Interview with Fr. Rossano Sala on the apostolic
exhortation Christus vivit
(ANS – Rome – April 2) – The apostolic exhortation of Pope Francis Christus
vivit (“Christ is alive”) was presented on April 2 in the John Paul II Hall
of the Holy See Press Office. The exhortation, which the Holy Father signed on
March 25 on the occasion of his visit to Loreto, is the fruit of the Synod of
Bishops last October on the theme “Young
People, Faith and Vocational Discernment.” In fact, as per the synodal
path, the pontifical document is in the form of a “Letter to the young.” Fr.
Rossano Sala, who was special secretary of the Synod, spoke in an ANS interview
about Christus vivit.
Starting from the title of the exhortation, Christus
vivit, how do you think Christ actually lives today among today’s young
people?
In the fifth chapter, Pope Francis asks himself: how
is God present in history? The answer is: through young people. Through a young
man who really has really met Him and brings Him into the world, takes Him to
school, university, politics, social work, in serving children, in a thousand
ways. Thus I would say: the presence of Christ in history passes right through
the lives of young people. This is the Pope’s wish.
What would Don Bosco think in reading this apostolic
exhortation?
It must be said that Don Bosco is present in the exhortation.
Pope Francis, naming a series of saints, in fact refers to Dominic Savio and
his teacher Don Bosco [in n. 56; and to Ceferino Namuncurá in n. 58].
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Painting
displayed at the Salesian Sacro Cuore (Sacred Heart) house in Rome.
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Furthermore, there is a part in which the Holy Father
asks the Church to return to crying when it sees the miseries of today’s youths
in a globalized world, in a world dominated by the culture of waste, the
culture of abuse. At one point he says: “We must ask for the gift of tears.”
Don Bosco immediately comes to my mind. What did Don Bosco do the first time he
left a Turin prison? He came out with tears in his eyes. Therefore Don Bosco
shares the passion of Pope Francis, who, after all, was baptized by a Salesian!
He, too, has in Don Bosco’s DNA.
These viscera of mercy are moved by seeing the
hardships, the marginalization, the unease of so many young people in the
world.
How do you think the apostolic exhortation will
be received by the worldwide Salesian Family?
First of all, I’d like to reiterate that if in this exhortation
ready-made answers are sought, one will be disappointed. On the contrary,
strong is the invitation to work together. We must be a community that
discerns, accompanies, and is ready to move.
Text of Christus
vivit: http://w2.vatican.va/content/francesco/en/apost_exhortations/documents/papa-francesco_esortazione-ap_20190325_christus-vivit.html
News report and commentary on the exhortation: https://cruxnow.com/vatican/2019/04/02/pope-calls-abuse-crisis-a-scourge-in-youth-doc-omits-zero-tolerance/
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