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[ English ] [ Italian ]

terms marked with ^† are often without further comment. They come from the experience of people who have translated large tracts of Salesian literature, e.g. Fr Borgatelli’s translation of the Memorie Biografiche. In other words most of these terms are dated ones, found only or mainly in older Salesian texts. To view terms in context, click on the text indicator below the term (not all terms have one as yet). Use the 'find' facility in Notepad or other to find the precise location of the term in context Return to Finding Your Way
vademecum 332vigano.txt - altri scritti certamente importanti. C’è da ricordare, tra gli altri, il «Vademecum» di don Barberis per i novizi.	IT	handbook, ready reference 袖珍手冊	EN-EN ZH	Sometimes the term is retained in English in its original form. Reference is made in English occasionally to a famous Vademecum of the Congregation, written for novices by Fr Barberis. This is accepted as part of the Salesian Tradition	The General Council of today has a vademecum which is more directly a handbook of procedures.
Valdocco	IT	Valdocco – place name	IT-IT	Probably from Val d'Occo or Vallis de Och. Pious tradition would have it that in fact it comes from a shortened version of Vallis Uccisorum, or Valle degli uccisi, a reference to the Turinese martyrs	Reference to Valdocco in Salesian circles is often as a shortened form for the Valdocco Oratory. IT can also be a reference to the Valdocco community, either originally or now.
valore umano Costituzioni2.txt - e testimoniamo il valore umano e cristiano del lavoro	IT	human goodness, human worth 人性價值	EN-EN ZH		Return to Index
Variara, Luigi Return to top Return to top	IT	Luigi Variara	IT-IT	Beatified on 14-4-02 Luigi Variara was born at Viarigi (Asti) in 1875. Don Bosco had preached a mission there in 1856. It was to Don Bosco that Luigi's father entrusted him, when he brought him to Valdocco on October 1, 1887. Just four months later the Saint died. But Luigi's knowledge of him was sufficient to mark his whole life. He asked to become a Salesian and entered the novitiate on August 17, 1891. Variara did his philosophical studies in Valsalice, where he got to know Andrea Beltrami. In 1894, Fr. Unia, the celebrated missionary who had just started his work in Colombia, in the leper colony Agua de Dios, visited them. "You can imagine my surprise and joy", Fr. Variara said later, "when, from among my 188 companions, all of whom had the same aspiration, he looked at me and said: This one is mine". The young Variara reached Agua de Dios in August 6, 1894. The leper colony then had 2000 inhabitants, of whom 800 were lepers. He became totally immersed in the mission. He began to organise a band. The inauguration took place in the presence of the President of the Republic, who was moved to see that 'city of sorrow' come alive, for the first time, in an atmosphere of celebration.	In 1898, he was ordained a priest and soon proved himself an excellent spiritual director. At the house of the Sisters of Divine Providence, in Agua de Dios, an Association of Children of Mary had been established, with about 200 members. He was their confessor. It was not long before he discovered that some of the group felt called to religious life. But their dream could never be realised! No Congregation would accept the daughters of lepers, and still less, someone suffering from leprosy. A daring project grew out of this very impossibility. It was something unique in the Church - an Institute that would accept even those suffering from leprosy. Today the Congregation of the Daughters of the Sacred Hearts of Jesus and Mary has 600 religious. One day it was discovered that he too had leprosy. On being told, he simply said: "Todo viene de Dios y todo va a Dios" (Everything comes from God and everything goes to God). He died far from his beloved sick, as obedience had asked of him. Now he reposes in the chapel of his Sisters in Agua de Dios. John Paul II beatified him on April 14, 2002, in Rome.

vasto movimento di persone

Costituzioni1.txt - 5 Da Don Bosco trae origine un vasto movimento di persone che, in vari modi,

vast movement of people

EN-EN

Italian persone is mostly best rendered in English by people rather than persons.

The term is found in C. 5 and is descriptive of Don Bosco's desire to link together all the forces for good on behalf of the needs of young people. It is descriptive also of the Salesian Family in its broadest sense. In fact the term is Don Bosco's own and can be found in his unpublished works vol 29 pg 468.

Vaticano II

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Vatican II

EN-EN

The normal term of reference, Vatican II, is in fact a shorthand for the full term, the Second Vatican Ecumenical Council. Vatican II was convened by Pope John XXIII in 1958 with a view to making the Church of the 20th Century more adapted to proclaiming the Gospel to humankind. It resulted in renewal especially of ecclesiology and ministry.

Notions such as communion, mission, collegiality, renewal all belong to this era. In the Salesian context Fr Viganò developed a veritable magisterium of teaching based on his experience of Vatican II and subsequent major Church events - the Extraordinary Synod of Bishops, Puebla...

Vecchi, Juan

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Juan Vecchi

SP-SP

Rector Major from 1996 - 2002

Juan Edmundo Vecchi Monti, was born at Viedma (Argentina) on 23 June 1931, the youngest of seven children of a family of Italian emigrants who between 1898 and 1906 moved from Emilia Romagna to Argentina in a period in which many Italians dreamed of escaping from the poverty of their own country by finding work and tranquility in foreign parts.
His father Albino Vecchi came from Boretto (Reggio Emilia), and his mother Maria Monti from Montescudo (Forlì). They became acquainted in Argentina and were married there. Juan was a nephew of the Blessed Artemide Zatti, a Salesian Brother.
Juan got to know the Salesians in Viedma and decided to follow a salesian vocation. He made his first vows at Fortìn Mercedes, 29 January 1947, and studied theology at Turin-Crocetta, where he was ordained priest on 1 July 1958. In the same year at Turin he obtained the licentiate in theology. On his return to Argentina he was Rector at Viedma from ’65 to ’72.
In the same year he began his long service – some 30 years – to the Congregation as a member of the General Council. From ’72 to ’78 he was Regional Councillor for the Atlantic part of Latin America; from ’78 to ’90 he was General Councillor for Youth Ministry; from ’90 al ’96 Vicar General; and finally from 20 March 1996 he was the eighth successor of Don Bosco.

He will be remembered as an innovator in youth pastoral work, but also for his outstanding gifts of government. He could listen and give due weight to all suggestions and opinions, and to individual needs. He had a strong sense of fatherliness and of fidelity to the founder’s charism, and was moreover a competent leader and animator of teamwork, sensitive and open to signs of the times.
As Rector Major from the time of the GC24, the Chapter on the laity, Fr Vecchi always believed in them and kept up a trusting and sharing relationship with the thousands of lay people who take part in different ways in Don Bosco’s mission for the service of the young. Noteworthy too was his post-conciliar sensitivity, in which he followed his predecessor Fr Egidio Viganò in believing in a “Church-communion” and in a “Church-mission” for the service of the poor, in a Congregation incarnate in all cultures and reaching out to the poorest and most marginalized of every continent. But as distinct from Fr Viganò, what stands out in Fr Vecchi is the prominence of the anthropological and educative aspect over the theological and spiritual, while the latter characteristic remains high in his personality (cf. his many letters and publications on this latter aspect).
The eighth successor of Don Bosco was also a man of communication, a pastoral sector in which he firmly believed and to which he gave strong encouragement. In the program of his six years as Rector Major, the communication dimension entered every environment, and found concrete expression, among other items, in the renewal and relaunching of the 52 editions of the Salesian Bulletin.

Venerabile Return to top 377vecchi.txt -parte nostra, ricordiamo i Salesiani sofferenti, come il venerabile Andrea Beltrami o	IT	Venerable 可敬的	EN-EN ZH	We can pluralise the term to read Venerables. Venerable is actually the stage of formal beginning of the process towards beatification and canonisation. The preliminary stage is that of Servant of God, after which (usually ten years or more afterwards) the person can be declared Venerable, meaning in effect that he or she has demonstrated effectiveness as a holy intercessor for the faithful and is therefore worthy of veneration.	It doesn’t sound well in English in its plural form partly because we are unaccustomed to it. The plural form of the term appears on websites of religious congregations & the Vatican
verifica Progetto della Comunita -i.txt - comunitaria ed a fare la verifica dei progetti delle singole comunità (CG25 16, 74). Queste	IT	evaluation, check-up 鑑定	EN-EN ZH	It is probably best to avoid verification, and verify as the verb form, though this may at times apply	Return to Index
Versiglia e Caravario	IT	Versiglia and Caravario	EN-EN	Term of reference to Bishop Luigi Versiglia and Callistus Caravario, Salesian proto-martyrs in China. They were canonised by Pope John Paul II on 1st October 2000.	On June 25th 2005, in the town where Versiglia was born, Oliva Gessi, near Pavia, a monument was blessed in honour of both martyrs. The monument is called the Martyrs’ Ascent.
vicario Dbmem.txt - Il mio vicario d’accordo col prefetto prepari e legga in Capitolo una lettera da dirigersi a tutti i Return to top	IT	Vice Provincial Vice Rector 副院長	EN-EN ZH	The term was also applied in DB’s time to the Vicar of the city of Turin, Marquis Michele Benso di Cavour. The Salesian Vicario is always a priest (since he can take the place of the RM/Provincial/Rector who will always be a priest. Only relatively recently (after the renewal of the Constitutions) was the role of vicario also applied at the local (house) level.	The Italian term Vicario as applied in Salesian government and animation usually needs to be specified since it applies to three levels - world level (of the RM), Province level, Vice provincial, and local level (Vice rector). In each case the vicario is the first collaborator of the RM/provincial/rector, and can take his place when that person is absent or impeded.
vicario del Rettor Maggiore Costituzioni4.txt - essere professo perpetuo da almeno dieci anni. Per il vicario del Rettor Maggiore	IT	Vicar of the Rector Major 副總會長	EN-EN ZH	substitutes an earlier term prefect general
vicario generale Dbtrelet.txt - di stabilire un mio Vicario Generale che sia un alter ego per l’Europa, ed un altro per l’America. Ma a	IT	vicar general 代理主教	EN-EN ZH	cf. also vicario del rettor maggiore.	Return to Index
Vicuña, Laura	ES	Vicuña, Laura 羅蘭	ES-ES ZH	A significant example of holiness in the Salesian Family and as a result of the work of the Salesian Sisters. The term remains in Spanish and works easily in English that way ‘ but efforts should be made, given the ease of word-processing and font choice today, to retain the ñ.	Beatified in 1988 at Colle Don Bosco. The event gave rise to another term, the Hill of the Beatitudes.
VIDES Return to top	IT	Volontariato Internazionale Donna Educazione Sviluppo	IT-IT	The acronym means International Volunteer Organization, Women, Education, Development.	International association of youth volunteers under the auspices of the Daughters of Mary Help of Christians (or the Salesian Sisters) (www.fmaitalia.it) for the advancement of women - acts on behalf of women, children and disadvantaged people of both genders - works especially in developing nations
Viganò, Egidio Return to top Return to top	IT	Egidio Viganò	EN-EN	Rector Major from 1977 - 1995 Egidio Viganò was a native of Lombardy, but deeply rooted in the Latin-American culture because of his long stay in Chile (1939-1971). Strengthened by culturally significant traditions and a good theological school (where he was also a teacher), he took part in Vatican Council II as an expert, bringing to that the pastoral and educative experiences he had gained overseas along with a scientific rigour. As the Superior General of a relevant Religious Institute and of many other associated groups, he was particularly attentive to the world’s problems and especially the Third World. He systematically shared the Bread of the Council with his confreres through detailed letters formulated as proposals of life (in the Church and for the Church in the charism of Don Bosco). The Pope nominated him as a Consultor for the Pontifical Council for the Family, for the Pontifical Council for the Laity, and for the Congregation of Institutes of Consecrated Life and Societies of Apostolic Life. He was also a member of the Congregation for the Evangelization of Peoples, of the preparatory session for the Synod of Bishops of Europe, and a member too of the Permanent interdepartmental Commission for a more equal distribution of the clergy. For two years also he was President of the Union of Superiors General (USG).	Little by little he continued to update himself through his participation in Medellin, Puebla, Rome and their various Synods, and also as president of the Union of Superiors General (USG). Along with two other Superiors General (one Benedictine the other Jesuit) he was assigned by Pope John Paul II as a member of the extraordinary Synod on the 20th anniversary of the Council. Because of this and of other notable experiences and accomplishments, the period of leadership of Don E. Viganò brought about in the Salesian Family that ‘sentire cum ecclesia’ and that fidelity to the Pope that were such noted and important characteristics of Don Bosco. These characteristics also carried forward in the ecclesial dimension the renewal ‘in fidelity’ to which the Salesian Family was called at the threshold of the Millennium. As a member nominated by the Holy Father he took part in 6 Synods of Bishops which were celebrated in Rome from 1980 to 1994, in the special meetings in the Vatican in 1981-1982 with cardinals, bishops and superiors general concerned with problems in Central America, while in 1983 he took part in the dialogues of the superiors general with the Holy Father on problems and perspectives of Religious Life in the Church. In 1986 he was invited to preach the annual Retreat to the Pope and the Roman Curia. He gave a particular contribution to the last synod on consecrated life. Struck down by a tumour, he spent the final months of his life in suffering. Don Viganò will be remembered also as the celebrated author of numerous publications of spiritual and theological character.

virtù Costituzioni2.txt - virtù. Ma la virtù che si deve sommamente coltivare... è la virtù della castità" .	IT	virtue 德行道德	EN-EN ZH	The term was used often enough in DB’s time and by DB – in his case most frequently as The Virtue, meaning the virtue of purity. Then for much of the 20^th century it dropped out of Salesian use! Now it has reappeared	Return to Index
visita d’insieme 380chavez14.txt - Organizzare delle verifiche sulle conclusioni della Visita d’Insieme e della Visita straordinaria. Return to top	IT	Team Visit 團隊視察	EN-EN ZH	The Team Visit is not codified in proper Salesian law, nor is it prescribed by the Constitutions and Regulations; it is in fact an initiative that has begun to form part of Salesian practice, to ‘foster unity of the Congregation as the fruit of communion and of fidelity to the charism’ (GC25,88)
visita ispettoriale SDB-Regolamenti-i.txt - Una volta all'anno farà con particolare cura la visita ispettoriale alle comunità.	IT	provincial visitation 會長視察	EN-EN ZH	Sometimes also referred to as the Canonical Visitation
visita straordinaria SDB-Regolamenti-i.txt - una visita straordinaria che potrà essere compiuta, secondo l'opportunità, dal	IT	extraordinary visitation	EN-EN	The extraordinary visitation is a fixed term in Salesian discourse, and can be found in R. 104. It is a visit undertaken in the name of and with the authority (delegated of the Rector Major. Ordinarily it is a visit made by the regional councillor for that area, but occasionally the Rector Major entrusts it to another councillor or indeed another person whom he appoints.	The one who carries out this visit is known as the Visitor (always capitalised in English).
Visitatore (straordinaria) eg13-L'archivio ispettoriale e gli archivi delle case.txt - Le osservazioni lasciate dall’Ispettore (o dal Visitatore straordinario) a conclusione della Visita	IT	(Extraordinary)Visitor	EN-EN	The person appointed by the Rector Major to carry out the extraordinary visitation of a province or circumscription.	Usually shortened, in both languages simply to The Visitor/Il Visitatore
visitatoria eg09-L'Ispettoria.txt - Erezione di una Visitatoria.	IT	Vice Province 準會省	EN-EN ZH	The superior of a vice province is called Superior, not provincial and certainly not vice provincial which is another role altogether	Return to Index
vita apostolica eg01-L'Ispettore e il suo consiglio.txt - secolari che nei loro statuti affermano di vivere un progetto di vita apostolica conforme allo	IT	apostolic life	EN-EN	In its most general sense (and uncapitalised) the term refers to the life of the Apostles. But when we use it today we do so often as a technical term, part of a more extended term such as Institute of Apostolic Life, Society of Apostolic Life, where it is contrasted with Institutes of Consecrated Life.	A third and general usage is by analogy with the life of the Apostles. We are religious of apostolic life, that is active life, by contrast with religious of contemplative life.
vita attiva 375vecchi.txt - nostra vita attiva, consacrata o laicale, si manifesta una tensione tra il rapporto personale con Dio, vale a dire,	IT	active life	EN-EN	The term is a technical one in the Church today in reference to Institutes of Societies of active life, of which the Salesians are part. Clearly, the term can also be used as a non-technical and general reference e.g. as in a Gospel project of active life, a spirituality of active life.	The term does not distinguish between lay and clerical ' there are Institutes of active life which are entirely lay, with no priests.
vita comune Costituzioni4.txt - legittimamente eretta e fanno in essa vita comune in unità di spirito sotto l'autorità Return to top	IT	common life 公共生活	EN-EN ZH	Common life for DB closely linked to the bonds of fraternal charity, obedience..	It is something practical rather than doctrinal for him. Return to Index
vita comunitaria SDB-Regolamenti-i.txt - promuovano incontri per favorire la vita comunitaria, l’aiuto reciproco, la crescita	IT	the life of the community, community life	EN-EN	The term is found very frequently in Salesian documentation, often in a more complete form as The Salesian community life project, which implies planning, co-responsibility. Within recent times, a set of criteria is under consideration to determine the right number and quality of confreres to ensure a meaningful apostolic community life.	The core element common across cultures and situations is "living and working together". The local circumstances may vary considerably: small communities, communities in complex works, communities sharing the life of the people, communities with lay people and/or young people as part of them,
vita fraterna in comunità 385_orientfragvoc.txt - primato di Dio, il dono di sé per i giovani, la sequela radicale di Cristo, la vita fraterna in comunità,	IT	fraternal life in community	EN-EN	The term may seem to be synonymous with community life, but there are two distinct elements in it: fraternal life and in community. One of the weaknesses of the post Vatican II renewal was precisely in the second area.	Life in community is distinctive and proper to religious communities as distinct from other forms of consecrated life e.g. secular institutes. The Synod on Consecrated life used the term as a title for one of its chapters in the final document.
vita quotidiana Cartcom.txt - concreto della vita quotidiana. Richiede infatti dedizione alla profondità spirituale e all'interiorità Return to top	IT	daily life	EN-EN	We recognise the term especially as employed in the Constitutions e.g. we educate the young to develop their human and baptismal vocation with a daily life progressively inspired and unified by the Gospel. Daily life is built into the expression of Salesian youth spirituality by GC23	Return to Index
vocazione alla santità CG25comunità1.txt - profondità la propria vocazione alla santità nello spirito di Don Bosco .	IT	vocation to holiness	EN-EN	The term comes from Perfectae Caritatis, Vatican II's document on religious Life, n.2. This is a universal vocation stemming from Baptism.	The call to personal holiness has become a catch-cry of Fr Chavez as Rector Major
vocazione salesiana Costituzioni1.txt - La vocazione salesiana ci situa nel cuore della Chiesa e ci pone interamente al	IT	the Salesian vocation	EN-EN	While the term appears to be a general one it is, like Salesian tradition, a specific entity also. The gift of predilection for the young is synonymous with Salesian vocation. DB also indicated that there could be no Salesian vocation without reference to the intervention of Mary. The events of 8th December 1842 are regarded as emblematic for the Salesian vocation.	The lay dimension is an essential element of the Salesian vocation as is also the priestly element.
vocazionale, ^†vocazioni tardive eg000-Presentazione.txt - l’annesso testo di "Criteri e norme di discernimento vocazionale salesiano". In campo ecclesiale, oltre Return to top	IT	vocation ^†late vocations 聖召	EN-EN ZH	The English gloss here is considered as an adjective which may be combined with other terms, as in vocation guidance, for example (distinct from vocational guidance, which is general career guidance)	Return to Index
Volontari Con Don Bosco CDB	IT	Volunteers With Don Bosco CDB 鮑思高志願者	EN-EN ZH	Founded in Rome 1994 by Fr Viganò, a group of lay men along similar lines to their ‘sister’ organization VDB. The group has an Ecclesiastical Assistant at world level – the Salesian appointed to work with them	The leader of the CDB is called The Moderator General in English (Il Responsabile Maggiore in Italian). Leaders of local groups are called The Moderator
volontariato Animazione missionaria.txt - nel volontariato e nei gruppi di animazione missionaria;	IT	volunteer movement 義警運動	EN-EN ZH	English does not have a single word term for this; voluntariate is awkward.
Volontariato Internazionale per lo Sviluppo VIS	IT	International Volunteer Movement for Development 發展的國際義工運動	EN-EN ZH	One of the founding members of the Don Bosco Network	Return to Index
Volontarie di Don Bosco VDB Return to top	IT	Volunteers of Don Bosco VDB 鮑思高志願會	EN-EN ZH	Founded by Bl Philip Rinaldi in 1917. Consecrated women in secular institute. Their leader is referred to in Italian as Responsabile Maggiore which is best glossed in English as Moderator General. Over the years there have been other efforts to gloss this as Responsible Major (!!), and President General – a better term, but Moderator seems the better choice.	Members of the Salesian Family. The Salesian appointed to work with them is called the Ecclesiastical Assistant.
voto DBtestspir.txt - gloriarsi del voto di povertà.	IT	vow	EN-EN	Normal reference is to the plural term, especially when speaking of the act of profession of the three vows. But as part of the theological debate, we note that we profess "the vow" of.... St Thomas Aquinas spoke of a vow of profession, in the singular (cf. S. Th. II-II, q. 186), considering the act of profession to be a unity, made explicit in three forms.	Return to Index