28th General Chapter

(ANS – Rome – May 29) – With the letter addressed to all the Salesians of the world, the Rector Major launched the journey toward the 28th General Chapter (2020), a chapter presenting two interesting novelties. The first is the return to Valdocco, 62 years after the last chapter hosted at the Salesian motherhouse, CG18 (1958). The second is the approach. In fact, it is the first time that a Salesian general chapter has proposed its theme as a question: “What kind of Salesians for today’s young people?”

It’s not simply a rhetorical question, but an exhortation to the Congregation to focus attention on the figure of the Salesian and to “synchronize or tune in” with the needs of today’s young people, in whatever context Salesians may be summoned to.

This journey, just begun, will gradually involve all the Salesians of the world, who with their contributions will help develop a quality working document to be used at GC28. At the center of every reflection is the figure of the Founder, who ever since his dream as a nine-year-old and from the origins of the Congregation asked himself the same question.

The development of GC28 at the Valdocco motherhouse, a setting full of meaning for Salesians, will certainly give body and tone to the work to be discussed and carried out.

In his letter of convocation, dated May 24, the Rector Major proposed a challenge and three orientations to be explored in the provincial chapters. There is an invitation to seek together, to respond to a wish, “the desire for greater human authenticity, a more intense spiritual depth, and a more radical vocational consistency.”

The first challenge, then, is to look deeply into the Salesian mission among today’s youths. A second challenge is the profile of the Salesian being formed to serve young people today; and finally there is sharing with the laity in the mission and the formation that is projected into the future.

The framework wherein GC28 takes place is certainly very complex. Young people today are immersed in a digital world; there is a need for professional and vocational training; some young people suffer the painful experience of exploitation; some have to emigrate to other nations. These realities, which were not even mentioned 30 or 40 years ago, have an impressive relevance for Salesians today. These are situations that lead out of one’s individual or personal security and preconceptions.

Without a doubt this question “What kind of Salesian for today’s young people?” is born of an experience of love, from the same question Don Bosco asked himself as he walked the streets of 19th-century Turin. Only someone who wants the good of the other is constantly searching for new ways to do good in way that is indeed better, looking for ways to help people who love each other to be happy.

It is something that occurs in all kinds of relationships: in marriage, in family life, in friendship, and, above all, in the love that moves people who consecrate themselves for the good of the neediest persons.