SDBs Begin 28th General Chapter

SDBs Begin 28th General Chapter
GC28’s work sessions officially open

(ANS – Turin – February 22) – The official opening of the Salesian Society’s 28th General Chapter took place on February 22 in Valdocco (Turin), the Salesian motherhouse, altho a week of work had already taken place.  The chapter members number 242 and come from 132 nations.  Each of the almost 90 provinces and vice provinces sends its provincial and 1 or 2 elected delegates (depending on its size); the Rector Major, Rector Major emeritus, members of the general council, and several other confreres take part ex-officio.

The morning began with Mass in the Basilica of Mary Help of Christians, presided over by Cardinal João Braz de Aviz (above), prefect of the Congregation for Institutes of Consecrated Life.

At 10:30 a.m., the chapter assembly met in the house’s theater and began work with prayer and singing of the “Veni, Creator Spiritus.”  Fr. Angel Fernandez Artime is the presiding officer, but Fr. Stefano Vanoli, moderator, coordinates the work of the assembly.

At the opening Mass and chapter assembly there were many Salesian guests, including Cardinals Oscar Rodriguez, Tarcisio Bertone, and Ricardo Ezzati, and some bishops. Turin’s archbishop, Cesare Nosiglia, and Mayor Chiara Appendino sent messages of greeting.

Ms. Appendino recalled that “seed which, in just over two centuries of history, has left indelible marks and strongly contributed to connote the character of our city.” And today that character is still present in Turin: “Like the activities of the Salesian Congregation, it’s reflected in the continuous commitment to educate young people, to teach, to be supportive and attentive to the weakest, to welcome without prejudice those who leave their own country of origin and dream of building a new life for themselves.”

Archbishop Nosiglia highlighted the current relevance of Don Bosco’s educational experience: “From the wealth of experience that Don Bosco has left us, today we can also draw several fundamental features of each educational action: the authoritativeness of the educator, the centrality of personal relationship, education as an act of love (‘a matter of the heart,’ as Don Bosco would say), the integral formation of the person, co-responsibility for constructing the common good.”

Speakers representing the groups of the Salesian Family were Mother Yvonne Reungoat, FMA, and Renato Valera, President of the “primary” Association of Mary Help of Christians (ADMA).

Mother Reungoat (above) highlighted the opportunity and necessity of each Salesian Family’s chapter assembly: “They are precious opportunities to revive today the apostolic and missionary passion that nourished the beginnings of the Salesian Family and that we try to keep alive today.”

On behalf of all the laity of the Salesian Family, Mr. Valeria thanked participants for their presence and offered his best wishes for “a strong [intense] time of meeting, prayer, and discernment.”

Cardinal Braz de Aviz offered his message to speak of an ecclesial horizon open to the present moment. It is in this context that a renewed document dealing with the relationships of consecrated life in the Church (mutuae relationes) is now at the final stages. He continued with the presentation of some current challenges for consecrated life.

First of all, he mentioned, those involving formation choices. Then he stressed the attention that must be paid to give a just and renewed importance to male-female reciprocity. Another open challenge is what concerns the service of authority. Last, but not least, is the challenge that awaits the management of ecclesiastical assets dependent on institutes of consecrated life.

Fr. Fernandez formally opened the work of GC28 and, immediately afterwards, gave the opening speech. He began with words of thanks for the many guests, Salesians and representatives of the groups of the Salesian Family. For Fr. Angel, too, the first focus is that of a prophetic and hopeful gaze for an especially significant commitment: “responsibly guiding and animating a charism of the Church, for the Church and for the world, aroused by the Spirit.”

And it is with this focus and this task that Salesians are challenged to renew “the responsibility of guiding communion and unity of life in the Congregation” with a single interest: taking care of the interests of God.

As Fr. Luigi Ricceri stated at GC20: “Ours is not an assembly of shareholders of an industry; it is not a political assembly with factions with conflicting interests that are economic, prestige and ambition. We are here as Church – better, as an assembly of consecrated men, gathered in the name of the Lord, totally devoted to a supernatural ideal.”

Moving on to the specific theme and objectives of the GC28, the Rector Major focused on a few objectives.

First of all, by underscoring that we must “give absolute priority to the Salesian mission with today’s young people, and among them giving priority to the neediest, poorest, and most abandoned.

Who is the Salesian who goes to meet young people today? What is his profile? The one that has Don Bosco as a model.

With Don Bosco as a model, saying “Salesian” today should be the same as saying:
- consecrated man of deep faith;
- apostolic passion for young people;
- son of God who knows he is and feels like a father to young people;
- charismatic identity of everyone who enriches the Church with the charism of Don Bosco and creates ecclesial communion;
- always faithful apostle of young people, always flexible and creative;
- always educator, always friend of young people.

Today, even more than in other times, the Salesian lives together with the laity in mission and formation. And in this area we have further to go, and Fr. Angel hopes that the general chapter “will perhaps consider some of these points on which to push our discernment,” to overcome resistance in the mission shared with the laity, to grow in reciprocity in relations between Salesians and lay people, with a joint formation.

GC28 is a great appeal or summons at this hour, as already indicated in its convocation letter: “We shall be called to discern with realism, courage, and determination the orientation of the path to embark upon in this 21st century, in a very special ecclesial moment of renewal and purification.”

The “business” started by Don Bosco has to be continued, as he himself said to Fr. Julius Barberis in 1875: “You will complete the work which I begin. I sketch; you will spread the colors.... I make a rough draft of the Congregation, and I will leave it to those who come after me to make the good [beautiful] copy.”

Fr. Angel concluded: “I think that with GC28, which we start today, we will clean up other parts of the sketch that Don Bosco left us, since the Holy Spirit continues to illuminate us even today to be faithful to the Lord Jesus in faithfulness to the charism of the origins, with the faces and music and colors of today.”