(ANS – Rome) – A minor letter to meet, to share some moments (like the meeting of the General Superiors and Coordinator Generals of the Salesian Family) and to relive the beautiful testimonies of recent times offered by this vast movement of persons dedicated for the salvation of the young. This is the motive of the letter of the Rector Major to the Salesian Family, published today on the new website of the Salesian Congregation.

The minor letter opens with an explanation of it’s purpose, different from the letters published in the Acts of the General Council, because it was conceived "as a very informal way of sharing news, simple reflections of life, dreams and events." Consolidating this form of communication in the Letter to the family, the Rector Major presents also the time schedule – ordinarily between the months of April-May and October and also refers to the third method of communication which consists of the video series titled "Dear Brothers". He highlights the fact that the minor letters and the videos are translated into 20 languages, specifically to reach the heart of their recipients.

Also Fr. Artime remembers the unique and historical value of the meeting of the General Superiors and Coordinator Generals of the Salesian Family that took place in Turin around the feast of Don Bosco: a moment of profound charismatic, spiritual and human sharing, to renew our commitment and mission in favour of the young and world of the young, particularly the poor, abandoned and excluded. It was a Christian-Salesian profession of faith.

Finally the Rector Major recalls some of the news that the Lord has allowed us to do as the Salesian Family in the world on behalf of those in greatest need: the services addressed in favour of the refugees in South Sudan, as well that of the orphans due to Ebola in Sierra Leone, the assistance to the people affected by the natural disaster in Philippines and Nepal, those tried and tested by war in Ukraine, Syria and Yemen, the heroic witnessing of the young alumnus, Akash Bashir in Pakistan, as a silent but fruitful ministry of the Salesians and the members of the Salesian Family in various realities of the world.

The complete test of the Letter to the Family is available on the website of the Salesian Congregation, sdb.org.

Published on 05/06/2015