EDUCATING TO THE FAITH IN THE SCHOOL

- Introduction. - The “oratorian root” of our School. - The scholastic commitment of the Congregation at the present day. - The problem of the relationship between “school” and “education”. - Crisis of cultural transition. - Times for research. - Complexity of the scholastic institution at the present day. - The Catholic school renewed. - Commitment to teaching in the new evangelization. - The salesian style Masters of youth spirituality.

Rome, Solemnity of St Joseph,

19 March 1993

My dear confreres,

I send you my affectionate greetings, in the name also of the members of the General Council. We brought our last plenary session to an end on 5 February last, and immediately the members began to leave for visits of animation. A few days later I presided over the Team Visit to the Italian provinces, and later was able to make contact with various communities, especially in the two Mexican provinces, where I preached a special retreat to the rectors at the end of the celebrations marking the centenary of the arrival in Mexico of the first five Salesians.

Everywhere there is evident a diligent commitment for the application of the deliberations of the GC23. God is blessing the Congregation too in delicate situations, not only in the vast missionary frontiers, but also in new foundations in Albania, Siberia and various countries of the former Soviet Union.

It is true that our personnel is strained to the limit in certain areas where vocations are scarce, but by living the evangelical counsels in an authentic manner and by avoiding the dangers of a soft and easy life, Don Bosco urges us not to stop and helps us to go ahead, leaving aside if necessary elements that no longer have salesian significance.

Among the themes being submitted to competent study in congresses and meetings for revision and planning, I have noted that of the education of young people to the faith in our schools and scholastic institutions. This is a topic that is rich and challenging; it is neither simple nor free from controversy, but it is certainly vital for the renewal of the Congregation.

For this reason I think it opportune to invite you to reflect on the subject of the school, and consider it in some of its most demanding aspects. It is impossible, in fact, to speak of the salesian work and mission without this topic cropping up, and on the other hand it constitutes in one way or another, positively or negatively, an important educative experience that must be examined and assessed.