(ANS - Vatican City) - Monday 31 March was an unusual and extraordinary day, the day we met Pope Francis. The Chapter members visited the Basilica of St. Peter beforehand to renew their profession of faith at the tomb of the Apostle.Then they turned their attention to the statue of the Apostle Peter and, above it, the statue of St. John Bosco, before making their way to the Clementine Hall for the audience.

Warm, loud and prolonged applause greeted the Pope when he entered the room just after 12.00 noon.  The Rector Major addressed the Pope with a family greeting: "Dear Pope Francis, Dear Father." Fr Fernandez thanked the Pope for his willingness to travel to Turin in 2015 on the occasion of the bicentenary of the birth of Don Bosco.

He departed from the written text, and, speaking in Spanish, he once again assured the Pope of the filial affection of the Salesians, and promised that he would continue to invoke Mary Help of Christians on his behalf as he had done often in the Sanctuary at Almagro in Buenos Aires.

Pope Francis addressed the chapter members in his usual style - simple, familiar but no less profound. Once again there were references to real life situations: temperance, doing without a siesta, the best to be sent among young people who are marginalized, young people out of work, possible tensions in the community, loving kindness, and care of vocations. In conclusion he said: "Please pray for me! Thank you!"

There were two rounds of applause for Pope Francis, one when he concluded his speech and another when he chose to stay and greet each one individually.

At the beginning of the afternoon session in the Assembly, the Rector Major referred to the experience as the "nice time that we had this morning." Referring than to the work of the next few days, Fr Fernandez encouraged the Chapter members to "give our confreres, the whole congregation and ourselves gestures, signs and resolutions that will help us to be prophetic at this time in history, in the Church and in our congregation."

We need courage to "find paths that will lead us boldly towards the poorest and the least, the most fragile. This is what is most genuine in our Salesian option for the poor, especially the poorest young people."

The Rector Major continued with a second call: "to continue to live in this beautiful atmosphere of fraternity." He called for a more universal fraternity. "I think the first document we are writing is about the everyday experience of fraternity, and the experience of the universal sense of belonging in the Congregation. This means fraternity not just with “my” confreres, those of my country and my culture, but also with confreres from other continents."

Father Tadeusz Rozmus, the new Regional for Central and Northern Europe, joined for the first time in the work of the Chapter.

Published 01/04/2014