During this Chapter, the Salesians will carry out a review of the life and mission of the Congregation founded by St. John Bosco In 1859 in Turin, there will be proposals for changes in the Salesian norms and the central government will elect the Rector Major who will replace the previous Rector, Don Angel Fernandez Artime S.D.B., created by the Pope as a cardinal and consecrated bishop.
The Cardinal Fernandez Artime was also appointed at the beginning of January, pro-prefect of the Dicastery for Institutes of Consecrated Life and Societies of Apostolic Life, together with the Prefect Sister Simona Brambilla, M.C., Consolata Missionary Sister.
The official name of the Salesians is 'Society of St. Francis de Sales', in reference to the saint that the founder, St. John Bosco, born 30 kilometers from Turin, chose as a model for his kindness and evangelizing power. They are commonly known as "Salesians of Don Bosco", or simply "Salesians".
"Passionate about Jesus Christ, dedicated to young people."
The young people represent the first and most privileged horizon of the apostolic work of the Salesians, whose activities are organized in three sectors: education, missions and social communication.
This XXIX General Chapter (GC29) of the Salesian Congregation has as its central theme "Passionate for Jesus Christ, dedicated to the young", and is articulated in three nuclei of reflection: the animation and care of the vocational life of the Salesian; together, Salesians, Salesian family and laity 'with' and 'for' the young; and the revision and reorganization of the government of the Congregation at the various levels, as mentioned above.
The GC29 is held in Valdocco, the Turin neighborhood where the Mother House of the Congregation is located, and where the first work of Don Bosco was born.
Responding to today's challenges
The Archbishop of Turin, Cardinal Roberto Repole, presided over the opening Eucharist of the Chapter on Sunday afternoon in the Basilica of Mary Help of Christians in the Piedmontese capital. The celebration was an invocation to the Holy Spirit to accompany the work of the assembly, in which he invited the capitulars to have "God's gaze on the world, on society" and to face this moment "with a big, passionate heart". Cardinal Repole pointed out that there are "great challenges, but we must face them in an evangelical way, trusting in Christ, in his strength, in his presence".
Personal and institutional responses
After the Mass, already in the Valdocco theater, the opening session continued with some speeches.
Salesian Stefano Martoglio, vicar of the Rector Major, who led the Congregation after the resignation of Fernandez Artime, highlighted the mission of the Chapter Assembly: "to rethink the government of the Congregation at all levels" and to respond to the challenges of the present time in order to "allow ourselves to be questioned, not to remain calm and to offer both personal and institutional responses. This is the path of the whole Church, guided by Pope Francis.
Sr. Simona Brambilla, newly elected Prefect of the Vatican Dicastery for Consecrated Life, gave a message on the Gospel passage of the road to Emmaus. "The road takes us far from Jerusalem, from the painful experience of the cross," she explained. "But after the encounter with Jesus, the return begins, even in the night, but without fear, towards community and life."
"The future of the charism, in the hands of each one".
The Superior General of the Salesian Sisters, Sr. Chiara Cazzuola, also spoke and said that "the future of the charism is in the hands of each one of us, but above all in your hands, as a chapter assembly. This is an event of grace and synodality. It can radiate its strength in the daily life of the new generations and assure them a better future.
Antonio Boccia, world coordinator of the Salesian Cooperators, invited the capitulars to "strengthen the interior life and discover reasons for improvement. Your duty is to keep alive the flame of Don Bosco's charism, which is rooted in the spiritual community formed by the whole Salesian Family".
