The starting point: the cultural dimension of initial formation

The formation of the Salesian is not limited to studies nor measured only by intellectual ability, and so I would not want the insistence on cultural commitment to be interpreted as a selective criterion on the basis of intelligence quotients. We know that all capacities, and in particular those of the heart and self-donation, can find a place in the salesian community and mission. Unusual, however, is the importance given by our Ratio to the urgent need for a serious cultural preparation, taking its inspiration from the history of the Congregation and amply sustained by the most recent guidelines of the Church.

For the Salesian – and it applies not only to the young confreres – it is indispensable to have an understanding of the life which leads to a solidly motivated vocational option, and helps to an evermore mature and conscious living, without any complexes or cutting down, his own identity and its human significance. Not unreal is the risk of going astray in the face of currents of thought, or of taking refuge in models of behaviour and forms of expression that belong to the past. In such a case our vocation, isolated from life and culture, would not become leaven and challenge but would rather be relegated to the level of a subjective choice.

The qualification we are speaking of is determined by "for you I study"; i.e. it receives its original characterization from the mission. For this reason some particular aspects acquire priority – in the first place a special knowledge of the world of youth and the capacity for an educative and pastoral insertion in it. We know from experience that this demands constant attention and reflection. It also requires the practical ability to translate the educative mission into meaningful projects in the present context marked, as it is, by complexity, freedom, pluralism and worldwide extension. An understanding as complete as possible of the pastoral field and the possession of pedagogical competence are a great help, as also is a spiritual frame of reference which, with the "grace of unity" accompanying salesian apostolic consecration helps to translate the exertions of knowledge and action into an experience of life in the Spirit. We have often said that spirituality, pastoral work and pedagogy must be united in the mind and in life: the road to sanctity, pastoral commitment, and the education of the young and of people in general.

Today the urgency of this synthesis has not grown any less. Indeed the tendency to fragmentation, to what is immediately understandable and practicable leaves us exposed to dangerous gaps and lack of completeness.

The need for a solid basic culture is strongly emphasized in ecclesial documents and in recent years in our reflections on formation. "It is necessary", declares the Apostolic Exhortation Pastores dabo vobis, "to oppose firmly the tendency to play down the seriousness of studies and the commitment to them. This tendency is showing itself in certain spheres of the Church, also as a consequence of the insufficient and defective basic education of students beginning the philosophical and theological curriculum. The very situation of the Church today demands increasingly that teachers be truly able to face the complexity of the times and that they be in a position to face competently, with clarity and deep reasoning, the questions about meaning which are put by the people of today, questions which can only receive full and definitive reply in the Gospel of Jesus Christ. "On many sides", declared the Instrumentum Laboris of the Synod on Consecrated Life, "is emphasized the need for an intellectual, philosophical and cultural formation which is more solid and intense, also in view of an adequate study of theology and of preparation for the new evangelization".

We must therefore re-emphasize the importance of intellectual formation and where necessary restore it to levels which correspond to the present day. In fact, "without an updated cultural preparation which enables the vocation to be lived in a conscious manner, which leads to an adequate vision of reality, creates habits of reflection and provides opportunities for further study", we cannot even hope to achieve the internal objectives of the Congregation as, for instance, those laid down by the GC24.

Guided by evaluations of this kind, we have expressed in the program of the General Council for this period some guidelines tending to "qualify intellectual preparation during the initial formation phase". I will refer to three of them which I entrust in a special way to the young confreres and those responsible for their formation.

The first is aimed at "making the young confreres aware of the necessity of a solid cultural and professional qualification, and of commitment to reflection and study". The accent is on awareness. The initial phases of formation, in addition to leaving a synthetic and systematic doctrinal foundation, which can be enlarged and modified, should inculcate also a taste for reflection, a method of study, a plan for further formation and the conviction that a Good Shepherd for the practice of the Word must also be always a good "doctor", with a sound knowledge of the mysteries of the Kingdom and of human life.

And then we want to "verify and adapt intellectual formation (set-up, programs, methods etc.) to the needs of our vocation and mission". This includes contents and competences which regard religious and Christian experience, problems which more greatly afflict the human conscience, and conditions and processes of growth of young people according to the differences in the way their life is presented.

Finally, we are concerned in intellectual formation to "emphasize the salesian perspective, the study of ‘salesianity’ and the implementation of the indications of the GC24". Salesian sensitivity, which is part of the charism and a gift of the Spirit, is the standpoint for original syntheses. We must not fall into genericism. Practice suggests the method for organizing thought and viceversa. On the other hand, explicit salesian material has become abundant: there is history which must not be forgotten, spirituality to be understood, our general pedagogical patrimony and the particular lines of practical pedagogy; and there is the evolution of thought to which salesian literature bears witness.

In this context I also add another indication which I consider important. The awareness of the universality of the Congregation, the composition of the Regions and groups of Provinces, and the tendencies of the world suggest a commitment for the overcoming of linguistic barriers and creating possibilities of greater communication and collaboration. It is therefore opportune to include in one’s personal cultural equipment the learning to a useful level of one or more languages in addition to one’s own.

To the young confreres, who during initial formation devote a great deal of time to study and reflection, I would like to repeat what I said some time ago to the community of our theological studentate of Turin-Crocetta: "I am convinced that a strong and complete intellectual formation is more urgently necessary today than ever before. In certain environments immediate practical ability and contact is not enough. After the first step there is the need for enlightening individuals, groups and large communities; of intervening at times in areas of life and thought which require in the one speaking a deep knowledge of the mystery of God, the vocation of man, and the present conditions in which life is lived. Thoughtlessness, if we may so call it, in intellectual formation pays no dividends in any context, and rushed solutions in pastoral work, if they are immediately successful, soon fail, even in the short term".