S TRENNA 2008

by Pascual Chávez Villanueva

EDUCATING WITH THE HEART OF DB

THE SOCIAL SIGNIFICANCE

OF SALESIAN EDUCATION

“If I want … to feel the drop outs and the drug addicts, those without work and without hope as brothers, not as a different species; if I want to put Christianity into practice, also in society, and I might say one that is sanctified socialist… if I want to relate not in a way that is paternalistic but fatherly, not authoritarian but authoritative, not repressive but with understanding, not one of communication but of communion… I have perfectly understood that I need to turn to Don Bosco”¹.

WE know the origins of Salesian work. Don Bosco himself described the first boys at the oratory: “As a rule the Oratory boys included stonecutters, bricklayers, stuccoers, road pavers, plasterers, and others who came from distant villages. They were not church-goers, and had few friends; so they were exposed to the dangers of perversion”². Those aimed at therefore, in Don Bosco’s charism, are the most needy youngsters, sons of the people, from the working class. In his circular letter “He had compassion on them”, Fr J. Vecchi draws attention to the new scenario for the educational work of the Salesians: “Economic, social and cultural factors are bringing about a new configuration of society. Hence the priorities of our mission are also changing, at least to some extent: the subjects to whom we give preference, the gospel messages to be disseminated and the educational programmes to be set in motion.”³ The old and the new forms of poverty among the young are a constant challenge to the creativity of the charism and make it relevant. Often on the television screen we see images, aspects and the effects of poverty, such as hunger, the exodus of thousands of refugees the victims of ethnic conflicts, religious discrimination, wars about spheres of influence. And again, unstable urbanisation that creates the phenomenon of urban marginalisation, immigration, child labour, the situation of women, the sexual exploitation of minors, child soldiers, etc. This is painting a black picture, but it is an incomplete one. Concern for the “least” is always present in the formulation of our plans, understanding by the least youngsters at risk, living in economic, cultural and religious poverty, the poor in affective moral and spiritual terms, those suffering on account of family problems, the youngsters living on the margins of society and of the Church⁴.

 The first response is the work of education with these young people. The Salesian charism continues to write glorious pages in history, setting in motion vast social programmes of prevention and assistance in all the continents: in refugee camps, with street children, in the rehabilitation of child-soldiers and sexually exploited youngsters, in a great variety of projects on behalf of emigrants. The educative worth of the Preventive System shows its effectiveness in putting the wayward youngsters on the right path, and when they have already embarked on the wrong one helping them not to make worse choices. However, we have to avoid a certain “moda pauperistica”, which becomes demagogy and leads us to talk about the poor, without doing anything for the poor. It is not possible to educate to the values of compassion and solidarity from a standpoint of the satisfied and the powerful, nor even of being neutral. In order to educate to solidarity and justice it is necessary to assume the place of the “victims” in society. The Church has always seen in the poor “a theological place of encounter with God”. Following an interpretation in gospel terms of the situation of the Latin American continent, the Congress in Puebla affirmed “the need for the conversion of the whole Church to a preferential option for the poor in view of their complete liberation.”⁵

 The accelerating speed of change, the giddy rhythm with which events follow one after another can result in a certain deadening of our sensitivities or those of the young. It is necessary to find “the appropriate pedagogical means” to keep the heart always open to the cry of life in search of survival and dignity. It is here that education has to say something critical as a means of analysing the situation and of removing all that does not appear to be just. In the face of a world that is individualist and not open to the needs of others, education has to work to overcome indifference and reawaken feelings of concern for social issues, help people to become more aware of the world around us and to learn how to assess it critically and to feel responsible for and active agents in what happens, taking part in drawing up replies that go beyond having recourse to violence. Poverty and marginalisation are a phenomenon that is not just economic, but rather something that concerns the conscience and challenges society’s way of thinking. For this reason, moral education and education in general should be seen as something of real urgency in a society in which the great problems of the human race, and the principles that govern relationships between the people and the State, and the natural environment, require new ethical and moral guidelines rather than technical and scientific solutions. 