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Rethinking
salesian youth
ministry
Document for reflection
in communities and provinces
Youth Ministry Department
2011

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Tipografia Istituto Salesiano Pio XI
via Umbertide, 11 - 00181 Roma
tipolito@donbosco.it

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DIREZIONE GENERALE
OPERE DON BOSCO
Via della Pisana 1111 - 00163 Roma
The Rector Major
To the Rectors and Confreres
of Salesian local Communities
and of the Provinces
Prot. 11/0338
Rome, 11 July 2011
Subject: Rethinking Salesian Youth Ministry
Dear Confreres,
With my greetings and the sincere hope that there may be an ever
closer union among us.
The reason I am writing to you is to begin to implement one of the com-
mitments made at our 26th General Chapter. The Congregation is un-
dertaking a process of rethinking how to carry out Youth Ministry in the
Church. In force of “Da mihi animas, cetera tolle” and in view of a
more explicit commitment to evangelisation, we are being called to
strengthen the relationship between evangelisation and education, in a
context of changed and varied cultural conditions (cf. GC26 45).
1. Rethinking ministry will help us to give better focus to the evange-
lising nature of our Educative Pastoral Plan. There are some features of
our pastoral praxis which are not fully implemented. For this reason it
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is necessary to consider the witness of the Educative Pastoral Commu-
nity (EPC) as part of our contribution to the transformation of culture
according to the Gospel of Jesus.
As GC26 states: “Our initiatives are not always clearly directed to ed-
ucation to the faith. Processes of catechesis are weak and in many cases
do not engender in young people a convinced and regular sacramental
life, a true sense of belonging to the Church and courageous apostolic
involvement. The lack of structure and continuity, the result of insuffi-
cient reflection and study, has sometimes led to a ministry more of ini-
tiatives and events than of processes. In other cases what we have of-
fered has not been sufficiently part of the programmes of the local
Church.” (GC26 28).
At the same time, education is required by society more and more. Yet
we recognise that there is a crisis regarding the understanding of what
“education” and “educational” really mean. The words are often used
in an ambiguous, very limited or ideological manner. For us Salesians
this question is relevant, since ours is an educational pastoral charism,
and we maintain that the quality of our educational service is necessar-
ily linked to its effectiveness in terms of evangelisation.
In this situation we are faced with many questions: what choices to
make in what we do? where to start from in order to have a ministry of
processes with faith journeys and not isolated events? how to help the
young become Christians in the culture in which we are living? what
proposals can we offer, bearing in mind the young people who are not
Christians and who belong to other religions?
In rethinking our ministry we want to encourage processes of whole-
sale reflection on local educational pastoral praxis, well aware that the
contexts in which we carry out our mission are different and complex,
as are the challenges we meet.
2. So as to have a pastoral ministry which is more and more inspired by
the Preventive System of Don Bosco (cf. GC26 41), I am asking you to
offer your contribution to the process of rethinking the pastoral praxis
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of your Community, in order to be able to develop further the funda-
mental procedures for Salesian ministry and also to see what impact
they are having on your daily praxis.
As you see, through this process of reflection and evaluation, we want
to involve everyone: the individual Salesian, each Salesian Community
and EPC, and the lay people co-responsible for the mission, every in-
stitution of formation, every organisation/body for animation and gov-
ernment at local and province level.
The process was began by the Rector Major with his Council in the
month of July 2009. A team of experts drew up a first working docu-
ment which then benefited from reflections from the various Study
Centres and Regional Youth Ministry Centres. These contributions
were presented in a Seminar held at the Pisana on 4 - 6 February 2011.
Now I am inviting also you to take part in this second phase. The
scheme of reflection which follows, addressed to the individual com-
munities, asks questions which encourage you to examine your pastoral
praxis, with the hope that this will lead to a deeper reflection within the
communities.
Your contributions will help us to undertake a revision and updating of
the book “Salesian Youth Ministry. A basic frame of reference” (Rome,
1998, 2000). It will also be an appropriate preparation for the approach-
ing Bicentenary of the Birth of Saint John Bosco.
I thank you for your commitment and the generosity with which you
live your religious consecration in the service of the young. This
process will also be a sign of our desire to be ever more of service to
them in a generous and effective way in their encounter with Jesus.
Cordially in Don Bosco,
Fr Pascual Chávez Villanueva
Rector Major
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Document for reflection
in communities and provinces
Responding to culture and the world
of the young
The last few decades have witnessed a profound transformation in Transformation
many of our societies, and the cultures on which they are built. It is of the culture
precisely in the centrality of culture that the most characteristic ele-
and the
world
ment of our times is to be found. We find ourselves faced with a cock- of the
tail of cultures, with a stratified situation in which different concepts young
of the person and forms of living side by side are to be found. As we
approach the world of the young we notice in addition that there
is not just “one” single identifiable independent youth culture. What
especially concerns us is the tragic situation of being excluded which
many of our young people experience in society and from an educa-
tional point of view, and who deserve our full pastoral attention.
We recognise that there are different ways in which young people live
the faith in various educational and social context: as un-believers,
being indifferent, those at a distance, with a traditional faith or whose
faith journey is under threat.
The social and cultural challenges of this complex situation urge us on, Looking
convinced as we are that our Congregation has much to offer to the at young
young, to their families and to the cultures to which they belong. We
people
through
believe that Jesus Christ and his Gospel continue to offer the best way the eyes
of living, and we are very happy to have the mission of offering it. of Jesus
For this reason, as Salesians, we make the voice of God heard within
the varied situations in which the young are living. They are children
of their time and culture. They are not a problem but an opportunity!
We are present in 132 countries, looking at the young through the
eyes of Jesus. In the encounters the Lord has with the young the first
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thing he does “is walk up to them,” “look at them”, “love them”, “know
them” (cf. Mt 4, 18ss) one by one, he hears their questions, listens to
their concerns. Using his words and his imagery (shepherd, vinedresser,
fisherman, etc.) he calls them to proclaim the Gospel and entrusts his
mission to them.
Today too we need him to lend us his eyes to see them in the light of
his Gospel, to lend us his heart to love them a great deal more with a
new kind of love, to teach us to awaken them to the faith.
Attentive It is vital that the Gospel and its values put down roots in the hearts
listening of the new generations. We are living in times when there is an at-
and
intelligent
tempt to tone down the voice of God in some societies, while in others
under- the new generations are deprived of the humanising treasures of the
standing Gospel. A challenge of such dimensions requires from all of us, lay
people and Salesians, an attentive listening to the Spirit since He
will be the one to guide our discernment, indicate our path, and make
possible for us an intelligent understanding which can face up to the
challenges of the enormous cultural change. In this regard it is suffi-
cient to call to mind the enormous toil of our father Don Bosco in
founding the Oratory of Saint Francis of Sales in Valdocco.
Renewing The new contexts in which the Congregation takes its place bring new
pastoral opportunities and new obstacles to the carrying out of our Salesian
charity
so as
mission. There are new challenges to our fidelity and creativity; there
to face are new opportunities for listening, for discovering new needs and
the new forms of poverty, for living, learning and proposing the Gospel
challenges
and seize
with joy. The new social and cultural dynamics touch the lives of the
the young and question our ability to educate and evangelise, especially
opportunities among the poor and ordinary working class people.
We are becoming ever more aware that a great openness in pastoral
thinking and reflection is indispensible in order to overcome any dis-
connection between our pastoral approach and the ever changing
contexts. Our “apostolic learning process” needs to be undertaken with
a pedagogy and a methodology which lead to our being real witnesses
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capable of interpreting the questions of the young, sometimes in soci-
eties full of possibilities but lacking hope. The central issue in education
to the faith is to find new procedures so that the Gospel can be
brought into contact with culture and with the world of the young. In
this area, the Congregation is working with a pastoral ministry which
is more organised and well-structured, which has a sense of continuity,
which identifies the starting point and also the point of arrival.
This situation is a challenge for the educator-evangeliser and his
ability to understand, to become involved and to work in a significant
manner.
For reflection
1.1 What attitudes are provoked within us through the new poverty,
changes and transformations that are present in the society and
culture in which we find ourselves?
1.2 Do we feel prepared to identify, understand and interpret the new
signs of the times in this situation?
1.3 Do we really grasp the value of the educative-evangelising propos-
al of which we are the bearers for the young and the people of our
time and put our trust in it?
1.4 Do we believe that our present activities really respond to the
needs, the expectations and the challenges of the young and of the
people in the place where the Lord had called us to be present?
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Evangelising by educating in the culture
of our time
The first and foremost among all the tasks is Evangelisation. It is what Faith
youth ministry is all about: to evangelise the young and to announce in Jesus
the Good News of Jesus Christ to them (Eph 3,8), to proclaim the
Christ
at the heart
Kingdom that he revealed and brought close (Mt 12,28). It is the goal of being
of all our efforts. But we know that in order to be effective, evangeli- a Christian
sation has to reach the innermost depths. So that the Gospel can put
down roots it has to be at the heart of any personal search which the
young undertake not only outside themselves but also within. In that
search for meaning, the centrality of Christ can be accepted, and can
make a significant impact. Faith in the Lord Jesus ought to integrate
life, becoming the centre around which the personality is built up. This
is the only possible meeting point between what the young are asking
for and what our pastoral ministry offers. Finally it is a matter of being
faithful to our origins and to the raison d’etre of our works.
In other words, the aim of our Salesian Youth Ministry is that the Initiation
young person succeeds in living out, in a coherent manner, the deci- into the
sion to follow Jesus, supported by a spirituality from which is learned
Christian
religious
a style of life and a commitment to serve others that brings happiness. experience
We Sons of Don Bosco are custodians of that Salesian youth spiritu-
ality linked to faith experience, education and work. We read the
Gospel starting from there. This is why the first proclamation is not
sufficient in our youth ministry. Evangelisation is a “process” (General
Directory for Catechesis 47-49) and, therefore requires consolidation
and development, from kerygma to taking one’s place in the Christian
community, by means of the processes of a well-prepared catechesis.
It follows that Salesian spirituality, lived by us and offered to the
young, invites us to accompany them by progressive steps to maturity
in the faith, ensuring a real process of initiation in Christian religious
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experience. All the rest, from itineraries to educational programmes
are nothing other than a series of means leading to this end.
Mystagogy Organising the evangelisation of the young is more than seeing that
and they poissess a good all-round knowledge. The key word is initiation,
fundamental
experiences
mystagogy.
Rather than talk about a “transmission,” one needs to talk about “ini-
tiation,” which requires the accompaniment of young persons in their
concrete circumstances until they come to full human and Christian
maturity. And this is possible only when there are links with the com-
munity, with experience and with life. Growth in the Christian life
ought to be presented and achieved as a real initiation into a living
faith. A pastoral praxis is needed which encourages welcoming com-
munities which offer fundamental experiences such as silence, prayer,
the Word of God, commitment, the celebration of the sacraments as
the source of spiritual growth, and those lived experiences through
which life is seen in a completely new light. The way Michael Magone
matured in the atmosphere created by Don Bosco at Valdocco is a
model on which to reflect.
Evangelisers Our apostolic mission in the Church is not only, nor mainly, a way of
with working or managing works, but should be and must be a witness to
spiritual
experience
life. We incarnate the Salesian presence, making it visible and intelli-
and gible through our vocation and its most characteristic elements: con-
familiarity secrated-educators. Our evangelising pastoral ministry therefore dic-
with God tates the way we live our Christian life, our spiritual experience and
our familiarity with God which they sustain. This takes us back to “the
evangelisation of the evangelisers of the young,” which makes it
possible for us to be passionate about our own vocation. Young people
are always on the watch, looking in every direction for signs of hope.
The first sign they need is to see us converted and convinced, capable
of drawing close to them in the name of Jesus, offering freedom, love
and meaning. This is the great sign they are hoping to see.
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So that the fidelity to both the message of the Gospel and to the cul- Education:
ture of the people may be realised, it is necessary for evangelisation through
to find in education its proper place and its own role. In fact it is
which
Evangeli-
only education which enables us to succeed in ensuring that the faith sation
proposal is in harmony with the life history, the background and the
culture of the people we are serving. This is because education needs
takes
place
to start from people’s practical situation, taking full account of their
resources and their needs and planning a process within which to in-
sert the Christian message. In addition, our educative-pastoral activity
cannot be limited to changing the personal lives of the young but
ought to be capable of changing the culture itself, remaining faithful
to the wealth of the potential for change the Preventive System offers.
We are called to reach to the heart of culture through education. To
this end we have to be capable of forming people able to change that
culture. The aim of Salesian education is to form people for others, in
other words, people with professional skills, with a moral conscience
and a social commitment. In our educational approach the young peo-
ple are not simply on the receiving end of our efforts; they are called
to carry out an active role, to be protagonists in evangelisation, active
in social and cultural renewal.
Evangelisation, far from cancelling the cultural identity of peoples, New aspect
seeks to give it a new structure, to sift it by a truth that is greater: of culture
the Gospel. On the other hand culture can help us as pastors in the
through
the Gospel
21st century to discover a particular way of understanding the Gospel.
Precisely for this reason, when entering into dialogue with society, we
need a strong dose of humility and of gospel vitality, through which
our lives demonstrate a novelty which makes the best features shine
out and overcomes the shadows and the limitations which are also
there. For us the evangelisation of culture is carried out starting from
a dialogue from inside it. It is something to which we belong and
which to a greater or lesser extent defines us. To evangelise culture is
to convert it, through its coming into contact with the Gospel, into an
expression of personal and social life. Someone who wants to speak
about God can only do so by making use of the language and the sig-
nificance that one’s own culture places at one’s disposal.
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For reflection
2.1 According to our experience as pastors and educators, what are the
elements which nowadays nourish or sustain the life of faith of the
young?
2.2 How can we understand and put into practice the integration of
evangelisation-education?
2.3 Does our pastoral activity really reflect the integration of the two
elements, or do we give too much emphasis to one of them?
2.4 How do these pastoral options have an impact in your style of
religious life and that of your community?
2.5 Are there any signs which confirm that our educational-pastoral
presence is actually helping to change the lives
of the people around us and challenge the
cultural models of our environments?
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An integrated and coordinated youth ministry
The Preventive System of Don Bosco has an apostolic effect which Apostolic
leads to growth through personal accompaniment, the experience of outreach
community and of the Church, a broad vocational discernment. It is
of the
Preventive
essential that every Educative Pastoral Community (EPC) accompanies System
this process, developing the ministry of welcoming and giving special
attention to everyday life: knowing how to wait with the doors always
open, the table set and the lamp lit. Young people nowadays are
nomads. In such a context of great pluralism adolescents and young
people, and others too, find in the all-round approach to formation
which we present in our educative-pastoral model something that
really makes sense.
At the present time we want to recover the value and the impact of
the formation offered, through knowledge of the educative-pastoral
model and creative renewal of praxis. We realise that to give new life
to the Salesian educative-pastoral model we need to know it, appre-
ciate it and put it into practice. This pastoral inheritance, reflected
on and put into practice by the Congregation, represents our principal
contribution to the young, to the Church and to society. The educa-
tive-pastoral know-how gathered together in this frame of reference
is open, flexible and ecclesial. It invites us once again to create new
processes, to promote creativity and pastoral dynamism.
Within societies, where generational parameters are changing rapidly, Structured
we Salesians have to make a constant effort to keep ourselves updat- pastoral
ed in all the areas indispensible for the mission. It is not sufficient to
ministry
and
be familiar with theories, useful and necessary as they may be; for- formation
mation procedures bring us face to face with practical experiences
which teach us how to build personal relationships, to communicate
and to work as a team: the special characteristics of a well-struc-
tured pastoral ministry. We know that the animation of our works
cannot nor will be undertaken by everyone with the same degree of
involvement. Different situations and peoples’ life experiences deserve
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to be treated with great respect by everyone, even though all are
obliged to acquire a human, Christian and pedagogical preparation,
in order to carry out the mission to the fullest extent possible. Forma-
tion means knowing our life, our society, our young people and our
faith in order to give reason for our hope.
The EPC There are some indispensible conditions for educative-pastoral activ-
and the ity. The first is the animation of an educative-pastoral community
SEPP (EPC), composed jointly of Salesians and lay people who share their
life, faith and mission. The second is the drawing up of a salesian ed-
ucative-pastoral plan (SEPP) by the EPC as a community of persons
with a missionary awareness capable of working together on a project
of evangelisation.
In this process, the mission of the lay people is not limited to collab-
orating in educational tasks, but it re-enforces the apostolic energies
engaged in evangelisation, achieving a real form of co-responsibility.
This presupposes in all of us a profound passion for evangelisation.
The EPC and the SEPP encourage us to combine our forces in order to
improve results, handle new experiences and processes of reflection
together, review and reorganise structures, works and services. The
EPC has the purpose of becoming “a living experience of Church, and
a revelation of God’s plan for us” (C 47).
Thinking In the Church and in the history of the Congregation, we have known
and people who have been able to respond in a creative manner to the
planning
pastoral
great variety of situations and needs: they have readily accepted the
work changed cultural circumstances and have initiated a great variety of
different projects in response to the spiritual and educational needs
of the time. Over and above doing the right things, we need to have a
consistent way of thinking and planning pastoral processes which
foster formation itineraries, progressing step by step, which help us to
work with a common planning mentality and throw light on changes
of strategy. We are convinced that to the extent that we coordinate
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our forces we shall contribute to the proclamation of the Kingdom in
a more effective way and according to the way and with the methods
the Church suggests nowadays.
For reflection
3.1 Among the pastoral choices favoured by the Congregation, which
are the ones that have provided a stimulus for our community life
and for our pastoral activity? Which do we find more difficult to
understand or to put into practice?
3.2 What kind of co-responsibility with lay people is fostered in our
work?
3.3 Is the carrying out of all the tasks and roles on the part of the members
of the Educative Pastoral Community regarding quality, compe-
tence, formation and involvement in the plan, made possible?
3.4 Do we feel adequately prepared to face the possibilities and the
challenges which pastoral activity presents us with nowadays?
What do we need as individuals and as a community
to give fresh impetus to our renewal?
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