INTRODUCTION
Over the last thirty years the Congregation has been engaged in a process of development of Youth Pastoral Work in harmony with the evolution of the world and of the Church, especially in the period following Vatican II.The five General Chapters which have taken place since 1971 have guided this process of deeper study. The SGC20 (1971) clarified the salesian mission and those to whom it is directed in the light of the conciliar renewal and in the context of the new historical circumstances. The GC21 (1978) did a rethinking of the content of salesian pastoral work with an adaptation of Don Bosco’s preventive system to modern conditions. It presents the salesian community as being itself evangelized and the animator of numerous apostolic forces, the Educative and Pastoral Project to be drawn up by every province, and defines the salesian identity of some settings for education and evangelization: the Oratory and Youth Centre, the school, parish and new salesian foundations.
Young people from Kabwe
The GC23 (1990), in face of the challenges posed by the new situation, of young people in their own contexts, defined the PEPS as a process of education to the faith, inspired, guided and finalized by Salesian Youth Spirituality. The GC24 (1996) placed the whole of this mission, expressed in the PEPS and animated by Salesian Youth Spirituality, within the broad horizons of a vast movement of persons who, in various ways, shared the spirit and mission of Don Bosco; the central part played by lay people, the new animating function of the salesian community, the EPC in which this communion and sharing in the spirit and mission of Don Bosco are manifested and realized, are some of the themes studied more deeply by the Chapter.
To the general indications offered by the Chapters have been added the more detailed reflections made by the Department, the Pastoral Centres and the Provinces themselves in an effort to provide an adequate pastoral program. These efforts have produced three major results: the elaboration of the Educative and Pastoral Project (PEPS) on the part of the Provinces and local communities; Salesian Youth Spirituality (SYS) spread and deepened among the young, as a unifying content of the Salesian Youth Movement (SYM); and the processes of human and Christian formation drawn up in various parts of the Congregation as a modern practical synthesis of youth evangelization.
In the course of these years the Youth Pastoral Department has accompanied this process by providing summaries for the use of workers in the field, collaborators, and formation personnel; of special significance are the documents giving guidelines for the elaboration of the PEPS in the Provinces and various works.
The abundant magisterium of the Rector Major, Fr Egidio Viganò has stimulated and guided this reflection[1] and process of assimilation, by analyzing more deeply the four fundamental dimensions of the Salesian Educative and Pastoral Project. The Congregation, the various Provinces and communities, under the influence of all these incentives, have made notable efforts in assimilation, clarification and realization, to provide an ever better response to the needs of the young. But at the same time they have found certain difficulties as, for instance, the gap between the number of proposals and the possibilities for their realization, the different rhythms of assimilation of the new pastoral mentality, the multiplicity of propositions and needs which lead to dispersion and little attention to reflection and especially to proper planning. The result is that the provinces manage to assimilate the guidelines of the Congregation and especially put them into practice only with great difficulty and in a limited form.
PART I: FUNDAMENTAL ELEMENTS
Chapter 1
FUNDAMENTAL ELEMENTS OF SALESIAN YOUTH PASTORAL MINISTRY
This first chapter presents the fundamental characteristics
of Salesian Youth Ministry within the overall framework of the salesian mission and spirituality. God’s call to Don Bosco to undertake a mission of salvation of the young, and especially the poorest of them, brings together many individuals and groups in a spiritual convergence and a shared educative and pastoral enterprise which is the Preventive System of Don Bosco. This is the source and inspiration of a concrete and original manner of living and giving effect to the salesian mission which we call the Salesian Youth Ministry.
1. DON BOSCO AND THE SALESIAN MISSION: A HISTORICAL AND CHARISMATIC POINT OF REFERENCE.
Don Bosco, under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, was acutely aware of being called by God to a unique mission for the benefit of the young and the poor. Signs from above, natural talents, advice of prudent persons, personal discernment, providential circumstances, all combined to convince him that God had enriched him with singular gifts and asked him for a total dedication to the young: “I have promised God that I would give of myself to my last breath for my poor boys” (C 1).
This mission to which the Lord called Don Bosco has its characterizing trait in the young, and especially the poorest of them (C 26). Without them Don Bosco is unrecognizable: “For you I study, for you I work, for you I live, for you I am ready even to give my life” (C 14).
But together with his field of work Don Bosco sensed the original purpose of his mission: to reveal to poor youngsters the love of God. He also sensed the principles underlying a pastoral style suited to this end: that of the Good Shepherd.
Don Bosco offered his whole being for the young in a strongly unified plan of life: his priestly life and his educative activity, his multiple relationships and deep spirituality, were all directed to the service of young people; “he took no step, he said no word, he took up no task that was not directed to the saving of the young” (C 21).
God does not cease to call many other believers to continue Don Bosco’s mission for youth. Among them are the salesian religious (SDB) whom he consecrates, unites and sends out to be in the Church signs and bearers of the love of God for the young and especially the poorest of them.
Sharing Don Bosco’s mission with them, in line with their specific vocations and styles of life, are the other groups of the Salesian Family, and a vast movement of persons and groups, men and women, with the most diverse conditions of life, who make up the Salesian Movement.
The salesian mission, beginning from Don Bosco and his experience at Valdocco, is of unlimited extent, and brings together many persons and groups in a spiritual convergence and in an educative and pastoral shared endeavour for the integral advancement of the young, especially those who are very poor.
2. A SPIRITUALITY IN THE MISSION: THE PREVENTIVE SYSTEM OF DON BOSCO
Don Bosco’s mission and life project, shared by the Salesian Family, are expressed in a style of life and activities, the Salesian Spirit, centred on pastoral charity and characterized by the youthful dynamism so strongly evident in Don Bosco and in the origins of our Family (cf. C 10).
This Salesian Spirit is embodied and manifested in the spiritual and educative experience of Don Bosco in the first Oratory at Valdocco; he called it the Preventive System. It belongs to the very essence of our mission; it is our manner of expressing pastoral Charity; it can be considered almost the synthesis of all Don Bosco wanted the nucleus of the program and pedagogical and pastoral project which he practised and entrusted particularly to the Salesian Family. It appeared as a rich synthesis of:
2.1 A spiritual experience
The Preventive System finds its origin and centre in the love of God who provides in advance for all his creatures, is ever present at their side and freely gives his life to save them (C 20).
This experience disposes us to welcome God in the young, convinced that in them he is offering us the grace of meeting with him and calling us to serve him in them, recognizing their dignity, renewing our confidence in their resources for good and educating them to the fullness of life (cf. GC23, 95).
This pastoral charity creates an educative relationship in line with the poverty of the adolescent, the fruit of the conviction that every life, poor, complex and precarious though it may be, contains in itself through the mysterious presence of the Spirit, the power of redemption and the seed of happiness (cf. GC23, 92).
2.2 A pastoral offer of youthful evangelization
This original proposal of youthful evangelization begins by meeting the young where they are to be found, giving due value to the natural and supernatural patrimony which every youngster has in himself, in an educative environment full of life and rich in opportunities; it is given effect through an educative process which gives priority to the poor and lowly; it promotes the development of the positive resources they possess, and offers a particular form of Christian life and youthful holiness (cf. GC23, 97-115).
This original project of Christian life is organized around certain experiences of faith, choices of values and evangelical attitudes which constitute Salesian Youth Spirituality (SYS), a style of educative holiness which prompts every young person to grow in Christ, the perfect man, by developing his interior dynamic forces towards maturity of faith.
2.3 A pedagogical methodology
The Preventive System is also a pedagogical methodology characterized by:
· the will to remain with the young, sharing their life, viewing their world with sympathy, attentive to their true needs and values;
· unconditional acceptance which becomes a tireless promoter of dialogue;
· the preventive criterion which believes in the strength of good present in every youngster, even the most needy, and tries to develop it through positive experiences of good;
· the centrality of reason, manifested as reasonableness in requests and norms, flexibility and inducement in proposals; of religion, understood as development of the sense of God inherent in every individual and of the effort at Christian evangelization; and of loving kindness, expressed as an educative love which leads to growth and creates correspondence;
· a positive environment full of personal relationships, enlivened by the loving and solid presence of the educators, who activate and animate, and by the participation of the youngsters themselves.
3. THE SALESIAN MISSION IS FOR US YOUTH PASTORAL MINISTRY (YPM)
The Preventive System is the source and inspiration of our manner of living the salesian mission which we call the Salesian Youth Pastoral Ministry.
Responding integrally, as did Don Bosco, to the whole evangelizing action of the Church in the world, we offer a specific charismatic contribution: we give priority to the world of youth; our pastoral activity is specifically directed to the young, with the characteristics proper to our salesian spirit.
Even though the preventive system is the source and inspiration of our youth pastoral ministry, there are some concrete characteristics which need emphasis:
3.1 A decisive choice: the young and their world
Don Bosco directed his work uncompromisingly towards the young; and among them he deliberately chose those who were poorest, in danger and on the margins of the Church.
He adopted the gospel attitude of going to those at a distance, looking for them in the streets and squares, workplaces, playgrounds, and meeting places like bars, cafes and shopping malls, where a religious topic can be easily introduced into a conversation; he welcomed them without prejudice or exclusion, recognizing and exploiting their positive qualities; he walked with them, adapting his pace to theirs.
He shaped his project to the measure of the young, to help them to grasp the rich nature of life and its values, to equip them to live in this world and make them more aware of their eternal destiny (C 26).
This preferential option for the young, and especially the poorest of them, prompts us to turn also to the densely populated areas where these youngsters live; and so we give our attention also to the lay people responsible for the evangelization of their local area, and to the family where different generations come together and build the future of mankind (cf. C 29).
Salesian pastoral work is useful not only because of the nature of those to whom it is primarily directed, but also because of the specific youthful quality of its style and outlook which, starting from the “pastoral charity, characterized by that youthful dynamism which was revealed so strongly in our Founder and at the beginnings of our Society” (C 10), is made explicit in the gift of predilection for the young which we live in every pastoral sector (C 14).
This choice of field of work gives us a specific way of looking at reality and of reacting to it, so as to understand it from the standpoint of the young, sensitive to the aspects which foster their education and evangelization, or which on the other hand imply risks; with attention to the positive aspects, new values and possibilities of revival; with an attitude of listening, empathy and dialogue with them.
And so in our analysis of reality, we keep in mind:
· the different situations of poverty which seriously compromise the education of the young and their reactions;
· educational institutions and the relationships they establish with the young: the family situation and its educative capacity, the educative system and the quality and integrity of the formation it offers, the means of social communication and the kind of mentality and culture they foster, etc.;
· social aspects which have a greater influence on the youth situation, such as the possibilities and quality of work offered to young people, opportunities for the use of free time, possibilities of group activity, etc.;
· the religious phenomenon of the neighbourhood, the presence and action of the Church, what it offers young people and their situation in its regard; the presence of the various religions and other forms of religious practice;
· the cultural reality of the people with its ensemble of values and limits, experiences, languages and symbolisms which form its mentality and sensitivities;
· the main characteristics of the youth condition, and the urgent needs to which they give rise.
3.2 A task: educate by evangelizing and evangelize by educating
Don Bosco’s pastoral concern arose from the process of humanization which seeks the integral growth of each young individual and the construction of society; “we educate and evangelize according to a plan for the total well-being of man directed to Christ, the perfect Man. Faithful to the intentions of our Founder, our purpose is to form ‘upright citizens and good Christians’” (C 31).
Salesian Youth Ministry emphasizes the deep relationship between educative activity and evangelizing action because it is founded on an experience of faith: life as a gift in which God is present even under poor and paltry appearances. The Christ event is the proof of this. And so the choice is made: to remain on the side of life, of its meaning and dignity, of its fullness, even to the extent of opening it to the Lord of Life, Christ Jesus.
This implies the making of some precise options:
· A positive directing of the whole educational process of the young towards their configuration to Christ, the perfect man, making of him and his Gospel the point of reference at the level of mentality and life.
· Enriching with evangelical values and Christian dynamism the processes of the maturing of freedom and responsibility, the formation of conscience and of criteria of evaluation and judgement, the development of the social dimension of the person with an attitude of service.
· Presenting the Gospel in a manner strictly linked with concrete existence, harmoniously inserted in the growth processes of the person and deeply bound up with the values of culture, like a true educative mediation which stimulates, promotes and supports authentic personal growth.
· Encouraging the growth of an operative faith, characterized by the social dimension of charity for the advent of a culture of solidarity.
The goal which the YPM proposes to the young person is that of building his own personality with Christ as the fundamental reference, a reference which, as it becomes progressively more explicit and interiorly recognized, will help him to see history as Christ sees it, to judge life as he judges it, to choose and love as he does, to hope as he teaches, to live in him the communion with the Father and the Holy Spirit (cf. GC23, 112-115).
The salesian plan of Christian education, i.e. the process of education to the faith, is thought out as a unified process towards this goal. The process has an internal dynamic element expressed in the four characteristic dimensions of the salesian educative and pastoral project, or PEPS (the educative and cultural dimension, the dimension of evangelization and catechesis, the vocational dimension, and the dimension of group experience).
Here are the characteristics of this internal dynamism of the salesian pastoral plan:
The starting point is the meeting with the young at the point where they are to be found, listening to their demands and aspirations, exploiting the patrimony which every young person has within himself, offering them an educative environment full of life and rich in proposals. Such an environment:
encourages and accompanies them in the development of all their human resources and brings out their deepest aspirations, even for a craving for the transcendent,
guides them towards the meeting with Jesus Christ, the perfect man,
matures in them an intense sense of ecclesial membership,
as they gradually discover their own vocation in the transformation of the world in line with God’s design. (cf. C 32-37; GC23, 116-157)
3.3 A community experience
The community experience characterizes our apostolic work and educative style, in which: the community is the subject of the pastoral mission (C 44); we set young people on the way to an experience of Church by enabling them to take part in a community (C 35); the family spirit, personal relationships, mutual confidence between educators and youngsters are characteristics of our style of educating and evangelizing; as also is the promoting of group life and activity, and of youth leadership (C 16, 35).
This community, the subject of the salesian pastoral mission, is an articulated community, which starts from the salesian community and opens up to broader realities after the manner of concentric circles (C 5):
· The salesian community, which realizes the salesian mission through its religious life.
· The Salesian Family, the ensemble of groups instituted in the Church, which feel and realize the salesian vocation; they share the salesian spirit and spirituality and share also the responsibility for the salesian mission, with each group contributing its own particular characteristics and vocational richness.
· Many other lay people, who share the spirit and mission of Don Bosco, and collaborate at different levels in educational and pastoral responsibilities.
· The salesian movement, the sum total of people who with an attitude of sympathy for the figure of Don Bosco, and his spirit and mission, intend to collaborate in various ways in initiatives for doing good and thus sharing in the salesian mission.
Salesian pastoral ministry, therefore, is not identified with nor limited to the salesian community and salesian work, though the latter is necessary nevertheless as a central place for the gathering and formation of the vast movement working for the young, within and outside salesian structures, in the Church and in institutions of civil society (GC24, 4). This communion and sharing in the spirit and in the mission of Don Bosco between Salesians and laity is manifested and expressed in a particularly intense and visible way in the Educative and Pastoral Community (EPC), which “involves young people and adults, parents and educators, in a family atmosphere, so that it can become a living experience of Church” (C 47; cf. R 5).
3.4 A specific style: animation
Salesian Youth Ministry gives priority to the way of education for leading the individual to listen to the Gospel and accept it. We make this way concrete by the use of animation (cf. GC21, 46), which is a specific style for the realization of the educative and pastoral mission in line with the values of Don Bosco’s preventive system, and one which promotes in every young person the joy of living and the courage to hope.
This original educative style, the purpose of which is to mature individuals and institutions towards the fullness of life by activating a critical process of liberating advancement, is founded on some fundamental convictions which are at the same time specific practical options:
· confidence in the individual and in his capacity for doing good; for this the person must be the protagonist and personally involved in all the processes that concern him;
· the liberating force of educative love; for the development of their internal energies youngsters need to be in contact with educators who are endowed with a deep and educative loving kindness; for this reason animation requires the exploitation of an interpersonal relationship marked by confidence, sharing and reciprocal acceptance, together with the courage to make effective proposals;
· openness to each and every youngster, without lowering educational expectations, but offering to each one what is needed here and now; this implies accepting the youngster in his present state as regards freedom and maturity, the gradual reawakening of his potentialities and he opening of his life to new perspectives through various educative and religious processes;
· the active presence of educators among the young, establishing with them a personal relationship which is at the same time positive and liberating, and the creating of a human environment of quality with a plurality of significant educational suggestions according to the needs of the young.
3.5 An organic pastoral work: diversity in organic unity:
The various activities and interventions in YPM all have the one single purpose: the integral advancement of young people and of their world. Hence a sectorial kind of pastoral work consisting of many activities not linked with each other through an organic pastoral plan is to be avoided; there must be an operative communion around the great objectives, the criteria of action and the preferential options of all the aspects relating to pastoral activity, so as to create a linkage and interrelationship between them.
Such a convergence is required: by the subject, the young person, to whom the various proposals are directed; and by the educative and pastoral community, which must share the objectives and lines of action, and the necessary complementary relationship between the various interventions, experiences and pastoral models.
This organic unity of the YPM is realized through:
· The PEPS, which at various levels (local and provincial) defines the objectives which must shape and promote the convergence and operative communion in the educative and pastoral community of the multiple activities, interventions and persons.
· An organization of pastoral animation which promotes communication, coordination and team work around the objectives for the education and evangelization of the young. (cf. GC23, 240-242).
3.6 A significant presence in the Church and in the world
Pastoral work is the action of the Church which renders Jesus Christ and his reality of salvation present in a human group living in a determined time and space. It therefore has two essential points of reference: Jesus Christ, living and present in the Church, and the concrete human group with its social and cultural reality.
Salesian Youth Ministry is inserted in this pastoral activity of the Church to enrich it with the gift of the salesian charisma, and to embody it in the world of youth.
The broad community, to whom the pastoral work is entrusted, lives and acts in the Church and in the world as a significant presence.
· As a cell of the ecclesial community
from it is received its life and mission,
it collaborates to make it present and living among the young,
it enriches it with its gift of the Salesian Youth Spirituality, Don Bosco’s educative system and the vitality of the Salesian Family and of the Salesian Youth Movement.
For this reason the educative and pastoral community cultivates a renewed ecclesial awareness (C 13), and is adequately inserted into the pastoral work of the local Church, taking up its criteria with conviction, taking part in its animating organisms, and fostering the bonds with the various educational realities present in it.
· As a significant presence of the saving action of God in the socially and politically organized human community
- it participates “in the commitment of the Church to justice and peace” (C 33),
- it fosters the transformation of situations opposed to Gospel values (C 7, 33).
Hence the educative and pastoral community:
- ensures its presence in the human contexts in which young people live, in particular those who are outcasts or on the margin of society (salesian presence in civil society), with particular attention to the elements which have greater influence on their education and evangelization, discerning in them the signs of the salvific presence of God;
- participates decisively in cultural discussions and educative processes through various forms of group activity, of the volunteer movement and of social cooperation, bringing an original educative contribution to the creation of a mentality and of a social and civil conscience which is solidly Christian and for the evangelization of culture;
- renders effective a salesian work or foundation which, with its own educational and pastoral identity, becomes a centre for meetings, a sign of communion and participation, and a factor for the transformation of the environment (cf. GC23, 225-229; GC24, 173-174).
· As a presence of the Church in pluri-religious and pluri-cultural contexts
Youth Pastoral Ministry is realized also in contexts of cultural and religious pluralism, with a notable presence of lay people of various cultures and beliefs who take part in our mission.
Hence it must be always open to dialogue and to collaboration with the different religious traditions, promoting with them the integral development of the person and his openness to the transcendent.
The basic criterion for this collaboration is the preventive system:
“with those who do not accept God we can journey together, basing ourselves on the human and lay values present in the preventive system;
with those who do accept God and the transcendent we can go further, even to welcoming their religious values;
and finally, with those who share our faith in Christ but not our membership of the Church, we can walk still more closely on the path of the Gospel” (GC24, 185).
For this reason it is important that in the EPC Christians live in fidelity to their vocation and to the evangelizing mission of the Church in line with the salesian charism (cf. GC24, 183-185).