(ANS – Rome) – Don Bosco showed filial loyalty to the Pope. This profound attitude is still alive today in the religious, consecrated and lay people who continue his charism and apostolic commitment to the Church and society. It is an attitude that is now renewed with the election of Pope Francis.
In the first article of Chapter 6 of the Italian edition of the 1875 Constitutions, Don Bosco wrote: I soci riconosceranno per loro arbitro e superiore assoluto il Sommo Pontefice, cui saranno in ogni cosa, in ogni luogo e in ogni tempo umilmente e rispettosamente sottomessi or, “The members will recognise the Supreme Pontiff as their absolute judge and superior. They will respectfully and humbly submit to him This is a filial obedience, full of love and an obedience Don Bosco himself gave example of.
In the Salesian Constitutions renewed in 1984, there are two articles which make explicit reference to the successor of Peter: articles 13 and 125. “The Salesian Family Charter” also picks up the same direction and is pervaded by the filial loyalty to the Pope that characterised Don Bosco.
Awareness of being Church
Article 13 in the first part of the Constitutions describes a profile of the Salesian religious – it describes, as a basic attitude, the ecclesial identity of Salesian spirit and pastoral charity expressed in a renewed “ecclesial awareness”, of loyalty to the Pope, communion with the bishops and commitment to building up the local Church. The article says that the Salesian loves the Church, works for its growth, educates the young to love it. The reason for this love is based on the fact that the Church was willed and loved by Christ.
Filial loyalty to the Successor of Peter is a Salesian characteristic. Don Bosco's life and tradition attest to that. “When the Pope expresses a wish in our regard, this is a command for us”, “I feel really indignant”, he wrote on one occasion, “at the scant regard certain writers have for the Pope... we have to cluster tightly around him...”, the “fundamental purpose of the Congregation, right from the beginning, was to continuously support and defend the authority of the Supreme head of the Church in the less well-to-do classes of society and especially youth at risk”. These are but some of the lines that indicate Don Bosco's complete dedication to the Church and the Pope.
For the Popes that he knew, Don Bosco was an extremely attentive servant. The Salesian loves the Pope and does not hide his love for him. He knows how to propose this love to the young and help them to be attentive to his teaching, in the certain knowledge that he is giving them a sure reference point in their search for truth.
The Supreme Pontiff is the highest superior of the Salesian Society
Article 125 in the fourth part of the Constitutions about the service of authority, recognises the Pope as the highest superior of the Congregation. It describes Salesian attitudes of filial loyalty to the Supreme Pontiff.
Published 15/03/2013
