AGCRM352-vigano-reading_charism-en


AGCRM352-vigano-reading_charism-en

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Acts 352
april-june 1995
1. LETTER OF THE RECTOR MAJOR
READING THE FOUNDER'S CHARISM AGAIN AT THE PRESENT DAY
- Introduction
- A lived experience
- Two fundamental convictions
- The paths to be followed
- The redrafting of the Constitutions
- The spirit of the Founder
- From the 'mission' to the rediscovery of the 'charism'
- The duration of the reinterpretation and those involved
- Sensitive points in the process of discernment
- The urgent need of a practical methodology
- Animation and government
- A visit of the Holy Spirit
- We have a valid and updated 'identity card'
Rome, 8
February 1995
Introduction at Valdocco of the cause for beatification and
canonization of Mamma Margaret
My dear confreres,
Today finally in the Basilica of Mary Help of Christians in
Turin, there took place the solemn opening of the official
process for the beatification and canonization of Mamma
Margaret; and it happened precisely there at Valdocco,
where for ten years she bore what we may call heroic
witness by her generous collaboration with her son John in
starting up the providential salesian charismatic work of
the oratories. Our Father and Founder knows how much it
cost his mother and how great was her contribution to the
success, the style, the family environment, and the spirit
of kindness and sacrifice, which still continue to
characterize all Don Bosco’s institutions at the present
day. Let us thank God and pray that the cause may proceed
rapidly and with positive results.
And so, on a date of such great significance, I offer you a
reflection on a theme I was requested to deal with for the
20th Congress of the Institute of Theology of the
Religious Life, organized by the "Claretianum" here in
Rome on 16 December 1994. I was assigned the delicate and
important theme "The foundational rereading carried out by
the Salesians". The theme was not developed with
ourselves directly in mind, but in a certain sense it can

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prove more useful to consider it in the context of other
consecrated persons too.
In offering you the contents of what I said on that
occasion, my intention is to invite you to give careful
consideration to a historical and charismatic synthesis
which will serve to illustrate from a salesian point of
view the processes of renewal in which we are engaged
after Vatican II.
A lived experience
The style of my address is substantially that of a critical
review of chronological events. The theme "reading again
at the present day the Founder’s charism" I intend to
develop, not so much as an indication of how it must be
done, as to recall what in fact has been done in my own
Institute. It is an experience I have lived personally
from Vatican II to the present day.
A lived experience is not a thesis to be defended but a
reality of life, strengthened by decades of
experimentation, which can provide suggestions, some of
them already tested, for a better interpretation of one’s
own spiritual origins.
Two fundamental convictions
The reinterpretation of our Founder’s charism has kept us
busy for the last thirty years, and in our task we have
been helped by two great beacons of light: the first is
the Second Vatican Council, and the second the epoch-
making acceleration of history at the present time.
We began from the conviction that the Council was a
historic visit of the Holy Spirit to Christ’s Church for a
new era of its mission in the world: the greatest event of
the twentieth century, with a view to its authentic
renewal. It was possible to draw from it also lights and
guidelines for renewal of Religious Life as well. It was
a question of homing in on certain strategic points in the
great conciliar message, studying them more deeply,
adopting them and applying them to the reinterpretation of
our charism.
In particular, in the light of what is said in Lumen
gentium, we tried to do the Council’s bidding in the decree
Perfectae caritatis at n.2: the "up-to-date renewal" with
its two components, the "return to the sources" and the

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"adaptation to the changed conditions of our time".
The complementary nature of the two criteria ensure the
avoidance on the one hand of the danger of rigidity,
sclerosis and formalism, and on the other of a break with
the origins.
The application, however, of these two criteria, so clear
and simple in their expression, turned out to be much more
complicated in practice.
The epoch-making change, already described with keen
perception and perspective in the conciliar Constitution
Gaudium et spes, was forcefully presented, especially in
some western areas where our Institute is operating with
many foundations. A growing problem was being met with
from cultural innovations which had a powerful influence
on the specific mission of the Institute and also, to some
extent, on the style of religious life. At the same time
there were signs of pressure for changes of doubtful
authenticity which could have led astray a healthy process
of renewal or destroyed it altogether.
The cultural innovations could neither be excluded or
ignored, but they had to be seen in the light of the
evangelical innovations inherent in any true charism, and
this opened up a field of work that was both vast and
delicate. It was then that the famous expression was
coined: "With Don Bosco and the times, and not with the
times of Don Bosco!".
The clear awareness of this unavoidable challenge led those
responsible for the Institute to give extraordinary
importance to the Special General Chapter desired by the
Apostolic See. They set about its preparation with a
seriousness never seen before, and one which involved all
Provinces and all confreres. Teams of specialists were
organized to prepare detailed analyses of the vital themes
that must be tackled and a draft of a possible re-
elaboration of the Constitutions was prepared. No fewer
than twenty small booklets were carefully prepared for the
use of the capitulars. All were conscious of a great
responsibility, almost of a re-founding: what Don Bosco
had done 'personally' had now to be rethought and
redrafted 'communally', in a certain sense, in relationship
with the demands of the changed epoch and in complete
fidelity to the origins.
We were helped to a great extent not only by historical
studies but also by a serious analysis, albeit

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synthetical, of the challenges of the cultural changes
(secularization, socialization, personalization,
liberation, inculturation, the acceleration of history, the
advancement of women, etc.).
Never before had we attempted a work so vast and realistic.
The paths to be followed
The foundational reinterpretation could not be a simple and
more or less scientific study of the sources; it had to be
a spiritual discernment made by committed disciples from
within the same vocational experience. It had to be a
consideration by those able to grasp the soul of their own
Institute, what it stands for, its dynamism, its manner of
following Christ and of working in the Church, and of
loving the young people in the world in the state in which
they are at present found. The return to the sources
could not be an archeological voyage of discovery through
ancient documents but a revisiting of moments in the
foundation process and of the heart of the Founder in his
original experience as a disciple of Christ. It had to be
an organic and dynamic reevaluation implying personal
communion with the Founder through the experience of a
whole Institute which had shared his spirit and mission
through the years. The ability was needed to harmonize in
appropriate degrees historical events, theological
principles and special moments of grace.
To undertake such an enterprise it is necessary to follow
complementary and interdependent paths, seeking a specific
contribution from each of them. The principal paths
followed were:
a. The historical path: the charism is a lived experience
and not an abstract theory. Consequently a serious study
was made of sources referring to the person of the Founder
and to the foundation itself: the prevailing cultural and
social context and its influence on the Founder; his life
and works; the people who influenced him and with whom he
had special contacts; his writings etc.
b. The path of experience: in the foundational
reevaluation an important and concrete part is played by
the lived experience of the vast community of the
Founder’s followers and the values they have embodied,
beginning from the awareness of and responsibility for the
vocation itself. The faithful journey constitutes a kind
of a congregational 'sensus fidelium'. If a faithful and

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persevering experience of this kind were lacking in the
followers, there is the risk:
- of being subject to continual changes in identity, in
trying to bring about a forced modernization of the
charism to fit the current trend, confusing what is
transitory with what is essential;
- of setting the Founder aside on the pretext that his aims
and objectives are no longer relevant.
c. The path of the signs of the times: The 'historical'
path and that of 'experience' help us also to approach
with greater sensitivity and tranquility the contribution
of the signs of the times. To ignore these, as I have
said already, would be to condemn the charism to enclosure
in a museum - an unnatural fate. If on the one hand the
signs of the times call for deep study and adaptation on
the part of the Institute, on the other they make possible
a new and very relevant understanding of the Spirit’s
gift. They help towards a perception of how far the Lord is
pushing his Church and its charisms.
d. The spiritual path: this is a path which does not
exclude any of the preceding ones but unifies them and
embodies them as regards fundamental attitude and aspects:
the discernment of God’s will and obedience to his calls
in the course of history. Only 'spiritual' persons, i.e.
those who cultivate a special docility to the Spirit, can
follow this path. It enables one to get beyond the social
and cultural context of the life of the Founder, so as to
draw out against the background of the present day his
evangelical intentions and foundational intuitions, so as
to be able to realize them in the modern context of new
times, and transform them in the culture of today.
The redrafting of the Constitutions
In our foundational reinterpretation an important role of
practical guidance was played by the effort to produce a
fundamental redrafting of the text of the Constitutions.
At the outset this was resisted for various reasons; and
even at a later stage, when the work had already been
started, there were some who still thought that it would
have been sufficient to touch up the previous
Constitutions here and there. The result was a wise and
bold decision to embark on a complete rethinking and
redrafting of the whole text in fidelity to the original.
This delicate work was, of course, put in hand in line with

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the new conciliar guidelines.1 The objective was to
produce a "Basic Code" with an authentic description of
the identity, evangelical values, specific
characteristics, ecclesial dimension, healthy traditions,
and also the indispensable juridical norms for ensuring the
character, ends and means of the Institute.
A change from the previous norm desired by Ecclesiae
Sanctae was that the renewed Constitutions should be rich
in evangelical, theological and ecclesial principles, not
indeed as an artificial conglomeration introduced from
outside and at a theoretical level, but rather as
perceptions and declarations emanating from the life lived
by the Founder and from within his plan of life. They had
to contain an integral synthesis of an original plan of
consecrated life and indicate the substantial principles
with which the Founder wanted his followers to be
disciples of Christ with a specific ecclesial sense.
In them a harmonious integration had to be achieved between
gospel inspiration, apostolic criteriology and structural
practicality, going beyond the institutional requirements
to make clear the historical experience of the Holy Spirit
lived by the Founder and by him passed on to the Institute.
Don Bosco, our Founder, did his utmost to instil his own
personal experience into the Constitutions (as far as was
possible at the time) so as to leave a 'living testament'
which would be like a mirror reflecting the characteristic
features of his spiritual and apostolic countenance.
Rightly was he able to declare that "to love Don Bosco is
to love the Constitutions"; and when he handed a copy to
Don Cagliero, who was leaving for Patagonia at the head of
the first missionary expedition, he said with winning
emotion: "Here is Don Bosco going with you".
Naturally, in the redrafting of the Constitutions the
effort was made to refer back as much as possible to the
spirituality of the Founder, to his more charismatic
writings, to his well proven experience, as a model from
which to derive the genuine aspect and indispensable key
for the foundational reinterpretation.
The work was not easy; it went on for more than ten years,
but it constitutes in fact the clearest and most
authoritative synthesis of the enterprise. It was
subsequently enriched by an official commentary, article
by article, as a valid help for the correct interpretation
of the Constitutions. In addition a manual of government
was prepared in two volumes - one for Provincials and the

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other for local Superiors - in view of the renewal of the
exercise of authority. It was also possible to draw up an
appropriate "Ratio institutionis" for the initial and
ongoing formation of the confreres.
The spirit of the Founder
In the redrafting of the Constitutions particular
importance was given to their organic structure in a
global and unified presentation. A plan of life cannot
tolerate a fragmentation which conceals or does harm to
the implications of a scheme which is in itself vitally
organic. But to be able to do this we had first to be
clear about two concepts which lie at the basis of
everything: that of 'consecration' and that of 'mission'
and their mutual relationships. We may say in fact that
on this point there developed a veritable battle in the
Chapter; it was not easily resolved, as we shall see, but
in its solution we finally found the key to the organic
unity.
Meanwhile, as a separate and basic element (at least for
the work we had in hand), we wanted to be sure that we had
the correct description of the most significant traits of
the Founder’s spiritual countenance. Within the great
gospel values common to all the Institutes of consecrated
life we had to single out the daily style of life, the
personal and communal attitudes, and the manner of living
and working, or in other words the climate and atmosphere
of life which constitutes our particular physiognomy;
certainly in this too it was necessary to establish a
hierarchy among the components, because it was a matter of
a deep reinterpretation with a central motive force, which
could not be allowed to become a mere logical theory but
had to remain a typological description.
In the important first part of the new text of the
Constitutions there is a completely new chapter of 12
articles (from 10 to 21), which are a condensation of what
is considered to be the substance of the 'spirit of Don
Bosco'.
Vatican II, as we have already said, had asked religious to
concentrate their attention on the figure of the Founder as
an original expression of the many forms of holiness and
evangelical life in the Church. Every Founder is born of
the Church and lives for the Church.

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Paul VI reminded everyone: "The Council rightly insists on
the obligation of religious to be faithful to the spirit
of their Founders, to their evangelical intentions and to
the example of their sanctity. In this it finds one of the
principles for the present renewal and one of the most
secure criteria for judging what each Institute should
undertake. For while the call of God renews itself and
expresses itself in different ways according to
changing circumstances of place and time, it nevertheless
requires a certain constancy of orientation".2
We have spoken of 'spirit' rather than of 'spirituality' so
as to remain more faithful to the facts of history and to
the life of the Founder as a 'kair"s' become model;
'spirituality', on the other hand, customarily refers to
more abstract concepts.
The work that was done certainly constitutes today one of
the meritorious elements of our foundational
reinterpretation; we are convinced that it would have
pleased Don Bosco himself who, speaking with humility of
the constitutional text he had drawn up according to the
norms then prevailing, said that it could be considered a
'rough copy' of what he really desired, but that the 'fair
copy' would be written later by his sons.
Concentrating attention on the spirit of the Founder meant
giving priority to interior matters and attitudes of the
heart, having the same sentiments with which he copied
those of Christ.
This enables us also to understand the qualitative leap
forward desired by the Council as regards the concept of
the Constitutions: from a text that was rather normative
and juridical, to a pleasing and stimulating synthesis of
the evangelical experience of the leader of a new movement
in holiness and the apostolate.
The spirit of the Founder is certainly bound up also with
the culture of his time; it is manifested in it but
transcends it, so that it is able to constitute an
ensemble of spiritual traits that can be embodied in other
cultures. This, therefore, is due to the transcendence
and adaptability of the charism, though its transmission
is not brought about by words alone but by a continuous
tradition of life linked, in fact, with a long and
delicate process of sound inculturation.

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From the 'mission' to the rediscovery of the 'charism'
I have already referred to the capitular discussion on the
fundamental notions of 'consecration' and 'mission'. A
deeper understanding of the mutual relationship between
these two vital aspects was central to our reinterpretation
and at the foundation of the final synthesis. A sound
interpretation of the Council led us to a convinced and
dynamic convergence.
When the Special General Chapter began its work, among the
commissions set up was one dedicated specifically to the
charism of the Founder. It ran into great difficulties,
and after a certain space of time was dissolved. Why?
The basic reasons were of two kinds, at odds with each
other. Some did not want a study of the charism to be
made at all, because it would have left the future open to
arbitrary experiments; others did not want it because it
would have rendered sacred what were only fleeting
cultural elements of the last century. Both groups were
eventually able to agree on one thing only: there was not
yet a sufficiently enlightened mentality on the point.
It is useful also to recall that in the documents of the
Council the expression "charism" of the Founder is never
used, even though characteristic elements of its specific
nature are indicated. The first official use of the
expression "charism" of the Founder is found in the
Apostolic Exhortation Evangelica testificatio of Paul VI
in 1971.3 An authoritative and more specific
clarification, and a more detailed description is found in
the document Mutuae relationes of 1978.4
On the other hand there was a general conviction that, in a
period of rapid change, the aspect felt to be the more
challenging was that of the 'mission'. And so the mission
became the central point in the concerns of
reinterpretation.
But in what did the mission consist. It was all too easy
to forget its theological nature and restrict it to the
practical theatre of activities. And so an 'essentialist'
kind of mentality maintained the ontological primacy of
the kind of 'consecration' which many thought must precede
and guide the whole project.
A far from easy problem, and one rendered still more
difficult among the capitulars by reductive and imprecise
ideas of the concept of 'consecration' and of 'mission'.

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The path which opened up to us the authentic sense of the
reinterpretation of the charism was the realization of the
meaning attached by the Fathers of the Council to the
famous verb "consecratur" in Lumen gentium n.44. A long
work of discussion was needed to change the mentality
concerning the concept of religious 'consecration'.
First it was being identified with the more typical
interior human aspects (prayer, vows), and with the
individual religious as its agent ("I consecrate myself").
This led to a prescinding from the true concept of charism
and gave a secondary place to the 'mission' with its
requirements, as if it pertained only to activity and
works and was not theologically inherent in the
consecration itself. All this evidently had an influence
on the structuring of the Constitutions. A deeply felt
discussion was necessary to overcome the dualism between
'consecration' and 'mission' which went to the very root
of the identity of our apostolic vocation.
We were greatly helped by what the Council asserts in n.8
of the Decree Perfectae caritatis, and especially by the
consideration that God is the active agent in both
consecration and mission. This led to a rethinking of the
significance of Profession, and the formula was redrafted.
In particular the inseparable theological nexus between
'consecration' and 'mission' was examined at greater depth,
and this gave a renewed sense to the whole project of the
specific character, and opened up the possibility of
rethinking the constitutional structure. This vision of
our apostolic consecration is summed up in an article of
the Constitutions which says: "We live as disciples of the
Lord by the grace of the Father, who consecrates us
through the gift of his Spirit and sends us out to be
apostles of the young. Through our religious profession
we offer ourselves to God in order to follow Christ and
work with him in building up the Kingdom. Our apostolic
mission, our fraternal community and the practice of the
evangelical counsels are the inseparable elements of our
consecration which we live in a single movement of love
towards God and towards our brothers.
Our mission sets the tenor of our whole life; it specifies
the task we have in the Church and our place among other
religious families".5
It is a matter, therefore, of living a Christian existence
which is simultaneously consecrated and apostolic, rather
than being apostolic because it is consecrated. The gift

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of the Spirit to the professed religious involves in him a
'grace of unity' which makes him capable of a vital
synthesis between the fullness of consecration and the
authenticity of apostolic labour. "This type of life -
declared the Special General Chapter - is not something
fixed and prefabricated, but is a project in permanent
construction. Its unity is not static, but is a unity in
tension and in continual need of balance or revision, of
conversion and adaptation".6
This grace of unity, the result of pastoral charity, has
recently been described also by the Holy Father in the
Apostolic Exhortation Pastores do vobis.7 And the same
John Paul II in an address to the members of our 23rd
General Chapter on 1 May 1990 said: "First of all I want
to emphasize as a fundamental point the strength of a
unifying synthesis that stems from pastoral charity. It
is the fruit of the power of the Holy Spirit which ensures
the vital inseparability between union with God and
dedication to one’s neighbour, between depth of interior
evangelical meditation and apostolic activity, between a
praying heart and busy hands. Those two great Saints,
Francis de Sales and John Bosco, have borne witness to
this wonderful 'grace of unity' and brought it to fruition
in the Church. Any deterioration on this point opens up a
dangerous path to activism or intimism, both of which are
insidious temptations for Institutes of Apostolic Life".8
In this vision of vital synthesis we found the spark of our
identity, the one that flashes at zero hour where
everything begins, where friendship explodes and the
covenant is ratified, where pulsates the grace of unity.
It is the meeting of two loves, of two freedoms which fuse
together: that of the "Father who consecrates us" and
"sends us out", and that of ourselves who "offer
ourselves" totally to him in accepting to be "sent". In
this mutual fusion of friendship the initiative and very
possibility of the apostolic covenant come from God, but
are confirmed by our free response: he it is who has
called us, who has sent us and has helped us to respond,
but we are the ones who give ourselves and become
'missionaries'
For us the term 'consecration' emphasized especially the
initiative on God’s part: He is the one who consecrates!
We were well aware too that the same term 'consecration' -
with respect to its contents - is not in itself free from
ambiguity; in fact it changes its meaning in line with
various levels of ecclesial life. We did not enter
immediately into a consideration of such differences,

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leaving to the elaboration of the Constitutions what the
concrete significance was for ourselves.
What we were concerned about in the first place was
highlighting the qualitative leap stemming from the
recognition of God’s initiative: "consecratur a Deo"!
This it was that opened up horizons for us.
From this standpoint of apostolic consecration we were led
also to contemplate the Founder: God, who chose him and
guided him, made of his existence in mission an experience
of the Holy Spirit, to be continued and fostered in the
Church in the future.
And so in this way we reach a theological vision of the
"charism of the Founder": "an experience of the Spirit
transmitted to their followers to be lived by them, to be
preserved, deepened and constantly developed in harmony
with the Body of Christ continually in a process of
growth... with a distinctive character which also involves
a particular style of sanctification and apostolate".9
The dynamic element which has brought about the maturing of
this theological category of charism has been precisely
the
recognition of the divine initiative in the consecration as
a specific action by God. This, in fact, was a true
conciliar reversion which brought about a rethinking of
the significance of the Profession and the specific work
of the Founder. It also served to give the name of
consecrated life to Institutes which had been previously
known as "states of perfection".
'Apostolic consecration' and 'charism' have become for us
two theological categories which are superimposed on each
other and mutually interchange. We are dealing, in fact,
with an exclusive initiative of God, which does not lose
its force in a faceless genericism but consists in an
original intervention which establishes a particular
mission and a gospel plan of life to give to the Institute
a concrete physiognomy ("style of sanctification and
apostolate").
We may say that the conciliar vision of 'consecration'
implies a viewpoint of an initiative of the Holy Spirit
which, when applied to the painful historical work of
foundation, manifests the substance of the charism given
to both the Founder and the Institute, which has as the
permanent source of its continuity the religious
profession of the individual members.

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And so in our foundational reinterpretation, although we
began by temporarily excluding the category of 'charism'
we have been forcibly led back to it through the
providential deeper analysis of the event of
'consecration' as envisaged by the Council.
The duration of the reinterpretation and those involved
We can consider in general terms four stages through which
our work of reinterpretation passed: the Special General
Chapter and the three General Chapters that followed it;
in practice they were two decades of intense work, from
1970 to beyond 1990.
- The GC20 (from 10 June 1971 to 5 January 1972: seven
months, no less!) was the "special" Chapter desired by the
Motu proprio Ecclesiae sanctae. It was the longest and
most laborious stage of rethinking and reelaboration of
the elements of our identity; it remains the fundamental
Chapter of the all the work done.
- The GC21 (from 31 October 1977 to 12 February 1978) was a
further period of revision and consolidation. It completed
some particular aspects of our identity (e.g. the
Preventive System, the role of the Rector, the figure of
the Salesian Brother) in harmony with the doctrine and
guidelines of Vatican II, and prolonged for a further six
years the experiment of the renewed Constitutions.
- The GC22 (from 14 January to 12 May 1984) represents the
final contribution and the goal which concluded the
experimental period of the previous twelve years, and gave
to the Congregation the Constitutions and Regulations in a
renewed and organic form.
- The GC23 (from 4 March to 5 May 1990) differed from the
three previous General Chapters precisely because it was
an 'ordinary' Chapter. The previous three Chapters belong
in a certain sense to the category of the 'Special'
General Chapter, because of their overall concern with the
identity of the charism and the consideration of various
related matters. The GC23, on the other hand, dealt wit a
single concrete argument, chosen to intensify the process
of renewal. It is interesting to note that whereas the
three 'Special' Chapters led to an identity now clearly
described in the Constitutions, the GC23 applied the
charismatic identity in a sector of accelerated evolution
for a practical

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application in the mission; and this reminds us that the
reinterpretation of the identity does not close the door on
the search for fresh commitments in the new
evangelization, but rather opens us to them with greater
courage. Hence, the reinterpretation serves also for a
more fruitful research for the benefit of the mission.
It is interesting also to observe that the four stages
constitute, we may say, a single continuous and
complementary process. This means that the redrafted text
transcends not only the labours of the restricted groups
of particular confreres but also the four individual
General Chapters. In each of them, with a distance of six
years between one and the next, there was a turnover of a
good part of the members, with new lived experiences and
reflections each time, and in each subsequent Chapter it
was possible to reduce the possible influence of earlier
elements resulting from circumstantial considerations of
the moment; a deeper and more prolonged reflection enabled
ambiguities and lack of precision to be corrected. Time
allowed the deeper understanding of delicate aspects to
mature, while the accelerated rate of change enabled
clearer distinctions to be made between permanent and
transient values, between what pertained to the identity
and what was linked only with culture, thus increasing the
awareness of the ecclesial and worldwide dimension of the
evangelical project of Don Bosco.
Sensitive points in the process of discernment
In the conciliar view of Ecclesiae sanctae the
Constitutions had to provide an authoritative presentation
of an evangelical plan of life; they had to indicate the
fundamental principles of the following of Christ, the
ecclesial dimension, the charismatic originality, the
healthy traditions and adequate service structures.
They present, in fact, a harmonic integration between
gospel inspiration and a concrete structural nature. They
are the fundamental document of the Congregation’s
particular law. More than laying down a priori detailed
norms to be followed, they describe mainly a spiritual and
apostolic manner of bearing witness according to the
spirit of the Beatitudes. They help in rereading the
mystery of Christ from the standpoint of the Founder,
which is for us the salesian standpoint of Don Bosco.
Their general structure has been rethought with a style and
arrangement which induce a prayerful reading and prompt a

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commitment of life. A person meditating on them in faith,
i.e. with 'new eyes', will draw from them both life and
strength.
Guiding criteria, shared by all (sometimes indeed after
long and deeply-felt discussions), were followed and can
be considered sensitive points in the process of
discernment. In addition to the living sense of the
Founder, of which I have already spoken, I would list the
following:
. The significance of the religious profession
The reinterpretation of the charism has reawakened
especially the awareness of a new starting point for
consecrated life with an overall commitment to a new
beginning to really relaunch the Founder’s plan. This
sensitivity as regards a relaunching has brought with it
the rediscovery of the vital significance of
religious profession.
We have come to realize that religious profession cannot be
reduced to the simple making of the three vows, as though
they were identical in all Institutes of consecration. It
was not a matter of writing into the Constitutions a kind
of general treatise on consecrated life, but of providing
a description of what the Council called the "particular
character" of the evangelical project that was being
professed. We needed to describe the spiritual traits and
existential attitudes which would distinguish and
characterize us among the People of God. These aspects,
of course, presuppose and require the constitutive
elements of all Christian and consecrated life, which we
necessarily have in common with other religious and members
of the faithful.
The particular character is brought about by existential
aspects and nuances described and specified in the text of
the Constitutions and explicitly assumed in the act of
profession as practices for the following of Christ:
something, in fact, which is by no means insignificant and
which cannot be set aside by the professed. For us the
manner of being disciples and living our Baptism is that
of practising our "Rule of life". To become true
Christians we must live as good Salesians. "There are not
two levels", our Special General Chapter told us: "that of
religious life which is a little higher, and that of
Christian life which is a little lower. For the
religious, testifying to the spirit of the Beatitudes with

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the profession of the vows is his only manner of living
out baptism and of being a disciple of the Lord".
In religious profession we discover the full living and
overall significance of our special Covenant with God.
. The oratory criterion
This refers to the question of what groups we work for: a
crucial point in the Special General Chapter. In Don
Bosco’s heart the priority was for the work of the
Oratories for those to whom he felt he had been specially
sent. In our reinterpretation of the charism the first
Oratory at Valdocco was taken as an apostolic point of
reference. As a model this is not identified with a
particular structure or institution, but rather with a
specific pastoral standpoint for assessing our present
works or those to be taken up in future.
At the centre of this 'oratorian heart' there is a
predilection for the young, especially those who are
poorer, and for the working classes; before and above the
works themselves there are the people, the young people;
the disciple of Don Bosco must feel himself a missionary
of the young.
The inspiration of this criterion throws light on the ecclesial
commitments Don Bosco wanted for the Congregation. They are:
the evangelization of the young, especially poor youngsters and young
workers; the fostering of vocations; apostolic initiative
in densely populated working-class areas, especially
through the means of social communication; and the
missions.
For a faithful understanding of the reach of this criterion
it is well to have in mind some constitutional
requirements at three different and complementary levels:
- the preferential choice of those for whom we work: poor
youth and, at the same time, those who show signs of a
vocation;
- the spiritual and educative experience of the preventive
system;
- the ability to recruit numerous collaborators, chosen
from among the laity and the youngsters themselves, to
share with us responsibility for the work.
It is a question, therefore, of a complex but concrete
criterion

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which leads us to transcend the material character of the
works and enter into Don Bosco’s heart to make judgements
and plans in line with the specific style of his pastoral
charity.
In point of fact, this criterion has led among other things
to a courageous Project Africa which, after 15 years, now
sees more than 800 salesian missionaries working in 36
countries of that continent.
. The community dimension
Another sensitive point in the reinterpretation was that
of the community dimension, which is intrinsic to the
religious life, albeit - in our own case - with a
particular style all its own.
It was not, however, just a matter of intensifying a
genuine 'family spirit' among the confreres - something
that had been emphasized from the origins, but of
insisting on the special communion or sharing of
responsibility in the mission: this is entrusted in the
first place to the community, which is the subject
responsible.
Hence the particular manner of exercising authority; hence
the community aspect of the educative and pastoral plan;
hence the commitment to formulate it, realize it, and
revise it together; hence the stimulus to offer personal
contributions to the exclusion of all individualism and
arbitrary independence. The community is called to a
continual pastoral discernment so as to remain united and
faithful in the apostolic realization of the charism.
This sensitive point has had a great influence throughout
the long process of renewal.
. The "form" of the Institute
The form of the Institute (i.e. whether it is "clerical",
"lay", "mixed", "indifferent", etc.) implies constitutive
traits which express and ensure, even from a juridical point
of view, the particular character and characteristics of the
charism. It has, in fact, a theological and spiritual
importance in the growth and vitality of the charism:
"According to our tradition," reads the text of the
Constitutions, "communities are guided by a member

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who is a priest, and who by the grace of his priestly ministry
and pastoral experience sustains and directs the spirit and
activity of his brothers".10
The mission, which determines the tenor of the whole life
of the Institute, is pastoral of its nature and the whole
spirit of the Founder emanates from the pastoral charity
of his priestly heart.
Our Institute is not strictly 'priestly', nor is it simply
'lay', and neither is it 'indifferent' properly so-called.
The members are clerical and lay. "Our Society is made up
of clerics and laymen who complement each other as
brothers living out the same vocation"; each one is aware
that he shares responsibility for the whole before
considering himself cleric or lay. "The priestly and lay
components of the Society do not imply the extrinsic
summation of two dimensions, each belonging to groups of
confreres, distinct from each other, running on parallel
lines and eventually putting together the efforts of each
group, but rather a single community which is the true
recipient of the one salesian mission. This requires a
particular formation of the personality of each member, so
that in the heart of each clerical Salesian there is an
intimate feeling of being linked to and coinvolved with the
lay dimension of the community, and in the heart of each
lay Salesian in turn, there is the same feeling in respect
of the commuity’s priestly dimension".11 This is a single
characteristic bound up with the specific 'secular
dimension' of the Institute. For this reason it is of the
greatest importance for us to promote simultaneously an
awareness and harmonious growth of clerical and lay
members in the spirit of the salesian tradition.
And so the service of authority in the Congregation is
linked with this originality of 'form'. It exerts a
delicate function of identity in the spirit and unity of
apostolic action. Its specific role is that of promoting
and giving direction to the 'pastoral charity' which is
the centre and synthesis of the salesian spirit and the
soul of all our activity. The grace of priestly
ordination (which is the sacrament of pastoral charity)
enriches and confirms the potential for service, and
ensures that a genuine pastoral criterion lies behind all
our participation in the evangelizing mission of the
Church, including also human advancement and an incisive
effect on culture.
It is a contribution useful to all members because it is
intimately connected with the oratorian criterion.

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. Decentralization
We were convinced of the urgent need to indicate and embody
through flexible methods the common identity in different local
cultures. This is an arduous task; it demands a clear idea of
the identity in the process of formation, and an acute
sensitivity and intelligent discernment in respect of
cultural differences.
We felt ourselves in full agreement with Fr Voillaume:
"There is a tendency nowadays to place in doubt the unity
of a Congregation on the pretext of developing the
regional or national characteristics of the foundations.
Such a tendency is ambiguous. It is lawful to the extent
that it is a reaction against a uniform commitment to a
univocal expression of religious life too much dependent
on a single mentality, but nonetheless it throws doubt on
one of the characteristics of the Kingdom of God which is
above every culture, in the fraternal unity of the People
of God which should know neither race nor culture".12
A charism which is not open and adaptable to cultural
values becomes institutionalized and cuts itself off from
the future; but a culture which is closed to the signs of
the times, to mutual exchange with other cultures and to
the transcendence of the mystery of Christ and his Spirit,
risks becoming a museum piece from the past or a reductive
interpretation of universality.
From this one can see how delicate and crucial formation
has become in the Institute at the present day, and at the
same time one comes to realize the importance of an
adequately decentralized authority to ensure in the
Provinces and groups of homogeneous Provinces a practical
possibility of inculturation.
. The Salesian Family
Convinced that the Founder has launched his spirit and
mission over a wider range than our own Institute, and
that he has bequeathed to us special responsibilities for
the animation and coordination of many apostolic forces,
we considered anew one of the great paths of our renewal
to be the development of what is called the "Salesian
Family".
It is made up of various groups (both Institutes of
consecrated life and lay Associations and movements),
which share - in different ways - Don Bosco’s spirit and
mission. This has become a vast and fertile field which

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provides at the present day special possibilities for the
committed laity. We are already following this line in a
decisive fashion, following in the footsteps of the
Founder, and we intend to intensify and perfect this
option in the coming 24th General Chapter of 1996, with its
theme: "Salesians and Lay people: communion and sharing in
the spirit and mission of Don Bosco".
Urgent need of a practical methodology
The process of functional reinterpretation has been in itself an
intensive and far from easy research into our charismatic
identity. We are satisfied with what has been done, and we thank
the Lord for it. But we must add that the lengthy process
has not ended the period of research; quite the opposite.
It has, indeed, opened up a kind of exploration still more
accelerated and intense. It is as though the foundational
reinterpretation has loosed all available energy in view
of a greater significance and apostolic creativity.
It is not, therefore, a matter of a work already concluded,
but a kind of prophecy which relaunches the process of
renewal starting off on a double new track: that of the
assimilation by all the confreres of a personal renewal of
individuals and communities, and that of practical
involvement in facing the challenges of the new
evangelization.
Knowing more clearly who we are in the Church (through our
foundational reinterpretation), we feel ourselves
challenged as bearers of a charism relevant to the present
day. And this requires a special methodological capacity
in planning and action. The process from the charismatic
identity to the actualization of the mission at the
present day (from orthodoxy to orthopraxis) is quite
complex. Here is concentrated all the great pastoral
problem of the Church, "a new enthusiasm, a new
methodology, new expressions", the capacity for planning,
the serious element of revision.
The clearer our identity as consecrated persons, the more
demanding is the search for a dynamic updating of the
charism.
This is why our first 'ordinary' General Chapter of 1990
(GC23) after the reinterpretation of our identity, was
concerned to give new life to Don Bosco’s mission today
for the "education of young people to the faith".

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We know that the road ahead is a long one with innumerable
unknown elements, and constant progress along this pastoral
path will be the best proof of the authenticity of our
foundational reinterpretation.
We feel the urgent need to promote a whole sector of
theological reflection which will go beyond the
fundamental and classical disciplines of the faith. It is
a question of a kind of pastoral theology which is in
contact with real life and enters also into dialogue with
the human sciences (history, anthropology, philosophy,
sociology, pedagogy, politics, etc.), keeping firmly in
mind the official guidelines of the Church’s magisterium
which accompany an ecclesial praxis animated by the Lord’s
Spirit; such a practice essentially precedes scientific
reflection. A pastoral mentality needs many
contributions: together with theological reflection of a
biblical, historical, dogmatic and liturgical character,
it must be disposed to develop an appropriate manner of
intervention. This in turn will be the result of a
pedagogical and methodological reflection which involves
strategy in activity, the study and the planning of times,
modes, processes and means - in other words the
elaboration of projects for passing from a challenging
situation to a positive solution as the sought-for goal.
Anyone living in apostolic mission always feels the urgent
need to improve his pastoral mentality; he keeps an attentive
eye on the rise of centres of serious pastoral theology:
a particular theology which does not pretend to set up a
unique interpretation of everything but throws light on
praxis. It "is inserted in the vast area of theology as a
vital and important part, but not one that covers everything
or is a unique criterion valid for everything. Pastoral
applications do not seek to change the formal nature of
theology; especially must they not change it when it turns
its attention and reflection to something concrete and
urgently vital. If the urgent aspect of reflection is
precisely theological, i.e. polarized by the light and
revelation of the mystery of Christ through the guidance
of the Magisterium, it would be a serious mistake to deprive
it (as unfortunately has sometimes happened) of this natural
polarization, and replace it by a horizontalistic approach
which would pretend to manipulate the interpretation of
Christianity to suit itself".13
And so our foundational reinterpretation has brought us to
revise and renew the academic structure of our Pontifical
University as well, so that it may have a greater pastoral
influence and effect, while always ensuring a serious

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theological reflection, because it is precisely in an
ambit of a certain so-called pastoral enthusiasm which
also runs the risk of setting out on mistaken paths and so
disjoining itself little by little from the authenticity
of the charism.
Animation and government
A concrete methodology in view of updated and more incisive
apostolic activity has brought to the fore the
indispensability of a commitment to ongoing formation for
all confreres: to take up clearly the foundational
reinterpretation and to stimulate every community to the
ability to make practical plans for the new
evangelization.
Such a wide-ranging commitment has changed the style of the
exercise of authority in government, and the secret
underlying this exercise is competence in animation. How
many initiatives have been launched in this connection!
It is neither a simple nor a short-term work, but is
nonetheless indispensable; without it the foundational
reinterpretation will end up only on library shelves.
It has been found that in a period of deep change the
concept of formation has its fundamental and primary
significance ("princeps analogatum") in ongoing formation,
in which every religious house becomes a centre of
formation, and initial formation is directed to ongoing
formation to prepare the 'formandi' to be capable subjects
committed to facing the pressing and widely varying
challenges of the ecclesial and cultural future.
The epoch-making changes call on all religious to feel themselves
undergoing in a certain sense a second novitiate in order to
renew their own religious profession in line with the
postconciliar reinterpretation.
Together with fidelity in the spirit, stimulation is also
given to creativity in the mission with sensitivity as
regards the variety of situations which prompt government
to adopt a kind of structure and mode of action in view of
pluralism in unity and unity in pluralism.
A visit of the Holy Spirit
We were and remain convinced - as I have already said -
that Vatican II was a visit of the Lord’s Spirit to his

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Church; it produced a qualitative leap in the whole of the
pastoral area, starting from the identity of the Church’s
mystery, its relationships with the world, and its
presence as leaven in history.
We set about making our foundational reinterpretation in
this climate of Pentecost. There were certainly periods
when things moved slowly, when preconciliar residues were
evident; there were fears and instances of
shortsightedness which prolonged our work; here and there
may still be found some obscure areas still be clarified
in harmony with the whole; but with simple faith we think
that all the work that has been done cannot be explained
without the light, the creativity, and the intuition about
the future, which can have come only from a special
presence of the Holy Spirit. When we look back and read
over the new Constitutions once again, when we note the
development of the life of the Institute, its
transformations and its vitality in every continent, we
believe that the Holy Spirit, through the motherly
intervention of Mary, has given us appropriate and clear
lenses to enable us to read our origins once again and make
a decisive leap forward.
In this way we feel ourselves called by the Spirit to
collaborate in the People of God, through our specific
mission, in the laborious ecclesial pilgrimage towards the
third millennium.
We have a valid and updated 'identity card'
Dear confreres, let us be grateful and rejoice. The Holy
Spirit has enlightened and accompanied us; he has shown us
the highway we must follow; he has enriched us with a
treasure of life; he has taken from us the distress of
insecurity and deviations, and has ensured our identity
among the People of God; but on this very account he has
opened for us an immense field of work, where we have to
search and labour, create and predict that spirit
ofmninitiative and originality which characterized the
apostolic origins of our mission. May Mary be our guide
through all our foundational reinterpretation, that we may
be able to relaunch Don Bosco’s charism towards the immense
hopes and possibilities of the third millennium.
With Mamma Margaret let us look to the future with
intuition and maternal fertility.
With every blessing on your work,

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Cordially in Don Bosco,
Fr Egidio Viganò