The Moderator of the GC26
Rome,
29 October 2007
Prot. 07/0728
GC26 Precapitular Commission
Rome, 29 October 2007
[1] The time in which we are living with all its contradictions, calls and challenges us; it is a καιρός that God is offering each one of us for a journey of conversion of heart, mind and life; it is an opportunity to strengthen the spiritual and therefore the apostolic experience of our communities; it is a favourable time to give fresh life with enthusiasm to our pastoral activity.
The experience of Pentecost marked the birth of the apostolic community. The power of the Spirit enabled the first disciples to overcome the fear that cuts off and paralyses and made them an evangelising community, open and directed to all cultures, with the daring and courage of the dynamic power of the Risen Christ; thus all were able to understand the apostles in their own language. And so today the Spirit also makes us evangelising communities, giving us the courage to proclaim the gospel and giving us a “new language” that can be understood by today's young people.
God calls each Salesian, each community and Province of the Congregation, to allow themselves to be penetrated by the transforming power of the Spirit so that, following the example of Don Bosco, together with the laity and the Salesian Family, they may evangelise the young. In this way we help them to live their lives to the full and to know and to accept the gospel of the Lord Jesus.
[2] Jesus Christ “yesterday, today and for ever” (Heb 13: 8) is the pastoral programme of the Church of the third millennium. The Church and society expect us as educators of the young to be capable of translating this programme into pastoral guidelines, so that the proclamation of the gospel may reach each young person and each of them may encounter the Lord Jesus.
Don Bosco’s encounter with Bartholomew Garelli, a youngster without a family and a migrant, marked the beginning of the Oratory. For us Salesians, proclaiming and bearing witness to the Lord Jesus is our priority mission. Every time we offer a hand to a youngster, adolescent or older youth, through human development, and offer them the gifts of the grace and riches of the Gospel, we develop in them the potential to become “good Christians and honest citizens.”
Education and evangelisation are the greatest gift we can offer to today’s society through the spirit, and with the methods and contents of the preventive system. There are young people who could say to us, as they said to Don Bosco and the first Salesians: “we have been waiting for you.” Others perhaps may appear to us to be indifferent, but the encounter with today’s Don Bosco, in the person of each Salesian, will bring out what is best in their hearts, “at their present stage of freedom” (C. 38).
[3] We believe in the greatest of experiences, the mystery of God, at a time marked by the marketplace, technological efficiency and the omnipotence of science, but also at a time of fragility, uncertainty and fear,. Hope lives on in each of us and in each of our communities. If we make room for the Spirit each day, we shall be able to abandon ourselves to God’s surprises. We see the future of the Congregation in spiritual people who decide to live as credible believers and as consecrated apostles, living the experience of faith and love. “Deus caritas est” is why we believe in love.
The 26th General Chapter is the opportunity God is offering us for a real and new Pentecost, an experience of the life-giving Spirit, so that through a return to Don Bosco our charismatic identity may be seen to be re-enforced, and the heart of each Salesian revitalised by the passion of the “da mihi animas”.
“I promised God that until my last breath I would be with my boys.” Don Bosco is our treasure, and in him we discover how God is calling us today to be with the young in their daily lives, committing ourselves to listen to their appeals, getting to know their world, encouraging them to take the lead, involving them in constructing their life’s journey. Like Don Bosco we shall have the courage to proclaim Jesus Christ and forge a personal relationship with Him in them.
“He took no step, he said no word, he took up no task that was not directed to the saving of the young. Truly the only concern of his heart was for souls,” is what Don Rua said. Don Bosco gathered young people around him as his collaborators; we too feel impelled to call young people to take part in the educating and evangelising mission with apostolic zeal.
All this requires a real passion for God and the young, convinced that the Lord reveals himself through the pressing needs of time and place. It will then be possible to place everything at the service of others and to live the “cetera tolle” through the witness of our personal life and a determined attitude of detachment and freedom with regard to material goods and our own desires.
We are living at a time of complete transformation. In many parts of society solidarity is under threat. We find ourselves facing the challenge of thinking in a new way and of making our era a supportive one. Our vision is one of a church which is communion, speaking a new language and setting out with courage on the new frontiers of culture and society.
[4] The bi-centenary of the birth of Don Bosco, to be celebrated in 2015, offers us a suitable opportunity to undertake a significant process of preparation. Putting into practice the courses of action of the GC26 will guide us in deciding on an approach that will be of benefit to us, the young and their families, lay people and the Salesian Family. This jubilee celebration is an invitation to ask Don Bosco to return among us and elicit a commitment, so that each one of us may return among the young. Let us start afresh from Don Bosco and return among the young; both of them, Don Bosco and the young, are inseparable for us: Don Bosco is our model and the young are where we encounter God (cf. C. 95).
[5] We entrust ourselves to the Virgin Mary, a concerned presence with Jesus at Cana, and a prayerful presence with the disciples in the Upper Room. She, the Help of Christians and Mother of the Church, will make us attentive to the Spirit of God who renews the face of the earth and makes all things new. She will help us to be open to the Spirit of Christ who knows how to make our love for Don Bosco new. May the Basilica of Mary Help of Christians in Turin, restored in its light and splendour, be a reminder to welcome Mary into our hearts and communities. Clothed by the power of the Spirit, may we, with her, rediscover the necessary energy to make the “da mihi animas, cetera tolle” the soul of our mission among the young.
“The Lord has given us Don Bosco as father and teacher. We study and imitate him, admiring in him a splendid blending of nature and grace. He was deeply human, rich in the qualities of his people, open to the realities of this earth; and he was just as deeply the man of God, filled with the gifts of the Holy Spirit and living "as seeing him who is invisible". These two aspects combined to create a closely-knit life project, the service of the young. He realized his aim with firmness, constancy and the sensitivity of a generous heart, in the midst of difficulties and fatigue. "He took no step, he said no word, he took up no task that was not directed to the saving of the young... Truly the only concern of his heart was for souls.”(C. 21)
[6] Return to Don Bosco
God calls us to return to Don Bosco, to know him better and love him more, studying the context in which he lived, understanding how his way of thinking developed, taking into account the stages of his life. The wealth of sources and Salesian studies now available to us demand that we know his spiritual journey with its central elements, dynamics and changes of direction. They also require that we go more deeply into the motivations that led him to make certain choices, the clear aims that inspired him, the pedagogy and pastoral approach that guided him, in other words they demand that we know the preventive system better. They challenge us in particular to discover the rich humanity that made him immediately a friend of youth, and his profound spirituality that made him totally on fire with God and his mission.
[7] Charismatic Identity and apostolic passion
We are invited to start afresh from him by knowing and loving the historical Don Bosco better in order to propose, make real and strengthen our charismatic identity. In other words we are called to make the fascination of his charism shine out, to demonstrate its beauty, communicate the force of its attraction. This requires that we build up an excellent sense of our charism, a visible and credible witness to our consecrated Salesian vocation, a strong sense of belonging to the community and the Congregation. Without a charismatic, attractive and co-involving project, the process of vocational identification is difficult. What is attractive and fascinating about the person of Don Bosco is his programme of spiritual and pastoral life, the “Da mihi animas, cetera tolle” that made Don Bosco a holy educator and evangeliser who “had only the salvation of souls at heart”.
Each Salesian is called to look at Christ with the eyes of Don Bosco, to set out and follow him with a style of life that is obedient, poor and chaste, dedicate himself to young people with a free and open heart, evangelise the poor, and be ready to go to places on the margins and frontiers, to be holy. He is called to overcome spiritual dullness, lack of apostolic courage and mediocrity, to live his vocation with joy and generosity, re-awaken apostolic passion in his heart. The Lord Jesus, in whose steps we follow according to Don Bosco's example, is the Good Shepherd who wins out through meekness and self-giving, knows and accompanies, seeks out the weak, gives his life. We are aware that there are various ways of living Don Bosco’s charism in the Salesian Family and Movement; we are called to live it in the form of consecrated life, without which the fidelity, fruitfulness and very continuation of the charism would fail.
Don Bosco, who handed over the Constitutions to Fr John Cagliero before he left for Patagonia, shows us the way to produce the “finished version” of the Congregation today: the Constitutions, or in other words the project of life of the Salesians of Don Bosco, are the way of making him present today. Then, the cross given at perpetual profession, with the image it bears, invites us to spend our lives for the young and with the young “until our last breath,” following the example of the Good Shepherd, and taking up the invitation of Don Bosco to every Salesian: “Concern yourself with making yourself loved.”
[8] Return to the young
Returning to Don Bosco and starting afresh from him means above all being with the young. Don Bosco returns among the young today through each Salesian who lives and works with his community. He becomes a presence that can be understood and is inculturated, credible and prophetic, through the authenticity and the radical nature of his life and dedication. Don Bosco wants each of us to joyfully encounter the young in their everyday lives, committing ourselves to stay with them, listen to their appeals, know their world, encourage them to take the lead, involve them in constructing their life’s journey, propose programmes of holiness to them according to Salesian spirituality. Don Bosco wants us to be daring in facing up to the challenges posed by the young, be courageous in responding to the various crises in education, use his criteria in interpreting history, act with the optimism he had as the Spirit inspires us and share this process with the Salesian Family.
[9] Return to Don Bosco
Don Bosco is always attractive and up-to-date. Many confreres want to know him better and to imitate him in their lives. This is possible thanks to the wealth of material available, especially the historical sources and the scientific studies that facilitate the study of Salesian spirituality and pedagogy. The confreres are always more ready to take part in formation events that deal with the origins of Don Bosco’s charism. Lay people who work alongside us and the young are also more and more interested in Don Bosco, his spirituality, his educational methods so as to put them into practice and live them in the circumstances of today.
The institutions and the places where we are working appreciate us for our educative work and take an interest in Salesian pedagogy. The presence of so many young people where we are helps us to see the relevance and the need for the Salesian charism in today’s world.
Unfortunately we believe we know Don Bosco, but often we limit ourselves to a sentimental acquaintance, without a systematic and serious study. Our knowledge is thus superficial, and we don’t make the effort to get to know Salesian spirituality and its deepest motivations. Often we don’t devote sufficient time to reading the sources nor even our Constitutions in which we find our charism brought to life.
In recent years the Congregation's university centres have mainly focused their studies on the historical field and given less attention to research into Salesian pedagogy and spirituality. All of this contributes to the fact that Don Bosco’s preventive system, in the absence nowadays of any serious appreciation, is little used in educational practice; this also applies to the personal and community assimilation of the Salesian spiritual experience.
[10] Charismatic Identity and apostolic passion
As an expression of fidelity to our being consecrated persons and to the charism inherited from Don Bosco, many communities have been making real efforts at the renewal of their spiritual life and their family life with experiences aimed at genuine and deep relationships among confreres and openness to lay people. The complementary presence of the Salesian community can be clearly seen in our works. It is a sign of the primacy of God and the educative pastoral community which carries out the mission.
In addition to the many recognised witnesses to holiness we are aware of the presence of a holiness lived out in ordinary daily life that appears in ordinary simple confreres, and in communities in which there is a serene atmosphere and a real pastoral vitality. Many confreres want a deep spiritual life and have found something in the personal project of life and that of the community that helps their growth and development.
There are many confreres and communities who give witness to a dedication to God and a passion for the young, and who offer their cheerfulness, hope, family spirit and acceptance, expressions of faith. In particular there are many elderly and sick confreres who are bearing with their health situation and the limitations to their pastoral activities serenely, in a real spirit of faith and with Salesian awareness.
Unfortunately we have to recognise that sometimes a liberal model of consecrated life has come into our communities, one marked by individualism, comfort seeking, middleclass values, the rejection of outward signs of a religious life in favour of a “normality” that blends in with the world. All of this goes counter to the central place of “da mihi animas“ and extinguishes apostolic passion.
There is often, in our life in common, a lack of a deep communion of hearts, of concern for the individual confrere and of sharing of faith experience. Overwork and looking for results suffocate the life of prayer, the interior life grows weak, in particular reception of the sacrament of reconciliation and the practice of spiritual guidance. When there is no community project of life it is difficult to ensure common ground in what is proposed, or adequate assessment, common reflection, or to make daily life an occasion for spiritual growth and ongoing formation.
We find ourselves deeply involved in an ecclesial process of renewal of consecrated life in which, however, the new models struggle to find a synthesis between the foundational values of the sequela Christi and their incarnation in today's world. The crisis, in particular, of the essential relationship between “charism” and “institution” often weakens the relationship with the institution, leading to our living the charism in a subjective manner.
[11] Return to the young
There are confreres and communities who are fully committed to educative and pastoral work with great dedication. A great deal of hard work is done for the young, the poor, the marginalised; we have a great variety of works on behalf of the young. The commitment of the confreres in the animation of the young is an element that brings a sense of enthusiasm to the educative pastoral community and invites the involvement of others. Faced with situations of educational need, we respond and know how to find the resources to give an appropriate response. We find many young people in our works who are making their own personal contribution and who, once embarked on the way of being apostles among other young people, reach the point of bringing vocational choices of special consecration to maturity.
On the other hand, for many of us, the world of the young is becoming ever more difficult to understand and more remote because of fear and the feeling that we are not sufficiently prepared for it. We have difficulty understanding their language, of really being on their wavelength. Because of an assessment based on prejudice and discouragement we don’t really make the effort to find the way in to discover their good points. The roles we have don’t always put us into direct contact with young people; so there is a need to take a fresh look at assistance and our way of practising it. In some Provinces, we are suffering from the reduced number of confreres and an aging process that often becomes an obstacle.
[12] Return to Don Bosco, study and imitate him in a process of rediscovering and reappropriating the charism that the Spirit raised up in him, a charism he has handed on to us for the salvation of the young.
[13] Each Salesian should:
[17] Return to the “da mihi animas” as a programme of spiritual and pastoral life, in order to strengthen our charismatic identity and reawaken apostolic passion.
[18] Each Salesian should:
[21] Return to the young with the heart of Don Bosco, in order to learn to understand their world, respond to their needs for education and an experience of God, be beside them and accompany them, exercise a spiritual fatherliness.
[22] Each Salesian should:
[24] Called by God to read the appeals of the present hour and to evaluate the situation in which we find ourselves in order to take on practical commitments, we feel urged to change our way of thinking and change our structures, moving:
"This Society had its beginning in a simple catechism lesson." For us too, evangelizing and catechizing are the fundamental characteristics of our mission. Like Don Bosco, we are all called to be educators to the faith at every opportunity. Our highest knowledge therefore is to know Jesus Christ, and our greatest delight is to reveal to all people the unfathomable riches of his mystery. We walk side by side with the young so as to lead them to the risen Lord, and so discover in him and in his Gospel the deepest meaning of their own existence, and thus grow into new men.” (C.34)
[25] Evangelised Community
God calls us to be evangelised Salesian communities who welcome the Gospel and bear witness to it; communities made up of genuine, believing and credible Salesians nourished by the Word of God, fully committed to Jesus Christ and clearly dedicated to the primacy of God in their personal daily lives. The gospel witness of each Salesian and the community is the first form of evangelisation; through it we teach young people what we believe in, and we show them what we teach by the way we live. This witness becomes even more visible when we are friendly and available to the young, spread joy and cheerfulness and are at their side on their faith journey, looking at the signs of the times with them.
[26] Centrality of the proclamation of Jesus Christ
We are faithful to our evangelising mission when, with courage and daring, we proclaim the centrality of Jesus Christ to the young in order to establish a personal relationship with him, foster the desire in them to follow him through a personal and community Christian formation process, help them to be apostles of the gospel. This demands that we recover our commitment to a systematic catechesis and at the same time elicit an apostolic passion in lay people, involving them more and more in pastoral roles. We go beyond an approach that is merely one of entertaining the young, or just a matter of social progress by proposing to all young people that they live their lives as Jesus did, and we re-awaken in them an awareness that the gospel ìs the source of all human development.
[27] Education and evangelisation
The relationship between evangelisation and education in the experience of Don Bosco and in Salesian tradition is expressed in the phrase “evangelising by educating and educating by evangelising” which describes the typical way in which we accompany the young. We set before all of them the aim to be “good Christians and honest citizens.” Evangelisation in particular makes a humanising contribution to education; this requires that we create surroundings with a clear Christian identity in which gospel values are lived, and that we create educative pastoral communities in which it is easy to accept the message of faith.
The contribution of education to evangelisation is also considerable. Like Don Bosco we are called to draw out from within the young the energy and positive desire they have, and bring them into contact with a life full of values. We are called to help young people take their place in society which they feel a part of through work, involvement and contribution to the common good. We are challenged to meet the young where they are, even outside our own structures, to go to situations of poverty, to live where they live. This requires that we widen the horizons of our educational work.
Families are becoming more and more matter for the work of evangelisation and education. We have to offer them our accompaniment and pastoral care. Today we are being called upon to see that youth ministry becomes ever more family ministry. In this way it is the family that is the focus of human development and evangelisation.
God calls us to interact with culture which poses great challenges to the work of evangelisation. There are new daily concerns: the family and love, work and holidays, citizenship and social and political involvement; hope is in crisis; the young and the poor are being marginalised. Challenges to our pastoral activity come from multi-cultural and multi-religious situations, models of extreme secularisation, the crisis concerning values, and from moral relativism, widespread indifference or a tendency to relegate the religious dimension to the private sphere.
[28] Evangelisation in regional contexts
Nowadays evangelisation makes new demands in the various regional areas. Through the continental Synods, the Church calls on us to play our part in evangelisation, taking into account the differences in contexts and cultures. We are sensitive to the peoples who are not yet evangelised; we are ready for dialogue, proclamation and collaboration with other religions; we are ready to bring the proclamation of the gospel to areas of poverty; we are committed to finding the ways of the gospel in settings of secularisation, moral relativism and the marginalisation of the Christian faith; we are sensitive to the opportunities for ecumenical dialogue and partnership; we are attentive to the phenomenon of the migration of peoples which offers new opportunities for evangelisation.
[29] Evangelised Community
We look to Don Bosco not only as an educator of the young but also as an evangeliser. In the communities there is a growing requirement for conversion and the need to live a consecrated life of higher quality. There is a lively concern on the part of many Salesians to give inspiration to their pastoral work starting from the study of and personal encounter with Sacred Scripture. There are communities who, living and working together, give a living witness to the charism that draws the young to take a serious look at the call to the Christian life and also to consecrated life.
On the other hand, at both personal and community level there are signs of a certain influence of the secularised surroundings: moral relativism, religious indifference and superficiality encourage individualism and activism in the communities, a weak gospel witness, inability to offer signs of hope; there is routine and tiredness. Then there is a certain apostolic timidity; sometimes a confrere finds great difficulty in undertaking the task of spiritual guidance or initiatives that are capable of bringing his faith convictions to any depth of maturity, and developing his identity as a consecrated person.
[30] Centrality of the presentation of Jesus Christ
Together with the commitment to education to the faith promoted by GC23, and its manifold applications, we also find some who have been slow to respond, signs of hesitation. The limited experience of the faith and personal encounter with Jesus Christ in the majority of those for whom we work and who frequent our places, sometimes present an obstacle to our offering an experience of a genuine form of catechesis; first evangelisation or a renewed proclamation of the Gospel addressed to all becomes ineffective.
Many of the activities in our centres are socially relevant but they hardly inspire or strengthen the faith; we content ourselves with the fact that the young people are with us. The lack of a faith-process leads us to operate a ministry of events, but not processes. Sometimes there is little clarity in the educative criteria and processes. The varied mentalities and multiplicity of theological and cultural approaches do not allow us to present a unified and systematic ministry of evangelisation.
We have involved many lay people in our educational enterprises, but often we have not been sufficiently concerned about their formation and apostolic involvement; this is why we find we have many employees but not mission partners, a number of colleagues but not evangelisers.
[31] Education and evangelisation
We are aware that the Salesian charism is a vital part of the local Churches and that it is appreciated by them. Don Bosco’s preventive system is more relevant than ever and has a great attraction everywhere. Salesian spirituality is capable of launching the young towards their full and healthy human and Christian development. Today’s young people, no different from those of yesterday and always, are open to the search for the meaning of life and to a serious and courageous educational and Christian proposal.
Groups of young people are to be found who are leaders in evangelising their peers, in particular within various associations. We note the numerical increase of trained lay people who want to work with us and feel responsible not only for the organisational aspects but also for taking on pastoral roles in our works, and in the places where they live.
We have a presence in the mass-media world and we use media effectively on behalf of evangelisation in particular in places more recently evangelised. We maintain a strong tradition in the field of study and publishing in catechetics. On the other hand, there are confreres who are not convinced about this, and so are not familiar with nor do they use, the new technologies as instruments for evangelisation.
The family is facing various serious difficulties. Its instability, lack of acknowledgement of its identity, lack of clarity about its role, an increasing tendency to isolation, de-Christianisation and poverty of affection pose new questions; we know what the situation is but the ways to respond remain uncertain.
[32] Evangelisation in regional contexts
We find, in places recently evangelised, an atmosphere favourable to evangelisation, marked by openness to the Gospel and by the daily possibility of taking the proclamation of the gospel to many young people in schools, oratories and parishes. The location of our houses among ordinary people is admired by the population; in particular we make the effort to learn and understand the cultures, languages, customs and local situations in order to inculturate the proclamation of the Gospel. Some Salesians carry out a prophetic role in the field of social justice in developing countries.
Many of our works are in a multi-religious and multi-ethnic context that raises new questions and poses new challenges to evangelisation. To graft evangelisation onto education and education onto evangelisation is not easy: there is always the risk of giving priority to education and hardly mentioning the issue of faith or presenting an explicit proclamation detached from the dynamics of growth. The current arrangement of Salesian initial formation is sometimes seen to be inadequate in providing an appropriate methodology for the proclamation of the Gospel in today’s world.
We observe a disproportion between our fundamental task as evangelisers of the young and other management roles that remove opportunities and personnel from the central position of pastoral activity. The complexity of the management of the works brings with it an excessive expenditure of human energies on the part of many confreres, making them more managers than pastors. The advanced age of many of the confreres and the fall in the number of vocations contribute to making the situation worse.
There is the problem of the lack of local vocations in some areas of the mission ad gentes. In the poorer areas of the world, an obstacle to overcome is the shortage of the financial and material means to maintain pastoral work. We are weak in giving attention to the ecumenical dimension while we show more concern about inter-religious dialogue.
[33] Commit ourselves to becoming “evangelised communities” gathered around the Word, made up of genuine, believing and credible disciples, formed for the new demands of the communication of the Gospel, as the first step towards an effective evangelisation.
[34] Each community should:
[36] Proclaim to the young, with courage and an inner faith conviction, the proposal to live human life experience as Jesus Christ , who is the life model for every man and woman, lived it. In particular take up the task of the mission “ad gentes” and ensure that there is systematic presentation of first proclamation and catechesis in every one of our works.
[37] ** Each Province should:**
[39] Examine in practical terms what the contribution of education to evangelisation may be, as a response to the requirements of evangelisation, giving particular attention to the involvement of families, the challenges posed by youth culture, and the media. Further consider the contribution of evangelisation to education.
[40] Each Province should:
[42] Match our evangelisation to the context and inculturate it, as the essential element in an incarnated and timely mission.
[43] Each Region should:
[45] Called by God to recognise the demands of the present moment and to assess the situation in which we find ourselves in order to undertake practical tasks, we feel ourselves challenged to modify our ways of thinking and change the structures, moving:
“To meet the needs of his people the Lord continually calls some to follow him in service of the Kingdom and enriches them with gifts for the purpose. We are convinced that many young people are rich in spiritual potential and give indications of an apostolic vocation. We help them to discover, accept and develop the gift of a lay, consecrated religious or priestly vocation, for the benefit of the whole Church and of the Salesian Family. With equal zeal we nurture adult vocations.” (C. 28).
[46] Witness of Salesian life as the first vocational suggestion
God is calling us to the consecrated Salesian vocation and the witness of a joyful life devoted to the young, lived in community, following Christ obedient, poor and chaste. This is the first and the most beautiful vocational suggestion we can offer to the young: the life of each confrere and the example of each Salesian community, in which the primacy of God shines out.
We know that a young person chooses consecrated Salesian life because he has met a community that was significant to him or a model with which to identify, a place where he experienced self-giving and a guide who accompanied him in his choice of Christ. If young people find this life-witness in us and discover the pastoral passion that animates us, they themselves will be able to recognise and appreciate the gift of the consecrated Salesian vocation in their own lives.
Each confrere and each community, therefore, is called to help young people perceive the beauty of consecrated life and the joy it gives. Evangelisation too ought to be a joy and not just a task; therefore we should be attentive that our task of evangelising be seen as “enjoyable,” more than as a duty; in fact we want to communicate to the young the joy of having found the One we were seeking (Cf. Jn. 1, 45).
[47] Apostolic Vocations
As Don Bosco used to bring young men together to work closely with him, so we feel we must call young men to take their part in the mission of education and evangelisation with apostolic passion. The communication of Don Bosco’s charism demands that we make young people apostles among their peers and help them to discover God’s call.
We feel today, more strongly than ever before, the challenge to create a vocational culture everywhere so that all youth ministry can really be vocational. We cannot excuse ourselves from making concrete and explicit proposals that motivate and lead the young towards the choice of an apostolic vocation, whether lay, priestly or consecrated.
By our presence among the young with a pleasant manner and showing trust, providing the witness of people who are content and assured of their identity, demonstrating fraternal esteem and collaboration, we are offering examples that help them achieve a mature self-knowledge, an interior life, a sacramental and Marian spirituality and apostolic commitment, so that they may more easily discover the signs of God’s call.
[48] Suggesting the Salesian consecrated vocation and accompanying candidates
God calls us to recognise the signs of a consecrated Salesian vocation in the young and to initiate a discernment process with them and for them. For this reason each confrere and each community is called to mediate God’s call among the young. At the same time, the involvement and formation of families and lay partners in mission, in addition to the Salesian Family, has become ever more important for suggesting the consecrated Salesian vocation.
The Salesian community, families, lay people, young people, and the Salesian Family are called to pray constantly and seek new initiatives, means and forms of accompaniment which allow young people to live the Salesian charism and a community life. In the process of vocational discernment we have the courage to suggest to young people that they stay for ever with Don Bosco by choosing consecrated life. We also consider new kinds of aspirantate for those young people who are searching, as well as for candidates.
[49] The Salesian Brother vocation
At the beginning and in the tradition of our charism it was Don Bosco’s wish that the Congregation should be distinguished by the complementary presence of consecrated Salesian priests and lay men. Therefore we are called to make the primacy of God visible through our life, demonstrating that Salesian communities are composed of consecrated persons, before they are considered as priests and laymen.
The person of the Salesian Brother needs to be re-thought with regard to his identity, starting from Don Bosco’s experience, the changes in consecrated life nowadays, the extension of the role of lay people in the Salesian mission, the involvement of lay people, new models of Salesian Brothers today. This identity cannot be linked solely to professional competence.
Aware that the Congregation is putting its identity at risk if it loses its consecrated lay component, we are called to make the effort to re-discover the identity of the Salesian Brother, propose his originality to young people, give him greater prominence and provide him with a sound formation programme.
[50] Witness of Salesian life as the first vocational suggestion
Our vocation is appreciated by society and Church, and the service we provide is welcomed and valued. Our communities believe in the validity and value of relationships marked by a family spirit. Many confreres have the awareness and desire to live their vocation joyfully and to create a family atmosphere that is welcoming to new vocations. The attitude of many Salesians who make young people welcome with simple but significant gestures such as an affectionate greeting, a friendly chat, an animating presence, becomes a vocational witness.
Difficulties arising from a lack of vocations have resulted in an increase in reflection by the communities and confreres and their being made aware of how vocation promotion nowadays needs to be carried out. Many communities are praying for vocations, also inviting young people, laity and families to join them in monthly or weekly adoration of the Blessed Sacrament, community rosary, intercessions at vespers.
Our experience of religious life does not always show an effective “detachment from the world,” thus running the risk of compromises with the consumer culture of possessions and a comfortable life. Sometimes the community is not always capable of providing a welcome; we are not always ready to allow ourselves to be “disturbed” in our habits by the young. They are attracted by our living together, but often confreres are isolated in their own area; the visibile evidence of our living and working together becomes reduced. This is to the detriment of the effectiveness of our witnessing which therefore becomes less credible.
[51] Apostolic Vocations
In the places where we are, we have so many youngsters whose presence is an opportunity to cultivate an educational relationship, to share confidences and help them discover the plan that God has for each one of them. Ways of fostering vocations nowadays are quite varied: apostolic groups, groups that reflect on the theme of vocation, involvement in animation, sharing responsibilities with the young.
Often at Provincial level vocation promotion is good, while at local level the commitment to it is weak. In this case the effort at Provincial level partially fills the gap. In some Provinces there is a gap between youth ministry and vocation promotion. There is the danger of providing young people with fine and meaningful experiences but in isolation and without any follow-up.
We are living in times of great changes which create a sense of insecurity. The predominant secularised model of life and the negative impact of the media are in stark contrast with a religious vocation; this makes our life less attractive and vocation promotion more difficult. The vocational fragility of a good number of confreres who leave the Congregation is a counter-witness whicht has a negative impact on young people's choices. Then too, the crisis of the family as a result of secularisation and the collapse of Christian values is a strong obstacle to creating a vocational culture.
The vocational dimension in the activity of the educative pastoral communities is not always given due consideration. Co-responsibility with lay people is not always fully appreciated, even though the witness value of lay partners in mission adds to its impact. Work in synergy with the Salesian Family in vocation promotion is weak. The number of Salesians present with young people is small, at times also because they are not involved in roles of animation and accompaniment; this sometimes even happens with the Rector.
[52] Suggesting the Salesian consecrated vocation and accompanying candidates
It is observed that the encounter between young people seeking their vocation and young Salesians, is significant. Through the witness young Salesians give, young people come to see consecrated life as way of living the Christian life. They consider that in terms of vocation the apostolic contribution of young Salesians is particularly valid and appreciated. (Cf. C. 46).
There are Provinces where communities have a strong, well-structured and shared commitment to vocations. There are experiences and communities to welcome candidates to Salesian consecrated life; there are new kinds of aspirantate, communities for vocational discernment), experiences of vocational voluntary service. The new means of communication also foster knowledge of Don Bosco’s charism and provide a first contact for young people interested in a consecrated Salesian vocation.
While considering the positive aspects of our pastoral commitment, we cannot be indifferent to the fact that other groups in the Church seem to be more purposeful and fruitful in the area of vocations. Adolescents and young people are generous, but they show that they find it difficult to take on a permanent commitment; a large number of those with whom we come into contact are in situations of first evangelisation. Faced with suggestions about choices that cannot be changed, there is the danger that they close themselves off from considering a vocation or else they pass from one choice to another in trying out various experiences.
The way of thinking about recruitment sometimes leads to having candidates to consecrated life wsho manifest various forms of frailty and weakness in their motivation. Unfortunately some young people are brought into the stages of formation without being sufficiently suitable or without the conviction that they can take on life-long commitments. If in some areas the choice of a vocation runs radically against the tide in the common view, in others it becomes a safe way of achieving social advancement. Vocation ministry is almost exclusively directed to young students to the neglect of young workers.
We also find difficulty in the lack of preparation of the Salesians for vocational accompaniment; it sometimes becomes difficult to bring together young people and others who work closely with us, with suitably courageous proposals. Changes of confreres in roles of vocational guidance become particularly troublesome when there is no continuity in planning..
[53] The Salesian Brother vocation
Often young people want to become Salesians in order to follow Don Bosco but they don’t always ask themselves what sort of consecrated Salesian vocation they want to choose, that of the priest or that of the brother. In this a vital role is played by the way the Salesian Brother is presented in the aspirantate, prenovitiate and novitiate. Thus the presence of a significant number of Salesian Brothers culturally and professionally well-qualified in roles of responsibility assists in the visibility of this vocation and produces in young people the desire to choose it. The beginnings of collaboration in all the Regions for the phase of specific formation has had positive results.
It is not always easy to present the Salesian Brother in an effective manner; it makes it difficult for young people to identify with this vocation. The fundamental reason is the weakening of the identity and visibility of consecrated life and a state of life, in our communities. A narrow mentality persists in some Salesians that basically the Congregation can continue to work on behalf of the young even with just Salesian Priests. Unfortunately there are only a few Brother confreres involved in youth activities because of the limited number of vocations, the fact that people are getting older, and the use of Salesian Brothers in mainly managerial roles rather than in animation. In some cultural contexts there are still prejudices regarding the Salesian Brother, who is seen as a vocation not fully realised.
[54] Each Salesian and each community should recognise that they are the first vocational invitation (proposta) addressed to the young and should take on the task of witnessing to the life and of involving the young in community life and in the apostolate.
[55] Each confrere should:
[56] Each community should:
[58] “The discovery and guidance of vocations” should be the real “ crown of all our educational and pastoral activity” (C. 37). Each Province, local community and educative pastoral community should strive to gradually create a culture of vocations in their pastoral work and above all to foster and accompany apostolic vocations among the young.
[59] Each community should:
[65] The Congregation at the various levels should set itself to understand, further study and explain the nature and the significance of the vocation of the Salesian Brother; it should review and promote well-prepared and specific formation procedures; it should try to give greater prominence him especially among the young; it should find new forms of vocational presentation.
[66] Each community should:
[68] Called by God to read the appeals of the present hour and to evaluate the situation in which we find ourselves in order to take on practical commitments, we feel urged to change our way of thinking and change our structures, moving:
“Don Bosco lived his poverty in detachment of heart and generous service of others; his manner was marked by austerity, hard work and much initiative. Following his example we too live detached from all earthly goods; we participate with a spirit of enterprise in the mission of the Church and in her struggle for justice and peace, especially by educating those in need. The witness of our poverty, lived in a common sharing of our goods, helps the young to overcome their selfish possessive instinct and opens them to the Christian sense of sharing.” (C. 73).
[69] Simple and austere personal life style
Each confrere is called to show in his life that God is his only real treasure. He demonstrates poverty with untiring work, availability, simplicity, temperance, sober life style, sharing with the poor. In an effort to assimilate the way of life and the sentiments of Christ, Don Bosco gave his whole self to God and to the young; like him, the Salesian is ready for the “cetera tolle”. This requires a real passion for God and compassion for the young, the witness of personal life, determined attitude of affective and effective detachment, freedom in the face of material goods, desires, qualities, the intellectual gifts each one possesses, in order to place everything at the service of the young in solidarity and communion with those most in need.
[70] Prophetic and credible witness of the community
The community is called to live a life of work and temperance, in such a way that its witness to poverty may be prophetic and credible. In this way its style of life takes on a significance that is very educational: it affirms the primacy of being over having; it achieves a genuine Christian solidarity with the poor; it challenges the styles of life that are consumer-oriented, high powered and characterised by waste. The community is called upon to carry out a well-orderd work, without laziness and without being frantic, in a spirit of sharing in the mission and of inter-dependence. This requires being open to any kind of mission, work of service for the Kingdom of God and not being tied to a work or to things that at times appear indispensable. It also feels itself called to live poverty, cultivating the communion of goods between confreres, communities, Provinces and the Congregation.
[71] Mission among the poorest
God is calling us to have a special human and evangelical sensitivity when faced with the cry of the poor, which is seen in the preferential option for those most in need, in solidarity and in working for their development, sharing their life and being with them. Poverty is shown in solidarity with all, in assiduous work for justice and development, respect for the environment, avoiding waste and unnecessary consumption, in a commitment on behalf of the new forms of poverty. We are called to offer the means sufficient for all that is necessary for the mission; to emerge from a paternalistic supportive mentality in order to give the poor the opportunity of participating in their all-round development. Each confrere and community is called to overcome the contradictions and inconsistency that prevent them from living to the full and unreservedly their service to the young, overcoming the idea of a part-time mission, conquering the seduction of middle-class attitudes and indifference in the face of the global tragedy of poverty.
[72] Responsible management of resources in a spirit of solidarity
Poverty is reflected in the responsible management and sharing of the available means in a spirit of solidarity. The goods God gives us belong to the poor, and He requires an account of management that is prudent, transparent and shared, and the exercise of justice towards our dependents. The challenges arising from illegal activities, wide spread injustice and the hoarding of goods by a few invite us to draw up a culture of the essential, of the fair distribution of resources, sustainable development, as an alternative to the culture of consumption and the superfluous.
[73] Simple and austere personal life style
In general the confreres give good witness through a life characterised by untiring hard work, without being limited to timetables and with a sense of generosity until old age. Often we receive flattering comments at personal level or at that of the Congregation about our spirit of work and simplicity of life. Many confreres bear witness to a modest and austere life, putting what they are and what they have at the service of the poorest.
Sometimes we are less sensitive in understanding the various dimensions of poverty and we reduce it to the simple matter of the use of money dependent on the Superior. It is observed that poverty is not always lived in food, accommodation, travel, the use of the media and in organising one’s own time for rest; basically we lack nothing! There are confreres who put their health at risk by working in a disorderly manner without giving themselves sufficient time to recover their physical and spiritual strength.
Then there are some points of weakness: difficulty in providing explanations; little openness in the use of money and personal accounts; lack of interest in the activities of the community; seeking after free time and the means to satisfy one’s personal needs. In some places there is an excessive attachment to the family, being concerned about it and giving support not consistent with poverty. The Superior has problems with some confreres in making use of their abilities and involving them to the appropriate extent.
[74] Visible, prophetic and credible witness of the community
Work remains an important element in our being poor. In spite of the fall in numbers, thanks to the work and sacrifice of many confreres, communities continue to keep running a multitude of initiatives on various fronts with dedication.
In a number of communities there is a sharing of goods; the situations of poverty among the young are taken into consideration with reduced fees, the provision of scholarships, helping the children of poor families; the confreres undertake menial tasks in the care and maintenance of the house.
A shortage of communication and the lack of involvement of the whole community in the economic management of the work, while respecting the role of those responsible, results in the confreres not being aware of the cost of living. Often the scrutinium paupertatis is carried out in a superficial manner; the result is that individual confrere and the community are not involved. There are some communities in which the presence of paid staff at the service of the confreres has increased considerably, sometimes at the cost of a sense of co-responsibility for common services.
The challenges that society presents to the Salesian mission require synergy of all our forces, directed towards and converging on a shared project. There are Salesians who are not involved and who give little attention to the common mission and others whose efforts are concentrated on their own initiatives in a manner that is uneconomical and isolated. It seems that sometimes in initial formation little attention is paid to evangelical poverty lived in the practicalities of every day life. The theoretical dimension of the vow of poverty is considered, but often they are not taught to think about the practical implications and live as poor people.
[75] Mission among the poorest
Activities and educational works that prevent various forms of poverty are seen to be on the increase, helping to overcome poverty by educating for solidarity with a great variety of initiatives on behalf of those most in need and the excluded. To be noted in particular among these are the “missio ad gentes,” reception of immigrants, development projects, help provided for peoples suffering from war and natural disasters. The ageing process and the lack of vocations are helping us to be aware of our own fragility, dependence on Providence and open us up to collaborative networking.
We are tied to our past experience, conditioned by structures and attitudes that don’t encourage a free openness to new choices. We work for the poor but sometimes not alongside them; sometimes we don’t encourage their direct involvement in development projects. There is a resistance and difficulty on the part of some confreres to go out to young people most in need, to practise solidarity with the poorest, open new prophetic foundations in areas of youth poverty.
Large structures, expensive and showy vehicles, readily available money don’t witness to community and institutional poverty. Some works begun for the poor are gradually being aimed at the middle classes.
[76] Responsible management of resources in a spirit of solidarity
Poverty demands a responsible management of resources in a spirit of solidarity. In this direction great efforts have been made to have greater transparency in administration, in particular by drawing up balance sheets, by a better use of buildings at the service of the local area, more concern about respecting regulations, a practical effective form of solidarity at Province level.
It is observed with satisfaction that in many countries church, state and international charitable institutions continue to provide funds and equipment for the development of our works and to help our activities for the poorest and most needy young people. This is a sign of the confidence they have that what is given reaches those for whom it is destined and is well-administered.
The management of the economic resources of our works nowadays requires skills that cannot be taken for granted. Often this role is entrusted to confreres who have accepted the obedience but who do not have sufficient preparation for the task in hand.
Working with lay people in a co-responsible manner requires much more attention on our part to social justice in their regard, and shows the need to foster participation, co-involvement and co-responsibility also in issues of management.
The demands and the increasing complexity of certain activities can threaten to transform the Salesian work into a business, with all the risks of an excessive functionalism and sterile efficiency. In carrying out large projects in connection with new buildings and restructuring, there is often the risk of wasting energy, time and money.
[77] Evangelical poverty comes from a free heart and from inner conviction. It is necessary, therefore, that each Salesian assumes personal responsibility for constantly putting himself at the school of Christ, imitating the austere, practical and hardworking poverty of Don Bosco.
[78] Each Salesian should:
[79] Poverty lived for the sake of the gospel is a sign that God and his kingdom are sufficient for us. Each community should give a prophetic and credible witness for the young people of today, who are living in a consumer and hedonistic culture. It should be attentive to its life style, to its choice of priorities, to its commitment on behalf of the poor.
[80] Each community should:
[82] “The Lord made clear to Don Bosco that he was to direct his mission first and foremost to the young, especially to those who are poorer.” (C. 26). Our vow of poverty leads us to make courageous preferential options and to find ways of practical expression in solidarity with the poor.
[83] Each Province should:
[85] “Remember well,” Don Bosco tells us, “that what we have is not ours, it belongs to the poor” (C. 79). As servants and administrators we concern ourselves with a responsible management and a use of resources entrusted to us in a spirit of solidarity, putting them without reserve at the service of the common mission.
[86] Each community should:
[88] Called by God to read the appeals of the present hour and to evaluate the situation in which we find ourselves in order to take on practical commitments, we feel urged to change our way of thinking and change our structures, moving:
“Our apostolic activity is carried out in a variety of ways, which depend in the first place upon the actual needs of those for whom we are working. We give effect to the redeeming love of Christ by organizing activities and works of an educational and pastoral nature designed to meet the needs of the neighbourhood and of the Church. Sensitive to the signs of the times and with initiative and continual flexibility we evaluate these activities, renew them and create new ones. The education and evangelization of many young people, especially among the very poor, means that we have to go to them where they are to be found, and provide adequate forms of service in the context of their own life style.” (C. 41).
[89] New demands of the Salesian mission
In the face of the many different situations and the variety of needs of the young, God asks us to identify the priorities of the Salesian mission today. Moved by the Spirit, we follow the example of Don Bosco who roamed the streets of Turin, saw the needs of “youth at risk” and at once responded by opening new fronts and also acting with “recklessness” as long as it was “to gain souls for God”. Convinced that God shows himself through the needs of times and places, the Salesian is attentive to the signs of the times and is ready to respond in a practical manner. God is asking us to look at the new forms of poverty with great attention and to act swiftly, do something in situations where young people are experiencing life on the margins, such as immigration, sexual exploitation, child labour, emotional poverty, broken and disintegrated families, violence in the home, drug addiction, the pandemic of HIV/AIDS, social disadvantage, unemployment, exploitation and unjust rates of pay at work, cultural poverty. He is also asking us to take notice of some places such as the outskirts of cities and the slums, and of some situations such as those where young people are at risk: refugees, street children, indigenous peoples, gypsies and other ethnic minorities.
In addition, God is asking us to respond to the challenges and opportunities that occur in the field of the evangelisation and education of the young, such as secularism, religious indifference, ecumenical and inter-religious dialogue, the loss of the meaning of life and the fragile nature of vocational choices, the widespread culture of death that has no appreciation of life, instability in families, the consumer mentality, permissiveness and ethical relativism, the contamination of nature and the waste of natural resources, the globalisation of social communication.
[90] Changes in the carrying out of the mission
Don Bosco heard God’s call and the cries of the young. Today their desperate appeals reach our heart. As Salesians we are called to have an experience of God and to have an oratorian heart like that of Don Bosco, re-affirming our option for the poorest young people, going where they are to be found, even outside our works, settling ourselves in the places where they are living, starting new ventures beyond what we are already doing.
The Spirit is urging us to hear what the person has to say who is oppressed, an immigrant, excluded, marginalised, not reached by the gospel. Like the good Samaritan we are being invited to go out to the young and not just wait for them to come to us. It is a matter of a new form of solidarity that also relies on the considerable expansion of voluntary service and the increase in lay partners, and does not work in terms of self-protection but of mutual benefit. This requires that we put ourselves in a permanent state of formation and updating in order to respond to youth problems and the new forms of poverty.
As Salesians and as educative pastoral communities we feel a strong call to rediscover and to put into practice the educational power of the preventive system, which remains the fundamental methodology of everything that we do, in particular in the rehabilitation of youngsters with difficulties.
The situations of poverty and the new cultural challenges require of us, in particular, to seek to educate young people to social and political involvement, to safeguarding human rights, to an active role as citizens, to assume a life style that is modest and outward looking, to take care of the environment, make ethical choices, overcome exclusion.
[91] Changes in the model and management of the works
God is calling us to have the courage and prophetic daring to re-organise and reshape our works having the new frontiers of young people and the significance of the mission as the criteria. This includes the need to organise community life according to the needs of the young and to start works that are more simple and flexible.
The response to the new needs requires from each one of us the ability to live the “spirituality of pruning” so as to lighten the organisational burden and thus be more dedicated to the cause of evangelisation. This kind of response also requires the preparation of confreres, lay people, and in the main, educators trained to respond to the new challenges young people give us.
We feel ourselves charged to work not only within our own works but also in network with other educational organisations and agencies, in synergy with the local Church, with the local area and all those with similar concerns, starting from the groups of the Salesian Family.
[92] New demands of the Salesian mission
Salesians and lay partners have become more sensitive to the challenges the world of youth presents today: new forms of violence, sexual abuse, unemployment and insecure work, drug addiction, immigration, failure at school, homelessness, families in difficulty, as also concern for ecological issues, a religious openness and the use of new technology. There is considerable commitment in the Congregation to human and social development in areas where poverty is more prevalent. Young people are welcomed in our works without discrimination and all of them are offered our educative and pastoral service.
Centres of higher and university education have been developed in this way, also providing for young peoples’ need for academic and professional preparation. In these centres too we have the opportunity to reflect on the new frontiers of the mission to youth, develop considered responses, plan what to do, promote and prepare formation personnel. Often these centres are attended by young people of different nationalities, cultures and religions.
Today’s cultural situation characterised by hedonism, the loss of values and relativism, makes it difficult to draw up a personal project or plan of life. Young people are in a state of fragility, a lack of meaning in life, uncertainty regarding affectivity, values and culture. The progressive breakdown of the family – failed marriages, cohabitation, one-parent families, dropping out of school, violence within the family, unmarried mothers – has repercussions on the children who nevertheless look to the family as a point of reference and in which they have confidence.
We notice that the youth scene nowadays has considerably broadened. Young people are now found in new contexts, including night-time settings and the internet. New frontiers – not only geographical ones - have opened up, especially in communications; this implies a stimulating challenge for the renewal of our mission. In spite of the fact that we have become present in the new forms of communication, our presence there is still limited.
[93] Changes in carrying out the mission
There have been new positive experiences in the Provinces aimed at checking hardship and responding to the new forms of poverty coming to light. Networking with teachers and volunteers in the educative and pastoral communities has been developed in collaboration with the Salesian Family, and with others from the ecclesiastical, social and association fields and with non-government organisations. Positive aspects favouring an opening to new frontiers are: an increase in the willingness and the ability to think up and work through projects, the trust shown by political institutions and their readiness to help of, efforts made to invest in formation to prepare Salesians and lay people to act and respond appropriately.
On the other hand there is also a certain resistance to renewal, re-qualification, a change in our mentality. We are more concerned with preserving and improving our works than with responding to the new challenges and transferring ourselves to where there is need. There is a certain weakness in the formation of Salesians and lay people in knowing how to read the signs of the times and to avert the danger of distancing ourselves from the young. Then again, sometimes our educational efforts don’t reach those who are outside our immediate circle.
To respond to the new forms of poverty, in general, the Provinces have relied on the efforts of some confrere who is sensitive to them and have not always seen them as planned initiatives, in which to devote study, economic resources and the involvement of others. Unfortunately an obstacle that blocks the initiative in not a few Provinces is the reduction in the number of confreres and the fact that they have become older.
[94] Changes in the model and management of the works
Good results have been obtained in work on behalf of poor young people in some Provinces, with the formation, co-involvement and co-responsibility of lay people. While taking note of these positive results, there are still Provinces finding it difficult to move in this direction. The best ways of involving others and sharing responsibility with them are therefore still be found.
Often our educational and pastoral efforts are structured along “traditional” and “collegial” lines while the world has undergone radical cultural change. Organising activities according to precise rules leads to the too easy exclusion of difficult youngsters without offering them alternatives. Sufficient attention is not always given to where the youngsters are coming from. The new challenges of the Salesian mission are met with a slow response in making the necessary decisions and changes, especially when this involves closing other places less significant and to which we are attached.
To respond to the needs of youth we have often adopted the strategy of expanding our works, making them, with the passage of time, extremely complex, difficult to manage and no longer capable of responding to the new forms of poverty with the facility and speed that these require. One can note, in the Congregation, a certain generation gap in taking on the responsibility for the running of our works: on the one hand the senior confreres are reluctant to share responsibility with the younger confreres, and on the other hand one notes the little preparation for government among the younger confreres and the difficulties they have in taking on the burden.
[95] Carry out our mission on behalf of youth, especially the poorest ones, discerning the signs of the times that indicate the urgent needs in times and places and undertaking a serious well thought-out, practical and inculturated commitment to new responses, if necessary changing, strategies, tactics and means.
[96] Each community should:
[98] Go out to the young with the heart of God and the passion of Don Bosco, making ourselves all to all, and initiating projects and activities, to contribute to the salvation of souls and help the young in situations of difficulty to face up to life with hope.
[99] Each Province should:
[102] Be ready to reshape and reorganise our works with courage and prophetic daring, overcoming the temptation to be satisfied with the work already done, refusing to close ourselves in schemes that are outdated and having the new forms of youth poverty and the significance of our mission as the perspective.
[103] Each Province should:
[105] Called by God to read the appeals of the present hour and to evaluate the situation in which we find ourselves in order to take on practical commitments, we feel urged to change our way of thinking and change our structures, moving: