth problems, and because ofthe legislative evolution that has
characterised the social sector (sometimes called the third sec-
tor). The phenomenon of globalisation has also standardised the
problems that put people's dignity at risk and, in response to
this, networking has led to responses that enable appropriate so-
lutions to be offered.
As Rector Major I indicated the "absolute priority for the
young, the poorest and most abandoned and defenceless" in my
action programme for the Congregation after GC28 and I said
with deep conviction that "if one day we were to leave behind
the youngsters, older youth and, among them the poorest, our
Congregation would begin to die".39
I am very grateful to the Lord to see the progress made in
many local and provincial communities. I now renew the invita-
tion to continue to share the wealth of the chari.smatic heritage
we possess, so that together we can continue to shape and con-
solidate the evangelising and educational identity of this impor-
tant setting in which we are also witnesses of the Lord's love
and goodness. In order to achieve this, we increasingly need
to unify the languages that will lead us to understand each other
and to dialogue about what we consider important in our
proposals; we will thus be able to establish the minimum
but common criteria that must guide the SEPP of this educative
and pastoral setting in which we work with the poorest and
most abandoned, and strengthen the networking among
the provinces and regions within our Congregation. It is true
that there are countries and provinces where this reflection is
very advanced; in other cases it is proceeding more slowly, but
significant steps are being taken.
39 Cf. CC28, pp. 35-38.

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THE RECTOR MAJOR 49
With these words, I wish to accompany and support the
efforts of many provinces that have decisively indicated the
preferential option for the poorest in their OPP and dedicated
all kinds ofresources to this mission, and guarantee the sustainabi-
lity of these programmes and services.
Likewise, I follow with great hope the consolidated work of
some Provincial Conferences and Regions that have created co-
ordination structures for the management, communication and
formation processes of the social sector in their territories.
In this regard I would like to highlight the work carried out
by Youth at Risk (YAR) in India; the Salesian Social Action Net-
work in Brazil; the Salesians for Social Action in Italy; the Sale-
sian Social Platforms in Spain and the experience of the Salesian
Social Action America Network (RASS).which has been operating
for more than 20 years of uninterrupted reflection and joint ac-
tion and includes 18 Provinces from the 2 regions of the Ameri-
can continent. In all these experiences there are lines of action
defined in quality action plans, consolidated youth intervention
strategies, suitable technological support andjoint formation pro-
grammes. Above all, I happily note the intense educational and
evangelising passion on behalf of the poorest young people and
those at risk.
A vecy significant part of these proposals is carried out to-
gether with the Daughters of Macy Help of Christians and other
groups ofthe Salesian Family, where the significant contribution
ofeach enriches the charismatic response ofSalesian educational
proposals in the world. This shared responsibility in the work of
our family has been a source of revitalisation. And the commit-
ment to working as a Salesian Family is a constitutive feature
of our identity that makes our social works and services a true
"theological place of encounter with God".
There are also vecy significant cases where partnerships with
other religious congregations and dioceses have come into being,
making our work an increasingly ecclesial commitment.

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50 ACTS OF THE GENERAL COUNCIL
4.2. New forms of mission
The World Consultative Council for Social Works and Services
held in Rome in 2019, convened by the Youth Ministry Sector in
the context of the Synod on Young People, ratified the path that
this setting must continue to follow, in line with Pope Francis'
proposal on integral human development. In continuity with the
reflection carried out in 2019 and as part of The Rector Major's
Guidelines for the Salesian Congregation after GC28 I have con-
sidered it necessary to convoke an International Congress of
Salesian Social Works and Services as a place for conver-
gence of all the Provinces and Institutions to which they belong
to pray, reflect, share and propose agreements and common ac-
tions that will consolidate this setting in our Congregation.
We live in an era of rapid social change and, for this very rea-
son, social services are also evolving rapidly. In the face of this
reality, this educative and pastoral setting must be defined not
so much by the services offered, but by the method that leads it
to impact, in terms of integral human development, on the lives
of children, teenagers and older youth. The ongoing observation
of social and cultural phenomena gives us the possibility of iden-
tifying which are the peripheries of the human situation and,
therefore, of proposing new operational strategies to reach peo-
ple. The ability to intercept all the situations that cause so much
human suffering, so much marginalisation, and tend to create
situations of "waste", especially among children and young peo-
ple, drives us to provide concrete responses.
I cannot fail to mention, in this regard, at least three great
wounds that afflict humanity at this time.
a. The devastating effect ofthe COVID pandemic
The arrival of the pandemic had dramatic effects on the world
economy. Many production cycles came to a halt and the provi-
sion of services was reduced exponentially. However, our work in
social works and services has been boosted by situations such as
assistance to the sick, solidarity chains in the distribution offood

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THE RECTOR MAJOR 51
and other basic necessities. As for minors and young people at
risk, at the time of the pandemic they were already there; that
was their home, we could not turn them away and leave them on
the street. Providence gave us the strength to accompany them
and the resources to survive in the midst of the crisis.
As I write this letter, the scourge of the pandemic has not yet
disappeared and the virus continues to mutate. The COVID 19
pandemic has affected all spheres and levels of society: both "af-
fluent" societies and the poorest and those touched by misery.
To the former belong the richest and most powerful of this world,
who also have better chances of accessing treatment. However,
we cannot forget that in the poorest and most abandoned places
- in countries considered as "developing" - the health crisis
caused by COVID 19 continues to be one of the most aberrant
social injustices that exist today and to which many populations
are subjected as a consequence of political negligence, corruption
and lack of solidarity of one part of the world towards the other
(the largest and poorest).
b. The dastardly war in Ukraine
As I have said in other texts, the dastardly war that led to the
invasion of Ukraine has shattered many dreams of peace that
had arisen over the past decades. Destruction, damage, deaths
and families decimated by the loss of their loved ones are the first
consequences of this drama. Our solidarity is with all the
Ukrainian people and, in a special way, with our confreres and
members of the Salesian Family who have not wavered in their
mission to be concrete signs of God's presence among the people.
We have witnessed many signs of unity and solidarity. Our
Salesian provinces in Europe (both SDB and FMA) responded
admirably, activating plans to take in thousands of families dis-
placed by the bombing and destruction. In many cases, processes
have been implemented to link them to the social systems of the
various host countries and to ensure their well-being. Salesian
houses in the countries bordering Ukraine, and beyond, have
served as reception and distribution centres for humanitarian

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52 ACTS OF THE GENERAL COUNCIL
aid from all over the world. We have seen how, in the different
places where our Ukrainian brothers and sisters have arrived,
the faith that impels us to act in solidarity and to be one family
has been celebrated and shared.
c. Other places ofpain, death and hunger
It would be a serious oversight on my part if I did not mention
here the reality of pain, death and hunger in many other places
where war between sister societies, civil wars and terrorist
groups (many of them in Africa) continue to be a scourge that
seems to have no end, and which are not visible to the media be-
cause they take place in areas that do not respond to the interests
of the groups that control economic power on a global scale.
There too, our brothers and sisters, together with other members
of the Don Bosco Family, are present with proposals of resurrec-
tion and life in the midst of a culture of death.
4.3. Salesian social works and services among migrants
and refugees
In his Message for the 2018 World Day of Migrants and
Refugees, Pope Francis wrote that "Every stranger who knocks
at our door is an opportunity for an encounter with Jesus Christ,
who identifies with the welcomed and rejected strangers of every
age".40 He emphasised that in the face of this drama of millions
of people forced to leave their lands because of wars, poverty and
violence, our common response could be articulated around four
verbs: "welcome, protect, promte and integrate". As GC28 said,
migrants cannot be a problem, they are a great opportunity for
us Salesians today to meet Jesus.
The Pope encourages us to "touch the wounds" of the bodies
of those who suffer; when this happens we become truly sensitive
•° FRANCIS, Message for the World Day of Migrants and Refugees 2018,
"Welcoming, protecting, promoting and integrating migrants and refugees",
Rome 15 August 2017.

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THE RECTOR MAJOR 53
to their pain and, as people of faith and pastors of the young,
we are invited not to stand still in the face of this drama. The
Salesian charism finds its full meaning in this field, which is the
pastoral/social service that is growing the most in the Congrega-
tion, and in which we also develop proposals for accompaniment
for the different types of migration, both within some nations
and in the international migrations t.hat a good part of the
provinces deal with.
In this regard, I would like to emphasise our focus on perma-
nent voluntary migration for economic, work or study reasons.
We also deal with people in temporary voluntary migration, es-
pecially workers who enter seasonally to participate in the labour
markets of developed countries. We accompany forced migrations
undertaken by people fleeing their countries because of war,
violence, epidemics or natural disasters. Some of these migrants
are refugees seeking political asylum and many of them are
forced to stay for long periods of time waiting for unsuccessful
responses from governments. In this respect, I would like to
thank our confreres for the great work done in the refugee camps
of Palabek in Uganda, Kakhuma in Kenya and Juba (South
Sudan), where, despite the difficult circumstances, our being
there is a beacon of hope for these people.
All migrants have in common the search for well-being,
their own and that of their families, who have often remained
in their place of origin and for whom reunification is generally
sought. This leads us to discover that the "affective" value in
migration is one of the components to take into account when
pastorally accompanying a person arriving from afar. We must
ask ourselves what the migrant we see passing by our door
must feel in their heart; we must question ourselves about
their loneliness and the circumstances in which they left their
home, loved ones, village and people. We Salesians cannot con-
sider migrations as a "statistical phenomenon" to be analysed
on the basis of figures; on the contrary, we must face this
drama with the hope of generating life, freeing ourselves from

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54 ACTS OF THE GENERAL COUNCIL
the habit of "political correctness". The Gospel does not in-
clude "political correctness"!
Many proposals underway in some Salesian provinces seek
to offer alternatives that bring dignity to immigrants. It is true
that working with the poor, who are also from another culture
or religion, who do not speak our language and who may carry
a heavy burden of social resentment, is difficult and unre-
warding. But we might ask ourselves what skills Don Bosco de-
veloped when he faced these same challenges with the boys
at Valdocco. In the different contexts of our educational com-
munities, we can ask ourselves what we can do to improve the
condition of migrants in our cities. In this way, parishes,
schools, oratories and vocational training centres can deter-
mine the number of migrants with whom to interact and offer
them a more meaningful space in which they can grow and
better integrate into society.
5. SUSTAINABILITY OF SOCIAL WORKS AND SERVICES
It is clear that the sustainability of projects and actions in
the social sector is important in order to be able to continue
doing good. There are three criteria that international develop-
ment cooperation agencies indicate when they think about the
sustainability of these social interventions. Sustainability is
guaranteed if they have the capacity to generate social equity
according to their mission, if they are able to guarantee ecolog-
ical sustainability and if they have the financial resources to
support this mission.
The balance of these three criteria in our presences must be
checked periodically by the EPC core team and must meet the
objectives and indicators of the SEPP. In any case, we are con-
vinced that working with this orientation is fully compatible with
trust and abandonment to Providence. Because doing things well,
with great transparency and communicating the good that one

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THE RECTOR MAJOR 55
does, opens the way for the generosity of benefactors who work
with us on the basis of trust and credibility. This is a very impor-
tant factor. Let us not forget to be very demanding of ourselves
in terms of clarity, honesty and transparency.
In fact, it is up to the management bodies of each presence,
project or programme in the social sector (depending on the
situation in each place) to ensure transparent reporting with
quality criteria, since the ability to negotiate resources, obtain
contracts with the various state bodies, establish inter-institu-
tional partnerships and to access national and international pro-
jects with cooperation agencies largely depends on this. It could
even be said that in most of the countries where we work as chil-
dren's rights defenders, this is precisely what we depend on
to get the licences that accredit or authorise our institutions to
provide the service.
All this involvement leads us to strengthen our efforts in a
planning and project mentality, in total harmony with what is
proposed to us in the Youth Ministry Framework. We must not
be lazy but be well organised in our apostolic action; without
falling into sterile efficiency.
Dear brothers and sisters, this work is certainly challenging,
but not impossible. That is why it is necessary to understand the
logic of the social or third sector and to choose critically the pro-
files of the people who join the mission and accompany us in the
various tasks to which we must respond. The careful care of hu-
man resources involves listening to people, accompanying them
in common formation, and guaranteeing the quality ofthe work,
always giving priority to those for whom the mission is intended.
By guaranteeing all this, we will always be able to make the most
appropriate decisions.
I therefore believe I can say that sustainability and the pas-
toral sense of Salesian works are two terms that complement
each other.

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5.1. The organisational structure in Salesian development
activities
When we have a clear approach to the roles and relationships
to be established in this particular field of Salesian mission, we
understand even more clearly the need to start from a systematic
and process-oriented pastoral approach in which authority is con-
ferred on the basis of service to the poorest. And this is much
more important than occupying this or some other position.
At the local level, those in charge of social works or social
programmes must ensure that the service provided is adequate,
i.e. that the educative and pastoral action responds to the needs
ofyoung people and their communities.
At the provincial level, the Planning and Development Offices
of each Province (PPDO) or Project Offices can support the work
of social works and services in the technical formulation ofthese
processes.
Development cooperation is a commitment ofdifferent social
actors. These offices have evolved in provinces, helping to provide
an increasingly systematic and process-oriented mentality, both
in the provinces and in the local communities.
It is also necessary, in order to ensure the quality and future
of these works, to look after the personnel, always being fair in
the relationship with workers and all those involved. To this end,
we must first of all ensure compliance with the labour laws of
each country, malring sure that workers receive a fair wage, in
line with their performance, and that they have decent working
conditions. And I say this thinking especially of those countries
where workers' rights are poorly protected and legal require-
ments are lower. We must distinguish ourselves as a Salesian
Congregation by a clear desire for true justice (which goes beyond
essential legality); otherwise the good we can do for the most vul-
nerable boys and girls will not be full and something will always
be missing.

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THE RECTOR MAJOR 57
At the international level, some Salesian institutions at
the UN and in Brussels are very significant. So are many of our
Non-Governmental Organisations for development cooperation
and our Mission Offices. All these institutions facilitate the
participation of our Salesian Congregation in cooperation for the
development of peoples. This new culture of collaboration, dona-
tion and aid that we are trying to generate in turn leads to
changes in mentality in the territories and among the people,
helps to ensure the sustainability of projects and also gives
greater charismatic meaning to our social works and services.
5.2. Decision-making process
The Salesian operational model proposes an integrated struc-
ture in the animation and governance of social works and ser-
vices, and designates the teams and decision-makers who are
called upon to make the most appropriate decisions to promote
a real response to the most vulnerable in this sector.
From this point of view, I would like to make some recom-
mendations that I believe are important to be more meaningful
and sustainable in this environment.
1. We must have a vision ofthe future
In the provinces where we provide social services, we need to
overcome the individualism and territorialism that isolate works
and hinder the development of the social sector. We need to pro-
ject ourselves into the future, so as to ensure the path towards
sustainability. I insisted on the need to have teams dedicated to
the observation of social phenomena and knowledge of the legis-
lation of each place so that we always know where we are going,
so that we do not lose presence, validity and meaning in the
service of those who need us.
2. We must have an integrated vision
It is necessary to allow local, provincial and, if necessary,
national social services to make the necessary decisions and,

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58 ACTS OF THE GENERAL COUNCIL
to this end, an appropriate delegation of authority is indispens-
able.
Given the lack of knowledge on the part of many managers
of the logic of the social sector and the legislation to which they
must respond, there is an urgent need for a profound sense of
institutional leadership and governance, that is, a collegial ability
to make decisions (each according to his or her responsibilities),
according to a common plan guided by specialists in the sector.
This governance mitigates the risk of each house or
province interpreting aspects of common interest differently
and autonomously. Not paying attention to this aspect would
lead (dare I say it metaphorically) to institutional "pachy-
dermia", moving slowly, lost in inefficient bureaucracies, and
jeopardising the most important thing which is the proper
achievement of our mission.
3. Always with an overall perspective on things
It is necessary to safeguard the unity of criteria and commit
to a vision that also benefits social programmes, both for people
and for the economy as a whole, avoiding the temptation to have
some works that are economically rich while others are so poor
that they may fail from institutional neglect.
Where sustainability is not achieved through agreements with
public institutions, the provinces should look for ways to guaran-
tee the life ofthese works and services included in the OPP; works
and services that are never economically profitable, but are
intended for the "least", those for whom we have predilection.
I consider it important that there be a reference for social
works in the provinces: a member of the Youth Ministry team,
lay or religious, with adequate skills both in knowledge of the
sector and the policies to which they must respond and in the
ability to work as a team, to ensure the harmony of social works
with the provincial, national and Congregational project.
4. Let us keep our eyes always focused on the young
Understanding that the core of our action is not in the man-

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THE RECTOR MAJOR 59
agement or the structures, but in the young people, and that
theses things are only the instrument for educating and evange-
lising, helps us to have the same outlook as Don Bosco.
When young people occupy our hearts, personal and institu-
tional prejudices are put aside and we become more courageous
and creative in seeking the best alternatives to welcome them.
Understanding the main phenomena ofpoverty and exclusion of
teenagers and older youth encourages us to continue to make
Salesian social works and services a concrete and beautiful way
of giving our lives for the less fortunate.
CONCLUSION
Dear brothers, dear sisters, Salesians and lay people,
uniting myself with the thinking of the Church's Social Doc-
trine which, in the Magisterium of Pope Francis, invites us to
rediscover and enhance the social dimension of the Salesian
charism,41 I would like to invite you to be fearless, courageous
like Don Bosco in your choices on behalf of the least favoured,
the most "difficult", the discarded, all those whose rights
are violated. Our apostolic creativity must always have as its
criterion the good of those for whom we were born charismati-
cally from the heart of Don Bosco.
We find inspiring examples in our Salesian Family of a holi-
ness realised in the option for social action and for the poorest.
The imminent proclamation of the sanctity of Artemides
Zatti, who offered his life in Argentina for those who were ex-
cluded from the healthcare system, simply because they were
poor and could not afford to pay for treatment, fills us with im-
mense joy. This great Salesian coadjutor brother saint, an
Italian migrant, exalts the deepest values of divine mercy, and
1s a marvellous testimony that God's presence among his
41 Cf. Pope Francis' Letter to GC28.

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60 ACTS OF THE GENERAL COUNCIL
people overflows with generosity and kind hospitality to gen-
erate life in abundance.
Together with Artemides Zatti, we recognise the great gift
for the Church and for our Salesian Family of figures such as
Blessed Maria Romero and her work in the Citadels of the Poor
in Central America; Blessed Maria Troncatti and her commit-
ment to health and the defence of the integrity of the tribes in
the missions in Ecuador; like the Venerable Simon Srugi who
did not hesitate to work as a nurse for the most rejected sick in
Israel; and likewise we remember Blessed Louis Variara who
was the apostle of the most forgotten and isolated sick in
Colombia, where he also founded the Daughters of the Sacred
Hearts of Jesus and Mary to continue to spread God's tender
love among the weakest. In Amazonia we have the testimony of
the work with the native cultures of Luigi Bolla in Peru and
Rodolfo Lukenbein in Brazil: confreres who were true prophets
of charity, of the option for the poorest and of care for their cul-
ture and natural environment.
Integral ecology, as Pope Francis teaches us, tells us that "ev-
erything is connected", and the care of creation, of our common
home, is intimately linked to that of human communities:
"Today, however, we have to realise that a true ecological
approach always becomes a social approach; it must integrate
questions ofjustice in debates on the environment, so as to hear
both the cry of the earth and the cry of the poor."42
Our path of sanctification in the midst of poor and aban-
doned youth continues to be enriched by the self-giving of Sale-
sians and lay people who, in choosing to serve the poorest and
most excluded, and with the methods of social action that we
know today, discover the full realisation of their lives, and the
safe space of encounter with the Lord Jesus Christ, the Lord of
life to the full.
42 Cf. FRANCIS, Laudato si', n. 49.

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THE RECTOR MAJOR 61
I ask our Mother, Mary Help of Christians, to continue to
take under her protective mantle the children and young people,
families and marginalised and forgotten communities in the hu-
man and social peripheries and, thanks to her maternal heart,
to continue to arouse in her Salesian sons and daughters and in
the lay people with whom we share the mission, the same passion
as Don Bosco for the salvation of souls.
'5f~u -5/-cU,Q.
Fr Angel FERNANDEZ AR.TIME, sdb
Rector Major