(ANS - Ambanja) - "My father was a former Salesian student and since my childhood he always spoke to me about Don Bosco. I was just ten years old when I went to the Salesian College of Pedara. The teachers made us love mathematics, Latin, and Italian poets like Dante ... Slowly a great desire to imitate them matured inside me, or rather to imitate the one they pointed to as their model - Don Bosco." This is how Bishop Rosario Vella, SDB, of Ambanja told us about his first contact with the Salesians, in a recent interview we had with him.

Tell us about your vocation...

In my youthful ideals there was always a desire to help those who were poor, forgotten or distressed. When I began to reflect on what to do with my life I thought of two ways.

"I could become a doctor, and take care of the poor, the ones that nobody else is looking after, the people forgotten by society. Or I could become a politician, because politicians can change the structures of society and help the needy. "

But I wondered: "Who are the poor? Are the poor those who do not have a home, or clothes, or something to eat? ". No, not these. Even if they have no house or clothes or bread, however, they still have the love of the people who are part of their lives. The poorest are those who do not have God, because if they have not got God, they have nothing. Their hearts are completely empty and their lives are meaningless.

That’s how I decided to become a priest and, like Don Bosco, seek out the poorest and most abandoned.

What is the situation of the Church in Madagascar and what contribution do the Salesians make?

The Malagasy people are young: 60% of the population is aged under twenty. Unfortunately in Madagascar young people count for nothing. They are like a product or a commodity. It is hard to see how a young Malagasy can face the future with confidence and enthusiasm: there are no jobs, corruption is soaring, and insecurity and crime are daily bread. The school situation is an educational and social disaster. Young people are really forgotten and have to fight hard to have a future.

The Church does its best. Just as an example: in the diocese of Ambanja we put in a great effort to meet the needs and expectations of the young. We prepare them for the future through education, which is the greatest strength of a people seeking real progress. This is why we have strengthened and developed schools, from elementary to university. In schools, we try not only to impart culture, but above all to form consciences.

The full interview is available in Italian here.

Published 17/12/2015