(ANS – Campos do Jordão) – The Rector Major, Fr Pascual Chávez Villanueva, during the Retreat taking place at Campos do Jordão, Brazil, gave an interview published in the Santa Teresinha Parish bulletin, in which he spoke of the Salesian Family's relationship with the Benedict XVI and the role of the Pope, as well as the challenges that await the next Pope.

In his message indicating he was stepping down as Pope, you said that Benedict XVI had been very generous to the Salesian Family. Can you give me an idea of some of the things Benedict XVI did during his pontificate for the Salesian Family?

The Holy Father, Benedict XVI, was a person who appreciated the Congregation and the Salesian Family very much. In a personal meeting with him, when I drew his attention to Mamma Margaret, he demonstrated his knowledge of Don Bosco's life and his mother's life too. I had the chance to meet him often when he was holidaying at the Salesian House at Les Combes and each year at our parish at Castel Gandolfo, on the Feast of the Assumption. I always found him a man and a father of great kindness and gentleness; a true icon of God's love.
The Holy Father showed us a gesture of particular predilection for our General Chapter in 2008, receiving us and offering us a very significant message from a charismatic point of view. He greeted each one of the General Councillors. Benedict XVI knows our Congregation well and several times in his letter addressed to our 26th General Chapter, he expressed his esteem for the life and apostolic activity of our Family.

Don Bosco always asked that the Salesian Family give unconditional obedience to the Pope. Do you think this request is still valid today, when dialogue is very much to the fore? Why?

Don Bosco's attitude had its roots in faith. He saw, and we share this view, the Holy Father as the Vicar of Christ and his unconditional obedience was both an act of love for the Lord Jesus Christ and the Church, and for the Pope. Don Bosco's attitude is a fine legacy for us. We too are ready for total obedience to what the Pope asks us to do, even if such requests today follow the path of discussion, dialogue and the common search for truth.

What would be the ideal features of the next Pope for the Salesian Family?

We know that the Holy Spirit is at work and that the Pope to be elected will be someone who can best interpret the role of the Petrine ministry according to God's heart. Looking at the Church today, we want to ask the Lord for a Pope who is open to all the situations experienced by Christians and Catholics, as found across all the continents in their cultural circumstances. We hope for a great openness to the least, the poor, the little ones who have always been the first beneficiaries of the Kingdom of God. We ask the Lord that the Holy Father will be attentive to young people who, as always, are the hope of the Church. We also hope for a new and generous attention to women, recognising that women in the Church have always been generously commuted to the service of catechetics, charity and many other ministries on behalf of the ecclesial community. I would also hope for greater consideration on the Church's part, of Consecrated Life. Today, tried as we are by secularism and religious indifference, Religious men and women are testimony to the living God, and this means that their most important mission is to radically interpret the Gospel, incarnating the very life of Jesus in their being and action.

According to you, what are the main challenges awaiting the Pope to help young people become active players in their own lives?

I believe that the biggest challenge today is first of all a profound renewal of evangelisation. The Church needs to be close to all people especially the young, and be able to joyfully communicate the “good news” that god loves the world, loves humankind.
We have to remove the suspicion by the young that God is someone opposed to their happiness, and invite them instead to discover that the God who reveals himself in Jesus is Love. Young people themselves need to become active witnesses of authentic freedom by choosing values that incarnate the Gospel, through dedication to building a new society by accepting active responsibility for committed citizenship, by living their lives as a positive response to great matters of love, family, solidarity, life understood as a specific calling to build the Kingdom of God.

In what way can the Salesian Family contribute to the success of the next pontificate?

The Salesian Family is a Christian entity forever at the Church's service following a particular charism, the salvation of the young. In all its circumstances and through its various groups it works to “build up the Church” at local and global level. It is committed especially to the field of education which is always the primary element in forming today's young people to authentic human and gospel criteria. A further basic point is its commitment to evangelisation addressed not only to people who do not know the Gospel, but also those who want to undergo a journey of growth in faith and charity as indicated in the Gospel.
Education and evangelisation are inseparable activities. One cannot authentically educate without anchoring the person in the great gift of Christ's humanity; Christ who is both Son of God and Son of man.

Published 08/03/2013