(ANS - Turin) - Don Francesco Cereda, Vicar of the Rector Major spoke to the Vatican Insider as the stage is being set for  today's meeting with the Pope. Highlighted below are some Salesian traits of Bergoglio. Here is an excerpt from the interview.

Pope Francis is coming to the site where lived the holy educator of young people. Don Cereda how do you find this meeting with the Successor of Peter, a figure so dear to Don Bosco?

"The Pope's visit to Turin is certainly a significant event in the bicentenary  of the birth of Don Bosco. This visit is an opportunity for the Pope to embrace the whole city with its vivid, vibrant characteristics: The Holy Shroud, The Church of Consolata, "Esteemed persons in society”, the general public, educators and especially the young people.Pope Francis will meet the Salesian Family in the Basilica of Mary Help of Christians at Valdocco. We will have this meeting with the Rector Major and the entire General Council of the Salesian Congregation, with the Mother General and the Council of the Daughters of Mary Help of Christians, the Salesian Cooperators, the Association of Mary Help of Christians, Past Pupils and Past Pupils and representatives of thirty groups of the Salesian Family. The presence of the Pope in Turin is an invitation to recognize Don Bosco as a gift that God has given to the Church, to renew our current commitment to young people, especially the poorest, to be and to feel as part of a living experience of the journey of the Church today. "

When the celebrations in honor of Don Bosco will concluded in October it will usher in the Jubilee of Mercy. What importance has divine mercy in the life and apostolate of St. John Bosco?

"We cannot say that the memory of Don Bosco, lived during the Bicentennial, will spill into the Jubilee of Mercy. Undoubtedly, however, the Holy Year called by Pope Francis will help us further enhance aspects of evangelical mercy which are in tune with our Salesian charismatic identity. These aspects should be highlighted in particular as a proposal to all young people, even in interreligious contexts, to live their life as Jesus the Lord himself lived; he is the face of mercy. Don Bosco has taught us to consider the educative  value of Confession in the formation of the character of a young man; to live premeated with loving kindness as a sign of closeness, understanding, attention to the person, giving hope to every young person, because in each one there is a seed of goodness; to carry out educational work in charity; to actualize the process of the inclusion of young people especially the excluded, marginalized and abandoned. "

Francesco is a Jesuit, it is true, but with ‘Salesian’ moorings.  What are these traits typical of Don Bosco present in Jorge Mario Bergoglio?

"Pope Francis is a gift of the Spirit to the Church and the world today. His testimony and his actions also help us Salesians to live authentically our charism. His language is simple, straightforward, understandable, and his style is spontaneous and non-formal. Pope Francis is a figure, humanly speaking close to God and his human appraoch reveals a God who is close to everyone, especially to the excluded. The spirituality that is proposed is that of daily life, lived with realistic and authentic gestures, filled with love and tenderness. He invites us to overcome spiritual worldliness, which consists in search for power and privilege, demonstration of strength and power, racing to the top position in career advancement, display of superiority and pride, hunger for money, comfort and luxury. He urges us to reallocate ourselves in places of most pressing needs, especially with the poor, starting from the suburbs. A religious community wounded is better than one seriously sick. In this style, I look at Don Bosco ... ".

The full interview with Don Francesco Cereda in Vatican Insider.

Published on 21/06/2015