ACG438_en


ACG438_en

1 Pages 1-10

▲back to top

1.1 Page 1

▲back to top
of the general council
year CIV
july-december 2022
N. 438
official organ
of animation
and communication
for the
salesian congregation
Sede Centrale
Salesiana
Roma

1.2 Page 2

▲back to top
acts
of the General Council
of the Salesian Society
of St John Bosco
OFFICIAL ORGAN OF ANIMATION AND COMMUNICATION FOR THE SALESIAN CONGREGATION
No. 438 Year CIV
July-December 2022
1. LETTER
1.1 Fr Ángel FERNÁNDEZ ARTIME
OF THE RECTOR MAJOR
“YOUNG MAN, I SAY TO YOU, RISE!” (Lk 7:14)
 3
2. GUIDELINES
AND DIRECTIVES
2.1 Fr Ivo COELHO
THE FRIENDLY TALK WITH THE RECTOR,
SPIRITUAL ACCOMPANIMENT AND ADMISSIONS:
SOME GUIDELINES AND POLICIES
63
2.2 Fr Miguel Ángel GARCIA - Fr Ivo COELHO
THE SALESIAN VOCATIONAL GUIDANCE EXPERIENCE:
FORMATION PATHWAYS
88
3. RULINGS AND DIRECTIVES
(none in this issue)
4. ACTIVITIES
4.1 Chronicle of the Rector Major
110
OF THE GENERAL COUNCIL 4.2 Chronicle of the General Councillors
115
5. DOCUMENTS AND NEWS
5.1 Appointment of the new Secretary General
140
5.2 New Salesian Provincials
141
5.3 Our deceased confreres
143

1.3 Page 3

▲back to top
Editrice S.D.B.
Edizione extra commerciale
Sede Centrale Salesiana
Via Marsala, 42
00185 Roma
Tipografia Salesiana Roma - Via Umbertide, 11 - 00181 Roma
Tel. 06.78.27.819 - Fax 06.78.48.333 • E-mail: tipolito@donbosco.it
Finito di stampare: Settembre 2022

1.4 Page 4

▲back to top
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 2.2 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 Involvement in active citizenship. a. Formation to active citizenship. b. Volunteering for building
up social friendship. 3.4 Education to the faith and accompaniment in Salesian 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 of pain, 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 of the Nativity of the 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 of moral, 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
of man’s dignity. The advancement to which we dedicate ourselves in
the spirit of the Gospel makes tangible the love of Christ which makes
men free, and is a sign that the Kingdom of God is among us.”1
1 C 33.

1.5 Page 5

▲back to top
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 of a par-
ticular mission carried out by the Salesians over the years and
across five continents through a wide variety of pastoral 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 reflection Editrice S.D.B., Rome 2020, p. 74 no. 7. Hence-
forth GC28.

1.6 Page 6

▲back to top
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 of taking 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
3 Cf. C 40.
4 Cf. CG28, pp. 73-74, no. 6.

1.7 Page 7

▲back to top
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 of Jesus, 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 of Reference, 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.

1.8 Page 8

▲back to top
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 of rein-
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
9 Cf. The Rector Major’s Guidelines for the Salesian Congregation after
GC28, in AGC 433 (2020), pp. 35-38 (priority no. 5).

1.9 Page 9

▲back to top
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 Chávez, 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 of youth
marginalisation in the Congregation's journey. “Attention to
young people in situations of risk has always been a characteristic
of the Salesian apostolate. The new situation of our societies chal-
lenges us to find new solutions.”11 In the same text Fr Chávez
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
10 SGC (1971), no. 48.
11 P. CHÀVEZ, And he took pity on them because they were like sheep without
a shepherd, and he set himself to teach them at some length (Mk 6:34), in AGC
407 (2010), p. 41.
12 Ibid., p. 41.

1.10 Page 10

▲back to top
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 of the 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 of life’”.13
13 FRANCIS, Morning meditation in the chapel of the Domus Sanctae
Marthae. For a culture of encounter, Rome 13 September 2016.

2 Pages 11-20

▲back to top

2.1 Page 11

▲back to top
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 wid-
ow of Nain” in Chapter 7 of the Gospel according to Luke, we
discover what could be understood as a beautiful approach pro-
posed 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 of the time did not pass through. Nain is perhaps
a region without hope. Jesus leaves the borders of his 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 if going to another Nain, our Con-
14 Cf. GC28, pp. 72-73, no. 5.

2.2 Page 12

▲back to top
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 of whom 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 of the 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
of a 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.

2.3 Page 13

▲back to top
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 of beliefs 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 so-
cial field entails many difficulties and that the effort to find the

2.4 Page 14

▲back to top
THE RECTOR MAJOR  13
human and financial resources to support it represents a major
challenge for those who carry out these programmes, since it re-
quires strengthening “initiative and apostolic creativity”,15 char-
acteristic 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 of the 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
15 C 19.
16 FRANCIS, Angelus, 15 November 2015.

2.5 Page 15

▲back to top
14  ACTS OF THE GENERAL COUNCIL
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.
“A 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 of so 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

2.6 Page 16

▲back to top
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
17 C 18.

2.7 Page 17

▲back to top
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, Ed-
itrice S.D.B., Rome 2021, p. 18-24.

2.8 Page 18

▲back to top
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
of new friends. In light of this reality, it is important to emphasise
that unaccompanied teenagers and older youth often become vic-
tims not only of media addiction, but also of many 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 of our communities to the presence
of those 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 of the 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 of assistance
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,
in AGC 433 (2020), pp. 35-38 (priority no. 5).

2.9 Page 19

▲back to top
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 weaker. 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.

2.10 Page 20

▲back to top
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 of his 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.

3 Pages 21-30

▲back to top

3.1 Page 21

▲back to top
20  ACTS OF THE GENERAL COUNCIL
b. “Then he came forward and touched the bier, and the bearers
stood 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
of followers 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:

3.2 Page 22

▲back to top
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: “And he began to speak”. If speaking is an expres-
sion of life, we can understand that not speaking, the lack of com-
20 Cf. GC28, pp. 74-75, no. 8.

3.3 Page 23

▲back to top
22  ACTS OF THE GENERAL COUNCIL
munication, is an expression of death. Many young people live in
situations of death because the channels of communication 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 of a 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.

3.4 Page 24

▲back to top
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.

3.5 Page 25

▲back to top
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 himself will say: “Go and

3.6 Page 26

▲back to top
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; cele-
brating it expresses the joy of belonging to the group that walks
with him, and seeking social justice is one of the most important
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 lim-
ited 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

3.7 Page 27

▲back to top
26  ACTS OF THE GENERAL COUNCIL
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.
“Yet they [the excluded] are the majority of the planet’s pop-
ulation, billions of people. These days, they are mentioned in in-
ternational political and economic discussions, but one often has
the impression that their problems are brought up as an af-
terthought, 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
23 Cf. FRANCIS, Laudato si’, no. 49.
24 Cf. FRANCIS, Fratelli tutti, no. 95.
25 The Rector Major’s Guidelines for the Salesian Congregation after GC28,
in AGC 433 (2020), pp. 35-38 (priority no. 5).

3.8 Page 28

▲back to top
THE RECTOR MAJOR  27
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
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, frustra-
tions, sadness and many of them were victims of the many harm-
ful forms of social poverty. They all found the possibility of start-
ing 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 educator/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, ed-
ucators, brothers and friends. It is our attitude of faith that leads
us to accompany children and young people in the difficult situ-
ations in which they live. Rather than responding to the cultural
emergency of the times before us, we try to walk with young peo-
ple 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 in their daily
lives. The capacity to be an “magnificent laboratory of youthful
experiences” that characterised the preventive system of Don
26 Cf. C 6; 26; 29 and 41.

3.9 Page 29

▲back to top
28  ACTS OF THE GENERAL COUNCIL
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.
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
of intervention 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-

3.10 Page 30

▲back to top
THE RECTOR MAJOR  29
ucative and pastoral services that can be conceived in various
ways in both OPPs and SEPPs.27
By way of example:
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 of the
religious. This imbalance jeopardises the Salesian mission in the
field of social service. Together we are called to revive, recreate
27 Cf. GC28, p. 112, no. 45g.

4 Pages 31-40

▲back to top

4.1 Page 31

▲back to top
30  ACTS OF THE GENERAL COUNCIL
and sometimes even re-found the spirit of Valdocco, 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.
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 con-
nection 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
learned 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-

4.2 Page 32

▲back to top
THE RECTOR MAJOR  31
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.
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.
Of course, the question of profitability 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.

4.3 Page 33

▲back to top
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 acknowl-
edgement to the many lay men and women who work at the var-
ious levels of our works and social services, both as educators, as
service staff and as specialists in the various sectors (social ped-
agogues 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 of you, 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,

4.4 Page 34

▲back to top
THE RECTOR MAJOR  33
and that you often sacrifice part of your 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
of humanity, and find happiness in the friendship and being with
these young people.
Thanks be to God there are many confreres today who direct

4.5 Page 35

▲back to top
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 of these
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 en-
vironment.
“The reality has become so complex that today we cannot
think of family in the singular, but in the plural. There is not just
28 Cf. GC28, pp. 69-70, no. 2.

4.6 Page 36

▲back to top
THE RECTOR MAJOR  35
one family, rather there are families. Despite the various config-
urations 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 sup-
ports transformation; it is in fact the institution that ‘organises’
the primary relationships and fundamental differences of hu-
mans... 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 Fam-
ily” 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 re-
alities to guarantee them the right conditions, both for living to-
gether 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 fol-
low so that they can reintegrate into it, being part of a welcom-
ing, affectionate and formative environment of which they feel
an important part, and which they can help consolidate.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.

4.7 Page 37

▲back to top
36  ACTS OF THE GENERAL COUNCIL
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 spir-
itual perspective because we act in the name of God and direct
our actions towards him; but they also have a socio-political per-
spective, because we are committed to the transformation of re-
ality, 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 for-
ward 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
32 PAUL VI, Populorum progressio, 14.
33 FRANCIS, Laudato si’, 225.
34 Cf. Eph 4:13.

4.8 Page 38

▲back to top
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 of the 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

4.9 Page 39

▲back to top
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 and
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 con-
tribution of various disciplines, among which I would like to high-
light 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 of young 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 en-
sure that our commitment to the young is ongoing, because soci-
ety is always evolving; it helps us to be profound and passionate

4.10 Page 40

▲back to top
THE RECTOR MAJOR  39
in our work, because the more we are able to analyse the condi-
tion 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.

5 Pages 41-50

▲back to top

5.1 Page 41

▲back to top
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 cit-
izens. In more scandalous and degrading cases, we see how mil-
lions of other human beings live in total exclusion, unable to have
the opportunities that should be guaranteed in all societies.
Our charismatic option on behalf of the 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 pedagogy,
we ask ourselves about the type of citizen we must accompany
towards maturity, starting from the recognition of the unique-
ness of the children, teenagers and older youth of these pres-
ences of ours.
Among the many valuable writings on social pedagogy,
I would like to simply suggest the up-to-date reading35 of the 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 valori più significativi del Sistema Preventivo,
in AA. VV., Sistema preventivo e diritti umani, Roma 2009.

5.2 Page 42

▲back to top
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 per-
son. From there, the link is generated that will allow each of
them to open up to the pedagogical proposals. This is possible
because the young person recognises the credibility of the ed-
ucator who accompanies him. Indeed, if trust 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 ensure the well-being of citizens.
c. Complementarity of know-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.

5.3 Page 43

▲back to top
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 signif-
icance when this has an impact on the process of accompanying
individuals and groups. This enormous capacity has been carried
forward by Salesians and lay people who have offered, and con-
tinue 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 of the 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 of great value to generate networks in this
aspect too.
This is why I also invite our higher education institutions to
ensure that much of their 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 of providing data and reflec-
tions that lead to a wise understanding of human and cultural
phenomena, and may this enable the various social agents and

5.4 Page 44

▲back to top
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 cit-
36 FRANCIS, Evangelii Gaudium, nos. 119-121.

5.5 Page 45

▲back to top
44  ACTS OF THE GENERAL COUNCIL
izenship 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 if it 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 him, 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

5.6 Page 46

▲back to top
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 of these 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.

5.7 Page 47

▲back to top
46  ACTS OF THE GENERAL COUNCIL
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 of initial 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 of the 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 of the 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
of Reference, Editrice S.D.B., Rome 20143, pp. 150-153.

5.8 Page 48

▲back to top
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 be-
cause 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.

5.9 Page 49

▲back to top
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 of the systematisation and profession-
alisation of the processes proposed in the face of the various
youth problems, and because of the 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 charismatic 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.

5.10 Page 50

▲back to top
THE RECTOR MAJOR  49
With these words, I wish to accompany and support the ef-
forts of many provinces that have decisively indicated the pref-
erential option for the poorest in their OPP and dedicated all
kinds of resources to this mission, and guarantee the sustainabil-
ity 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 and joint 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 very significant part of these proposals is carried out to-
gether with the Daughters of Mary Help of Christians and other
groups of the Salesian Family, where the significant contribution
of each enriches the charismatic response of Salesian 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 very significant cases where partnerships with
other religious congregations and dioceses have come into being,
making our work an increasingly ecclesial commitment.

6 Pages 51-60

▲back to top

6.1 Page 51

▲back to top
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 of the 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 of food

6.2 Page 52

▲back to top
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

6.3 Page 53

▲back to top
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 of pain, 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
40 FRANCIS, Message for the World Day of Migrants and Refugees 2018,
“Welcoming, protecting, promoting and integrating migrants and refugees”,
Rome 15 August 2017.

6.4 Page 54

▲back to top
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 Sale-
sian charism finds its full meaning in this field, which is the pas-
toral/social service that is growing the most in the Congregation,
and in which we also develop proposals for accompaniment for
the different types of migration, both within some nations and
in the international migrations that 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, vi-
olence, 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 Su-
dan), 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

6.5 Page 55

▲back to top
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

6.6 Page 56

▲back to top
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 sit-
uation in each place) to ensure transparent reporting with qual-
ity criteria, since the ability to negotiate resources, obtain con-
tracts with the various state bodies, establish inter-institutional
partnerships and to access national and international projects
with cooperation agencies largely depends on this. It could even
be said that in most of the countries where we work as children’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 of the 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.

6.7 Page 57

▲back to top
56  ACTS OF THE GENERAL COUNCIL
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 pro-
grammes must ensure that the service provided is adequate, i.e.
that the educative and pastoral action responds to the needs of
young 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 of these
processes.
Development cooperation is a commitment of different 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, making 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.

6.8 Page 58

▲back to top
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 partici-
pation of our Salesian Congregation in cooperation for the devel-
opment of peoples. This new culture of collaboration, donation
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 charis-
matic 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 of the 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 ser-
vice 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,

6.9 Page 59

▲back to top
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 of these 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-

6.10 Page 60

▲back to top
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 of poverty 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
is a marvellous testimony that God’s presence among his
41 Cf. Pope Francis’ Letter to GC28.

7 Pages 61-70

▲back to top

7.1 Page 61

▲back to top
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 of justice 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.

7.2 Page 62

▲back to top
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.
Fr Ángel FERNÁNDEZ ARTIME, sdb
Rector Major

7.3 Page 63

▲back to top
62  ACTS OF THE GENERAL COUNCIL
BIBLIOGRAPHY
FRANCIS, Encyclical Laudato Si’. On caring for our common home,
Rome 24 May 2015.
FRANCIS, Encyclical Fratelli tutti. On fraternity and social friendship,
Rome 3 October 2020.
FRANCIS, Apostolic Exhortation Evaangelii Gaudium. On proclamation
of the Gospel in today’s world, Rome 24 November 2013
FRANCIS, Morning meditation in the chapel of the Domus Sanctae
Marthae. For a culture of encounter, Rome 13 September 2016
PAUL VI, Encyclical Populorum progressio, Rome 26 March 1967.
PONTIFICAL COUNCIL FOR THE PROMOTION OF THE NEW EVANGELIZATION,
Directory for Catechesis, LEV, Rome 2020.
SALESIANS OF DON BOSCO, General Chapter 27, Rome 2014.
SALESIANS OF DON BOSCO, General Chapter 28, Rome 2020.
SALESIAN YOUTH MINISTRY DEPARTMENT, Salesian Youth Ministry Frame
of Reference, Editrice S.D.B., Rome 20143.
SALESIAN YOUTH MINISTRY DEPARTMENT Youth Ministry and Family,
Editrice S.D.B., Rome 2021.
ALBERICH EMILIO, La catechesi oggi. Manuale di catechetica fondamen-
tale, Elle Di Ci, Leumann (TO) 2021
MEDDI LUCIANO, Catechesi e persona in prospettiva educativa, in Cate-
chesi (2011-2012).
PETICLERC JEAN MARIE, I valori più significativi del Sistema Preventivo,
in AA. VV., Sistema preventivo e diritti umani, Rome 2009

7.4 Page 64

▲back to top
2.  GUIDELINES AND DIRECTIVES
2.1  THE FRIENDLY TALK WITH THE RECTOR,
SPIRITUAL ACCOMPANIMENT AND ADMISSIONS:
SOME ORIENTATIONS AND GUIDELINES
Fr. Ivo COELHO
General Councillor for Formation
We are witnessing a new attention to spiritual accompaniment
and formation, both in the Church and in the Congregation. In
the Church, the latest signs of this are the Synod on Youth and
the post-synodal apostolic exhortation of Pope Francis, Christus
vivit.1 In the Congregation we had the survey about young Sale-
sians and accompaniment in 2017,2 followed by Young Salesians
and Accompaniment: Orientations and Guidelines (2020),3 and we
are now celebrating the year dedicated to Francis de Sales, a saint
who is renowned for his teaching and practice of spiritual accom-
paniment. Spiritual accompaniment is at the centre of our
charism: it is enough to look at Don Bosco’s own experience and
at his pastoral praxis with young people and his Salesians.
Recently Pope Francis expressed serious concern about the
exercise of the role of authority and the way of handling what is
shared in confidence with the superior.
And I would like to add – off-text – a word about the term ‘internal
forum’. This is not an idle expression: it is a serious one! The internal
forum is the internal forum and cannot go outside. And I say this be-
cause I have noticed that in some groups in the Church, those in charge,
the superiors – let’s call them that – mix up the two and take decisions
from the internal forum to the external one, and vice versa. Please, this
is a sin! It’s a sin against the dignity of the person who trusts the priest,
1 Francis, Post-synodal Apostolic Exhortation Christus vivit (2019).
2 See M. Bay, Young Salesians and Accompaniment: Results of an Interna-
tional Survey (Bengaluru: Kristu Jyoti Publications, 2019).
3 Salesian Formation Department – Salesian Youth Ministry Department,
Young Salesians and Accompaniment: Orientations and Guidelines (2020).
Henceforth YSA.

7.5 Page 65

▲back to top
64  ACTS OF THE GENERAL COUNCIL
manifests his reality to ask for forgiveness, [but the priest] then uses
it to arrange things for a group or a movement, maybe – I don’t know,
I’m just making up stuff – maybe even for a new congregation, I don’t
know. But internal forum is internal forum. It’s a sacred thing. This is
what I wanted to say, because I am concerned about this.4
Despite the fact that we are in the process of revising the
Ratio, and without entering into the complex question of the in-
ternal forum, we take the opportunity to reiterate and further
clarify what was said in Young Salesians and Accompaniment:
Orientations and Guidelines about the friendly talk with the Rector,
personal spiritual guidance, confidentiality, and admissions.5
1. Choice of spiritual guide
Our Constitutions ensure due freedom in matters of the di-
rection of conscience6 by stating that in the friendly talk with the
superior the confrere “speaks with confidence of his own life and
work and, if he so wishes, also of the state of his conscience.”
(C 70) Our Regulations declare formation communities “must
have a Rector and a team of formation personnel who are spe-
cially prepared, above all as regards spiritual direction which
is ordinarily given by the Rector himself.” (R 78) Following R 78,
the Ratio (2016) declares that the Rector is the spiritual guide
proposed, though not imposed, on those in initial formation. (FS-
DB 2016 233)
4 Address of the Holy Father to participants in the Course on the Internal
Forum promoted by the Apostolic Penitentiary (29 March 2019).
5 Salesian accompaniment is rich and complex: it is communitarian and
personal, formal and informal. For more on this, in its relation to and distinc-
tion from the sacrament of reconciliation and the friendly talk with the Rector,
see YSA 4.2: Clarification of the meaning of Salesian spiritual accompaniment
(especially 100-105) and 4.7: Rector, spiritual guide and confessor: three key
figures (131-136).
6 Perfectae caritatis 14. See also SCRSI, The Contemplative Dimension of
Religious Life (1980) 11; can. 630 §1; and CICLSAL, Potissimum institutioni:
Directives on Formation in Religious Institutes (1990) 63.

7.6 Page 66

▲back to top
GUIDELINES AND DIRECTIVES  65
The document Young Salesians and Accompaniment: Orien-
tations and Guidelines makes a significant change in the way the
Ratio (2016) outlines the role of the Rector.7 In place of the text
that describes the Rector as “the spiritual director proposed to,
but not imposed on, the confreres in [initial] formation” (FSDB
2016 233), the new text, following C 70, now simply reads:
“If the confrere so wishes, the Rector may also offer the service of
personal spiritual accompaniment.” (YSA 191)
Similarly, instead of speaking of the Rector of the postnovi-
tiate as “following up and helping the postnovices especially
through personal guidance and the friendly talk, the spiritual di-
rection of conscience and periodical conferences” (FSDB 2016
417), the revised text now speaks of him as “following up and
helping the postnovices especially through personal guidance and
the friendly talk, periodical conferences, and if the young confrere
so wishes, also the spiritual direction of conscience.” (YSA 191)
YSA continues to see the Rector of the postnovitiate as continu-
ing the action of the director of novices, but at the same time
wants to ensure that the formee has full freedom to choose his
spiritual guide.
It is true that the formulation “proposed but not imposed”
does preserve the window of freedom of choice of spiritual guide.
The new formulation, however, intends preventing abusive situ-
ations in which the Rector subtly imposes himself as spiritual
guide, and where formees, out of fear or in order to protect them-
selves, declare the Rector as their spiritual guide but do not really
open their hearts to him.8 Ensuring the conditions for a genuine
freedom of choice of spiritual guide goes a long way in promoting
a healthy practice of the vitally important instrument of forma-
7 See Ángel Fernández Artime, Rector Major, “Presentation,” YSA p. 11:
“Dear confreres, I am happy to present to you Young Salesians and Accompa-
niment: Orientations and Guidelines, promulgating it ad experimentum for a
period of three years. While not being a supplement to our Ratio (Formation
of Salesians of Don Bosco), it supersedes the Ratio in case of conflict.”
8 See YSA 57-60, 108, 119-130, 157, 192-193.

7.7 Page 67

▲back to top
66  ACTS OF THE GENERAL COUNCIL
tion that is personal spiritual guidance and in avoiding the risks
of psychological and spiritual abuse, which unfortunately are not
rare even within religious life.
In the spirit of the Preventive System, the Rector is urged to
gain the confidence of those entrusted to his care. In such a con-
text, many might freely choose the Rector as spiritual guide, and
to these the Rector will willingly offer the service of personal
spiritual accompaniment.9
The more a formee makes himself known to his formators,
the better it is for him and for all. The Ratio of the Church (2016)
says that the candidate has the moral responsibility to be trans-
parent and to reveal any matters that might have a bearing on
his vocation. “In the process of formation, it is necessary that
the seminarian should know himself and let himself be known,
relating to the formators with sincerity and transparency.”10 Con-
fidence, however, has to be gained; it cannot be institutionalized.
The Rector has to strive to make himself loved.
In keeping with these changes, Provincials, Rectors and other
formation guides will ensure real and effective freedom of choice
of spiritual guide, taking care to avoid any form of coercion,
whether explicit or implicit. (YSA 190-196, 197)
To facilitate a genuinely free choice of spiritual guide, the
Provincial (or curatorium, in the case of interprovincial forma-
tion houses) will also present a list of Salesians (Priests and
Brothers) who could serve as spiritual guides. This list will not
9 See YSA 197: “The charismatic figure and role of the Salesian Rector is
not to be minimized in any way. Instead, the Salesianity of his figure must be
enhanced, inviting him, along with his team of formators, to be truly and fully
the Salesians they have professed to be. Ensuring genuine freedom in the
choice of spiritual guide cannot translate into lowering of standards in the
choice of Rectors. The direction to be taken is precisely the opposite: all our
Rectors, and with greater reason those of formation communities, are called
to exercise their fatherliness and authority in such a way that confreres will
be drawn to open their hearts to them – as used to happen with Francis de
Sales, as used to happen with Don Bosco.”
10 Congregation for the Clergy, The Gift of the Priestly Vocation. Ratio Fun-
damentalis Institutionis Sacerdotalis (2016) 45.

7.8 Page 68

▲back to top
GUIDELINES AND DIRECTIVES  67
include members of the local Council, but if some confrere wishes
to freely approach one of these, he has the liberty to do so. The
formee can also choose someone else, in consultation with the
Provincial or Rector.11 Provincials and curatoriums are obliged
to make arrangements for the preparation and availability of
suitably prepared spiritual guides.12
1.1 In the novitiate and prenovitiate
In the novitiate, the novice director is the mandatory spiritual
guide of the novices entrusted to him. (Can. 650 §2)
As for prenovices, the person in charge of them is described
as analogous to the novice director and has the special responsi-
bility to help the prenovices discern their vocation.13
The one in charge of prenovices is sometimes distinct from
the Rector of the house. In this case, according to FSDB (2016),
it is this person rather than the Rector whom the prenovices ap-
proach for the friendly talk. (FSDB 2016 345)
Even in the prenovitiate, however, YSA asks for freedom of
choice of spiritual guide. The reasons given are the need to re-
spect the right to privacy, the Salesian tradition in which trust is
earned not imposed, and also the widespread perception of lack
of confidentiality reported in the survey of 2017:
The free choice of spiritual guide in the prenovitiate is a particularly
delicate point... We need to ensure, first of all, that genuine family spirit
11 See YSA 196: “Should the spiritual guide be chosen from within the for-
mation team, and should he necessarily be a Salesian? Here again, the basic
principle is the same: it is better to place our trust in the Salesian quality of
the formators and of the community rather than in a rule or directive. It is
important to ensure, however, also two further elements: that the guide chosen
is someone familiar with our charism and spirituality, and that it is possible to
meet him or her regularly. Within a relationship of mutual trust and confi-
dence, the Rector will find ways of dialoguing and discerning with the person
in formation about his choice of spiritual guide.”
12 See R 78. See also The Contemplative Dimension of Religious Life 11,
and Potissimum institutioni 63.
13 Formation of Salesians of Don Bosco: Ratio Fundamentalis Institutionis
et Studiorum (4th edition, 2016) 345. Henceforth FSDB 2016.

7.9 Page 69

▲back to top
68  ACTS OF THE GENERAL COUNCIL
and the practice of the Preventive System prevails in our prenovitiates,
most especially through careful attention to the composition of the for-
mation teams and the prior preparation of formation guides, and espe-
cially of the one in charge of prenovices. In an atmosphere of mutual
trust, it is possible to win the confidence of the young, while allowing
them a basic freedom to choose their guide. The Provincial and the
provincial formation delegate will do their part in indicating to the
prenovices the delicate and critical role of the one in charge, especially
as far as vocational discernment is concerned.
A related point in ensuring freedom of choice of spiritual guide is to
ensure that the members of the formation team are specifically pre-
pared for spiritual accompaniment, and also that there be at least one
confessor among them who is not part of the local Council. (YSA 195)
YSA reminds us of the critical importance of the prenovitiate
as far as personal spiritual accompaniment is concerned, because
for a very large number of prenovices the first experience of such
accompaniment takes place precisely in this phase. The way this
new helping relationship is experienced and lived will obviously
have deep effects on accompaniment in future phases of forma-
tion. (YSA 109-110) Let us not forget, further, that the discern-
ment and decision about the Salesian consecrated life takes place
in the prenovitiate and not in the novitiate. (FSDB 2016 346) It
is extremely important, therefore, for provinces to select and pre-
pare formation guides for the prenovitiate.
Attention to the prenovitiate inevitably leads us to think of
the many kinds of aspirantate experiences in the Congregation.
The quality of the accompaniment offered to each young person
during these experiences has a formidable impact not only on
discernment but also on the rest of the vocational journey. What
we have been saying above is, therefore, to be borne in mind,
with the necessary distinctions, also by those who are involved
in Salesian vocational discernment and the experience of the
aspirantate. Those entrusted with the service of animation and
governance in the provinces would be wise to make their best
formators available as guides to those taking their first steps in
their vocational journey.

7.10 Page 70

▲back to top
GUIDELINES AND DIRECTIVES  69
2. Confidentiality
Confidentiality is an essential element in human relation-
ships. It is a gift we can still give to people in a world with few
secrets.14 Long experience in initial formation teaches us the
importance of safe spaces in which a person can take the risk to
explore his inner depths and to speak about them without fear.
Confidentiality is essential in this regard. Where there is fear
there is no formation.
The sacrament of Reconciliation is covered by absolute
confidentiality. A Note from the Apostolic Penitentiary says:
The confessor is never and for no reason allowed ‘to betray in any way
a penitent in words or in any manner’ (can. 983, §1 CIC), just as ‘a con-
fessor is prohibited completely from using knowledge acquired from con-
fession to the detriment of the penitent even when any danger of reve-
lation is excluded’ (can. 984, §1 CIC). Doctrine has contributed to fur-
ther specifying the content of the sacramental seal, which includes ‘all
the sins both of the penitent and of others known from the confession
of the penitent, whether mortal or venial, whether hidden or public, in-
sofar as they are manifested in order to be absolved and therefore known
to the confessor by virtue of sacramental knowledge.’ [V. De Paolis – D.
Cito, Le sanzioni nella Chiesa, 2000, p. 345] The sacramental seal, there-
fore, covers everything that the penitent has accused, even if the
confessor does not grant absolution: if the confession is invalid or for
some reason absolution is not given, the seal must nevertheless be kept.15
Personal spiritual accompaniment also enjoys a very
special confidentiality as described in the same Note:
In spiritual direction, the faithful freely open the secret of their con-
science to their director/spiritual companion, in order to be guided and
supported in listening to and fulfilling the will of God.
14 See Richard Gula, Ethics in Pastoral Ministry (Mahwah: Paulist Press,
1996) 117.
15 “Nota della Penitenzieria Apostolica sull’importanza del foro interno e
l’inviolabilita del sigillo sacramentale,” 29 June 2019, section 1: Sigillo sacra-
mentale, at http://www.penitenzieria.va/content/penitenzieriaapostolica/it/
tribunale-del-foro-interno/magistero-e-biblioteca-di-testi/nota1.html (as of
25.05.2022).

8 Pages 71-80

▲back to top

8.1 Page 71

▲back to top
70  ACTS OF THE GENERAL COUNCIL
This particular area, therefore, demands a certain secrecy ad extra,
which is inherent in the content of spiritual conversations and derives
from the right of every person to respect for his or her own privacy (cf.
CIC can. 220). Although in a way that is only ‘analogous’ to what hap-
pens in the sacrament of confession, the spiritual director is made part
of the conscience of the individual faithful by virtue of his ‘special’
relationship with Christ, which derives from the sanctity of his life and
– if he is a cleric – from the sacred Order he has received.
As evidence of the special confidentiality accorded to spiritual direction,
one should consider the prohibition, sanctioned by law, to ask not only
for the opinion of the confessor, but also that of the spiritual director,
on the occasion of admission to Holy Orders or, vice versa, for the dis-
missal from the seminary of candidates for the priesthood (cf. CIC can.
240, § 2; CCEO can. 339, § 2). In the same way, the Instruction Sanc-
torum Mater of 2007, regarding the carrying out of diocesan or
eparchial enquiries in the Causes of Saints, prohibits the admission to
testify not only of confessors, in order to protect the sacramental seal,
but also of the spiritual directors of the Servant of God, even regarding
all that they have learned in the forum of conscience, outside of sacra-
mental confession.
This necessary confidentiality will be all the more ‘natural’ for the spir-
itual director, the more he learns to recognise and be ‘moved’ before
the mystery of the freedom of the faithful who, through him, turn to
Christ; the spiritual director must conceive his own mission and his
own life exclusively before God, at the service of his glory, for the good
of the person, of the Church and for the salvation of the whole world.16
As this text notes, Canon Law forbids the seeking of the opin-
ion of the spiritual director on the occasion of admission to Or-
ders or dismissal from the seminary. In our own tradition – going
perhaps by the qualification made by Can. 630 §1 regarding the
discipline of the institute (“Superiors are to recognize the due
freedom of their members regarding the sacrament of penance
and direction of conscience, without prejudice, however, to the
discipline of the institute”) – we have always allowed the Rector
to be part of the processes of admission at local level, even when
he is spiritual guide of some of those being admitted.
16 “Nota” section 2.

8.2 Page 72

▲back to top
GUIDELINES AND DIRECTIVES  71
This provision remains unchanged in YSA, though steps were
taken to ensure genuine freedom of choice of spiritual guide, as
outlined above. The document also insisted that, if the Rector
happens to be the spiritual guide, he cannot divulge anything
that he learns in this capacity to anyone, without that person’s
free and explicit consent. In fact, he cannot even make use of
such information in the process of arriving at his own judgment
and in the secret voting of the house Council.17
The friendly talk with the Rector has also enjoyed a very
high level of confidentiality in a tradition that goes back to the
Rector’s manual of Paul Albera. This position has been repeated
in subsequent editions of the manual up to the latest, Animating
and Governing the Community: The Service of the Salesian Rector,18
as also in YSA.
The friendly talk with the Rector is itself protected by a very high level
of confidentiality in all the documents of the Church and of the Con-
gregation, which is also what is required by the code of conduct in many
helping professions today, such as counselling. It is enough to quote the
Ratio: ‘Guidance at the different levels of formation requires that those
who render the service... must abide by the principles of prudence and
justice which, depending on the circumstances, imply discretion or ab-
solute respect for a professional or sacramental secret.’ (FSDB 264) As
Fr Paul Albera says, there is such a close correlation between confiden-
tiality and trust that even a slight ‘leakage’ in the first causes the al-
most complete and immediate loss of the second.
Even external things, if communicated to the Rector during the friendly
talk, as for example matters of health or a personal difficulty, are con-
sidered confidential, because everyone has the right to his good name
and privacy. They cease to be confidential, however, if the Rector later
comes to know about them in the external forum; but it would be good
for him to advise the confrere on this matter.
Further, since one of the purposes of the friendly talk is also the good run-
17 See Criteria and Norms for Salesian Vocation Discernment. Admissions
(2000) [= CN] 21, cited below in section 3.2.
18 See Manuale del Direttore di don Paolo Albera 131; The Salesian Rector
(1986) 264; Animating and Governing the Community: The Service of the Sale-
sian Rector (2020) [= AnGC] 74; and YSA 155.

8.3 Page 73

▲back to top
72  ACTS OF THE GENERAL COUNCIL
ning of the community..., the Rector has always the possibility, with the
permission of the confrere, to act on the information received. (YSA 155)
Both AnGC and YSA, however, note that the confidentiality
covering personal spiritual accompaniment and the friendly talk
is not absolute, making mention of grave circumstances that can
supersede it.
The secrecy covering the friendly talk – as also personal spiritual accom-
paniment – is not, however, absolute, as is the seal of the sacrament of
reconciliation. There are, in fact, grave circumstances that can supersede
it, as, for example, the case of abuse of minors, homicide or suicide.19
When a supreme good like life itself is threatened, the duty
to do all that is possible to protect it prevails over safeguarding
of confidentiality.
In Canon Law and in the Proper Law of Religious Institutes we
also find reference to situations that can become an impediment to
admission and profession. Some of these are mentioned in Can. 643
when it outlines conditions that invalidate the novitiate:
Can. 643 §1. The following are admitted to the novitiate invalidly:
1) one who has not yet completed seventeen years of age;
2) a spouse, while the marriage continues to exist;
3) one who is currently bound by a sacred bond to some institute
of consecrated life or is incorporated in some society of apostolic life,
without prejudice to the prescript of can. 684;
4) one who enters the institute induced by force, grave fear, or malice,
or the one whom a superior, induced in the same way, has received;
5) one who has concealed his or her incorporation in some institute of
consecrated life or in some society of apostolic life.
§2. Proper law can establish other impediments even for validity of
admission or can attach conditions.
The last-mentioned point (can. 643 §2) means that we must
bear in mind also the absolute counterindications mentioned in
Criteria and Norms (2000).
19 AnGC 74 and YSA 155. Please note that this paragraph was added after
GC28, and is therefore missing from copies of AnGC printed in 2019.

8.4 Page 74

▲back to top
GUIDELINES AND DIRECTIVES  73
Let us therefore explain the sense in which the confidentiality
covering personal spiritual accompaniment and the friendly talk
is not absolute.
1. In contrast to the confessor who can in no case reveal any-
thing that he has acquired in sacramental confession, even if the
penitent releases him from this obligation, the Rector and the spir-
itual guide may, if authorised by the person concerned, reveal to
others information acquired in the non-sacramental internal fo-
rum by reason of their office (religious superior) or the relationship
of trust and confidentiality (spiritual guide). They cannot, however,
on their own initiative and without the “liberating” authorisation
of the person concerned, make known to others what they have
learnt in an internal non-sacramental forum. The Rector may and
sometimes must act on the basis of what he comes to know in
the friendly talk, for the good of the confrere and the community,
but he cannot reveal what he has come to know through the talk
without the permission of the confrere concerned.20
This does not take away the serious duty on the part of the
Rector and the spiritual guide to speak clearly to the candidate
when necessary and exhort him to make the right decision.
In the case of situations that are known externally and need
to be addressed, concerning relationships, religious commit-
ments, the community or the mission, it is the Rector himself
who must often take the initiative to speak about it, making ex-
plicit the fact that it is something known externally. The fact that
the Rector “also has a direct responsibility toward each con-
frere,” helping him “realise his own personal vocation and carry
out the work entrusted to him” (C 55) also implies a duty on his
20 Examples could be health problems or family situations that result in or
call for changes in the ordinary rhythm of life and distribution of duties in the
community. We remember that every person has the right to safeguard his or
her good reputation This is associated with respect for privacy which is in-
creasingly protected in civil law and also in canon law: “No one may unlawful-
ly harm the good reputation which a person enjoys, or violate the right of every
person to protect his or her privacy.” (Can. 220 CIC)

8.5 Page 75

▲back to top
74  ACTS OF THE GENERAL COUNCIL
part to correct and intervene for the good of the person concerned
and for the common good. Here one sees the difference between
the friendly talk with the Rector and the dialogue of spiritual ac-
companiment: each of these contributes to the good of the person,
but in ways that are distinct.
2. The Rector and the spiritual guide are not obliged to re-
spond if questioned by a judge about what they have learned in
the non-sacramental internal forum. In both cases, the Rector
and the spiritual guide are bound to secrecy, given that they are
exercising the sacred ministry. Can. 1548 §2 makes this exception
with the aim of protecting and promoting the trust placed by the
faithful in the services of formative accompaniment and spiritual
guidance, ensuring that people can open up with full confidence.21
The parties mentioned are obliged to respond, however, if they
have received information from other sources regarding possible
abuse, or else if they formulate a judgment on the matter, based
on well-founded motives, evidence, reputation, rumours, etc.22
21 See D. Salvatori, “Il dovere di rispondere al giudice e il dovere del segreto
come causa esimente: la ratio dei cann. 1531 § 2 e 1548 § 2 nel rapporto deon-
tologico fra giudice e interrogato,” Quaderni di diritto ecclesiale 26 (2013) 73.
22 Can. 1548 §2 states:
§2. Without prejudice to the prescript of can. 1550, §2, n. 2 [priests' inca-
pacity to testify with regard to anything which is revealed to them in sacra-
mental confession], the following are exempted from the obligation to respond:
1/ clerics regarding what has been made known to them by reason of sacred
ministry... and others bound by professional secrecy even by reason of having
given advice, regarding those matters subject to this secrecy.
The spiritual direction of the faithful is a form of exercising the sacred
ministry. However, it is always possible for the person concerned to release
the Rector and the spiritual guide from their obligation to maintain secrecy.
This principle is reiterated again in Vos estis lux mundi art. 3 §1, which
concerns precisely the obligation to report:
Except as provided for by canons 1548 §2 CIC [cited above] and 1229 §2
CCEO [“the following are exempted from the obligation to answer: 1° clerics in
regard to whatever was made known to them in connection with their sacred
ministry....”], whenever a cleric or a member of an Institute of Consecrated Life
or a Society of Apostolic Life has notice of, or well-founded motives to believe
that one of the facts mentioned in article 1 [offences contra sextum committed

8.6 Page 76

▲back to top
GUIDELINES AND DIRECTIVES  75
3. There are also, however, circumstances in which a higher
good must be preserved, such as the life of the person involved
in the confidential dialogue, or the lives of others, or the risk of
sexual abuse of a minor, and in these cases this higher good over-
rides the mandate of safeguarding another great good, that is
confidentiality.
But these are extreme cases and are understandable in the
light of the supreme law of the Church, the salvation of souls,
with violence or threats or by abuse of authority, with a minor or a vulnerable
person, or the crime of child pornography, or omissions intended to interfere
with civil or canonical investigations into such crimes] has been committed,
that person is obliged to report promptly the fact to the local Ordinary
where the events are said to have occurred or to another Ordinary among those
referred to in canons 134 CIC [Ҥ1. In addition to the Roman Pontiff, by the ti-
tle of ordinary are understood in the law diocesan bishops and others who, even
if only temporarily, are placed over some particular church or a community
equivalent to it according to the norm of can. 368 as well as those who possess
general ordinary executive power in them, namely, vicars general and episcopal
vicars; likewise, for their own members, major superiors of clerical religious in-
stitutes of pontifical right and of clerical societies of apostolic life of pontifical
right who at least possess ordinary executive power”] and 984 CCEO [“§3 Major
superiors in institutes of consecrated life, who have ordinary power of gover-
nance, are also hierarchs, but they are not local hierarchs”], except for what is
established by §3 of the present article. [“§3. When the report concerns one of
the persons indicated in article 6 (Cardinals, Patriarchs, Bishops and Legates
of the Roman Pontiff, pastoral heads of a particular Church, supreme modera-
tors of Institutes of Consecrated Life or of Societies of Apostolic Life) it is to be
addressed to the Authority identified based upon articles 8 and 9 (Art. 8: Proce-
dure applicable in the event of a report concerning a Bishop of the Latin Church.
Art. 9: Procedure applicable to Bishops of Eastern Catholic Churches).”]
Art. 4 §1 states: “Making a report pursuant to article 3 shall not constitute
a violation of office confidentiality.”
Therefore, a distinction must be made between “information or well-
founded reasons” of possible abuse which a cleric or religious receives (infor-
mation) or formulates (based on clues, reputation, rumours, etc.) and “what
was manifested” to a priest in the context of spiritual direction (“by reason of
the sacred ministry”) or to a non-cleric religious who is a spiritual guide or a
religious superior (“who are bound by official secrecy”).
In the first case, Vos estis lux mundi places an obligation on the cleric
or religious to report. This obligation does not exist, however, in the
second case, as is expressly stated in the Motu proprio: “Except in the cases
envisaged in canons 1548 §2 CIC and 1229 §2 CCEO”.

8.7 Page 77

▲back to top
76  ACTS OF THE GENERAL COUNCIL
set at the conclusion and as the end of the Code of Canon Law:
“In cases of transfer the prescripts of can. 1747 are to be applied,
canonical equity is to be observed, and the salvation of souls,
which must always be the supreme law in the Church, is to be
kept before one’s eyes.” (Can. 1752)
When the circumstances do not involve the extreme situa-
tions of danger of life or abuse, the spirit of the law is to preserve
as much as possible the value of confidentiality, which consists
in safeguarding the dignity of the person and the fundamental
trust implied in relationships that demand confidentiality.
Summing up: the roles of Rector and of spiritual guide are
distinct but convergent. The contents entering the dialogues in
each case could be the same, but will be from different perspec-
tives and perhaps not with the same depth of openness of con-
science. Both roles, however, are necessary ecclesial mediations
for the sake of vocational discernment and formation.
When information on situations that strongly affect vocation-
al orientation is obtained in personal spiritual accompaniment
or the friendly talk with the Rector, the guide or Rector is bound
in conscience to speak clearly about the matter to the candidate
and exhort him to make the right decision, but can take the mat-
ter further to the proper authorities only if he has the free and
explicit consent of the person concerned. The only exception is
when there is serious risk of endangering life (as in the case of
abuse of minors, homicide or suicide).
Formators have to be attentive also to the civil laws of the
countries in which they work. These laws might require religious
superiors and spiritual guides to report certain matters. Here it
would be best to abide by the stand taken by the Church in the
papal magisterium and in the positions of the relevant Bishops’
Conferences, and to make such legal obligations clearly and reg-
ularly known to all, from the very beginning not only of the for-
mation experience but also of the process of Salesian vocational
accompaniment.
Obviously, the formation of Rectors and spiritual guides for

8.8 Page 78

▲back to top
GUIDELINES AND DIRECTIVES  77
the service of accompaniment is both vital and delicate. They
have to be able to help the confrere in formation face the reality
of his life and history and make coherent decisions, and for this
they need adequate knowledge of the teachings of the Church
and of the Congregation, capacity building, as well as care of their
own integral personal growth. They will be reminded also that
the accompanying relationship rests on three pillars: respect for
intimacy, the ability to keep secrets and trust.
There will always be a tension between respecting the sacred-
ness of each one’s conscience on the one hand and safeguarding
the good of the Congregation and the Church on the other. At
the same time, we must also recognize that the law will never be
able to encompass all the variables presented by real life. Thus
the mention of the risk of homicide, suicide and abuse of minors,
far from exempting from discernment, calls instead for further
and deeper discernment on the part of those actually faced with
the concrete situation. The roots of the terms ‘jurisprudence’ and
‘jurisdiction’ indicate, in fact, this constant need for mediation
and discernment in order to say what is right (juris-prudentia,
juris-dicere) by drawing inspiration from the norm and evaluat-
ing the situation being confronted in all its concreteness. Dis-
cerning application calls, of course, for maturity and experience
on the part of those offering the service of accompaniment, as al-
so the willingness to themselves seek guidance and supervision.
The experience of meeting so many formation communities
in the different regions of the Congregation shows that when
there is a climate of mutual trust and a personal accompaniment
that reaches the heart, it is much more probable that complex
situations are addressed and resolved together by those in initial
formation and their guides. Where, on the other hand, a climate
of control prevails, along with a desire to detect and eradicate
things seen as contrary to Salesian life, the likely effect is closure
and insincerity. Fully adopting the Preventive System as our
model of formation is undoubtedly very demanding but bears
fruits that cannot be obtained otherwise. At stake here is not
merely a choice of method but fidelity to our charismatic identity.

8.9 Page 79

▲back to top
78  ACTS OF THE GENERAL COUNCIL
Obviously, the trust in question has to be mutual: becoming
trustworthy and giving trust is required not only of formators but
also of those in formation. Those who do not have this basic honesty
and the capacity to trust are not made for our Congregation, and
it is best that they make other life choices as soon as possible.23
3. Admissions
3.1 The application
Up to June 2007, nos. 104-105 of the Criteria and Norms
(2000), speaking of the application for admission to the novitiate,
temporary and perpetual profession, the ministries, the diaconate
and the priesthood, required candidates to state that they have
the consent of their Rector (though not that of the spiritual guide
and confessor). Criteria and Norms 105 reads:
While respecting its personal nature, the application addressed to
the Provincial and given to the Rector, should contain the following
elements:
– the name and surname of the applicant and the date on which it is
made;
– reference to talking with the Rector and to his agreement with its
being made;
– reference to the discernment undertaken and to seeking the opinion
of the spiritual director and of the confessor;
– the purpose of the application, clearly expressed, that is: entrance to
the novitiate, the first temporary profession or its renewal, perpetual
profession, the ministries or the orders;
– a declaration of awareness of the public nature of the act that one
23 YSA 170: “The community and the formation guides have their own im-
portant role, and we know that there are no perfect communities and guides.
But nothing can substitute what is entrusted to each one’s free response. Even
the best guide will not be able to help someone who is not ready to open up,
sincerely share his experience, and embark on a process of growth. Similarly,
if one’s core motivations are not sincere, and pretence is deliberately adopted
as a way of ‘survival,’ the damage to discernment and to formation process is
incalculable, and is the grave responsibility of the person himself.”

8.10 Page 80

▲back to top
GUIDELINES AND DIRECTIVES  79
intends to perform and of the freedom to perform it, together with
the fundamental motive.
In a letter of 24 July 2007 the councillor for formation com-
municated, on behalf of the Rector Major, a modification of the
above text:
Decision. To avoid restrictive or juridically binding interpretations with
regard to the freedom in making the application for admission, the Rec-
tor Major and the General Council acceded to the request to eliminate
“to his agreement with its being made” from number 105 of “Criteria
and norms”, and at the same time reiterated that in this number the
expression, “reference to talking with the Rector”, ought to be retained.
Motivation. In the process of admission it is the one in formation who
must first carry out a discernment to ascertain whether he judges him-
self suitable or not for the Salesian vocation. In this discernment he
receives help from the Rector and the confessor, and if he happens to
be a person other than the Rector, from the spiritual director. Since
these persons have been accompanying him, they are in a very good
position to offer him their opinion, be it positive or negative. It is then
up to the individual to take their advice into consideration with all due
seriousness, assume his own responsibility before God and decide in
his conscience whether he should, or should not, make his application.
Therefore, he does not need the agreement of the Rector to make his
application.24
The one intending to apply for vows, ministries or orders,
therefore, asks the opinion of his Rector, spiritual guide and con-
fessor before presenting his application, and states in his appli-
cation that he has done so; but he does not need to explain the
advice he might have received, and above all he is not obliged to
state that he has the consent of the Rector or of the others. The
onus of the decision to present the application is placed on the
person concerned and not on the ones consulted.
The Rector and the others, on their part, must give their hon-
est opinion to the candidate, and, if they are not the Rector, en-
courage the person to share this opinion with the Rector.
If, before the session of the local Council dealing with admis-
24 F. Cereda, 24 July 2007, prot. 07/0505.

9 Pages 81-90

▲back to top

9.1 Page 81

▲back to top
80  ACTS OF THE GENERAL COUNCIL
sions, the Rector judges that an individual is not suitable for ad-
mission, or that he is not prepared at that moment for presenting
his request, he “is obliged in conscience to say this with charity
and clarity to the one concerned that he cannot and should not
– also for his own good – go ahead.” (Ricceri, ACG 281 49) He
cannot, however, prevent the individual from making his own de-
cision and presenting his application. Should the application be
presented, the Rector cannot divulge in the Council the advice giv-
en to the person concerned, and must act as in every other case
(see section 3.2 below).
This also applies to the Council itself: if the Council is of the
opinion that someone should not apply for admission, the Rector
has the right to communicate this opinion, but he must also
make it clear that the individual remains free to arrive at his
own decision.
One of the reasons why no application should be prevented
from being handed in, is that the authority responsible for admis-
sion is the Provincial. The local Council has a consultative role.
The provincial Council has an advisory role of the highest kind,
involving the giving of consent through secret ballot. Once the con-
sent has been given, the admission is the competence of the Provin-
cial. This means that the Provincial cannot admit a person without
the consent of his Council, but he can refuse admission even if
his Council has given consent. The authority of admission is not
collegial but remains vested in the person of the Provincial.25
3.2 The Rector who is spiritual guide
We have already said that when requested by a confrere, the
Rector will willingly offer the service of personal spiritual accom-
paniment. (YSA 197) The Rector, therefore, meets all his confr-
25 Cf. can. 641 CIC. Cf. also The Project of Life of the Salesians of Don Bosco
(1986) p. 811: “The admission itself belongs to the provincial, and is a formal
act of his personal authority and not of the council, though the consent of the
latter is necessary.”

9.2 Page 82

▲back to top
GUIDELINES AND DIRECTIVES  81
eres, especially those in initial formation, for the friendly talk,
and could be the spiritual guide of some.
As per our tradition, the Rector continues to participate in
the process of admissions at local level. In this tradition there is
a tension between being formators and leaders in the Salesian
style and the wisdom and prudence of the Church – a tension
that the present orientations and guidelines try to integrate and
make fruitful.
We have also said that the Rector cannot share with the Coun-
cil or with anyone else any of the information he has received in
the friendly talk or in spiritual accompaniment, with the qualifi-
cations made in section 2 above. Once again, he can neither di-
vulge nor make use of what he knows solely through the friendly
talk or spiritual accompaniment, not even in the secret voting of
the house Council, unless authorized by the candidate concerned.
Criteria and Norms (2000) is explicit on this point:
As regards the ‘professional secret’ it should be remembered that the
Rector cannot make use of what he comes to know solely through the
friendly talk, even in the secret voting of the house council. He may make
use of it if the confrere freely and explicitly gives his consent. (CN 21)
A note explains ‘professional secret’: “In juridical terms it is
sometimes called ‘confidential secret’ or of conscience, in that it
is confided to the conscience of someone in view of the office held
or exercised.” (CN 21 note 41) A second note cites The Salesian
Rector (1986) 264:
The very nature of the friendly talk with the rector calls for rigorous
secrecy and confidentiality. “Let the rector be careful never to reveal
to others the faults a confrere may have, even when they may already
know of them through other channels. Let it be obvious to his subjects
that he is able to respect the confidentiality of what is entrusted to him.
It only takes some small indiscretion to weaken and maybe entirely
destroy the confidence they have shown him.”
For reasons inherent in your office, you may be asked by the provincial
for your opinion on some confrere or other, and in such a case you have
to give the necessary information objectively and responsibly. But it
should be based exclusively on the external behaviour of the confrere

9.3 Page 83

▲back to top
82  ACTS OF THE GENERAL COUNCIL
concerned and on what others may say about him. Confidences that
may have been given in private talks are protected by a rigorous secret:
nihil, umquam, nulli. (CN 21 note 42)
Clearly, the Rector and his Council, when processing requests
for admissions, have to rely solely on what they have come to
know in the external forum. (YSA 156) This requires, of course,
that they be truly present with the candidates/confreres in initial
formation, in the best and fullest Salesian sense of the word
‘presence.’ The informality of life is extremely revealing, some-
times even more than what is shared in the friendly talk or in
spiritual accompaniment.
3.3 The role of the local Council
When a Council is dealing with admissions, it is very impor-
tant to keep in mind the core perspective governing the process
of discernment. The overriding question to be answered in the
secret of the conscience is: from an overall perception of the life
of the candidate, is he called to what he is applying for, and is he
suitable? This is not the moment to address this or that incident
or to correct this or that fault, behaviour or weakness – that must
be done in the course of daily life and fraternal correction and
during the trimonthly assessments. The moment of admission is
a discernment before God about the overall vocational journey
of one of his children, and therefore a very demanding responsi-
bility before God, the Church, the Congregation and the candi-
date/confrere himself.
As we have said already, our practice is that the Rector (and
analogously the one in charge of prenovices or of confreres doing
higher studies during the period of initial formation), even when
he is personal spiritual guide, continues to be part of the admis-
sion process at local level. It is worth repeating that, unless he
has the free, explicit and preferably written consent of the one
concerned, the Rector cannot share with the Council or with any-
one else the information he has received solely through the
friendly talk or in spiritual accompaniment. Neither can he make

9.4 Page 84

▲back to top
GUIDELINES AND DIRECTIVES  83
use of such information in order to arrive at his own judgment
about the suitability of the person for admission. (CN 21) “He
makes his judgment solely on the basis of his own observations
and of those of his Council.” (YSA 156)
The role of the local Council regarding admissions is consul-
tative. Given that it is mandatory to listen to its opinion at this
moment, the validity of the act requires that the opinion of all
be requested (cf. Can 127 §1 CIC). After the members have ex-
pressed their opinion about the suitability of the candidate, giv-
ing their reasons, it is necessary that the judgment of suitability
be expressed synthetically with a positive or negative secret vote
(equivalent to a favourable opinion on the suitability or to an un-
favourable opinion). This practice preserves the freedom of each
councillor and avoids undue pressure from other members.
Membership of the Council carries with it the obligation on
the part of each councillor to express his opinion. Abstentions,
in other words, are not possible. “All whose consent or counsel is
required are obliged to offer their opinion sincerely and, if the
gravity of the affair requires it, to observe secrecy diligently;
moreover, the superior can insist upon this obligation.”26 Accept-
ing membership of a Council therefore entails serious responsi-
bilities. Anyone who does not feel ready for such a service would
be better off not accepting it or else asking to be relieved of it.
At the time of admissions, therefore, the opinion of the local
Council is to be expressed not only in a written judgment but
also through a secret vote.
The practice of deciding in advance how to vote (the so called
“fagioli concordati”) is absolutely to be stopped, because it inval-
idates the whole reason for the secret vote.
These orientations and guidelines can become truly effective
when we invest in the formation and “capacity building” of the
members of the Council at local and also at provincial level.
26 Can. 127 §3 CIC cited in AnGC p. 217, with note 3: “On the basis of this
norm, abstention is not legitimate.”

9.5 Page 85

▲back to top
84  ACTS OF THE GENERAL COUNCIL
4. Passage of personal information
In the case of confreres continuing initial formation in an-
other house or phase (including interprovincial formation com-
munities) and those who opt for the missions ad gentes, the
Provincial concerned will pass on a copy of the judgment at the
time of admission and such other information as may favour the
knowledge of those in formation by those responsible for that
phase,27 including the periodic personal assessments. It would be
very important, however, to keep in mind the clear distinction
between the periodic assessment, which is meant to help the con-
frere to grow in his vocation, and the judgement of admission
that is a juridical act.28
The different phases of formation are complementary. This
has consequences with regard to formators, those in formation,
and the unity of the formation process as such. Effective com-
munication between formators of different levels should be a
hallmark of this progressive complementarity of all that is put
in place for fostering growth.
The confrere in initial formation is encouraged to be the first
to take responsibility for integrating the help received through
the periodic assessments into his personal plan of life, and to val-
ue it as a road map for his vocational growth, something to be
27 FSDB 2016 298: “Let the Provincial see that, especially at the begin-
ning of a phase of formation, those in formation are known by the ones re-
sponsible for that particular phase, and let him arrange for the communication
of adequate information throughout the whole process of formation in the
most convenient way possible.”
28 YSA 168: “It is worth emphasizing that the assessment is not in itself a
discernment process linked to the admission of a candidate to the next phase.
Such admissions are juridical acts that involve the province and not only the
house Council, while the main purpose of the periodic assessments is to foster
the vocational growth of the one receiving it, through the qualified contribu-
tions offered by members of the local Council. The formation scrutiny is, in-
stead, an assessment of the progress made by someone who is in formation.
Used during initial formation to personalize the formative process, it is an in-
strument of considerable help to the Rector and the spiritual guide in their
work of spiritual accompaniment.”

9.6 Page 86

▲back to top
GUIDELINES AND DIRECTIVES  85
fruitfully shared with his Rector and with the spiritual guide he
has chosen, especially when moving to a new community or phase
of formation.
At the time of admissions, especially those that concern a
definitive commitment such as perpetual profession and holy or-
ders, it is important to keep in mind the whole journey of Sale-
sian life of the confrere concerned.29 It is therefore important to
take into account the discernment that has taken place during
the previous stages, through admissions, scrutinies and dialogue
with the Province of origin, in the case of interprovincial com-
munities (cf. CN 108). What has been said about discretion and
respect for good name obviously also applies to the way of dealing
with this information, which, however, being part of a discern-
ment process carried out by local and provincial Councils, is not
part of the internal forum.
Great care must be taken in the storage and transmission of
information, folders, reports or any document with personal data
such as those mentioned above, avoiding leaving them in easily
accessible areas, even during Council meetings. Equal care must
be taken when transmitting and storing in digital form, taking pains
to avoid possible infringements of privacy and confidentiality.
5. Guidelines
1. Choice of spiritual guide. To facilitate a genuinely free
choice of spiritual guide the Provincial (or curatorium, in
the case of interprovincial formation houses) will present
a list of Salesians (Priests and Brothers) who could serve
as spiritual guides, ensuring that they are either part of the
community or else easily accessible, and that they are not
members of the local Council, keeping in mind also that
29 FSDB 2019 518: “The admission to perpetual profession is made on the
basis of an assessment of the entire process of formation, a verification of the
candidate’s motivations, and his assimilation of the Salesian vocation project.”

9.7 Page 87

▲back to top
86  ACTS OF THE GENERAL COUNCIL
the formee can, in consultation with the Provincial or Rec-
tor, choose someone else. The Rector and members of the
local Council can also be approached for spiritual guidance
if a candidate/confrere so wishes.
2. Application for admissions. In his application for ad-
mission, the candidate must declare that he has consulted
his Rector, confessor and spiritual guide; he is not obliged
to say that he has their consent. The Rector and the others,
in their turn, are obliged to give their honest opinion to the
candidate about his suitability for the step being requested.
They cannot, however, prevent the individual from making
his own decision and presenting his application. Should
the application be presented, the Rector cannot divulge, not
even in the Council, the advice he has given to the person
concerned, and must act as in every other case. Similarly,
the local Council can advise the candidate about a possible
negative opinion but cannot prevent him from presenting
his application.
3. Admissions – role of the Rector. The Rector cannot
share with the Council or with anyone else any of the
information received in the friendly talk or in spiritual
accompaniment, with the qualifications made above in
section 2: Confidentiality. Neither can he make use of this
information to arrive at his own judgment at the time of
voting about the suitability of the person for admission.
4. Admissions – role of the Council. At the time of admis-
sions, the local Council will express its opinion through
a secret vote and through a comprehensive written opinion
that is exhaustive if synthetic, on the overall suitability of the
candidate. The practice of deciding in advance how to vote
renders the vote invalid and is to be absolutely excluded.
5. Passage of information. When a candidate/confrere
moves on to another phase of formation, whether in his own
province or elsewhere, his Provincial will pass a copy of the
judgment at the time of admission, and other information

9.8 Page 88

▲back to top
GUIDELINES AND DIRECTIVES  87
which may favour the knowledge and accompaniment of
the candidate/confrere concerned, including the periodic
assessments. This will make it possible to carry out a dis-
cernment at the time of admissions that looks at the whole
arc of Salesian life and the formation journey of the person
concerned (cf. CN 108).
6. Formation of formators. Provincials and animating
bodies such as regional formation centres will organize for-
mation courses for first time Rectors, for all Rectors from
time to time, and for the members of local and provincial
Councils. During these courses, the orientations and guide-
lines of the present letter will be presented and made the
subject of personal study as well as group sharing.
***

9.9 Page 89

▲back to top
88  ACTS OF THE GENERAL COUNCIL
2.2  THE SALESIAN VOCATIONAL GUIDANCE EXPERIENCE:
FORMATION PATHWAYS
Fr Miguel Angel GARCÍA
General Councillor for Youth Ministry
Fr Ivo COELHO
General Councillor for Formation
1. The purpose of this document
This text stems from the desire to have a shared reference
framework that will allow for the reception and vocational
guidance of young people who wish to gain a closer
knowledge of Salesian life and to mature in and discern
their vocation. We want to offer these young people the envi-
ronment, conditions and accompanying pathways for such.
The document is divided into seven points. First, a summary
is offered, in chronological order, of the main references from
the Congregation’s documents since Vatican II, and then an
overview of the Congregation’s practice in the various regions.
Next, a consideration is presented with respect to the origin of
the candidates. Of particular importance are the points relating
to the entry profile of young people, the formation pathway for
accompaniment and discernment, and finally, the suitable envi-
ronment and conditions that the Salesian house must guarantee.
A pedagogical proposal is offered concerning times and ways of
accompanying this experience, and finally, an in-depth examina-
tion of the topic of vocation animation in the Province.
These current reflections daw on some essential references of
the Church and the Congregation.1 They are not simply a collec-
1 Constitutions and Regulations of the Society of St Francis de Sales; General
Chapters of the Salesians of Don Bosco (CG); The Formation of the Salesians of
Don Bosco: Ratio Fundamentalis Institutionis et Studiorum, 2016; Acts of the

9.10 Page 90

▲back to top
GUIDELINES AND DIRECTIVES  89
tion of sources, nor a re-proposal of them in some sort of skilful
synthesis, nor even an interpretation of them. The path thus doc-
umented highlights very clearly the value of the continuity, dis-
cernment and attention that has been taken up and has gradually
matured through the different experiences of Salesian vocation
guidance. This document is concerned with understand-
ing, exploring and enriching actual experiences of Sale-
sian vocational guidance. A mapping of the situation of the
Aspirantate and its various expressions in all the regions of the
Congregation (July 2021) has been taken into account in the
drafting of the following guidelines.
2. Vocational guidance in documents of the Congregation
following Vatican II
Reading the journey of the Congregation allows us to discover
the persistent reflection on the situation of the aspirantate. In-
centives are offered, new challenges are posed to which the
Provinces ordinarily try to find innovative and up-to-date solu-
tions. Reconstructing the thread of history is not a superfluous
activity; on the contrary, it guides us in tuning into a very impor-
tant reality in the field of vocation ministry and guidance.
Congregational reflection on vocational guidance was crys-
tallised in the Constitutions and Regulations (1984). General
Chapters studied the matter further and built up a very rich pat-
rimony, integrating the Letters of the Rectors Major and initia-
tives of Provinces. Thus, recognised first and foremost was
the Christian vocation to which all the baptised are called (C 37);
Superior Council (ASC) and Acts of the General Council (AGC); Francis, post-
synodal Apostolic Exhortation Christus vivit, 2019; Synod of Bishops, XV
Ordinary General Assembly: young people, the faith and vocational discernment.
Final Document, 2019; Salesian Youth Ministry. Framework of Reference, 2014
(FoR); Young Salesians and Accompaniment. Orientations and Guidelines, 2019
(YSA); Orientations on the experience of the Aspirantate, 2011.

10 Pages 91-100

▲back to top

10.1 Page 91

▲back to top
90  ACTS OF THE GENERAL COUNCIL
for this reason, not only religious or priestly vocations, for which
special care is required, but also lay vocations were conceived
as ‘apostolic vocations’ (C 28).
In one way or another, the insistence has been that pastoral
work for vocations is the crowning glory of youth ministry, “its
unifying principle”2, because the Salesian mission aims at helping
young people discover their vocation.3
The concept of vocation ministry as mere ‘recruitment’ of vo-
cations has been rejected on a number of occasions, confirming
the dual aspect of vocation promotion, both general and specific.4
On the one hand, it calls for constant attention to discovering and
accompanying vocations of special commitment in society and the
Church with differentiated and appropriate initiatives; but it also
sustains the awareness of a special responsibility for arousing an
explicit invitation to a vocation of special service or consecration,
in particular, to the Salesian charism in its multiple forms.5
This is why it is stated that the first objective of vocation
promotion is to create a “culture of vocation” in every Salesian
setting.6 Through relationships, communication, activities and
projects, it encourages a vision of life as a gift and as service,
proposing attitudes that foster vocational development, even lead-
ing to an explicit proposal of consecrated and priestly life.
The Congregation has never ceased to insist on the special
care of the relevant and indispensable environments wherein it
is essential to help young people discern their vocation and
2 GC28 p. 24.
3 SGC 374; C 37; cf. GC23 247.
4 L. Ricceri, Lettere circolari di don Luigi Ricceri ai salesiani (Roma: Editrice
SDB, 1996) 636-38. The document Young Salesians and Accompaniment. Orien-
tations and Guidelines insists on clarifying the difference between vocational
recruitment and accompaniment and vocational discernment (cf. YSA 183).
5 Cf. J.E. Vecchi, Educatori appassionati, esperti e consacrati per i giovani.
Lettere circolari di don Juan E. Vecchi (Roma: LAS, 2013) 644. 649
6 In his letter for the Year 2000, “Now is the favourable time” (AGC 373), Fr
Juan Vecchi introduces this expression used by Pope John Paul II. Cf. GC26 53.

10.2 Page 92

▲back to top
GUIDELINES AND DIRECTIVES  91
respond to it consciously. These formative spaces have been called
“aspirantates”, then “live-in community experiences”, “come and
see groups” among others.7 In this respect, the teaching of the
Rectors Major and Chapters has, over the years, urged the renew-
al of these vocational guidance proposals8, described in the Regu-
lations as “vocational guidance centres” (cf. R 16 and 17).
Serious planning of vocation ministry is also needed9 within
the journey of faith offered by Youth Ministry. This perspective
has been emphasised in recent times by the Rector Major’s Action
Guidelines following GC28: there is a need to accompany “the
young with a view to their personal maturity, growth in faith”.10
This excludes the vocational process being an “ultimate”, “casual”,
“elite” or “exceptional” moment, but the backbone of the whole
faith journey.11 The Youth Ministry Frame of Reference (2014)
inserts the vocational dimension within the Provincial SEPP, not
as something added to it but as something internal and substan-
tial; it also explores the meaningful options for vocation discern-
ment that are part of the process of education to the faith,12 with-
out setting aside vocations of special consecration.
GC21 (1978) offered the “first systematic guidelines for the re-
newal of Salesian vocational ministry”.13 It was already mentioned
at the time that this is a formation methodology aimed at young
people with greater sensitivity, willingness and spiritual richness,
and who require differentiated and special attention. Besides, “the
Provinces, and not the communities or individuals”14 are respon-
sible for certain conditions: defining clear objectives, an educative
7 E. Viganò, Lettere circolari di don Egidio Viganò ai Salesiani (Roma:
Direzione Generale Opere Don Bosco, 1996) 1225; cf. GC26 72.
8 Ricceri, Lettere circolari 657-64.
9 Ricceri, Lettere circolari 645-57.
10 GC28 p. 24.
11 E. Viganò, Lettere circolari di don Egidio Viganò ai Salesiani (Roma:
Direzione Generale Opere Don Bosco, 1996) 1206.
12 Cf. FoR p. 247. 248.
13 GC21 574.
14 GC21 118.

10.3 Page 93

▲back to top
92  ACTS OF THE GENERAL COUNCIL
project and accompaniment in groups or communities15 where
there are people who witness to authentic Salesian life.
The Salesian community is the “privileged place for vocation
proposal and accompaniment”. However, we must not forget that
the subject of Salesian Youth Ministry, where vocation discern-
ment and life choices culminate, is the Educative and Pastoral
Community, a communion of different vocations.16
Over the years, the Congregation has developed a reflection
on guidance in the education to the faith of young people. It has
identified vocation guidance as its founding and qualifying dimen-
sion.17 Some aspects support and complement each other in this
vocational commitment: on the one hand, the guidance offered to
all young people in the context of education; on the other, the con-
stant attention to discovering and accompanying vocations of par-
ticular commitment in society and in the Church with differenti-
ated and appropriate initiatives, so that young people can make
a conscious and free choice (C 109); finally, a particular responsi-
bility towards the Salesian charism in its multiple forms, through
discernment and by nurturing the seeds of a Salesian vocation,
both consecrated and lay, found in young people. To implement
this last aspect, the Salesian vocational guidance experience will
need to relate to Salesian consecrated life.18
Many of these issues are broadly developed in the letter
“The Experience of the Aspirantate (2011)”19: the dimensions of
Salesian formation, the value and urgency of accompaniment and
15 R 16; cf. GC26 72.
16 GC24 141.180
17 Cf. SGC 374 and 692; GC21, 110ff; GC23, 149ff and 247
18 cf. GC26 54, 58, 69 The Letter of F. Attard - F. Cereda, "Guidelines on the
Experience of the Aspirantate” reminds us that these proposals are essentially
an accompaniment experience (nos. 1 and 14) and of discernment on the Salesian
consecrated vocation (no. 15).
19 The Letter of F. Attard - F. Cereda, “Guidelines on the Experience of the
Aspirantate”, 27 July 2011, came about as a response to the GC26, 73 guidelines
drawn up by the Youth Ministry and Formation Sectors.

10.4 Page 94

▲back to top
GUIDELINES AND DIRECTIVES  93
discernment are presented in addition to the nature and purpose
of the aspirantate. Ultimately, the text clarifies, on the one hand,
the conditions to be ensured; on the other, the different forms.
The same introduction emphasises that the vocational accompa-
niment of candidates to Salesian consecrated life is part of Youth
Ministry and is therefore the responsibility of the Youth Ministry
Sector, in close collaboration with the Formation Sector.
3. Various expressions of a single definition
a. - Our Congregation’s Regulations use the term “aspiran-
tate” to describe the accompaniment of young people who
show an aptitude for religious life and that will allow
them to understand their vocation. Young people in this ex-
perience can explore, verify and mature in the signs of a vocation
that arise in their lives and that guide them to the possibility of
a choice of Salesian religious life that they have not yet made pub-
licly and consciously (cf. R 17).
This experience, carried out through a great variety of forms
and approaches, must not be considered simply as an external
structure, but as a maturing process that allows the young people
involved to have targeted experiences of accompaniment and vo-
cational discernment. In fact, the faith education dimension of
the Salesian educative and pastoral project educates them to live
from a vocation perspective. This is also the result of a good ed-
ucative and pastoral path: leading the individual to experience a
mature faith, and thus to realise the plan that God has for his
life. In other words, vocational guidance is the summit and crown-
ing of our educative and pastoral activity, not in the sense of the
journey of faith reaching its ultimate moment, but as “an element
always present, and one that must characterize every stage and
every area of intervention” (GC23 247). As previously empha-
sised, the 23rd General Chapter had said that there had been a
“long reflection” in the Congregation to address the new situation

10.5 Page 95

▲back to top
94  ACTS OF THE GENERAL COUNCIL
and the traditional and new forms of vocation promotion, aiming
at “new and varied experiences” (GC23 249).
In the first instance we mention no. 329 of the Ratio (revised
in 2009) in reference to the pre-novitiate: “This first phase of
formation [pre-novitiate] presupposes that the prenovice has pre-
viously gone through an appropriate period and experience of
vocational growth, human and Christian maturing, guidance,
community living and an exercise of Salesian pastoral ministry
– all things one cannot do without.”
The Youth Ministry Frame of Reference tackles the vocation
dimension: “This process allows a young person to make a calm,
personal, free and well-motivated decision while having experi-
ence in a community where he is formed according to the charism
to which he is called, growing in understanding and gradual con-
formation to it”.20
b. - This period, which can tend to be pre-novitiate ori-
ented, is described in various ways, generally as the “aspi-
rantate”, even though the term varies according to place, culture
and sensitivities.
Already in the 1980s and 1990s, a number of structures in
some provinces gradually emerged which replaced the term, some-
times with new approaches compared to the classic aspirantates:
“comunità proposta” (a live-in experience), “vocational welcome
community”, “guidance house”, “Salesian vocational guidance
centre” (R 17), “welcome community”, “Come and See pro-
gramme”, “external aspirantate” (for candidates who, due to so-
cial, cultural, political or family circumstances, cannot be intro-
duced immediately into a community). Other designations used
before these years are “school aspirantate” (young people engaged
in pre-university studies), “missionary aspirantate”, “aspirantate
for indigenous vocations”.
20 Youth Ministry Frame of Reference. Rome 2014, Chap. 6, 2.4.a (Called to
life and faith).

10.6 Page 96

▲back to top
GUIDELINES AND DIRECTIVES  95
What follows is the current situation and the different terms
used in our congregation.21
VARIOUS KINDS OF ASPIRANTATES IN THE REGIONS (2021)
RAFM RAMI RAMS RASE RASS RECN RMED
Systematic
accompaniment
6
School-based aspirantate 1
3
19
Aspirantate after
school/university
7
5
5
6
Insertion into a community
5
6
Missionary aspirantate
2
Comunità proposta
(live-in community)
6
4
9
Vocational volunteering
10
2
External aspirantate
3
1
3
2
Aspirantate for
indigenous vocations
1
Repeatedly and insistently, the need has arisen for in-depth
reflection on the apostolic schools in which so many confreres
are involved and which reach a large number of recipients (in the
Africa and Madagascar Region and the South Asia Region).22
There is a need for verification and renewal, and it is urgent and
important that those most involved in this field at the local,
provincial and regional levels become part of this process, enhanc-
ing the guidelines already outlined at the congregational level –
such as those mentioned here on the vocation ministry – and
deepening the pedagogical sphere with respect to studies on
21 RAFM = Africa and Madagascar Region; RAMI = Inter-America Region;
RAMS = South America Region; RASE = East Asia and Oceania Region;
RASS = South Asia Region; RECN = Europa Central-North Rgion; RMED =
Mediterranean Region.
22 Already in 1965, chapter members at GC19 (Part III - ASPIRANTS)
insisted on the fact that "Apostolic schools are to be considered neither Aspirants
nor Pre-Aspirants".

10.7 Page 97

▲back to top
96  ACTS OF THE GENERAL COUNCIL
the age to which it is addressed and the characteristics of the
school-type structures on which this educative and pastoral
service is based.
c. - In any case, this welcoming environment for young people
wishing to embark on a path of vocational discernment is not a
stage added to formation: it seeks to be a setting “character-
ized by an intense vocational orientation, is still a valid form
to help youth discover their own vocation and consciously corre-
spond with it,”23 the natural bridge between Salesian youth
ministry and formation.
4. Origin of candidates
a. - This is a necessary experience, all the more so since
these young people who are searching come from heterogeneous
backgrounds with very different ages, family situations, levels of
personal maturity, life experiences, faith and culture, and coming
from a variety of Salesian circumstances and with different
knowledge of Don Bosco.
» This particular experience begins for those young people who
have already embarked on a journey of maturing in the faith24
and of vocational guidance25, ordinarily as part of the processes
of Salesian youth ministry such as, for example: vocation
weekends, camps and vocation groups, accompaniment by
a Salesian in a house, accompaniment by the coordinator of
the province’s vocation ministry, or as the result of volunteer
experience.
23 GC20, 662
24 C 6, 28, 37 and R 9.
25 Article 16 of the Regulations: “Vocational guidance centres welcome and
keep in touch with young people who feel called to some commitment in the
Church and in the Congregation. This service can also be carried out by
organizing local and regional meetings, by means of activities of special groups,
or by inserting young people in one of our communities.”

10.8 Page 98

▲back to top
GUIDELINES AND DIRECTIVES  97
» Other young people attracted by Don Bosco’s charism, who
have not lived in a Salesian Educative and Pastoral Commu-
nity, also begin this experience. These young people trust the
Salesian charism as a charism open to the Church in its total-
ity and embark in freedom on a vocational journey that can
have different outcomes.
b. - To all these candidates, the Province offers specific accom-
paniment through a concrete proposal that best meets the
needs of their personal history and situation.
These structures are mainly aimed at university students or
high school youth. However, some provinces have maintained
structures for aspiring adolescents and pre-adolescents, with a
style more similar to the “minor seminary” structure: same study
hours for all, less contact with the outside world and little pastoral
practice due to age.
5. Some aspects of the entry profile
a. - from this perspective on formation it becomes essential to
create the most suitable conditions for the person to make
the discernment step. In fact, this period of “first acceptance”
becomes an experience that can have very flexible configurations
and vary in place and duration, including according to the candi-
date. It is necessary, in fact, for the young person to have a for-
mation rhythm which is in accordance with his personal maturity
and vocational journey, without confusing it with other stages.
The first condition to be taken into consideration in order to
be admitted to the Aspirantate is that the young person enters
this experience at the moment when he explicitly questions him-
self about a possible vocation to the consecrated Salesian life be-
fore God. In other words, he must have expressed the desire
and willingness to discern God’s plan in the Salesian
charism, and so be willing to embark on the path of veri-

10.9 Page 99

▲back to top
98  ACTS OF THE GENERAL COUNCIL
fying whether his initial attraction is truly a call from God and
discerning whether he has suitable conditions for accept-
ing it. In any case, the young person must remain open to other
vocational outcomes.
It should be made clear that the one who accompanies him
has no other interest than to help the young person discover be-
fore the Lord what he is called to and, if it is a vocation of special
consecration, to initiate the process and if it is a calling to some-
thing else, then to guide it. It is not about identifying or discard-
ing religious vocations, but a service (the crowning one of pastoral
accompaniment) of help in identifying one's vocation and offering
guidance for it.
b. - After this preamble, some conditions are important, i.e.
some points that outline the entry profile of the young man
who intends to live this experience, following the Church’s criteria
as follows: “To respond to our vocation, we need to foster and de-
velop all that we are. This has nothing to do with inventing our-
selves or creating ourselves out of nothing. t has to do with finding
our true selves in the light of God and letting our lives flourish
and bear fruit” (CV 257):
» verification of a healthy lifestyle (physical and psychological),
in a broad sense;
» presence of a personal experience of God that has enabled him
to perceive his call in some way (not that it is already clear);
it is desirable that he has previously participated in vocational
guidance experiences;
» readiness for personal accompaniment;
» commitment and fidelity demonstrated in one’s work (personal
study, apostolic activity, community service);
» ability to interact with and relate to others in a positive man-
ner;
» readiness for apostolic work with young people, especially the
poorest;

10.10 Page 100

▲back to top
GUIDELINES AND DIRECTIVES  99
» indications regarding age. Some provinces give preference to
young people aged 17-18 and over; for candidates over the age
of 35, the journey is accompanied to check its feasibility; other
provinces welcome teenagers between 14 and 17 years old.
6. The formation path of accompaniment and discernment
The growth in maturity of the individual occurs, in this phase,
by facilitating certain aspects that become specific objectives to
be pursued. It follows that the great work of the formators lies in
accompanying the young person to identify and implement the
inner dynamics that lead him to harmonise and live the various
dimensions not as a spectator on the sidelines, but as someone who
takes an active part in them:26
a. - Human maturity is the basis of the young person’s vo-
cational growth. It tends towards the goal of psychic and emotion-
al balance and harmonious and integral growth, paying particular
attention to becoming aware of any psychological weaknesses and
initiating safe processes for overcoming them. In the aspirantate
experience, the young person begins to mature:
» An authentic and profound contact with self and, therefore, a
good ability, serenity and maturity in being able to honestly
read and decipher oneself, one’s feelings and desires, the
dispositions of the heart, the gifts received and any wounds.
26 “the Synod proposes with conviction to all the particular Churches, to the
religious congregations, to the movements, to associations and to other ecclesial
bodies that they offer the young an experience of accompaniment with a view to
discernment. This experience – whose duration should be determined according
to contexts and opportunities – can be described as a time destined for the
maturation of adult Christian life. It should involve prolonged detachment from
habitual environments and relationships, and it should be built around at least
three indispensable elements: an experience of fraternal life shared with adult
formators that is essential, simple and respectful of the common home; a firm
apostolic programme for living together; an offer of spirituality rooted in prayer
and sacramental life” (DF 161).

11 Pages 101-110

▲back to top

11.1 Page 101

▲back to top
100  ACTS OF THE GENERAL COUNCIL
» Further opportunities are offered to understand the dynamics
of community life and the elements of affective maturation,
for example: the ability to respect others, to listen to and ac-
cept others’ points of view, not to use others for one’s own
ends, to care for others while growing in empathy.
» The ability to grasp the central motivational core of one’s ac-
tions, beyond the more external and emotionally contingent
aspects, such as, for example, new family balances.
b. - The area of relationship with God and spiritual com-
mitment must be traced with certain references in mind:
» The discovery and acceptance of the real primacy of God
and its evangelical logic in the life of the Christian.27 Familiarity
with the Lord, the introduction to the life of faith and friendship
with Jesus, are part of this28 by seeing to prayer and liturgy.
» Willingness to let oneself be helped and, therefore, openness
to the practice of personal accompaniment and to taking re-
sponsibility for decisions. It is a process which, on the one
hand, must verify certain steps in vocational suitability; on
the other, it must deepen the vocational motivations of
the young person making the journey (the needs, desires,
interests, internal and external drives that incline the young
person to such a choice).
» Furthermore, the experiential dimension of Salesian youth
spirituality must be privileged over the theoretical dimension
in the reading of faith in daily life and in reflection on lived
experiences.
c. - For the young person who is discerning a vocation as an
educator and evangeliser of youth, certain elements of the intel-
lectual dimension are desirable:
27 “The incidence of faith on life, or its practical irrelevance, is clear today in
some aspects of the existence of individuals or of culture, which therefore become
its acid test. It is not a matter of particular points, but rather of areas where the
significance, strength and contrasts of faith can be found” (GC23, 181).
28 HP, 250.

11.2 Page 102

▲back to top
GUIDELINES AND DIRECTIVES  101
» Attention to everyday life as the place where continuity and
constancy in taking care of one’s study or work commitments,
personal duties, required services, household chores is mani-
fested.
» The acquisition of habits of reflection and sharing, as well as
the ability to reflect on situations and critically evaluate the
surrounding reality.
» Maturing in the ability to perceive evangelical and vocational
values according to the Gospel and Salesian youth spirituality,
rather than tracing them back to one’s previous cognitive
patterns.
d. - “The youngster trains himself to generosity and availability.
These are two attitudes that give rise to joy: to gain life you
have to give it”.29 Therefore his educative and pastoral growth
includes:
» Initiation to apostolic activity, lived in an experiential way and
reinterpreted in accompaniment by privileging the typically
Salesian moments of assistance and the systematic and con-
tinuous animation of a group. This educative and pastoral
initiation becomes an opportunity to listen to the needs of
the young; to know Don Bosco and the Preventive System; to
discover the dimensions and characteristics of the Salesian
animator;
» The desire to subject one’s pastoral activity to the scrutiny of
others.
» Flexibility in roles rather than a tailor-made ministry.
Focus on the intellectual dimension of the journey should not
be an excessive burden in terms of academic study, with little op-
portunity to work seriously on oneself.
29 GC23, 152.

11.3 Page 103

▲back to top
102  ACTS OF THE GENERAL COUNCIL
7. The appropriate environment and conditions that the
Salesian house must provide
As we have seen, this is the period in which the Congregation
offers an experience to young people who are searching, seeing to
accompaniment and personal discernment according to the crite-
ria indicated. The final objective of the process is the voca-
tional decision. The individual Provinces propose a Salesian
house (or several houses in the Province) where young people are
offered the valuable opportunity of fraternal life among Salesians
and peers, in the simplicity of daily life where there is no lack of
school commitments, domestic duties and relationships, apostolic
proposals according to Don Bosco’s charism and an offer of spir-
ituality that helps to combine faith and life: “To anyone who is
thinking of becoming a Salesian, an environment and suitable
conditions are offered to enable him to discern his own vocation
and to mature as a man and a Christian.”30
It is desirable for this type of experience to be lived, in partic-
ular, by those young people who are approaching fraternal life
in Salesian communities for the first time and who have not
previously frequented our apostolic life environments.
Four conditions are needed to obtain this result:
a. - The community environment is a lively and open one,
simple, family like, cheerful but busy. Relationships of friendship
and familiarity stand out. They can share some moments of
prayer, spirituality, activities and friendship with the community
(but not in the ordinary structure of religious life). That is, a fam-
ily environment where there are suitable conditions for a period
of time in which these young people can discover, take up and
responsibly follow their life project.
Community life is a valuable opportunity to learn fraternity
in relationships, discussion with educators, shared responsibility
30 C 109

11.4 Page 104

▲back to top
GUIDELINES AND DIRECTIVES  103
in services, generosity in giving oneself. To make growth in ma-
turity easier, dialogue is certainly to be preferred to imposition,
testimony to mere observation, shared responsibility to servitude,
the internalisation of motivations to the mere carrying out of
tasks, respect for the person and his processes in a personalised
accompaniment to standardised approaches and anonymity.
b. - The Aspirantate is an experience of accompaniment.
First of all the young person is offered community accompani-
ment. This is a set of relationships, an environment, a favourable
climate and a pedagogy which are proper to the Preventive Sys-
tem and which go from the close presence of the Salesians in
charge of the Aspirantate to discussion, guidance, support along
the vocational and formation journey.31
In addition to this accompaniment, it is important to intro-
duce the young person to personal accompaniment: spiritual, vo-
cational, pastoral, in study. In this sense one speaks of an inter-
personal relationship of “vocational dialogue” an attentive and
immediate accompaniment in relation to each of the four areas
of the formation process indicated above. Only a path of personal
accompaniment can facilitate an adequate identification of the
objectives of growth and awareness of what it means to live an
apostolic vocation.
However, accompanying these young people must provide
knowledge and encourage them to experience their own contin-
gencies, needs, desires, weaknesses and wounds. Therefore, much
attention must be paid to the human dimension of the person. To
this end, it is necessary to address certain aspects that “touch on”
the human being: self-differentiation (the ability to maintain
one’s own sense of self, identity, thoughts and emotions in rela-
31 “It is always better to live the faith together and to show our love by living
in community and sharing with other young people our affection, our time, our
faith and our troubles. The Church offers many different possibilities for living
our faith in community, for everything is easier when we do it together.”
(CV, 164).

11.5 Page 105

▲back to top
104  ACTS OF THE GENERAL COUNCIL
tionships with others), self-mastery (the control of one’s feelings,
behaviour, through understanding one’s reactions, emotions,
mood swings) and self-appraisal (linked to one’s self-esteem).
This is a process that has to be verified in various ways: in
personal discussion, observation of the experience by the forma-
tors, description of the results by the individual concerned.
It is a process that must, on the one hand, verify – God’s call,
vocational openness and availability, the specific nature of an
option and suitability for it – and on the other hand deepen the
motivations of the young person. If vocational maturity proceeds
in the direction of Salesian consecrated life, the aspirant is guided
towards pre-novitiate.
c. - The effectiveness of the experience depends largely on the
accompaniment team: Salesians and others (lay people, ex-
perts) chosen to be in charge of this experience, who are particu-
larly well prepared for the not always easy task of offering candi-
dates personalised accompaniment for their human and Christian
growth. Indeed, “The family atmosphere of welcome and of faith,
created by the witness of a community which gives of itself with
joy, is the most efficacious setting for the discovery and guidance
of vocations.” 32
It is preferable to have a heterogeneous team comprising
Salesian priests and Salesian coadjutor brothers precisely to fos-
ter knowledge and appreciation of the two forms of the Salesian
consecrated vocation.
Some important indications: there must be a person within
the community who is clearly indicated as a reference point for
the young person; the reference confreres, at the discretion of the
delegate for vocation ministry, must be invited to the meetings of
the vocations ministry commission.
d. - Relationships with the family: Aware of the importance
32 C 37.

11.6 Page 106

▲back to top
GUIDELINES AND DIRECTIVES  105
of the family, the young person maintains appropriate ties with it
and, starting with the vocational choice he intends to make, learns
to establish new family relationships. Normally no young person
starts the Aspirantate without prior contact with the family.
Parents should be encouraged, if possible, to visit the Salesian com-
munity by being present at certain significant moments. In this
respect it is advisable to begin by recognising and addressing any
family problems in accompanying these young people.
8. Times and approaches
The timing and approaches of the proposal are variable, de-
pending on the age of the young person, the path followed and
the province’s traditions. On the other hand, certain conditions
can be considered fixed points:
Times are not too structured (both in terms of everyday
life, which must be adaptable to the path of the young person,
and in terms of the general framework of vocational experiences),
but agreed together with the young person on the basis of his per-
sonal journey and the possibilities of those still bound by study
or work commitments. In any case, young people continue their
university studies/work commitments during this period.
Given the diversity of personal journeys, we like to think of
the community as an open experience involving multiple kinds of
stays, a gradual path of insertion that begins with:
» an occasional or casual first contact,
» then limited periods of stay at times considered significant for
the life of the community or the young person himself,
» and then move on to more challenging choices.
It is also necessary to promote periodic meetings that aim to
bring young people together with other young people who
are on a vocational journey, for example: days or weekends
in which the young person lives an experience of prayer and shar-

11.7 Page 107

▲back to top
106  ACTS OF THE GENERAL COUNCIL
ing with other young people (pre-novices, novices, etc.); vocational
camps where both young people who have begun the aspirantate
journey and young people who intend to begin this type of expe-
rience meet. It is very important to organise all these initiatives
systematically and gradually, at local and zone level, in a vocations
ministry plan within the Provincial SEPP.
Being a specific moment of knowledge and exploration, accom-
paniment and experience of Salesian life and mission to verify and
mature this initial orientation, it becomes very interesting to put
these young people in contact with other Salesian communities.
In general, some provinces report at least six months of a
stable aspirantate proving to be sufficient to make a first dis-
cernment that is able to respond to an initial question:
are they ready to being a process of accompaniment/discernment
with real guidance to Salesian life in the pre-novitiate?
9. Vocation ministry in the province
a. - Vocation ministry must be the principle and summit of
youth ministry. All ministry, and youth ministry in particular, is
radically vocational: this dimension is its inspiring principle and
its natural outcome. In other words, vocation ministry emerges
from youth ministry as the breath and concrete expres-
sion of its vitality. This is why provincial vocation ministry of-
fers a mentality, a sensitivity, but also a pedagogy. To the extent
to which it makes its vocational dimension explicit, youth min-
istry finds its best motivation for its relaunching: it rediscovers
life as a gift, as “being for” in a liberating and fascinating
perspective because it takes place before the surprising and
magnificent plan of God.
Personal vocation accompaniment is not a privilege for good
people or some kind of exceptional pastoral activity: it must be a
normal formation tool offered to everyone. This is why personal

11.8 Page 108

▲back to top
GUIDELINES AND DIRECTIVES  107
vocational accompaniment of young people is a pastoral duty to-
wards all young people and a right for every young person!
The local and Provincial Educative and Pastoral Plan must
help the confreres and lay people who share for the Salesian mis-
sion to form a “culture of vocation”33, a sensitivity, a way of think-
ing and – especially – a way of “seeing” the many boys and young
men they approach every day. If all this is true, it is easy to
understand how the provincial vocations animator and province
approaches are at the service of this local responsibility, not as an
alternative or a substitute for it.
Promoting vocation ministry is an essential task of youth
ministry:
» guaranteeing the guidance and accompaniment of all young
people because the vocational proposal, from childhood on-
wards, is included as part of the process of education to the
faith, as the point of convergence of all educational and evan-
gelising efforts.
» noting that vocation ministry is not simply aimed at recruiting
pastoral workers, nor something isolated or just part of one
or other Sector, but rather an activity linked to the being of
the Church and therefore also intimately embedded in youth
ministry;34
33 Speaking of the prophecy of fraternity, GC27 reminds us that “it is
necessary to accompany young people, to walk with them, to listen to them, to
provoke them, to shake them up so that they go beyond the comforts in which
they have settled, to awaken their desire, to explain to them what they are
experiencing, to lead them to Jesus, and always giving priority to freedom so that
they respond to the Lord’s call in a free and responsible manner”. It is necessary
to create a climate of trust, to make young people feel that they are loved as they
are and for who they are. [...] The personal relationship with young people on
the part of consecrated persons is irreplaceable. The third guidelines of GC28
also invites us to live the “Salesian sacrament of presence” according to which
"The gratuitousness of presence saves the Congregation from any activist
obsession and from any kind of technical and functional reductionism".
34 Cf, for example, Ricceri 645-57; GC26 58; Chávez, Lettere circolari 1039;
YSA 183.

11.9 Page 109

▲back to top
108  ACTS OF THE GENERAL COUNCIL
» creating the appropriate conditions (a real path of accompa-
niment; communities that are friendly, committed and open
to all young people seeking their destiny in life, etc.) so that
each young person can discover, take up and responsibly follow
their vocation;
» proposing different vocational paths to young people without
forgetting or underestimating the explicit vocational call
to consecrated or priestly life;
» encouraging a family climate with meaningful vocational
testimonies.
b. - In this sense, the Aspirantate, as clearly stated in the letter
“The Aspirantate Experience (2011)”: “It is our wish that these
Guidelines be taken up by the Provincial Delegate for Youth Min-
istry, so that he may accompany the Province vocation promoters
and their Commission and may review that part of the Provincial
Educative Pastoral Plan which concerns provincial vocation pro-
motion. In this Plan it is also necessary to identify a model of vo-
cation promotion at the local level that can draw in the Salesian
communities and the educative pastoral communities. This sort
of work also requires close collaboration with the Provincial
Delegate for Formation”.
This accompaniment at the provincial level by the delegates
and those who are responsible for the animation and governance
of the province is all the more important when the care of the as-
pirants is entrusted completely to local communities (however the
experience is defined in the various contexts). If there is no good
planning and careful verification, there is the risk that what hap-
pens is in fact without any connection either with youth ministry,
or with formation, or with the guidelines of the province and the
Congregation. It is not enough to describe what the conditions are
for good accompaniment in a document such as this text,. It is nec-
essary to put in place all the measures at the provincial and then
local level to ensure that it is actually put into practice.

11.10 Page 110

▲back to top
GUIDELINES AND DIRECTIVES  109
10. Conclusion
We firmly believe that the acceptance and assumption of a vo-
cation by young people is the educational process par excellence,
towards which all the efforts and labours of every educative and
pastoral Community are directed. Vocational guidance properly
carried out, therefore, is the sure way to full human maturity and
the source of true happiness. Therefore, all youth ministry is con-
ceived, implemented and verified starting from this objective: to
accompany each young person until they are ready to take the
place the Lord has assigned them in the building of the Kingdom.
Today more than ever we feel the challenge and urgency of
“creating a vocational culture in every environment, so that
young people discover life as a call, and so that all Salesian min-
istry becomes truly vocational” (GC24 50). In this respect the
vocational dimension35 really does run across everything we offer.
Although it presents itself with its own specific project, it repre-
sents the core of every pastoral proposal and must therefore be
present in every environment. With regard to Salesian consecrat-
ed life, we believe it is urgent to offer young people these experi-
ences of vocational guidance that ignite desire and guide the heart.
35 For this dimension see FoR, 152-154.

12 Pages 111-120

▲back to top

12.1 Page 111

▲back to top
4.  ACTIVITIES  OF  THE  GENERAL  COUNCIL
4.1  Chronicle of the Rector Major
The main events in the Rector
Major’s chronicle during the six
months from February to June
2022 are as follows:
January 2022 saw the Rector
Major busy with the General
Council Plenary Session from the
7th to 28th as usual. The Salesian
Family Spirituality Days in Val-
docco, Turin, from the 13th to
16th of the month were also im-
portant, dedicated as they were to
the 400th anniversary of the
death of St Francis de Sales and
attended online by about 10,000
people, followed by four days of
listening, prayer and discussion
by 150 representatives of the 32
groups of the Salesian Family. In
this 40th edition of the Days, the
RM left a substantial message of
kindness and freedom focused on
the figure of our Patron. “It is
kindness” he said, “that distin-
guishes us as Salesians and only
in freedom can we approach
God”. Also dedicated to St Francis
de Sales was the exhibition that
the RM opened on the morning of
16 January. On display were
works from France and Piedmont
related to the history of the Saint
and the Visitandine Monasteries.
From 21 to 23 January, Fr Ar-
time was in Madrid to celebrate
the 75th anniversary of the
founding of St Dominic Savio
House. In front of 300 educators
from schools and social platforms,
he recalled the great values of
Christian education with the
Salesian response, Still in Madrid,
the Rector Major opened the cen-
tenary of Salesian work in the
Tetuan district popularly known
as Salesianos Estrecho because of
the nearby metro stop. Then
speaking to pastoral leaders in the
parishes, he said: “We are parish-
es with open doors, we build
bridges. We must continue to
work on genuine pastoral conver-
sion that also involves seeing to
“communication” between pas-
toral settings in the work: parish,
youth centre, school and social
platforms.” Back in Rome on 25
January, he took part in the As-
sembly of the IUS, the Salesian
University Institutes, recalling
among other things the value of
respect for the person, honesty
and attention to the weakest.
26 January saw the now tradi-

12.2 Page 112

▲back to top
ACTIVITIES OF THE GENERAL COUNCIL  111
tional meeting between the SDB
General Council and the FMA
General Council at the General
House of the Sisters. During the
Eucharistic celebration, the RM
said, among other things in his
homily: “We are expected to be
able to think and offer what is
possible for current situation we
are experiencing. We are called to
give the best of ourselves, to put all
our energies, skills, wisdom, into
peace, the peace which is the fruit
of God’s presence. We are united
by the will to share, to collaborate
and to be in communion.”
Fr Artime dedicated 28 January
to visiting the San Tarcisio com-
munity in Rome.
On 30-31 January, the Rector
Major was in Turin for the cele-
brations in honour of Don Bosco.
His Mass was televised for the
second year running by RAI, with
Pope Francis as a surprise among
the spectators – because he said
so at the Angelus. On the same
day as the feast day of St John
Bosco, the RM sent a message to
young people which was televised
and broadcast in the various
provinces.
FEBRUARY
From 4 to 9 February we find
the RM in Ecuador in Quito where
he preached the Retreat to 77
Salesians (Provincials and council-
lors) from 13 Provinces. The RM’s
talks dealt with the verification of
the 28th General Chapter and the
Strenna on St Francis de Sales.
The Apostolic Nuncio, Archbishop
Andres Carrascosa visited during
the Retreat.
From 10 to 12 February Fr Ar-
time visited the Province of
Ecuador for the second time. In
spite of the pandemic, Fr Artime
was able to meet with many in-
cluding the Archbishop of Quito,
Archbishop Alfredo Espinoza. He
also met the FMA Sisters and
young people from the Salesian
Youth Movement.
On the 13th, Fr Artime arrived
in Brazil. He preached the Re-
treat at Sao Leopoldo for another
70 confreres. As he said, “It is an
unprecedented experience that
seeks to bring the Provincial
Councils closer to the 10th succes-
sor of Don Bosco and to encour-
age them, especially at this time
whendeeply Salesian values like
presence and closeness to people
have been affected by the pan-
demic.” The Rector Major also
had the opportunity on 17 Febru-
ary to talk to the Salesian Radios
Brazil online. What were his ex-
pectations of these broadcasters?
“Fidelity to our precious charism,
to Don Bosco, and a priority above

12.3 Page 113

▲back to top
112  ACTS OF THE GENERAL COUNCIL
all for the poorest and those with
less opportunities.”
From 22 to 28 February the RM
was in Rome, where he met the
personnel from the Pontifical
Salesian University on the 26th .
MARCH
From 1 to 3 March the RM met
as a Council together with his
Vicar, Fr Stefano Martoglio and
Sector Councillors. Fr Artime was
also at home from the 4th to the
16th, days dedicated to reflection
and writing. On 7 March, among
other things he met with the com-
munication team, which also in-
cluded the co-spokesperson Fr
Giuseppe Costa, and gave a num-
ber of pointers regarding the
functioning of ANS and the De-
partment itself.
On 17 March he began his jour-
ney to Cameroon where among
other things he preached the Re-
treat to the Africa-Madagascar
Region from the 18th to the 23rd.
96 Salesians from 14 Provinces
and Vice-provinces on the conti-
nent were present, as well as the
Regional Councillor, Fr Alphonse
Owoudou.
The Retreat was held in Yaoundé
at the headquarters of the Episco-
pal Conference. In his opening
words, the RM emphasised that
the participating confreres are re-
sponsible for the charism of Don
Bosco as well as for animation
and governance. He also stressed
the great potential of the Region
where, as always, the Holy Spirit
is the real key player and Mary is al-
so present and accompanies them.
During his stay in Cameroon, the
RM met the Salesian Family, ac-
cepted seven religious professions
and visited the Theologate.
After leaving Cameroon on Fri-
day 25 March, Fr Artime reached
Equatorial Guinea where he re-
mained until the 30th, visiting the
Works in the country and meeting
confreres and young people.
APRIL
The Interim Council meeting
was held in Rome from the 4th to
the 13th.
During the eight working ses-
sions, various issues of gover-
nance of the Congregation were
addressed. Before the Easter
Triduum he met the Salesian
Deacons at Sacro Cuore, Rome,
who are residing at Gerini.
From Thursday 21 to Friday 29
April, the Rector Major returned
to the African continent to visit
Zambia and Zimbabwe, areas he
had partly visited in 2016. He was
warmly welcomed at the Zimbab-
we airport. In the evening he
reached the Community at

12.4 Page 114

▲back to top
ACTIVITIES OF THE GENERAL COUNCIL  113
Hwange where he blessed the
foundation stone of the new tech-
nical school. An important mo-
ment of the visit was the celebra-
tion of 40 years of Salesian pres-
ence in Zambia as a Province.
MAY
On 6 May, continuing his visits,
the Rector Major went to Thailand
where from 7 to 12 May he met the
Provincials and Councillors of the
East Asia-Oceania Region for their
Retreat (73 participants).
According to the Thai confreres,
these six days were a chance to
bathe in Salesian spirituality and
joy at being close to the Rector
Major as well as for gratitude to
the Lord and the 10th successor
of Don Bosco.
From the 13th to 19th the RM
visited the Houses of St Paul
Province, Thailand. It extends
over three countries: Thailand,
Cambodia and the People's Re-
public of Laos, with a total of 110
confreres and 17 communities.
The presence of the Salesian Fam-
ily is rich and varied. The RM
made a special visit to the Sale-
sian house in Bagsak which cares
for children affected by the
Tsunami on 26 December 2004.
On 18 May, he visited the school
in Saeng Thong Vitthaya, encour-
aging teachers and educators to
witness to Christian love in a
Muslim environment. Previously,
the RM had also visited the Gen-
eral House of the Sisters Servants
of the Immaculate Heart of Mary,
the Tsunami Memorial, as well as
accepting the profession of ten
young Salesians.
Back in Turin, on 21-23 May he
took part in the Salesian Family
World Council. On the 4th he took
part in the Feast of Mary Help of
Christians, celebrating the Eu-
charist in the Basilica and taking
part in the Procession.
From the 25th to the 27th, Fr
Artime took part in the Assembly
of the Union of Superiors General
at Sacro Fano (Rome).
On 28 May he inaugurated and
blessed the new premises of the
Centro Nazionale Opere salesiane
(National Salesian Works Centre)
in Rome, also attended by the
Mother General of the FMA, Sr
Chiara Cazzuola.
After visiting all the offices, Fr
Artime said, “I am convinced that
with what we are doing together
we are carrying forward a beauti-
ful dream.”
On 29 May, the RM returned to
Valdocco, Turin which continue to
be his headquarters pending the
completion of work at Sacro
Cuore (Sacred Heart) in Rome.

12.5 Page 115

▲back to top
114  ACTS OF THE GENERAL COUNCIL
JUNE
The Plenary Meeting of the
General Council was held in
Turin from 1 to 30 June. Among
the topics that this session of the
Council addressed were the ap-
pointments of the Superiors of
East Timor(TLS) and India-Pan-
jim(INM) as well as the sharing
and study of the numerous re-
ports on Visitations.
On 4 June, he went to Bu-
dapest, Hungary, for the Blessing
and placing of the Reliquary with
the remains of Blessed Stephen
Sandor, the Salesian coadjutor
brother martyred by the commu-
nist regime in 1953 and recovered
from a mass grave. On that occa-
sion Fr Artime accepted a number
of religious professions of young
Salesians and some promises of
Cooperators. From the 6th he was
busy with the course for newly-
appointed Salesian Provincials.
On Sunday the 12th he went to
Chiari to take part in the conclu-
sion of the Diocesan Process of
the Cause of Canonisation of Fr
Silvio Galli.
On 17 June he went to Mon-
calieri to celebrate a Mass at the
Visitandine Monastery to vener-
ate the relics of St Francis de
Sales on the 400th anniversary of
his death, and to recall the choice
of Don Bosco as the patron saint
of the Salesians.
On 20 June, accompanied by Fr
Stefano Aspettati, he was in Peru-
gia to celebrate the centenary of
the Salesian presence there.
Back in Valdocco, Turin, on the
24th the Feast of Gratitude was
celebrated in memory of the one
that was held in honour of Don
Bosco on St John the Baptist’s
Feast day. Numerous confreres
from Rome as well as from Pied-
mont and other provinces took
part in the festivities.
On the 26th the General Coun-
cil went to Annecy, France, for the
Retreat preached by Fr Morand
Wirth, a well-known scholar of St
Francis de Sales.
JULY
The Rector Major was in An-
necy until the end of the Retreat,
then was involved in the General
Council sessions until 26 July.

12.6 Page 116

▲back to top
ACTIVITIES OF THE GENERAL COUNCIL  115
4.2  Chronicle of the
General Councillors
The Vicar of the Rector Major
After the Winter Session of the
Council, the Vicar went to Sar-
dinia to attend the funeral of the
late Fr Franco Pirisi, who died
prematurely and suddenly follow-
ing a serious illness.
Back in Rome, on 30 January,
he went to Novata to celebrate
the feast of St John Bosco with
the confreres and the entire Sale-
sian Family and our school chil-
dren in the city cathedral.
On 31 January, in the Basilica
of the Sacred Heart, he presided
at the concelebration of the Eu-
charist on the Solemnity of Don
Bosco, broadcast live on TV2000,
which was attended not only by
the confreres of the community,
but also by many of the faithful.
In the first ten days of February,
the Vicar made a canonical visit
to the Sacred Heart community in
Rome in order to plan and pre-
pare the upcoming work on the
house at headquarters with the
confreres.
After a short stay at the Sale-
sian places he returned to Head-
quarters for canonical visits to the
Vatican and San Callisto commu-
nities in Rome. They were very
useful, as always, especially to
meet the confreres who hold posi-
tions for the Church and the Con-
gregation.
The time devoted to canonical
visits to these houses directly de-
pendent on the Rector Major was
about four weeks.
From 9 March to 16 March, Fr
Stefano was in Zagreb, Croatia,
for a visit of animation and accom-
paniment for the Province. This
allowed an acquaintance and ex-
change of ideas with the Provin-
cial Council, Rectors, young con-
freres and other pastoral activities
in the Zagreb area; always accom-
panied by the Provincial, Fr Ti-
homir Sutalo.
Back in Rome, the Vicar held
meetings at headquarters and
prepared the work of the Interim
sessions of the General Council,
which took place from 4 to 13
April 2022. This was the last
council session held in Rome. In
fact renovation work began on the
building in Via Marsala in Rome
on 4 April. These necessary reno-
vations required the transfer of
some confreres to other commu-
nities and the placement of lay co-
workers in other facilities to con-
tinue essential services to the
Congregation.

12.7 Page 117

▲back to top
116  ACTS OF THE GENERAL COUNCIL
After Easter, the Vicar went to
Valdocco, Turin, again, where he
participated in some events:
– the celebration of the 150th an-
niversary of the foundation of
the Institute of the Daughters
of Mary Help of Christians,
which was held from 24 to 26
April in Mornese, Turin and
Nizza Monferrato. It was a well-
prepared celebration in the
places of the origins to thank
the Lord for the good that the
Daughters of Mary Help of
Christians have achieved over
these 150 years.
– participation on 29 April in
Udine in a valuable meeting
held at the G. Bearzi Salesian
Institute, which was attended
by the President of the Italian
Republic, the Hon. Sergio
Mattarella, who directly wished
to visit the Salesian house and
meet the parents of Lorenzo
Parelli, a young student from
our vocational training centre
who died tragically in January
while doing an internship as
part of his vocational training
course.
In early May, the Vicar took
part in celebrations at the parish
of St Joseph the Worker in Rebau-
dengo, Turin and at the Mon-
terosa Institute in Turin as part
of the events prepared for the cen-
tenary of the work.
On 6 and 7 May, Fr Martoglio
spoke at the meeting of Provin-
cials of the Central and North Eu-
rope Region, sharing a reflection
on the care of our identity and re-
ligious discipline. This very valu-
able meeting took place at the
Provincial House in Vienna.
On 13 May, the Vicar left for
Caracas, Venezuela, but via Istan-
bul, staying for a day and a half
with the confreres in this Turkish
community for a celebration in
memory of Fr Franco Pirisi.
From Istanbul, the Vicar of the
Rector Major resumed his journey
to Venezuela, where he remained
from 15 to 26 May. It was a jour-
ney of animation in the name of
the Rector Major, to accompany
the beautiful presence of the con-
freres and Salesian Family in that
wonderful land so tried by the sit-
uation they are experiencing. The
animation visit had the declared
aim of making the presence of the
Congregation and the Rector Ma-
jor felt in their context. This was
shared in many meetings with
Salesians, Salesian Family, lay
people and young people in the
houses at Caracas and Valencia. A
wonderful experience.

12.8 Page 118

▲back to top
ACTIVITIES OF THE GENERAL COUNCIL  117
On return from Venezuela Fr
Stefano went straight to Valdocco,
where he prepared for the im-
pending Summer Session of the
General Council.
The General Councillor
for Formation
The Albera year came to a con-
clusion and the de Sales year be-
gan on 13 January 2022, during
the Salesian Spirituality Days at
Valdocco. An exhibition on St
Francis de Sales was opened by
the Rector Major at the Museo
Casa Don Bosco, Valdocco. The
four-language translations of the
book by André Ravier, St Francis
de Sales (LDC 2021) – an edition
edited by Fr Aldo Giraudo, with
contributions from Fr Morand
Wirth and Fr Wim Collin – were
completed and disseminated in
digital PDF format at the begin-
ning of February 2022. The first
two videos on St Francis de Sales,
of a series of five prepared by Fr
Michele Molinar, the ICP Vice-
provincial, in collaboration with
the social communication and
youth ministry office of that
province, were also released in
five languages.
From 3 to 4 February, the Coun-
cillor presided over the Jerusalem
curatorium in person, with some
sessions also offered online to facil-
itate the involvement of Provincials.
From 14 to 19 February, Fr Coel-
ho travelled to the AFC Province
where he visited the pre-novitiate
in La Cité des Jeunes, Lubum-
bashi, the novitiate in Chem Chem,
Ruashi, and attended the curatori-
um of the theologate, Lubumbashi,
and the post-novitiate, Kansebula.
He also had a meeting with the
Rectors of the houses in and
around Lubumbashi, and with the
Provincial and his Council.
From 14 to 27 March, Fr Coelho
conducted the Extraordinary Vis-
itation to the Malta Vice-province
(MLT).
The Salesian Spiritual Accom-
paniment School (English ver-
sion) took place in Valdocco and
Colle Don Bosco from 3 April to 6
May 2022, with 20 participants
and 5 resident facilitators, under
the guidance of Bro. Raymond
Callo.
From 4 to 13 April, the Council-
lor took part in the work of the In-
terim sessions of the General
Council at Headquarters in Rome.
From 17 to 22 April, Fr Coelho
preached the Retreat for the con-
freres in Leeds (Great Britain).

12.9 Page 119

▲back to top
118  ACTS OF THE GENERAL COUNCIL
On 29 and 30 April, the Days of
Social Communication for young
people in initial formation in the
Salesian Family were held at the
UPS under the guidance of the
Social Communication Sector and
the University’s Social Communi-
cation Faculty. Fr Francesco San-
tos was part of the team that pre-
pared and organised the event.
On 2 May, the Councillor visited
the Genzano novitiate, together
with Fr Francisco Santos, where
he met the novices from the two
novitiates in Italy (Genzano and
Colle), and the two formation
teams.
From 10 to 12 May, Sector
members led the Salesians partic-
ipating in the ongoing formation
course for formators held at the
UPS in the first half of the year
(11 confreres from 8 provinces).
From next year, Fr Carlo Maria
Zanotti, course coordinator, will
take responsibility for organising
a “Salesian week” for Salesian
participants, with visits to the
Salesian places.
On 20 May, Fr Coelho took part
in an event at the Pontifical Gre-
gorian University to commemo-
rate 50 years since the publication
of Bernard Lonergan's Method in
Theology, where he gave a talk.
The statutes of some curatori-
ums and theological study cen-
tres, including Jerusalem, Gerini
in Rome, Utume and Lubum-
bashi, were reviewed.
In addition, the Sector contin-
ued the work of revising the Ratio,
with various online meetings.
Since December 2021, a group of
editors assisted by other confreres
from different provinces around
the world (about fifty people in-
cluding Salesians and lay people)
has been working on various parts
of the text, and at the end of
March 2022 handed the work over
to the Sector. The next steps in the
drafting of the text are now left to
the members of the Sector, with
help from others where necessary.
On 18 and 19 May, the curatori-
um of the novitiate in Gbodjomé
and the post-novitiate in Lomé,
AOS - Togo, was held, attended by
Fr Silvio Roggia representing the
Formation Councillor.
From 20 to 24 May, Fr Francis-
co Santos and other members of
the Sector helped with the meet-
ing of novices from Europe at
Colle Don Bosco and Valdocco.
Fr Jose Kuttianimattathil, a
new member of the Sector, ar-
rived on 21 May. Fr Silvio Roggia
has been transferred to the UPS

12.10 Page 120

▲back to top
ACTIVITIES OF THE GENERAL COUNCIL  119
Vice-provjnce from 1 September
2022, where he will be Rector of
the Zefirino Namuncurá theolo-
gate, Rome (known as Gerini),
while continuing to work with the
Sector.
The Sector made the choice to
move to Valdocco for the duration
of the renovation work at Head-
quarters. Fr Silvio Roggia and
Bro. Raymond Callo moved out on
15 March, Fr Francisco Santos on
19 May, and Fr Coelho on 23 May.
The General Councillor
for Youth Ministry
In January, the official presen-
tation of the brochure on Parish
and Shrines entrusted to the Sale-
sians took place through the
Zoom platform on the 10th (in
English) and 11th (in Italian,
Spanish, Portuguese, Polish and
French). Fr Miguel Ángel García
Morcuende gave a summary of
the entire document and proposed
some strategies.
Also in the same month, the re-
gional meeting of Youth Ministry
delegates from the two regions of
Europe was held in Fatima from
the 8th to the 12th.
The Youth Ministry Councillor
then participated in the online
formation day (12 January) with
Salesians and lay people responsi-
ble for Youth Ministry in MEG
Province. He was then present at
the online formation day for Del-
egates of the School of Communi-
cation with the Salesians in the
South Asia Region (13 January),
the Interamerica Region (20 Jan-
uary), at the 7th Jornada Sale-
siana de Comunicación of the
Centro Nacional Salesiano, Spain
(24 February), and the same for
Brazil (3 May).
The Councillor offered his con-
tribution on the occasion of the
online formation session with the
new Salesian Family Delegates,
and as part of the school promot-
ed by the Salesian Family Secre-
tariat, held in Valdocco (19 Jan-
uary). He was then asked to take
part in the online formation ses-
sion at the 6th IUS EG Seminar
(26 April), held in Quito, Ecuador.
There were numerous coordina-
tion meetings arranged with Fr
Joshtrom Kureethadam, coordina-
tor of the Ecology and Creativity
Sector of the (Vatican) Dicastery
for the Service of Integral Human
Development, to prepare the plan-
ning of this sector in the Congre-
gation. Also with a view to greater
collaboration, the Councillor held
several meetings with the initial
European Formation Centre man-

13 Pages 121-130

▲back to top

13.1 Page 121

▲back to top
120  ACTS OF THE GENERAL COUNCIL
agement team, chaired by the
Vicar of the Rector Major.
Coordination and planning meet-
ings were then held for the imple-
mentation of DBTech Europe (20
January, 20 April and 27 May).
Fr Miguel Ángel chaired the
DBI General Assembly in Rome
(17 January) and attended the
IUS General Assembly (24-28
January) at headquarters (Sacred
Heart) in Rome. He gave an ad-
dress on the second day of this im-
portant event.
The Councillor offered a mes-
sage at the Planning Workshop
(14 February) for Phase 2 of the
ASEAN DB TECH, which was at-
tended by the respective country
coordinators, PDOs and other
TVET representatives. He also
spoke at several MGS-LEADS re-
gional online meetings.
From 16 February to 30 April,
the Councillor for Youth Ministry
conducted the Extraordinary Vis-
itation to San Luis Beltrán
Province in Medellín, Colombia.
At the same time, he took part in
the Provincial Chapter of this
same province.
Very enriching was the School
of Provincial Delegates for Youth
Ministry organised in Valdocco
from 4 to 18 May, which was at-
tended by 46 representatives from
all Regions.
The Councillor for Youth Min-
istry was present with the Rector
Major at the opening of the new
headquarters of the CNOS Na-
tional Centre in Italy.
During this time, Fr Miguel Án-
gel coordinated the drafting of a
number of documents involving
experts: “A youth ministry that
educates to love”, “Don Bosco’s
Salesians on the road to a sustain-
able world in the light of integral
ecology”, “Charter of Identity of
the Salesian School in Europe”
and “No to hate speech. Building
a culture of human rights togeth-
er”. It is also important to high-
light the online consultancy ser-
vice to some provinces for the de-
velopment and implementation of
their plans (SEPP and OPP).
In these first five months of
2022, other meetings including
coordination meetings with the
DBI and the Sector Team contin-
ued on a regular basis.
Preparations continue for the
International Congress of Social
Works and Services to be held in
Valdocco at the end of September
this year.

13.2 Page 122

▲back to top
ACTIVITIES OF THE GENERAL COUNCIL  121
Chronicle of the General
Councillor for the Missions
During the Winter Session,
from 14-17 January 2022, Fr Al-
fred Maravilla, General Council-
lor for the Missions, was in
Tunisia to meet the confreres and
get to know the Salesian works in
Tunis and Manouba better. On 26
January, he attended the board
meeting of the Don Bosco Net-
work, held at Sacro Cuore. On 29
January, he left for the Philip-
pines for the Extraordinary Visi-
tation of the North Philippines
Province (FIN). Upon arrival, the
following day he underwent the
five-day mandatory quarantine
following COVID-19 protocols.
On 8 February, he met online
with all the FIN Rectors, where
he presented the Rector Major’s
letter of convocation from July
2021, in which he explained the
purpose of the Extraordinary Vis-
itation. On 9 February, he met
with the Provincial Delegates of
Provincial Commissions to talk
about the reports they had previ-
ously sent him where they ex-
plained the strengths and chal-
lenges in their task of animating
the Province. The following day
he met with the Provincial Coun-
cil to discuss important issues re-
lated to the governance and ani-
mation of the Province. On 11
February, he began the visit to the
25 houses.
During the visit, Fr Maravilla
had a personal conversation with
all the Salesians. He met most of
our lay collaborators. He also met
with the Parish Pastoral Councils
and leaders in the different pres-
ences. He had the opportunity to
address most of the students of
the vocational centres (TVET),
since the students were still
studying online from home. Dur-
ing the visit, he met with repre-
sentatives of the Salesian Family:
ADMA, Salesian Cooperators,
Past Pupils, VDB, CDB and
Damas Salesianas. He paid cour-
tesy visits to the communities of
the FMA and the Caritas Sisters
of Jesus. Although he was unable
to visit the new community in
Kuching, Malaysia, due to COVID
-19 restrictions, he met online
with the confreres and the Arch-
bishop of Kuching to discuss ways
to develop our missionary pres-
ence in the country.
On 30 April he presided at the
perpetual profession of 10 theolo-
gy students at the National
Shrine of Mary Help of Christians
in Parañaque. On 20 May, togeth-
er with the Regional Councillor

13.3 Page 123

▲back to top
122  ACTS OF THE GENERAL COUNCIL
for East Asia and Oceania, Fr
Joseph Phuoc, he met the Provin-
cial Council to present his obser-
vations and recommendations.
The following day, he presided at
the concluding Eucharist, togeth-
er with the Provincial, Fr Gerry
Martin, and the Regional Council-
lor. The Mass was followed by his
presentation of the relevant ob-
servations and recommendations
to the confreres.
On the morning of 24 May, he
presided at the perpetual profes-
sion of two coadjutor brothers at
the Diocesan Shrine of Mary Help
of Christians in Canlubang, Lagu-
na. In the afternoon, he took part
in the pontifical coronation of the
historic statue of Mary Help of
Christians brought to the Philip-
pines in 1922 by Apostolic Dele-
gate Archbishop Guglielmo Piani
SDB. This was the final act con-
cluding the Extraordinary Visita-
tion to FIN. At midnight he left
for Rome.
On his arrival in Rome, he or-
ganised his temporary office and
room in the Pontifical Salesian
University, then met the mem-
bers of the Missions Sector team.
On 31 May, he gave an address on
the urgency and importance of
First Announcement to the mem-
bers of the General Chapter of the
Missionaries of Africa (White Fa-
thers), at the invitation of the Su-
perior General, Father Stanislas
Lubungo M.Afr. On the afternoon
of 31 May, he left for Valdocco,
Turin, to attend the Summer Ses-
sion of the General Council.
The General Councillor
for Social Communication
After the Winter Plenary Ses-
sion of the General Council (De-
cember 2021-January 2022) and
after a brief visit to family mem-
bers in Brazil, the Councillor for
Social Communication returned
to the Salesian Headquarters or
Generalate in Rome at the end of
February.
After two weeks at headquar-
ters, from 13 to 19 March he was
in Poland on an animation visit to
the Salesian Province of Warsaw,
where he met with the Communi-
cations Delegates of the country’s
four Provinces; he visited TVP
(Polish public television) with Fr
Maciej Makula SDB, TVP's
Catholic editor-in-chief; he took
part in the national meeting of
those in charge of Salesian
schools in Poland, in the presence
of Fr Roman Jachimowicz, Re-
gional Councillor for Central and
Northern Europe. After briefly

13.4 Page 124

▲back to top
ACTIVITIES OF THE GENERAL COUNCIL  123
visiting both the Salesian commu-
nities in Lodz, Lutomiersk, and
the Mission Office in Warsaw
(where an aid centre for Ukraine
is now based), he also gave an in-
terview to TVP, at the headquar-
ters of SOM (Salesian Mission
Centre), in Warsaw. He had a
meeting with the people in charge
of the Salesian "Helping in
Ukraine" Project – Fr Krzysztof
Grzendzinski and Fr Jacek
Zdzieborski – and was able to en-
courage volunteers and people
helping to prepare relief work for
Ukraine. Invited by the Warsaw
Provincial, Fr Tadeusz Jarecki, he
took part in a meeting with the
members of the Provincial Coun-
cil, presenting them with the Sec-
tor’s guidelines for Institutional
Communication. The meeting
continued with discussion and
calm dialogue.
Returning to headquarters
from Poland, he began individual
talks with each of the Provinces’
Communications Delegates both
to review local communication ac-
tivities, and to update the Com-
munication Plan according to the
Rector Major’s Guidelines follow-
ing GC28, and also to revise the
“School of Communication”.
From the 4th to the 10th he at-
tended the Interim Session of the
General Council at Sacred Heart;
then, on 14 April, he left for
Barcelona (Spain) for a visit to the
EDEBÉ publishing house. To-
gether with the management
team, he learned about the Pub-
lishing House’s educational and
management plan and visited its
book distribution centre. Follow-
ing this, on the 18th he travelled
from Barcelona to Seville to take
part in the meeting of Provincials
of the Mediterranean Region. On
the 26th he presented them with
the Congregation's Communica-
tion Project, the situation of the
Publishing Houses in Europe and
the planning of the Communica-
tion Sector for the Mediterranean
Region.
Returning to Rome (on 28
April), immediately on 29-30 April
he was at the Pontifical Salesian
University (UPS) in Rome – to-
gether with the Sector’s Commu-
nication, the Dean of the Salesian
Faculty of Communication of the
UPS, SDBs from the Formation
Sector and members of the FMA
Communication Sector – involved
in the Salesian Communication
Meeting for young men and wom-
en in formation in Italy.
From 3 to 6 May, various meet-
ings were held online with the
Delegates of Communication
from the following six Regions:
South Cone America, Interameri-

13.5 Page 125

▲back to top
124  ACTS OF THE GENERAL COUNCIL
ca, Africa-Madagascar, South
Asia, East Asia-Oceania and Cen-
tral and North Europe, for the
preparation of the meetings of
Communication Delegates and
men in formation, which will take
place from August in the various
Regions of the Congregation.
From 9 to 15 May he participat-
ed online in both the preparation
meeting for the Communications
World Advisory Council (in Lis-
bon, October 2022) and the meet-
ing of the coordinators of the
“School of Communication”, and
also in preparation for the Meet-
ing of Radios and Publishers in
the South Cone and Interamerica
Regions. From the 20th to the
25th he worked on the prepara-
tion of the first draft of the Sec-
tor’s new Communication Text.
On the 21st, after speaking at
the monthly recollection day for
the Salesian community at Tes-
taccio, in Rome, on the 23rd and
24th Fr Gildasio was in Valdocco
to join in with the Feast of Mary
Help of Christians together with
some of the Sector’s Communica-
tion Team; and on 28 May he was
at the opening of the “National
Centre” (CNOS), in Rome.
On 31 May he left for Valdocco
to attend the Summer Plenary
Session of the General Council.
The Economer General
At the end of January 2022, the
Economer General had several
meetings with the Boards of Di-
rectors of different foundations and
went to Beromünster (Switzerland)
to meet some members of the
NGO’s mission projects commis-
sion. He went to Belgium to cele-
brate the feast of Don Bosco in
Brussels and to meet with offi-
cials of the European Commission
and members of the European
Parliament, all organised by the
Salesian DBI (Don Bosco Interna-
tional). He then went to Germany
for the Board Meeting of the Mis-
sions Office in Bonn.
In February, the Economer
General together with his team
began to organise the SDB
Change Congress to be held at the
Pontifical Salesian University in
Rome in September to be attend-
ed by Provincial Economers, Mis-
sion Office and PDO leaders. On
4 February, he conducted an eval-
uation of the vocational training
projects in the Philippines. On 10
February, he visited the Verona
311 Centre in Verona to study the
situation of young NEETs and the
possibilities of helping them re-
enter their education cycle.
On the 16th of the month he
met with the Major Archbishop of

13.6 Page 126

▲back to top
ACTIVITIES OF THE GENERAL COUNCIL  125
the Greek-Ukrainian Church in
Rome. On the 22nd, he discussed
the topic of artificial intelligence
and its impact on the education of
young people in a talk with offi-
cials of the Vatican’s Pontifical
Council for Culture. A few days
later he met with the President of
the Council of Bishops’ Confer-
ences in Europe (CCEE) for a di-
alogue on the situation of the
Church in Europe. On 25 Febru-
ary, at the Gregorian University,
he participated in the internation-
al conference on “Eradication of
slavery”. In the same month, the
Economer’s office and the Don
Bosco nel Mondo Foundation of-
fice were moved to new headquar-
ters in Rome, since renovations
were undertaken at Sacro Cuore.
In March, the Economer Gener-
al attended the DBTEC Africa con-
ference and several meetings on
non-formal vocational training.
After taking part in meetings
with the other Sector Councillors,
he travelled to Poland from 9 to
11 March to follow and coordinate
support for the Ukrainian people,
hard hit by the war with Russia.
Later in Rome, he took part in
and organised several moments of
prayer for Peace in Ukraine and
followed the care for refugees, es-
pecially young mothers with their
children in the various provinces
of Europe, but also elsewhere.
In the middle of the month, he
attended the Pro Universitate
Don Bosco Foundation assembly,
the USG Economers General As-
sembly, the DBN Donors Meeting
and some emergency coordination
sessions for Ukrainians in their
country and fleeing the war, at
the Kuratorium in Berlin. On 28
and 29 March, Bro. Muller and
his entire team visited the UPS in
preparation for the SDB Change
Congress and the key points of
the entire Congress were agreed
upon.
He restructured responsibilities
in the Economer’s Office in view
of his absence for the work of the
General Council in Turin, and in
an assembly for employees at the
General Administration and the
Don Bosco nel Mondo Foundation
he implemented the new working
regulations related to the AGI-
DAE Contract.
During April, the Economer
General took part in meetings of
the Interim General Council to
study the South Asia and Inter-
america Regions, which took place
from 4 to 14 April. In the second
half of the month, he met with
several Provincial Economers
both in person and online to dis-
cuss together the issues and chal-
lenges affecting the various Sale-

13.7 Page 127

▲back to top
126  ACTS OF THE GENERAL COUNCIL
sian works. On 24 April, he re-
ceived a group of employees in
Salesian works in Austria to give
them an address on the structures
of the Congregation and also give
them a guided tour of Don Bosco’s
places in Rome. At a round table
he informed them about the new
discussions on Salesian anthropol-
ogy in the challenges of the times
(UPS). From 25 to 27 April, Bro.
Muller attended the meeting of
Provincials of the Mediterranean
Region in Seville.
In May, several occasions were
dedicated to the challenges of
provinces in very delicate situa-
tions. On 11 May, at the invitation
of the Patriarchate, he participat-
ed in a conference on the situa-
tion in the Holy Land after the vi-
olence in Jerusalem between dif-
ferent groups of residents. He
continued his work for the sup-
port of the people suffering from
the war in Ukraine throughout
the month, for which the
Economer General met with the
heads of Salesian NGOs and had
several meetings in person and
online with international founda-
tions and associations to request
support. On 12 May, he showed
his closeness to the Borgo Ragazzi
Don Bosco in Rome with his pres-
ence at the Charity Dinner in the
Chiostro Bramante. A highlight
was the participation on 15 May
at the canonisation of 10 new
Saints in St Peter’s and the meet-
ing with many members of the
Salesian Family on this occasion.
On the 17th, he and his team
held a formation meeting with
the newly-appointed Provincial
Economers. From 19 to 26 May,
he visited the AFM Vice-province
and met the various members of
the communities in South Africa,
Lesotho and Eswatini. At the end
of the month, the Economer Gen-
eral, together with the other
Council members, travelled to
Turin to attend the Plenary Ses-
sion of the General Council,
which began on 1 June.
The Councillor for the Africa
and Madagascar Region
The General Councillor for
Africa and Madagascar left Rome
on 29 January 2022 to travel to
West Africa for the installation of
two new Provincials appointed by
the Rector Major last December.
On 2 February, at St. Anthony of
Padua Parish in Zogbo (Cotonou),
he celebrated the installation of
Fr Jesus-Benoit Badji. On this oc-
casion, he made a quick inspec-
tion of the infrastructures that
could temporarily house the new

13.8 Page 128

▲back to top
ACTIVITIES OF THE GENERAL COUNCIL  127
Superior and the provincial ser-
vices for AON. On Saturday, 5
February, it was the turn of
Fr Dénis Soro to be installed in
his headquarters in Ashaiman
(Accra), Ghana. After this tour of
the two new locations, Father
Alphonse stopped in Lomé to take
stock of the unprecedented situa-
tion of the Akodessewa Postnovi-
tiate, recently divided into two lo-
cations, the second of which is be-
hind the novitiate in Gbodjomé.
After this brief trip to West
Africa, the Regional went to
Kansebula (DRC), from 16 to 18
February, to preside over the 2022
session of the Curatorium, togeth-
er with Fr Ivo Coelho, General
Councillor for Formation, and the
Provincials and formators. On 18
February, the Regional went to
the ACC Vice-province together
with the Superior, Fr Manolo
Jiménez. On 21 February, the Ex-
traordinary Visitation to ACC be-
gan with a meeting with the Su-
perior and his Council at Masina
2, Kinshasa (DRC). From the
22nd to the 25th, Fr Alphonse be-
gan the visit with the Provincial
House/Headquarters, with its dif-
ferent sectors. He then attended
the quarterly recollection of the
confreres from Kinshasa in
Lukunga, before crossing the
Congo River the following day to
visit the three works in the Re-
public of Congo.
From 28 February to 3 March,
the confreres of Pointe Noire re-
ceived the extraordinary visit of
the Regional, with a short visit to
the sectors at Tchibambouka and
Cote Matève. On 4 March, he re-
turned to Brazzaville to visit
the two communities in the city:
from 4 to 6 March he was in
Makélékélé Brazzaville, with a
brief visit to the new presence of
the FMA in Makana, and finally
from 7 to 11 March, the visit to
Massengo, the provisional seat of
the novitiate, with a visit to the
villages of Odziba (100 km from
Brazzaville) and Lefini (200 km,
on the borders of the archdio-
cese). On 12 March, the Regional
concluded the Extraordinary Vis-
itation for the confreres in the
area of the Republic of Congo by
meeting the three Rectors in the
morning and the entire assembly
of confreres in the afternoon.
On 14 March, together with the
members of the Provincial Coun-
cil and the ACC Provincial, the
Regional flew to Cameroon,
where the Reteat for the whole
Africa and Madagascar Region
was held, preached by the Rector
Major, Fr Angel Fernandez Ar-

13.9 Page 129

▲back to top
128  ACTS OF THE GENERAL COUNCIL
time. On the morning of 17
March, the Regional chaired the
curatorium of the two inter-
provincial formation houses in
Yaoundé, namely St Augustine's
Theologate and the Centre for
Specific Formation for Coadjutor
Brothers.
After the Retreat, Father
Alphonse went to Nigeria to cele-
brate the installation of the new
ANN Provincial, Fr Jorge Mario
Crisafulli, on Sunday 27 March in
Iju (Lagos). On 29 March, Fr
Alphonse returned to Kinshasa to
continue his Extraordinary Visi-
tation to the DRC area. On 31
March, he left for Tshikapa,
where he visited the Salesian
work and the future community
of Tshikapa-Sami from 1 to 4
April. Returning to Kinshasa on 5
April, he flew to Mbuji-Mayi
where he visited the Salesian
work, until his return to Kinshasa
on 11 April to visit the Salesian
work in Lukunga from 12 to 16
April. The Lukunga work is the
oldest in Kinshasa. After presid-
ing at the Eucharist for the con-
freres gathered in Kinshasa for
the annual retreat from 17 April,
the Regional interrupted the Ex-
traordinary Visitation to join the
Rector Major on a visit to the
ZMB Vice-province.
Before arriving in Zambia, from
19 to 24 April, Fr Alphonse made
a short stay in AGL to discover
the Salesian project in Palabek on
behalf of Sudanese refugees. He
took the opportunity to greet his
confreres in Bombo and Namu-
gongo. Arriving in Zambia on 25
April, he stayed in Kabwe and
Lusaka for the celebration of 40
years of Salesian presence, to-
gether with the Rector Major and
the Salesian Bishop of Kabwe,
Bishop Clement Mulenga. On his
return to the DRC, the Regional
Superior began the last series of
visits to works in Kinshasa: from
1 to 3 May to La Gombe, from 4
to 7 May to Kingabwa, and finally
from 8 to 11 May to Masina 1,
near the Provincial House. The
general conclusion of the Extraor-
dinary Visitation was celebrated
in turn with the meeting of the
DRC Area Rectors in the after-
noon of 13 May and, during the
day on 14 May, with the Provin-
cial Council in the morning and
the Confreres’ Assembly in the af-
ternoon.
Following the Extraordinary
Visit to the ACC Vice-province –
which was also preparing to begin
its second Provincial Chapter at
the end of May – the Regional
went to Togo to preside over a
special curatorium in the new

13.10 Page 130

▲back to top
ACTIVITIES OF THE GENERAL COUNCIL  129
AOS Province for formation hous-
es in Togo and Ghana. Many
Provincials attended this curato-
rium, which took place over two
days, from 18 to 19 May, to take
stock of the formation houses al-
ready in operation in each of the
provinces of the sub-region, to
suggest some future perspectives
to the Rector Major, and to anal-
yse the responses of the post-
novices and others in formation in
this area to an extract of the 2017
questionnaire on accompaniment
and formation. After this curato-
rium, the Regional visited the
confreres at Don Bosco House in
Akodessewa, and also went to
Gbodjomé, also in Togo, to see the
novices, as well as the possibilities
for the renovation of the second
site occupied since the beginning
of this year by the third-year post-
novices, with a team of three for-
mators. From Lomé, on 28 May,
the Regional began his return to
the new headquarters in Turin.
The Councillor for the East
Asia-Oceania Region
On 28 January 2022, at the con-
clusion of the winter session of
the General Council, the Regional
for EAO, Fr Joseph Nguyen
Thinh Phuoc flew to Timor-Leste
for the consultation for the new
superior. In this way, he could cel-
ebrate the feast of St John Bosco
in Dili and participate in the litur-
gy presided over by Salesian Arch-
bishop Virgilio (now, the newly
appointed Cardinal). After a long
period of Covid restriction he was
able to see the gathering of many
people and witness their love for
Don Bosco. Three weeks in the
country allowed him to meet all
the Salesians and groups of confr-
eres in initial formation as well as
various groups of the Salesian
Family. The confreres responded
enthusiastically to the consulta-
tion and were able to see the
bright vision of the growth of the
Vice-province.
On 21 March, Fr Joseph trav-
elled to Papua New Guinea for his
45-day Extraordinary Visitation
to the Papua New Guinea-
Solomon Islands Vice-Province
(PGS). Unfortunately, the
Solomon Islands Government had
still closed its borders due to
Covid restrictions. Therefore, he
only made an online visit to the
two communities in the islands.
All other communities were visit-
ed and sufficient time was spent
listening to each confrere and
their Salesian missionary com-
panions. He then concluded the
visit with the involvement of the

14 Pages 131-140

▲back to top

14.1 Page 131

▲back to top
130  ACTS OF THE GENERAL COUNCIL
Superior and his council on 12
April and he attended the Provin-
cial Chapter of the Vice Province
the following day.
The Easter Triduum was cele-
brated by the Regional in Viet-
nam (VIE) as he was asked to re-
turn to sign legal documents. He
took the opportunity to visit the
novitiate (14 novices), the post-
novitiate (47 post-novices) and
the theologate (19), and the pre-
novitiate (18 first year and 14 sec-
ond year).
From Vietnam, on 24 April, he
travelled to Indonesia (INA) to
visit some of the Vice-province’s
main presences, such as the
provincial house, the post-novi-
tiate (16 post-novices with 3 coad-
jutor brothers), the aspirantate
and some technical schools in the
country.
The high point of these summer
trips was the retreat offered by
the Rector Major to the provin-
cials/superiors and their councils
in Thailand from 7 to 10 May. 77
Salesians attended the Retreat
and were encouraged by the Rec-
tor Major's talks in the morning
and dialogue with the Rector Ma-
jor in the afternoon. After the Re-
treat, the Regional accompanied
the Rector Major on animation
visits to different communities in
the country. A historic event for
the Salesians in Thailand was the
presence of the Rector Major who
was main celebrant at the Mass
for the first religious profession of
10 novices.
On 18 May, he flew to Manila,
Philippines, and stayed in the
Sandor community (formation
house for coadjutor brothers in
the Region) to meet with coadju-
tor and clerical confreres in spe-
cific formation. On 21 May, he
participated in the conclusion of
the Extraordinary Visitation by
Fr Alfred Maravilla SDB.
On the evening of 21 May, he
took the midnight flight from
Manila to Phnom Penh to make
another visit of animation to the
Salesian Delegation of Cambodia.
After 14 years since the previous
visit, he was able to witness the
enormous change/transformation
of society and the great successes
of the Salesian missions in the
country as they recovered after
the most tragic period in the
country's history (1975–1990). He
was informed that last April, the
first local vocation made his per-
petual religious profession and
two confreres ad gentes will begin
their 4-year specific formation in
Parañaque.
Filled with enthusiasm and deep
conviction about the significance
and importance of the Salesian

14.2 Page 132

▲back to top
ACTIVITIES OF THE GENERAL COUNCIL  131
charism in the region, the Region-
al returned to Turin on 30 May
to attend the Summer Plenary
Session of the General Council.
The Councillor for the
South Asia Region
After the conclusion of the Win-
ter Session of the General Council,
the Regional for South Asia, Fr Bi-
ju Michael, travelled to Bangalore,
India, on 29 January 2022. After
due quarantine, the Regional
presided at the installation cere-
mony of the new Provincial
of Hyderabad (INH), Fr Thomas
Santiagu, on 4 February 2021. On
5 February, he travelled to Dima-
pur to attend the funeral of Fr E.
C. Michael. On 6 February, the Re-
gional formally began the Extraor-
dinary Visitation of the Province
of Dimapur with a meeting with
the confreres in their Quinquen-
nium, followed by meetings of the
Provincial Council and the heads
of the Provincial Commissions on
7 and 8 February. From 9 to 10
February, the visit to the houses
began with Golaghat. The visita-
tion continued in the communities
of Rangajan (10-11 February),
Dergaon (11 February), Jorhat As-
pirantate and school (12-13 Febru-
ary), Tuli (13 February), Amguri
Reservistate, school and parish
(14-15 February), Tinsukia school
and parish (16-17 February),
Khobong school and parish (17-18
February).
On 18 February, the Regional
went to Delhi to participate in the
Province’s Silver Jubilee celebra-
tions, held on 19 February, and
met with the Apostolic Nuncio. He
returned to Hijuguri for the visit
(20-21 February). On 22 February,
he chaired a regional meeting of
Rectors and those in charge of
houses in eastern Arunachal
Pradesh in Tinsukia. He then
went on to visit the school and
parish in Sadiya (22-23) and the
school in Wakro (23-24).
On 25 February, the Regional
went to New Delhi, the headquar-
ters of the SPCSA, to attend the
SPCSA Assembly and Council
meetings held online (27-28
February).
On 2 March, the Regional went
to Goa to begin the consultation
for the new Provincial for the
Panjim Province. On 3 March he
held meetings with the Provincial
Council. On 4 March, he led the
consultation meeting of confreres
gathered at Don Bosco Panjim.
He also had a meeting with Bish-
op Alwyn Barretto of Sindhudurg
and visited the houses at Oros
and Pinguli. On 5 March he met

14.3 Page 133

▲back to top
132  ACTS OF THE GENERAL COUNCIL
Bishop Filipe Neri Ferrão of Goa
and visited the houses at Sulcorna
and Quepem and led a consulta-
tion meeting for confreres gath-
ered at Don Bosco Fatrorda and
then visited the house of
Loutolim. On 6 March he led a
consultation meeting for confr-
eres gathered at Don Bosco Trasi.
On 7 March he met Bishop Gerald
Isaac Lobo of Udupi and visited
the houses at Shirva and Kelm-
bet. In the evening, he met Bishop
Peter Paul Saldanha of Manga-
lore. On 8 March, he visited the
houses at Paliem and Parra and
addressed the members at the
opening session of the Provincial
Chapter, before leaving for Dibru-
gargh to continue the Extraordi-
nary Visitation to Dimapur.
The Regional visited Doom
Dooma school and parish (10-12
March), Rajanagar school and
parish (12-13 March), Longding
school (14-15 March), Mintong
school and parish (16-17 March),
Kheti school (17-18 March), Bor-
duria school and parish (18-19
March), Mebo school (19-20
March), Paglam school and parish
(21-22 March), Doimukh school
(22-24 March), Palin school and
parish (24-25 March), Itanagar
school (26-27 March) and Itana-
gar parish (27-29 March). He
chaired the Rectors and commu-
nity leaders of Western Arunachal
meeting on 29 March in Itanagar.
On the same day, he also met and
interacted with Bishop John
Thomas of Itanagar. He continued
with an Extraordinary Visit to
Itanagar college (29-31 March)
and Harmuty school and parish
(31 March - 1 April).
On 1 April, he travelled via Del-
hi to Rome to attend the Interim
Session of the General Council,
where a report on the South Asia
Region was presented in view of
the Team Visit to the Region in
2023. On his return to the
Province of Dimapur, he again vis-
ited the University institute and
parish of Itanagar (16-17 April)
for the Visitation, and went on to
visit Jorhat Life Plus (17-18
April), the schools at Mon (18-19
April), the school at Dibrugarh
(20-22 April) and the school and
parish at Lamphel (22-23 April).
On 23 April, he met Bishop Do-
minic Lumon of Imphal, and on 24
April, he led the meeting of Rec-
tors and leaders of the Manipur
region. He then visited the school
and parish in Chinmeirong (23-26
April), the school and parish in
Khoupum (26-27 April), the school
and parish in Tamenglong (28-29
April), and the school and parish
in Maram (29-30 April), Maram
University Institution (1-2 May),

14.4 Page 134

▲back to top
ACTIVITIES OF THE GENERAL COUNCIL  133
Shajouba School (3-4 May), Mao
School and Parish (4-5 May), and
Kohima School and University In-
stitution (5-7 May). On 6 May, he
met Bishop James Thoppil of Ko-
hima and led the regional meeting
of rectors and community leaders
in Nagaland. He went on to visit
Kohima Christ the King (7-8 May)
and Wokha school and parish (9-
10 May).
On 10 May, he travelled to Shil-
long to attend the opening of the
Provincial Chapter on 11 May
2022.
On his return, he attended the
funeral of Fr V. M. Joseph on 12
May in Dimapur and continued
his visit to the novitiate in Zubza
(12-13 May). He visited the Sale-
sian university institute in Dima-
pur (13-15 May), the BEd univer-
sity institute in Dimapur (15-16
May), the DBVTC in Dimapur
(17-18 May), the school and AIDA
in Dimapur (18-20 May) and the
Provincial House (20-22 May). On
23 May, he officiated at the per-
petual profession of three confr-
eres. On 24 May, he officiated at
the first profession of thirteen
young men at the novitiate in
Zubza and continued his visit to
Savio House in Zubza (24-25
May). On 26 May he met the
Provincial Council and on 27 May
he chaired the assembly of the
confreres and the meeting of Rec-
tors and community leaders of the
Province in Dimapur and con-
cluded the Extraordinary Visita-
tion with the celebration of the
Eucharist. On 29 May, he trav-
elled to Rome via Delhi and on 30
May he reached Turin, where the
General Council meetings began
on 31 May.
The Councillor for the America
South Cone Region
On the same day the General
Council’s Winter Session ended,
he left for Brazil.
On 31January he presided at
the celebrations for Don Bosco in
Recife. On 2 February he presided
at the perpetual profession cele-
bration of a Salesian from BRE in
Jaboatão dos Guararapes (Recife)
and in the evening, presided over
the opening celebration of the
new Novitiate in Jaboatão, with
15 novices from the provinces of
BSP, BRE and BPA.
From 13 to 19 February, after a
few days visiting relatives, he
took part in the Retreat with the
Rector Major, all the Provincials
and the Provincial Councillors in
São Leopoldo (Porto Alegre-
Brazil) and after a meeting be-
tween the Provincials of the Re-

14.5 Page 135

▲back to top
134  ACTS OF THE GENERAL COUNCIL
gion, with the Rector Major.
On 21 and 22 February in Asun-
ción (Paraguay) he had a meeting
with the Provincial, some confr-
eres on the Provincial Council
and visited the Apostolic Nuncio.
On 23 February, he began the
Extraordinary Visitation to the
Province of São Paulo, Brazil in
the name of the Rector Major,
which ended on 26 May. During
this time he spoke with all the
Salesians of the Province (128);
he visited the 18 canonical houses
and the UNISAL University Cen-
tre. He got to know the situation
of the 11 colleges, one of which is
completely philanthropic, the 14
parishes, some of which have ru-
ral areas with pastoral care, the
two Shrines, the social works,
youth centres and festive orato-
ries, the vocational training
courses.
He met twice with the Provin-
cial Council and twice with all
Salesian Rectors. He also spoke
with 6 diocesan bishops, with
Provincials of the Daughters of
Mary Help of Christians, and with
Mother Provincial of the Caritas
Sisters of Jesus.
In the communities he also met
with the groups of the Salesian
Family, some of which were
founded there, such as Canção
Nova. He spoke with the provin-
cial coordinators and presidents
of all the groups.
On 6 May, he participated in the
Curatorium of the Post-novitiate
in Córdoba, an interprovincial
house of five Provinces: ARN,
ARS, CIL, PAR, URU.
He visited the houses of forma-
tion in the Province of São Paulo:
the Theology Studentate (Lapa
Pio XI) and the Post-novitiate in
Lorraine.
He also attended the meetings
of the Salesian Network of Brazil
(RSB), the Provincial of Brazil
(CISBRASIL) and the Provincials
from CIS.
On 27 May, he went to Turin to
attend the Winter Session of the
General Council.
The Councillor for the Central
and North Europe Region
The Winter Plenary Session of
the General Council ended on 28
January 2022. The Regional for
Central and Northern Europe, Fr
Roman Jachimowicz, conducted
the Extraordinary Visitation to
the Polish St Hyacinth Province
of Kraków (PLS). The Visitation
took place from 3 February to 23
April 2022.
During the Visit Fr Roman vis-
ited the following Salesian com-

14.6 Page 136

▲back to top
ACTIVITIES OF THE GENERAL COUNCIL  135
munities – in February: 10-11:
Zabrze, 14-15: Pogrzebie and
Kobyla. 15-18: Kraków-Konfeder-
acka and Stani tki, Saltrom, 21:
Kraków-Beato Joseph Kowalski,
22-23: Kraków-Inspectoral Cen-
tre and afternoon of the 23rd:
the Provincial Council, 24-25:
Kraków-Nowa Huta, 28: Kraków-
Youth Pastoral Centre (WDM); in
March: 1-5: Kraków-Teologato, on
the 5th in the Theological Studen-
tate he celebrated the Eucharistic
with the conferring of the min-
istry of Reader for confreres from
the four Polish Provinces, 7-9:
O wi cim-Jagiełły, 9-10: O wi cim-
Zasole, 11-12: Skawa and Witów,
14-15: wi tochłowice, 15-16:
Kielce and Niewachlów, 17-19:
Szczyrk, Przył ków and Wisła, 21-
23: Lublin, 23-25: Rzeszów, 28-30:
Przemy l, Lipowica and Polana.
In addition, on 13 March he took
part in the Social Communication
meeting in Warsaw (AWP) attend-
ed by the Councillor for SC, Fr
Gildásio Dos Santos Mendes. On
19 March he took part in the
meeting concerning the distribu-
tion of funding for Ukraine, and
on the 20th in the KSIP Confer-
ence meeting in Warsaw (AWP).
In April he went to the Ukraine
where war is raging to visit the
Salesian communities and see
how the situation of the confreres
is: 5-7: Bibrka, Peremyshlany, Ko-
rostyhiv, 8-9: Zhytomyr and Ko-
rostyshiv, 10: meeting with the
Provincial, Fr Mykhaylo Chaban
(UKR), 11: Odessa, online meet-
ing with the confreres. On 23
April there was the conclusion of
the Extraordinary Visitation with
the meeting of the Rectors, the
conclusion of the Provincial Chap-
ter in the Theological Studentate
in Krakow and the meeting with
the Provincial Council in the
Provincial House in Krakow.
On 5-6 May, the Regional, Fr
Roman, took part in the online
meeting of the Social Communi-
cation Sector. Then on 5-6 May he
visited the Formation Houses in
Poland. On 6-8 May, he took part
in the meeting of the Provincials
of the Central and Northern Eu-
ropean Region in Vienna (AUS) in
the presence of the Vicar of the
Rector Major, Fr Stefano Mar-
toglio, the Rector Major’s Dele-
gate for the Salesian Family, Fr
Joan Lluis Playà, World Delegate
for Salesian Cooperators and Past
Pupils Bro. Dominic Nguyen, col-
laborator for Missions Fr Pavel
Ženišek and two lay collaborators
(Italy and Spain) from the Youth
Ministry Sector.
From the 12th-14th, Fr Roman
made a visit to the Formation
Houses in Poland. On the 20th he

14.7 Page 137

▲back to top
136  ACTS OF THE GENERAL COUNCIL
participated in the funeral of the
mother of the recently-appointed
Provincial Fr Bartłomiej Pola ski
of the Wrocław Province (PLO).
On the 20th in the Marian Shrine
of Twardogóra he celebrated the
Eucharistic for the installation of
the new Provincial of Wrocław Fr
Bartłomiej Pola ski.
On 30 May, Fr Roman went to
Valdocco, Turin, for the Summer
Session of the General Council,
which began on 1 June and ended
on 25 June.
On 3-5 June he accompanied
the Rector Major, Fr Ángel Fer-
nández Artime, to Hungary. On 4
June in Budapest, at the end of
the Eucharistic Celebration, the
Rector Major blessed the new
casket containing the relics of
Blessed Stephen Sándor, which
were found and identified in 2019.
The Reliquary was carried in
solemn procession and placed at
the altar of Mary Help of Chris-
tians in the Clarisseum Church,
where the young Coadjutor Broth-
er spent a large part of his reli-
gious life in the service of young
people, as a master printer and ed-
ucator loved and esteemed by the
confreres and young people.
From 26 June to 3 July, on the
occasion of the 400th anniversary
of the death of St Francis de
Sales, Patron Saint of the Sale-
sian Congregation, the General
Council took part in the Retreat
preached by Fr Morand Wirth,
SDB at the Jean XXIII centre in
Annecy, France.
On 23 July, Fr Roman together
with the Vicar of the Rector Major
Fr Stefano Martoglio, the Council-
lor for Formation Fr Ivo Coelho,
the Regional for the Mediterranean
Region Fr Juan Carlos Pérez
Godoy, went to the Province of
Poland-Warsaw (PLE) for a meet-
ing concerning the novitiates in Eu-
rope and particularly in the Central
and Northern Europe Region.
The following day, after the con-
clusion of the Summer Session of
the General Council, Fr Roman
travelled to Poland.
The Councillor for the
Interamerica Region
At the end of January 2022 he
was due to leave for Haiti for the
installation of the new superior,
Fr Morachell Bonhomme, but one
evening before departure he re-
ceived the news that he was posi-
tive for the COVID 19 test, so had
to cancel the trip and take a few
days off until the test came back
negative.
From 5 to 10 February, together
with the Rector Major, he partici-

14.8 Page 138

▲back to top
ACTIVITIES OF THE GENERAL COUNCIL  137
pated in a series of Retreats for
the Provincials and their Councils
held in the community of San
Patricio in Cumbayá, Ecuador. It
was an excellent experience of
communion and accompaniment.
At the end of the retreat he had
the opportunity, together with the
Provincials of the region, to con-
clude the annual meeting corre-
sponding to the previous cycle, as
had been previously agreed.
From 15 February to 26 May, on
behalf of the Rector Major, he con-
ducted the Extraordinary Visita-
tion to the Sacred Heart Province
in Ecuador. He spent 92 days in
the country, visited 23 communi-
ties. He met for dialogue with 132
SDBs, 33 volunteers, 10 lay bur-
sars and 4 bishops: Archbishop
Alfredo José Espinoza Mateus
SDB, Archbishjop and Primate of
Quito, Ecuador, Bishop Néstor
Montesdeoca Becerra SDB, bish-
op del Apostolic Vicariate Mén-
dez, Bishop Pietro Gabrielli SDB,
bishop emeritus of the Vicariate
of Mendez and Bishop Luis Anto-
nio Sánchez Armijos, bishop
emeritus of Machala , as well as
meetings with various leaders of
the EPCs.
From 4 to 13 April, he attended
the Interim Council sessions in
Rome, to present the report of the
study on the Interamerica Region
as part of the preparatory process
for the next global visit.
On 14 April, he arrived at the
Salesian community at Sampier-
darena in Genoa to accompany
the pastoral care of the Holy Days
with the Latin community (Ecuado-
rians and Peruvians) participating
in the parish of San Juan Bosco
and San Cayetano.
On 28 May he arrived in Turin
for the 2022 Summer Session of
the General Council.
The Councillor for the
Mediterranean Region
At the end of the General Coun-
cil’s meetings, the Councillor for
the Mediterranean Region went
to Catania to continue the Ex-
traordinary Visitation on behalf
of the Rector Major to the San
Paolo Sicilian Province (ISI) Italy.
This second part of the visit be-
gan on 29 January by meeting the
confreres from the San Tommaso
Theological Studentate communi-
ty in Messina until 5 February. He
celebrated the Solemnity of Don
Bosco on 31 January, and partici-
pated in meeting in person and
online with the Salesian Family to
present the Rector Major’s Stren-
na in Messina in the FMA House.
He then went on to visit a group

14.9 Page 139

▲back to top
138  ACTS OF THE GENERAL COUNCIL
of Houses in the Province until 27
March: Ranchibile Palermo, Bar-
riera Catania, San Francesco di
Sales Catania, Santa Chiara
Palermo, Gesù Adolescente Paler-
mo, Camporeale, Marsala, Tra-
pani, Barcellona, Viagrande, Ran-
dazzo Catania, Associazione Don
Bosco 2000, Province Centre,
Giostra Messina, Alcamo and
Salette/San Gregorio Catania.
During the visit, he took part in
the Provincial Council of the Sale-
sian Family on 2 February.
From 28 March until 1 April, he
participated in the curatorium of
the Region’s formation houses in
Messina, Crocetta, Il Colle, Nave,
Genzano and San Tarcisio. On the
weekend of 2-3 April he had a
meeting in Rome with the Vicar of
the Rector Major and other meet-
ings. After which he returned to
Catania to resume the Extraordi-
nary Visitation on 5 April to the
Associazione Meta Cometa and
went to Tunisia, Manouba and
Tunis from 5 to 11 April.
After the visit to Tunisia, he fin-
ished his visit to the Province Cen-
tre and celebrated the Easter
Triduum in San Francsco di Sales,
Catania. On 17 April he had the fi-
nal meeting with the Provincial to
share an overview of the visit and
on the 18th with the Provincial
Council in the morning and with
the Rectors in the afternoon, thus
concluding the Extraordinary Vis-
itation to the Sicilian Province
and returning to Rome.
From 21 to 29 April, he trav-
elled to Spain to take part in the
various meetings of the Iberian
Conference, the Mediterranean
Region and the CIS in Sanlúcar la
Mayor (Seville), taking the oppor-
tunity to greet his family and ac-
company the Councillor for Social
Communication (who contributed
an address to the Mediterranean
meeting) for him to get to know
some of the Houses of the Province
of Seville (SMX) and some cultur-
al visits.
On 30 April, he travelled with
the Provincial of MOR Province
to Israel and Palestine to continue
the Extraordinary Visitation in
this province. He started the visit
at Ratisbonne, continuing on to
Betgemal, Nazareth, Bethlehem
and Cremisan, until 16 May. On
the 13th he was able to partici-
pate with the Italian Consul and
other local authorities in the in-
auguration of a children's park
built on the grounds of our House
in Cremisan with Italian cooper-
ation and VIS. After a few days to
finish the report of the Visitation,
he met with the Provincial, the
Provincial Council and the Rec-
tors to share the overview of the

14.10 Page 140

▲back to top
ACTIVITIES OF THE GENERAL COUNCIL  139
visit, and to conclude he had a
nice online meeting with all the
communities of the Province.
After finishing his visit to the
MOR Province, he travelled to
Portugal on 20 May for a visit to
animate and get to know some of
the houses there. He celebrated
the Solemnity of Our Lady Help
of Christians in Lisbon, celebrat-
ing Mass with all the young peo-
ple, educators and all the staff. On
28 May he visited the Salesian
House in Málaga, taking part in
the procession of Mary Help of
Christians and on the 30th in the
morning he spoke at the meeting
of the two National YM Centres,
Madrid and Rome. After this
meeting he returned to Rome and
on the 31st went to Turin to begin
General Council Summer Session.

15 Pages 141-150

▲back to top

15.1 Page 141

▲back to top
5. DOCUMENTS  AND  NEWS
5.1  Appointment of the new
Secretary General
During the Winter Plenary Ses-
sion of the General Council, the
Rector Major, Fr Ángel Fernández
Artime, with the consent of his
Council, appointed the new Secre-
tary of the General Council. He is
Fr Guido Garino, a Salesian from
the Piedmont and Valle d'Aosta
Special Circumscription (ICP),
who will take up the post from
August.
Fr Guido Garino, born in Turin
on 26 October 1969, attended the
Salesian novitiate in Monte Uliveto
Pinerolo, where he made his first
profession on 8 September 1997;
he then made his perpetual vows
on 12 September 2004 at Colle Don
Bosco; and he completed his entire
course of philosophical and theo-
logical studies at the Pontifical
Salesian University in Rome.
He was ordained priest on 3
June 2006 by Cardinal Severino
Poletto in the Basilica of Mary
Help of Christians in Turin.
After graduating in Law at the
University of Turin (2003) and
completin his Doctorate in Canon
Law at the Pontifical Lateran
University (2013), in 2009 he
joined the Piedmontese Ecclesias-
tical Court, first as Promoter of
Justice and Substitute Defender
of the Bond, then (2011-2022) as
Interdiocesan and Metropolitan
Judge.
A teacher of religion in middle
and high school classes at the
Salesian High School in Valsalice
(2008-2011), he was also in charge
of the Valdocco University College
(2013/2017). He also held the
roles of Vice-rector, Bursar and
Catechist at the Vocational Train-
ing Centre in Valdocco, as part of
the St Francis de Sales communi-
ty there.
In 2017, he was sent as assistant
Parish Priest to the St John Bosco
Parish in Cascine Vica, Rivoli, a
working-class suburb of Turin,
where the following year he be-
came Parish Priest and, subse-
quently, Moderator of the Pastoral
Unit.
Fr Guido Garino succeeds Fr
Stefano Vanoli, in office as Secre-
tary of the General Council since
2015, and who was also the Mod-
erator of the Congregation’s 28th
General Chapter (2020).
The new Secretary General of-
ficially begins his service as of 1
August 2022.

15.2 Page 142

▲back to top
DOCUMENTS AND NEWS  141
5.2 New Salesian Provincials
Below (in alphabetical order) are
some details regarding Provin-
cials appointed by the Rector Ma-
jor with the consent of his Council
in June 2022
1. PIRES GUTERRES Anacleto
Superior of the Timor-Leste Vice-
province (TLS)
The Rector Major, Fr Ángel Fer-
nández Artime, with the consent
of the General Council, on 21 June
2022 appointed Fr Anacleto Pires
as the new Superior of the St Cal-
listus Caravario Vice-province of
East Timor (Timor-Leste) (TLS)
for the six-year period 2022-2028.
He succeeds Fr Apolinário Maria
Neto Ornai, who led the Vice-
province from 2016 to the present.
Fr Anacleto Pires was born in
Afaloicai, Baguai, near Baucau,
Timor-Leste, on 20 August 1967.
After completing his high school
studies at the ASALES Institute
in Fatumaca, he was admitted to
the novitiate on 13 June 1991,
making his first Salesian profes-
sion on 13 June 1992.
From 1992 to 1995, he was sent
to continue his formation and
philosophical studies at the
Driyakara philosophical institute
in Jakarta, Indonesia. Returning
again to Timor-Leste, from 1995
to 1997, he was appointed as as-
sistant to the novices, and once
this formation period was over, he
was sent to Parañaque, Philip-
pines, to continue his theological
formation from 1997 to 2001.
He professed his perpetual vows
on 24 March 2000 in Parañaque,
was ordained a deacon exactly one
year later in the same location,
and was ordained priest on 8 De-
cember 2001, also in Parañaque.
From 2002 to 2008, he was in
charge of the ASALES institute in
Fatumaca. He was then Rector of
the community at Los Palos from
2008 to 2013, while also taking on
the tasks of assistant parish priest
and being in charge of the pre-
novices.
From 2013 to 2015 he was sent
to study in Italy, at the Pontifical
Salesian University (UPS) in
Rome, specialising in Salesian
Spirituality.
On his return to his homeland,
he was entrusted with the post of
Director of Novices, which he held
from 2015 to 2021, when he was
chosen as Rector of the Post-novi-
tiate at Comoro, in Dili.
He was Delegate for Vocations
from 2006 to 2014 for the TLS
Vice-province, and has been a
member of the Vice-province
Council since 2019.

15.3 Page 143

▲back to top
142  ACTS OF THE GENERAL COUNCIL
2. TELLES Clive Justin Provincial
of India Panjim Province (INP)
The Rector Major, Fr Ángel Fer-
nández Artime, with the consent
of the General Council on 21 June
2022, appointed Fr Clive Telles as
the new Provincial of the Province
of India Panjim (INP). He suc-
ceeds Fr Felix Fernandes, who led
the Province from 2016.
Fr Clive Justin Telles was born
to John Telles and Inacinha Telles
on 20 August 1976, and has two
older sisters, Carol and Christine,
and a twin brother.
Already at an early age, he had
shown the desire to become a
priest and attended the Salesian
aspirantate at Don Bosco Lon-
avala. After completing his sec-
ondary studies, he entered the
Bosco Udyogshala Pinguli pre-
novitiate. He completed his novi-
tiate studies in Nashik and made
his first profession on 24 May
1996. After completing his studies
in philosophy in Divyadaan,
Nashik, and theology at the
Jnana Deepa Institute in Pune,
he was ordained priest on 18 De-
cember 2006 in Goa. He has a
Bachelor's Degree in English, a
Professional Diploma in Educa-
tion (B.Ed) and a Master's Degree
in Education.
He served the INP Province as
a member of the Provincial Coun-
cil for six years, the last three as
Vice-provincial and Delegate for
Youth Ministry. He was modera-
tor of the Provincial Chapter and
then elected Delegate of the
Province at the 28th General
Chapter, thus participating in
that assembly in 2020.
As an educator, he served as a
teacher and in administrative
roles in various Province schools
in the three States of Goa, Maha-
rashtra and Karnataka. He
worked as an administrator for
three years at the Don Bosco Cen-
tre in Kelmbet. He then served as
Principal for seven years at the
Don Bosco High School and Col-
lege in Sindhudurg, Maharashtra,
the last three of which he also
served as Director of the Insti-
tute. He has currently been Vice-
rector and Principal of Don Bosco
Secondary School in Panjim, Goa.
The INP Province has 105 con-
freres and 18 houses in the Indian
states of Goa, Karnataka and Ma-
harashtra.
Fr Telles will begin his service
on 7 September 2022.

15.4 Page 144

▲back to top
DOCUMENTS AND NEWS  143
5.3  Our deceased confreres (1st list January-June 2022)
“Faith in the risen Christ sustains our hope and keeps alive our communion with our
brothers who rest in Christ’s peace. They have spent their lives in the Congregation, and
not a few have suffered even to the point of martyrdom for the love of the Lord… Their
remembrance is an incentive to continue faithfully in our mission” (C. 94).
SURNAME AND NAME
PLACE of death
DATE
AGE PROV
P ADAYADIEL James
Auckland (New Zealand)
22.06.2022
P AIMAR BRUNO Miguel Ángel
Turin (Italy)
10.04.2022
P ANTÚNEZ DE MAYOLO LARRAGÁN José Lima (Peru)
09.04.2022
P AUGUSTYN Tadeusz
Oświęcim (Poland)
31.03.2022
L BERISIE Francis
Ashaiman (Ghana)
07.05.2022
P BERTAZZO Giulio
Venice-Mestre (Italy)
15.01.2022
P BERTOLAZZI Bruno
Venosa (Italy)
19.05.2022
P BÉRTOLO Natalio Vicente
Córdoba (Argentina)
02.05.2022
P BISRAT Temesgen Tekka
Addis Abeba (Ethiopia)
14.02.2022
L BISWAS Sushanto
Bandel (India)
25.02.2022
E BLANCO Jesús Tirso
Negrar (Italy)
22.02.2022
Fu Vescovo di Luena per 14 anni
P BOEM Ambrogio
Querétaro (Mexico)
13.04.2022
P BOGDAŃSKI Stanislaw
Przasnysz (Poland)
17.04.2022
P BOONE Antoon
Sint-Denijs-Westrem (Belgium) 06.06.2022
P BORDIGNON Giuseppe
Venice-Mestre (Italy)
21.01.2022
P CALLINI Giuseppe
Roma (Italy)
28.02.2022
P CAMPAGNOLO Giovanni
Castello di Godego (Italy)
15.06.2022
P CASTI (TOCCO) Giuseppe
Roma (Italy)
29.01.2022
P CUEVAS BASCUÑANA Agustín Madrid (Spain)
07.02.2022
P CUEVAS MORENO Pedro
Madrid (Spain)
08.01.2022
P CZUMAKOW Aleksander
Odessa (Ukraine)
09.06.2022
P CHOVER MARTÍNEZ Jesús
Logroño (Spain)
17.04.2022
L D’SOUZA Anthony Senior
Mumbai (India)
27.04.2022
P DE GIORGI Pierino
Roma (Italy)
17.04.2022
P DE NEVE Gaston
Heverlee (Belgium)
08.03.2022
P DEL BLANCO ALONSO Secundino Logroño (Spain)
09.04.2022
P DEL NOTARO Palmiro
Castano Primo (Italy)
16.02.2022
P DI LIBERO Luigi
Caidate di Sumirago (Italy) 18.06.2022
P DI NICOLA Edoardo
Roma (Italy)
03.02.2022
P DUBÓN GONZÁLEZ Luis Fernando Città del Guatemala (Guatemala) 08.01.2022
P EANTHANAMKUZHIYIL Michael Injan (India)
04.02.2022
P ECHAMENDI ARISTU Miguel Antonio Barcelona (Spain)
18.04.2022
P ESCAMILLA ALAS Germán
San Salvador (El Salvador) 31.01.2022
P ESQUIVEL AMBRIZ Gonzalo
Ciudad de México (Mexico) 11.02.2022
P FACCHINELLO David
Amparaes (Peru)
24.05.2022
P FALK Robert Joseph
Seoul (Korea)
13.04.2022
P FAVARO Giovanni
Roma (Italy)
13.02.2022
90 AUL
76 BOL
95 PER
51 PLS
48 AOS
85 INE
101 IME
94 ARN
41 AET
76 INC
64 EP
91 MEM
80 PLE
81 BEN
85 INE
89 ICC
77 INE
90 ICC
77 ATE
79 SSM
64 UKR
81 SSM
61 INB
92 UPS
95 BEN
73 SSM
94 ILE
79 ILE
86 ICC
61 CAM
69 IND
87 SMX
83 CAM
85 MEM
48 INE
90 KOR
98 ICC

15.5 Page 145

▲back to top
144  ACTS OF THE GENERAL COUNCIL
SURNAME AND NAME
PLACE of death
DATE
AGE PROV
P FERNANDES Bernard
Goa (India)
P FIGLIA Isidore Sydeney
Tampa, Florida (U.S.A.)
P FORD Norman
Melbourne (Australia)
P GAMBINO Lorenzo
Lima (Peru)
P GARCÍA MARCO Lorenzo
Bahia Blanca (Argentina)
L GIUPPA Luigi
Napoli (Italy)
E GONZÁLEZ MORALES T. Osvaldo Santiago del Cile (Chile)
Fu Vescovo di Punta Arenas per 32 anni e per 16 Vescovo emerito
L GUINEA MURGA José Ramón
Kankan (Guinea Conakry)
P HANTSON Jacques
Bonheiden (Belgium)
P HORVAT Avgust
Trstenik (Slovenia)
P IRUNGA Désiré William
Nairobi (Kenya)
P JANISCH Armin
Koln (Germany)
P KANEKO Dominico Ken-Nosuke Suginami (Japan)
L KENNEDY Colm
Maynooth (Ireland)
P KERGOAT Yves
Pouillé (France)
L KERKETTA Raphael
Guwahati (India)
P KLINICKI Wladyslaw
São Paulo (Brazil)
P KOŠĆAK Josip
Vitovica (Croatia)
P LACCHIA Franco
Turin (Italy)
P LARIOS GUTIÉRREZ Daniel
Irapuato (Mexico)
P LENTI Artur
Downey, California (USA)
P LEOCATA Francesco
Buenos Aires (Argentina)
P LOHBUSCH Ferdinhand
Essen (Germany)
P MANUEL ALBERTO Ernesto José Luanda (Angola)
P MARCA TICONA René
Cochabamba (Bolivia)
L MARCONATO Lorenzo
Castello di Godego (Italy)
P MARCONCINI Paulo Crispino
Nova Trento (Brazil)
P MARCOS MARTÍN Santos
Sevilla (Spain)
S MARTIN Sugan Lalethkumar
Chennai (India)
L MARTINS Manuel Dionísio
Manique (Portugal)
P MARZANO Matteo
Caracas (Venezuela)
P MATERNIA Henryk
Środa Śląska (Poland)
P McGUINNES Brendan
Frimley Park (Great Britain)
P MÉNDEZ RODRÍGUEZ Álvaro
Mexico City (Mexico)
P MIKLAVC Ivo
Trstenik (Slovenia)
L MOJO Paul
Shillong (India)
P MONTES FUENTES Miguel
Irapuato, Guanajuato (Mexico)
P MORENO ORDÓÑEZ Ramón
Seville (Spain)
P MOWLES Alan
Maynooth (Ireland)
P NANA Luigi
Sondrio (Italy)
P NAUGHTON Patrick
Cape Town (South Africa)
Fu Ispettore per 6 anni
L NICOLETTI Adolfo Luis
Buenos Aires (Argentina)
P O’BRIEN Henry
Bolton (Great Britain)
P O’RIORDAN Daniel
Addlestone (Great Britain)
24.05.2022
06.03.2022
25.06.2022
23.01.2022
19.01.2022
12.03.2022
12.02.2022
14.05.2022
28.03.2022
09.05.2022
05.05.2022
01.01.2022
26.02.2022
31.03.2022
22.01.2022
03.01.2022
12.04.2022
23.01.2022
04.02.2022
20.03.2022
06.01.2022
08.01.2022
26.02.2022
26.05.2022
26.01.2022
04.06.2022
27.02.2022
05.04.2022
03.01.2022
22.05.2022
15.02.2022
06.06.2022
25.03.2022
13.02.2022
19.03.2022
09.02.2022
09.01.2022
14.04.2022
12.04.2022
07.02.2022
23.03.2022
26.04.2022
28.02.2022
19.06.2022
56 INB
91 SUE
86 AUL
99 PER
82 ARS
94 IME
86 EP
72 AON
86 BEN
82 SLO
54 AGL
86 GER
96 GIA
96 IRL
89 FRB
74 ING
107 BSP
85 CRO
88 ICP
76 MEG
98 SUO
77 ARS
81 GER
35 ANG
59 BOL
93 INE
77 BPA
83 SMX
31 INM
98 POR
79 VEN
85 PLO
94 GBR
78 MEM
83 SLO
101 INS
92 MEG
88 SMX
87 IRL
84 ILE
81 AFM
80 ARS
91 GBR
83 GBR

15.6 Page 146

▲back to top
DOCUMENTS AND NEWS  145
SURNAME AND NAME
PLACE of death
DATE
AGE PROV
D OGOULA Y’OGOULA Arnold
Yaoundé (Cameroon)
16.06.2022
P ONGENAERT André
Wilrijk (Belgium)
23.02.2022
P OŻÓG PLO Jan
Lubin (Poland)
28.04.2022
P PAVLETIĆ Marko
Zagreb (Croatia)
30.01.2022
E PEDRON Bruno
Campo Grande (Brazil)
17.06.2022
P PINHAL Manuel Carlos
Libona (Portugal)
05.01.2022
P PINOLINI Juan Evasio
Rosario (Argentina)
02.02.2022
D PIRES Baltasar
Dili (Timor-Leste)
04.04.2022
P PIRISI Francesco
Ittiri (Italy)
19.01.2022
L POLLANI Piergiorgio
Verona (Italy)
10.04.2022
P PONGUTÁ HURTADO Martìn Alonso Bogotá (Colombia)
05.04.2022
P PONGUTÁ Silvestre
Bogotà (Colombia)
29.01.2022
P PORTMANN Joseph
Fribourg (Switzerland)
13.01.2022
P POTTUKALAM Matthew
Dibrugarh (India)
14.06.2022
L PRSKALO Mihovil
Zagabria (Croatia)
07.01.2022
S RANDRIAMANARIVO Jean Bosco Antsirabe (Madagascar)
29.03.2022
P RANKIN Peter Joseph
Melbourne (Australia)
14.01.2022
L RASTRERO BOADA Cándido
Arévalo (Spain)
19.03.2022
P REMÓN BAZTÁN Jesús
Barakaldo (Spain)
17.06.2022
P SALA Ambrogio
Turin (Italy)
21.03.2022
L SAMANIEGO Víctor
Azuay, Cuenca (Ecuador)
26.04.2022
P SÁNCHEZ PÉREZ Luis Emiro
Bogotà (Colombia)
30.06.2022
P SCHAUMANN Franz
Derching (Germany)
25.03.2022
P SCHMID Franz
Benediktbeuern (Germany) 07.02.2022
P SCHREML Johannes
Muchen (Germany)
03.05.2022
P SERAFINI Mario
Bahìa Blanca
07.04.2022
L SOSIO Alessandro
San Cristobal (Venezuela)
25.03.2022
P SOTO HERNÁNDEZ Julio Alberto Santo Domingo (Dom. Rep.) 22.03.2022
P SUCCI Giovanni Carlo
Turin (Italy)
23.01.2022
P SZYMEROWSKI Zbigniew
Wroclaw (Poland)
07.02.2022
P TARNOVSKI Sigmund Fridolin Porto Alegre (Brazil)
23.02.2022
P THATTIL Chacko
Hyderabad (India)
19.04.2022
P TIBERI Francisco
Cordòba (Argentina)
22.01.2022
P TIFI Roberto
Monopoli (Italy)
17.02.2022
P TORRI Giulivo
Pietra Ligure (Italy)
05.04.2022
L TSCHOEPE Heinrich
Amberg (Germany)
06.06.2022
P TUDU Kissun Cosmos
Dharan (Nepal)
10.01.2022
P TURCO Ugo
La Spezia (Italy)
30.01.2022
P URBANCZYK Alojzy
Poznań (Poland)
23.02.2022
P URBAŃCZYK Stanisław
Oświęcim (Poland)
06.05.2022
L VAN LANKVELT Bernard
Apeldoorm (Holland)
26.03.2022
E VARGAS BASTIDAS Héctor Eduardo Temuco (Chile)
07.03.2022
Fu Vescovo di San Marco di Arica per 9 anni e Vescovo di Temuco per 8 anni.
P VARIATHUKALAYIL Joseph
Dimapur (India)
09.05.2022
L VILLANI Mario
Salerno (Italy)
28.04.2022
P WEISSHAAR Philipp
Hirschau (Germany)
02.04.2022
37 ATE
91 BEN
68 PLO
81 CRO
78 EP
77 POR
90 ARN
81 TLS
72 GER
79 INE
79 COB
86 COB
92 FRB
65 IND
77 CRO
25 MDG
63 AUL
84 SSM
81 SSM
94 ICP
89 ECU
91 COB
82 GER
77 GER
81 GER
85 ARS
80 VEN
85 ANT
99 ICP
78 PLO
88 BPA
80 INH
89 ARN
80 IME
74 ICC
81 GER
52 INC
93 ICC
87 PLO
92 PLS
86 BEN
70 EP
81 IND
91 IME
92 GER

15.7 Page 147

▲back to top
146  ACTS OF THE GENERAL COUNCIL
SURNAME AND NAME
PLACE of death
P WÓJCIK Stanisław
Żyrardów (Poland)
L ZAPATA VEGA Arturo del Carmen Santiago del Cile (Chile)
P ZUBOVIĆ Nikola
Split (Croatia)
DATE
AGE PROV
25.03.2022
13.02.2022
25.05.2022
63 PLE
91 CIL
95 CRO

15.8 Page 148

▲back to top

15.9 Page 149

▲back to top