Don Bosco

Rector Major: message of closure of the Historical Congress

SOCIETY OF SAN FRANCESCO DI SALES
  Salesian General House

  Via della Pisana 1111 - 00163 Rome

  The Rector Major

 

INTERNATIONAL HISTORICAL CONGRESS

"FUTURE OF THE CHARISM OF DON BOSCO
FROM THE SECOND VATICAN COUNCIL"

Rome, November 23rd 2013

 

1. Introduction

This final conference has a very different character from the previous ones. As in the relay, I start where the others left off. In fact, I will talk about the broad outline of the Salesian Charism after the "event of the century" in the Catholic Church, that of the Second Vatican Council. Moreover, I do not do it from a predominantly historical point of view, but rather as a programmatic reflection, that is trying to read thoroughly, albeit briefly, in the recent past, to offer some prospects for the future: immediately, for historical research which will have to be done later; but above all to continue with the development of the Charism in our Salesian Family. I will underline the procedure firstof the Congregation in these decades and after some perspectives for all our Family in the near future.

2. The Salesian Congregation before the Second Vatican Council
2.1. The Second Vatican Council, an ecclesial event and a world context

Undeniably we can speak of a 'before' and an 'after' the Council; however, it would be unfair and simplistic to ignore many other aspects, both positive and negative, that have marked these years. Among the many elements, we find the so-called "vocational crisis" of the following years, in the Church and also in many areas of our Congregation. A crisis during which a large number of confreres have rethought his path and left us, and a crisis that is still heavy in some areas due to the lack of new forces, accentuating the natural aging of the Provinces and challenging us still and pushes us to pay more attention to this phenomenon. But we also find another element that I would call "growth": as we said before, it is true that the moment of numerical expansion has led to the gradual and sometimes dramatic reduction of consecrated persons, but also to the growth of conscience about one's vocation, the revaluation of the meaning of consecrated life and not only of the presbyteral life, the rise of new and numerous lay vocations, etc. It was a period, and still is, of a decrease in religious personnel, but of growth in works and presences in new areas and new countries, that is, a territorial expansion and of services, and this, thanks also to the considerable increase in vocations lay people who, as in the origins of our Family, become increasingly "co-responsible" for the mission and not just "collaborators". In fact, even this situation has made us "go back to the origins" to start from there again!
 
But returning to the Council, in a broader and more inclusive interpretation, we can say that the Council even fits into what has been called 'the end of modernity': an end to which it has led, paradoxically, its maximum push to the limit; the greatest expectations were followed, dialectically, by a great disillusion.
In this perspective it can be said that the Council is rather an attitude of the Church, animated by the Holy Spirit, which wants to face "new times" with its own evangelical identity. Undoubtedly they have also been tensions and research, sometimes just, others not. It is a time of changes that, as such, allows some models to die and gives life to others, not always absolutely new, but, at least, renewed, sometimes successfully and sometimes not so much. It has been, and continues to be, a time of intersection of different horizons, an opportunity that, in my opinion, we must take advantage of because there remains a great deal of the 'spirit of the Council' to be understood and put into practice.

2.2. The Second Vatican Council and the renewal of consecrated life

We know that the normative document in this regard, after the Council, is the Motu Proprio of Pope Paul VI, Ecclesiae Sanctae, of 6 August 1966. At number 16, paragraph 3, the Pope states: " To procure the good of the Church, the Institutes perseverance in the effort to know exactly their spirit of origin, so that, faithfully keeping it in the adaptations they will have to make, their religious life will be purified from the extraneous elements and from those fallen into disuse " [1] .

The indication of the Church regarding Religious Life was, therefore, 'a return to the sources' of the Charism, to be able to specify it as precisely as possible. At the base of this task a fundamental element is assumed, that is: to learn to distinguish, with wisdom and a spirit of faith, between fidelity and immobility, a task which is theoretically clear, but which in practice is very difficult and which, after all, is it will never be realized once and for all. The Pope indicates, in particular, two elements: to purify the 'original spirit' from the extraneous elements and the fleeting ones. It must be said that the Salesian Congregation fully accepted this challenge and this task. To express ourselves with a very graphic image: it was a matter of going from a 'Valdocco'-construction plan to a Valdocco-criterion of life and mission.

As Don E. Viganò goes on to say, "it is to be noted that such a universal revision (which involved all Religious Institutes), so global (which refers to all contents) and so profound (which touches the roots) is quite unique in the now twenty centuries of Church history " [2] .

2.3. The renewal of the Salesian Congregation, in the light of Vatican II

The 19th General Chapter, celebrated during the Second Vatican Council, sought to be in tune with the Church of the Council, but understood that it was impossible to try to 'adapt' it to the situation of the Congregation at that time: it would have been an irresponsible superficiality, beyond beyond the fact that several of the most important documents of the Council were still under discussion. The newly elected Rector Major, Fr Luigi Ricceri, in the immediate post-council presented the entire mission to the entire Congregation, thus initiating the preparation of the Special General Chapter, celebrated five years after the papal Motu Proprio .

In his first Circular Letter after the closing of the Council, Don Ricceri wrote to the whole Congregation:

“During the Chapter work there was a clear feeling that all those present looked anxiously at the Second Vatican Ecumenical Council. The atmosphere of Rome has evidently fueled this climate of spring tension, full of promises.
We all agree that the Congregation is at a turning point [...] because before us the Church has carried out the same decisive and courageous turn, while remaining on the fertile ground of its centuries-old divine-human tradition. Here the words addressed to us by Paul VI are appropriate, and must be carefully weighed: 'Mark a stage, make the point (as the sailors say), conclude a period and start your own company' . We have made a generous sowing in humusof tradition. There will therefore undeniably be something new; but always grafted onto the vigorous stock of a tradition that has yielded abundant fruit in the past and which cannot therefore disappoint us for the future. Let us therefore look to the future with 'shrewd adherence to the needs of the times' (Paul VI ibid.) " [3]

It must be recognized that, undeniably, as in the whole Church and society, great expectations and hopes, at times immeasurable, had also arisen in the Congregation. The same Don Ricceri noticed it, a few months after the closing of the Council, regarding the 'renewal':

"This time I propose to give you some ideas about one of those words that are repeated incessantly about the Council. In truth it is one of the keywords: "Renewal"!
I must add that even the General Chapter - a faithful echo of the Council itself - returns more than once to this word and even more to the concept that it imports and contains. But like so many other words that have made history (freedom, democracy, progress, etc.) this too undergoes the most diverse interpretations and applications and - often - the most opposite and arbitrary, at service, I would say, of a completely personal mentality and - why not say it? - also of deviations and real deformations of the genuine meaning of the word 'Renewal' " [4] .

It should be added that this same post-conciliar effervescence in the Congregation has produced an extraordinary participation on the part of all the Provinces and, one can even say, of all the confreres. "We have committed ourselves to preparing it with a truly unprecedented seriousness through the participation of all the Provinces and all the confreres (...) A set of as many as 20 small volumes for the use of the capitulars were carefully drafted. It was thought that there was a grave responsibility almost to "re-founding": what Don Bosco had done "personally" should have been rethought and re-elaborated, in a certain sense, "communally", in relation to the demands of epochal change and in full fidelity to the origins " [5] .

3. The rethinking of the Salesian Charism
3.1. What do we mean by Charisma ?

Even if this word has acquired a 'citizenship card' in the theological and spiritual sphere, it should be remembered that its meaning in actuality does not always correspond to the past. But let us not enter into these distinctions now. Undoubtedly its fundamental connotation is that of being a 'gift of the Holy Spirit to the Church'.

In this regard, a specialist on the subject says: "The glory of having returned to the term charism its fuller primitive meaning, not limited solely to understanding the extraordinary facts (...), corresponds to Vatican II. The expression charisma of the founders was born in this fruitful field of reflection shortly after Vatican II . Paul VI is the first who uses this terminology. (...) And it is also the first that inaugurates it in an official document: in the apostolic exhortation Evangelica Testificatio , 11 (1971). (...) The most complete definition is offered by Mutuae Relations 11: 'The charism of the founders is revealed as an experience of the Spirit(ET 11), transmitted to its disciples to be lived by them, guarded, deepened and constantly developed in harmony with the body of Christ in perennial growth. For this reason, the Church defends and supports the nature of the various religious institutes " [6] .

Don Egidio Viganò, citing the text of MR , comments: "The theological element that has matured this theological category of 'charisma' was precisely the recognition of the divine initiative in the" consecration "as a specific action of God. In fact, this was a true conciliar overturning that made us rethink the meaning of the profession and the specific work of the Founder. It also served to give the name of ' consecrated life' to the Institutes that used to call first 'states of perfection' " [7] .

3.2. The Special General Chapter

No General Chapter had been prepared so much in advance (the Letter of Convocation of D. Luigi Ricceri was dated November 25, 1968: almost three years before the opening!) And with much involvement of all the Salesians. It is also the longest Chapter in the history of the Congregation: from 10 June 1971 to 5 January 1972. This Chapter has drafted the text of the Constitutions 'ad experimentum'for the following 12 years, in view of the final drafting, in 1984. But the most precious treasure is the Chapter Document itself, with more than five hundred pages, which represents the greatest effort of the Congregation for the rethinking and reformulation of the Salesian Charism . In particular, a study on the way in which that General Chapter assumes and incorporates the Second Vatican Council would be very enriching. Sometimes, in one page even 7 different conciliar documents are mentioned!

3.3. From the GC20 to the GC22

In these twelve years, the Congregation has lived the experience of how to live in fidelity to Don Bosco's Charism by putting into practice a Rule of Life which, for the first time in its history, was not the text written by the Founder. This certainly aroused some resistance, especially from those who felt that important elements of the Salesian Tradition had been lost. As we said before, it is not always easy to accept the challenge of living fidelity in a totally new situation compared to that of Don Bosco. And all this, despite the fact that, as Don Viganò writes, “in the reworking of the Constitutions we tried to refer as much as possible to the spiritual reality of the Founder, to his most charismatic writings, to his proven experience,[8] .

These twelve years, with a constitutional text 'ad experimentum', constituted a preparation, with increasing intensity, for the GC22, whose sole objective (in addition, of course, to the election of the Rector Major and the General Council) was the definitive drafting of the Constitutions. In a manner similar to that of the CGS, an attempt was made to involve all the Brothers, both in personal form and above all through various requests. The Provinces through the Provincial Chapters, the different Commissions in each of them, and especially the Pre-capitular Commission , which received all the suggestions and, working in an exemplary way, under the guidance of the Regulator, D. Juan Edmundo Vecchi, summarized them in two volumes, for a total of almost 1100 pages.

3.4. Don Egidio Viganò

In this process, which involved the whole Congregation, it is right to highlight a decisive figure: Don Egidio Viganò. In the light of our faith, which invites us to discover God's action in history, it is providential that the person called to lead the Congregation on such a delicate stage as the post-conciliar one, could also participate in the sessions of the Council, as a theologian expert of Card. Raùl Silva, Archbishop of Santiago de Chile.

During his first term as Rector Major, he led the preparation of the GC22. In addition to various moments of participation during the GC, the closing speech of this Chapter represents an extraordinary synthesis of what constitutes the Salesian Charism in the new constitutional drafting: it is, practically, its most authoritative 'interpretation'. I believe that it is a text of great richness and actuality for the Congregation, even now.

Finally, of D. Viganò I mention another very significant document: his Circular Letter " How to reread the Founder's Charism today" of 1995. This is the last Letter he wrote to the Congregation, before moving on to the House of the Father, on 23 June. We can consider it as its 'spiritual testament' and in fact many themes appear in it that constantly appeared in its animation and magisterium, as the theme of consecration  emphasizing two elements: it is the work of God, not of man and, moreover, not refers to 'a sectorial element (usually opposed to the' mission '), but which is inclusive, embraces the whole life and activity of the consecrated person (see for example, p.17). It is the theme of the grace of unity, which "makes (the Salesian) capable of a vital synthesis between the fullness of consecration and the authenticity of apostolic industriousness" (p.16). I think that with this grace of unity we must walk towards the future.

3.5. The current Constitutions

It can be said that the reformulation of the Charism, with regard to verbal expression, culminates in the XXII General Chapter with the approval, first capitular and then by the Holy See, on November 25, 1984, of the current Constitutions. The approval of the Holy See is not simply reduced to a legal requirement; in fact, the 1st article states: "The Church has recognized in this (the foundation and life of our Society) the action of God, above all by approving the Constitutions and proclaiming the Founder saint" (Constitution SDB 1). This affirmation coincides, practically, with what, twelve years later and in a more universal form, John Paul II will say in the post-synodal apostolic exhortation Vita Consecrata, in a text of extraordinary theological density: "When the Church recognizes a form of consecrated life or an Institute, it guarantees that in its spiritual and apostolic charisma all the objective requisites are found to reach personal and community evangelical perfection" (VC, 93 ). This guarantee  must not only fill us with great joy and security in our vocation - naturally, from the point of view of faith - but it must also lead us to live our charismatic identity more fullyas a typical path of holiness: "In carrying out this mission, we find the way of our sanctification" (Constitution SDB 2). This last statement fully coincides with the first article of the primitive Constitutions of Don Bosco: "The Salesian Society has as its goal that the members, who at the same time try to acquire Christian perfection, carry out every work of spiritual and corporal charity for the good young people, especially the poorest ".

Living our Constitutions with fidelity is for us Salesians, the starting point for intensely living our apostolic consecration together with the vast movement that originates from Don Bosco. In fact, as in the origins of our Congregation, we cannot be truly faithful to our charism except by living it in a shared way with the other members of the Salesian Family and the "vast movement of people who, in various ways, work for the salvation of youth" (C SDB, 5). For this reason, it is not possible to look ahead to the future unless it is shared and truly together.

4. THE FUTURE OF THE CHARISM. Present and future challenges

At this point, this part seems to me the least framed within a historical Congress, and at the same time the most lively and planning or programmatic from the present to the future, illuminated by everything we have heard, seen, experienced and everything this is part of our Salesian charismatic heritage.

4.1. OUR DNA must remain THAT OF DON BOSCO

I truly believe brothers and sisters that the future of Don Bosco's Charism passes, first of all, rightly for the only possible way, our fidelity to Don Bosco and to the charism that he incarnated, because fidelity to Don Bosco is and will be fidelity to the Holy Spirit who raised him up for the good of humanity and of the Church.

All of us, our whole Salesian Family, this great tree that has the only common trunk in which the sap of Don Bosco's charism flows, as stated in our Constitutions, Project of Life, Directors ... (as we call our documents), which Don Bosco is our Father, the Father of the Salesian Family and a gift, on our part, to the whole Church and to the world.
This is why fidelity to Don Bosco is to say his reading of the life, mission, evangelization and salvation of the young that is a guarantee of the future of the Salesian charism.

For this reason we need to continue to follow Don Bosco knowing him more and more, to love him more and more (because what we do not know is not loved), to be able to imitate him better in what is essential and with all the novelty and prophecy that we must have in these modern times of every historical moment, of every age.
In this sense, what I wrote in 1920 by Fr. ALBERA ("not suspicious" of anything as Don Buccellato says in his speech) and who says: "There are many, even among us, who speak of Don Bosco, alone for what they hear about it; whence the real and urgent need that with great love if one reads his life, with keen interest if his teachings are followed, with his filial affection he imitates his examples ”.

Don Bosco is our great patrimony, of all and of each of the members of our Salesian Family (because it is the heritage of the Church, as I said). And the identity of our whole family and of each of its groups (and individual members) becomes stronger the stronger the recognition of Don Bosco's PATERNITY in all. We do not need as adolescents in their personal evolution to separate us, distancing ourselves from parents to strengthen our identity. Our identity is greater, clearer and more solid the clearer and more evident the spiritual fatherhood of Don Bosco for everyone, for each and every one.

And this has nothing to do with the danger of self-reference that Pope Francis speaks of in EG28. We are not nor will we be a group of elected persons who look at themselves, but a Religious Family that wants to live a strong following of Jesus (Discipleship), with a profound sense of belonging and communion to the universal Church and to the local Churches, always with a clear charismatic identity, with the specificity of its own charism (as Gift of the Holy Spirit to the Church).

4.2. The charismatic predilection for young people, especially the poorest

This is our second great security in the future of the Salesian charism. Young people, especially the poorest, abandoned and excluded.
The Salesian Mission, in our entire Salesian Family, has in one way or another, in all its branches, the characteristic of this preferential option. They are the recipients of the Mission. What should be emphasized, in order to be faithful to Don Bosco's charism, is that it is the recipients who determine the type of activity and works through which our Mission becomes concrete and effective (see Csdb 1,2,14, 21; Cfma 1,6,65; PVA 2,2b; ADMA, 2; VDB 6; DS 17, c, d; CihscJM, 23;).
Our fidelity to God and to young people asks us to be attentive to the needs of the environment and of the Church, sensitive to the signs of the times. And the education and evangelization of many young people, especially among the poorest, move us to reach them in their environment and to encourage them in their lifestyle by serving them in the best way for their own good. This openness gave rise, in the Congregation, to the Institute of the FMA and in the other groups, to an infinity of activities and of extraordinarily varied and admirable works. We are sure that through them, the young and among themselves the poorest, God speaks to us and awaits us in them.

As I indicated in the Closing Discourse of the GC27, "I dare to ask that with the 'courage, maturity and a lot of prayer' that they send us to the most excluded young people, we see in every Province to see where we must stay, where we must go and where we can go ... With their clamor and their cry of pain the most needy young people challenge us "(Final keynote speech 3.5). In this sense, I believe, sisters and brothers that the Lord invites us all to our Salesian family to be talented, not to feel satisfied believing that the present mission is to guard what others have built in the past. Our fidelity to the Lord and to young people today asks us for daring, where it is needed.

4.3. For fidelity to the charism: ALWAYS EVANGELIZERS OF THE YOUNG, AND THE YOUNG.

The predilection for the poorest young people expressed above is totally insufficient in the totality of our Salesian charism and in our Family if it does not become effective through an integral education that includes, as an indispensable element, evangelization: "We educate and evangelize according to a project of promotion integral of man, oriented to Christ, perfect man (see GS 41) ”. "Like Don Bosco, we are all called on every occasion to be educators in the faith" (Csdb 6,7,20 34; Cfma 5,26,66,75 ...; PVA 9.1; 9.3; ADMA 2; VDB 6; DS 16; CihscJM 5).

In fact, by way of illumination on the concern that the evangelizing dimension has in our Family and in most of its members, I can offer as shown the concern of the Salesian Congregation, dedicating already in CGXXIII of the year 1990 to Education of young people to the Faith, or to the commitment of our FMA sisters also in their last CGXXIII for "Being with young people today a home that evangelizes", from the perspective of discipleship that narrates the experience of Faith, listening to what God says today, open to the changes necessary to recover on the way (with the young), up to the courage to dare together prophetic gestures

With this sensitivity I recalled at the end of the GC27, which SDBs we are, first of all, evangelizers of the young, fellow travelers, courageous in proposing sfíde in faith, and this is why we must live and grow in a true pastoral predilection for young people.

4.4. The sharing of the spirit and mission of Don Bosco in the Salesian Family and with the Laity

We know that one of the fundamental elements of the Second Vatican Council was, and continues to be, the theological model of the Church as 'People of God', thus valuing the baptismal consecration, proper to every Christian. This implies an aspect that we do not always take into account, namely that every 'reborn in Christ' as a baptized person is called to the perfection of love, or holiness. (see LG 42, quoted in VC 30). The common work in building the Kingdom of God belongs inseparably to this perfection of love. This becomes reality, in our Family, through ' communion and sharing in the spirit and mission of Don Bosco'.

We live this spirit of the Council in this reality which is our religious Family expressed as a family referred to in Article 1 of the Charter of the Salesian Family, "With humble and joyful gratitude we recognize that Don Bosco, on God's initiative and maternal mediation of Mary, he began in the Church an original experience of evangelical life: the
Spirit molded in him a heart inhabited by a great love for God and for his brothers, especially the little ones and the poor, and thus made him Father and Master of a multitude of young people, as well as Founder of a vast spiritual and apostolic Family ".

In this sense I think that what is expected of us at this time and in the coming years is growth as a family in a true sense of communion, understanding, knowledge and also the search for the good of the young and of evangelization. It is going beyond, with more force, than we already have, which is precious in itself, but which can sometimes stagnate in a respectful trait, with no little ignorance of the other members of our family.

Moreover, since the Pope asks the whole Church to be an outgoing Church, this challenge is for us as a family. We are a great religious force in the Church, and with simplicity and humility, we must remember that we are truly leaven in the dough, we must tell ourselves that we accept the challenge, as I said above, "Awaken the World" (challenge that the Pope launched to the religious and religious).

To this family reality I add the urgency of the mission shared with the laity. Of course this appeal is inevitable for us (consecrated men and women and in our family). As I said to my SDB brothers at the end of the GC27 "the shared mission with the laity is no longer optional - no one ever thought so - and it is so because the Salesian mission in the present world is demanding this insistently ...., the reflection on this mission, the conversion process on our part is indispensable ”(closing speech of the RM, 3.7).

4.5. The missionary dimension of our Family as a guarantee of Fidelity and Authenticity to the charism of Don Bosco

The missionary dimension has always been a priority since the beginning of the Salesian Congregation and of the Institute of the Daughters of Mary Help of Christians. Despite the shortage of personnel and the difficulties of the beginning, Don Bosco wanted to send the most suitable Salesians and FMA 'to the other end of the world, in Patagonia.

The Second Vatican Council, renewing the Church's missionary commitment, emphasized, first of all, the profound theological significance: "Sent by the divine mandate to the peoples to be 'the universal sacrament of salvation', the Church, responding to the demands of time deeper than its catholicity and to the specific order of its founder, it strives to bring the proclamation of the Gospel to all men "(AG 1). "The Church during her pilgrimage on earth is by her nature missionary, since it is from the mission of the Son and from the mission of the Holy Spirit that it, according to the plan of God the Father, derives its own origin" (AG 2).

The development of the great tree of our Family has meant that some of its younger branches also have a strong missionary character ad gentes, in full harmony with Don Bosco's heart.

In our most recent history as a Salesian Congregation, and also in our FMA sisters, the missionary dimension in the post-conciliar stage has been concretized above all in two situations, in many completely different aspects: the Africa Project and the Europe Project. The first was presented by the Rector Major D. Egidio Viganò in 1980 with these words: "Let me formulate a solemn statement. Here it is: for us Salesians today, Project Africa is a grace of God " [9] .

Later, writing a brief account of the missionary action of the Congregation, he wrote: "Don Bosco's charism is made, as I said before, to collaborate in the local Churches to evangelize the youth by making them" honest citizens and good Christians " . A hundred years ago the Salesian vocation took the path of Latin America and established itself there robustly: fifty years later it turned to Asia and has already rooted itself with fertility in various countries; now he turns to the black continent and proposes to insert himself humbly with fidelity to Don Bosco to become robustly and genuinely African; our project was placed under the special protection of the Help of Christians ” [10] .

In 2008, instead, the 26th General Chapter, in the context of the 'New Frontiers', states: "By the interdependence of peoples, the destiny of Europe involves the whole world and becomes the concern of the universal Church. This opens up a new frontier with respect to the past; for us Salesians it is an invitation to 'pay increasing attention to the education of young people to the faith' (Ecclesia in Europa, n. 61) " [11] .

In this regard, the Rector Major, Fr Pascual Chávez, recalled the words addressed to the Holy Father Benedict XVI in the closing address of the GC: "The objective is to redesign the Salesian presence with greater incisiveness and effectiveness in this continent. In other words, to seek a new evangelization proposal to respond to the spiritual and moral needs of these young people, who appear to us a bit like pilgrims without guides and aimlessly " [12] .

Two projects, at the same time completely distinct and yet identical in the end, because they are born from the same charismatic identity: a fine example in our family of creative fidelity to Don Bosco and to his Charism, but the challenge for the future is pressing us.

 4.6. Not power and strength, but humble service

I conclude by expressing to our Salesian family what, at this moment, I qualify as an intuition that resonates in my heart, that is maturing and entering into dialogue with the data, the seen and known realities, the information ...

What I call intuition, which in me is a STRONG CONVICTION, is this: Our fidelity to Don Bosco as a Salesian Family in this XXI century and in the years following his Bicentennial, asks us a service to the Church, to the people of God, to the young , especially the poorest, and to families that stand out and are characterized by service in simplicity, familiarity, humility, being and living for others, giving and giving themselves to young people from the reality of our presences because we have accepted that this is our way of life.
Our loyalty is at serious risk when we live in power and strength, since we have and because we give or take, offer or deny ... And if this power and strength is linked to money, then the risk it gets bigger. Attention sisters and brothers to this real and very dangerous temptation.

Our strength is to live a true life of communion and fraternity that is more evangelical in order to be more questioning, attractive in itself, and our communion in service, within each of our institutions or groups, and in the our own Family will speak for itself.

Wishing to end with the Pope's appeal, I believe that his call to conversion to humility to be a church (and Salesian Family I say) that always welcomes, which bears witness to the mercy and tenderness of the Lord, which brings the consolation of God to women and men, do not leave us indifferent, as well as the call to be poor and poor Church. And his invitation to live in joy, with profound joy and to be able to wake up the world is a marvelous challenge that animates us and launches us forward into the mission entrusted to us.
And in the words written as a title to the indentation letter of the bicentennial of the birth of Don Bosco, this charismatic fidelity is guaranteed if we put our energies and our life into the "Belonging more to God, more to brothers and sisters, more to the young ”.

[1]     of the Holy, the Editrice Vaticana  2, Dehoniane, Bologna, 1996, p.747-748.

[2]     VIGANO 'Egidio, The renewed text of our Rule of Life, ACG 312 (1985), p.5

[3]     RICCERI Luigi, Lettere Circolari ai Salesiani, General Direction Opere Don Bosco, Roma, 1996, p.21-22 (the Letter is in ACS 248, dated 30-IV-1967).

[4]     RICCERI Luigi, Lettere Circolari ai Salesiani, General Direction Opere Don Bosco, Rome, 1996, p.87. (the Letter is in ACS 248, dated 30-IV-1967).

[5]     VIGANO 'Egidio, How to reread the Founder's Charism today, ACG 352 (1995), p.6.

[6]     ROMERO Antonio, Carisma, in Theological Dictionary of Consecrated Life, PP.Claretianas, Madrid, 1989 , p.147.150-151.

[7]     VIGANO 'Egidio, How to reread the Founder's Charism today, ACG 352 (1995), p.18.

[8]     Ibid., P.10

[9]     VIGANO 'Egidio, Letter Our African commitment, in ACS 297 (1980), p.5.

[10]   Ibid., P.16-17.

[11]   Capitolo Generale 26, "Give me the people coetera take", Rome, 2008, n.99 (p.70-71).

[12]   Ibid., P.147.