Walking Together: A Synodal Journey with the Salesian Family in the Jubilee Year and Beyond

 

“When we forget our origins—the struggles, sacrifices, and vision of those who came before us—we risk losing our identity and mission.”

Introduction: Remembering Our Roots

On July 14, 2025, the first reading at Mass reminded us of a haunting reality: “Now there arose a new king over Egypt, who did not know Joseph” (Ex 1:8). In his homily, Fr. Francis Alencherry drew a profound connection to our own Salesian journey. Pharaoh’s ignorance of Joseph’s legacy led to fear and oppression of the Israelites. When we, too, forget our spiritual ancestors—Don Bosco, Mother Mazzarello, and the pioneering missionaries in our region—we risk falling into a similar pattern: fear, complacency, and disconnection from our original charism. He emphasized that forgetting our spiritual origins and the centrality of Christ, has the same dangerous effect on us.

As the Salesian Province of Kolkata (INC) enters its centenary phase, and as the global Church celebrates the Jubilee Year of 2025, this is a kairos moment—a graced time—to look both backward and forward. The story of our beginnings is not just nostalgia; it is a compass guiding us into the future. Our forebearers imparted invaluable lessons through struggle and sacrifice. To forget them is to risk drifting into fear, routine, and loss of purpose.

The vision of Don Bosco was not confined to 19th-century Turin. His dreams were global, missionary, and inclusive—centred on Christ, the young, and the Church. The General Chapter 29 (GC29) of the Salesian Congregation boldly affirms this by urging every Salesian and lay collaborator to walk together on a synodal journey—listening, discerning, and building community.

The Role of Leadership in Preserving Charism

Imagine Don Bosco’s early Oratory scene—a prototype of pedagogy and community.

Leadership is not merely about administration. It is, at its heart, about safeguarding the spirit and ensuring that institutions remain faithful to their original fire. This insight was powerfully reinforced with the recent appointment of Fr. Mauro Mantovani as the Rector of the Salesian Community at the Holy See (July 12, 2025). In his installation message, Fr. Fabio Attard emphasized three essential marks of leadership that apply equally across our province and works:

• Christocentrism: A Salesian community must shine with the light of Christ. We are not social workers or educators first—we are disciples. When Christ is at the center, our mission finds its true energy and direction.
• Relationship with Jesus: If our roots are not deep in personal prayer and love for Jesus, our works may become efficient but hollow. Without Jesus, our Preventive System loses its soul.
• Community as Family: In a world marked by fragmentation and loneliness, young people are not seeking perfection or performance—they are hungry for authenticity, for belonging. A Salesian home must be just that: a home.

These principles are not exclusive to Rome. They are just as urgent in our houses in Kolkata, Krishnagar, Siliguri, Bangladesh, Nepal and beyond. Whether a Rector with decades of service or a young priest entering leadership, we are all called to be animators of communion, upholding Don Bosco’s legacy and translating it into new contexts. Salesian leaders are called to build “bridges of fraternity and service” by upholding Don Bosco’s charism and responding creatively to emerging challenges.

Collaboration with the Laity: A Synodal Imperative

The Synodal Church envisioned by Pope Francis calls for a radical shift: from doing things for the people to doing things with them. This is not a new idea for us. Don Bosco always believed in partnership—be it with Mamma Margaret, the first Co-operators, or his early lay supporters. Collaboration is not just strategic—it is theological. Vatican II and subsequent Salesian directives have emphasized the partnership between religious and laity in mission. This synodal “walking together” echoes the early belief of Don Bosco.

Today, that same vision is bearing fruit through vibrant lay movements and structures within the Salesian Family:

• Salesian Co-operators carry the spirit of the Preventive System into homes, workplaces, and parishes. Their daily witness makes Don Bosco’s dream tangible.
• Past Pupils are the living fruits of Salesian education, now making a difference in society—as professionals, politicians, parents, and priests.
• Associations like ADMA, Savio Clubs, SYM, and Vincent de Paul groups are cultivating faith, service, and joy among the youth, creating new spaces of encounter with Jesus.
• Parish Pastoral Councils and Economic Commissions ensure shared governance and accountability, embodying the principle of subsidiarity and empowering the baptized laity to exercise their full dignity and responsibility.

This synergy between religious and laypersons is not optional. It is a synodal necessity. It is the only way forward for our Province, especially as vocations among clergy decrease and the complexity of our mission grows. Lay formation, therefore, cannot be an afterthought. It must be at the heart of every Salesian institution. For a future Church with fewer clerical vocations and greater societal complexity, they are essential. Emphasizing lay formation and encouraging co-responsible leadership is crucial.

The Centenary Challenge: Renewing Our Mission

As we stand at the threshold of the 100th year of the Salesian Province of Kolkata (INC), it is a time not only for celebration but also for sincere examination  and intentional evaluation and commit to renewal. The spirit of a Jubilee is not triumphalism but teshuvah—a biblical return, a recommitment to the covenant.

Some urgent questions confront us:

• Are we faithfully transmitting Don Bosco’s charism to the next generation? Charism is not inherited automatically. It must be reinterpreted and re-owned by every new era. Are our schools, parishes, youth centres, and formation houses alive with Salesian passion and pedagogy?
• Are our structures and ministries still serving the poorest and most marginalized youth? Don Bosco’s preferential option was always for the abandoned and vulnerable. Have we become too institutional, too comfortable, too self-preserving? Where is the slum child, the tribal girl, the dropout boy, in our pastoral planning?
• How can we strengthen lay formation and leadership in our works? Formation is not just for novices and seminarians. Laypeople also need spaces for theological, spiritual, and leadership training—spaces that honour their vocation and equip them to co-lead the mission.

This centenary is a sacred challenge. It invites every Salesian house and work to look afresh at its vision, staffing, outreach, and effectiveness. This centenary is not simply a milestone—it is a mission calling. It demands review, prophetic choices, and courageous solidarity with those on the margins. It calls for both reform and revival—bold decisions, prophetic choices, and renewed solidarity with the poor.

The Spirituality of Walking Together

“Synodality” is not just a new buzzword. It is a spirituality—a way of being Church. Pope Francis describes it as “journeying together: laity, pastors, the Bishop of Rome” embracing shared mission and discernment. For the Salesian Family, this means rediscovering our identity as a people on the move—pilgrims and companions on a shared mission. GC29 embodied this through its structured working process—listening, discerning, proposing—across six commissions with intercultural participation.

Synodality demands listening—not only to the Holy Spirit but to each other. It requires letting go of clericalism and embracing shared discernment. It opens up space for voices from the margins: women, youth, lay leaders, persons with disabilities, and those from diverse cultures and faiths.

The Salesian way has always been communal and incarnational. From the Oratory of Valdocco to the schools of Siliguri, Nepal, Bangladesh, Krishnagar, hill institutions,  to the shelters in Kolkata, our strength has come from family spirit, from being among the people—not above them.

As Don Bosco once told his boys, “For you I study, for you I work, for you I live, and for you I am ready even to give my life” —this encapsulates the heart of synodal walking: humble, hopeful, and inclusive. That same pastoral heart must guide our journey today: humble, hopeful, synodal. We must recognize the voices of the margins—laywomen, youth, multicultural members, and those living on society’s peripheries—and truly listen.

Conclusion: A Future Built on Fraternity and Fidelity

In this Jubilee Year of 2025 and the centenary ahead, we embrace the Rector Major’s call: “Live your mission with passion and fidelity.” Passion invites us to dream anew; fidelity keeps us anchored to Christ and the charism. These twin beacons light our path forward. As we gather in various moments of community life—whether meetings, retreats, assemblies, or agape meals—let us do so not merely to organise events but to kindle communion.

As a Salesian Family—religious and lay, from youth councils to parish assemblies, from formation houses to mission fields—we recommit to the synodal journey. We plant ourselves firmly on the foundations laid in Turin—and at the oratory in Valdocco—but look ahead into the promise.

Passion means daring to dream again. Fidelity means remaining rooted in Christ and the charism. Together, they form the compass for our future.

The Jubilee Year 2025 is not the end of a journey—it is a new beginning. As we walk this synodal path—with the Salesian Family, with young people, with the Church universal—let us carry with us the memory of our founders, the courage of our predecessors, and the joy of the Gospel.

May Don Bosco, Mary Help of Christians, and all Salesian saints accompany us. May our unity, our shared mission, and our synodal way renew Don Bosco’s dream, transforming lives for generations to come.

"The Salesian Family does not walk alone. Together, in communion with the Church, we walk the path of renewal, fraternity, and mission—faithful to the dream that once began in a humble oratory in Turin, now blossoming across the world."

Bibliography

• Alencherry, Francis. Homily on Exodus 1:8 (July 14, 2025). Salesian Province of Kolkata, July 14, 2025.
• Attard, Fabio. Installation Address for Fr. Mauro Mantovani. Holy See Salesian Community, July 12, 2025.
• Bozzolo, Andrea, and Eunan McDonnell. "The Synodal Method in the General Chapter," Salesian Bulletin (Turin), March 4, 2025.
• Salesian Congregation. GC29: Working Document. South Asia Province. 2024.
• Salesian Congregation. "Chapter Members Working on the Three Core Themes of GC29." Salesian Bulletin, March 7, 2025.
• Salesian Congregation. "GC29: Walking Together with Unity and a Synodal Method." ANS – Turin, March 3, 2025.
• Vatican Council II. Lumen Gentium and Apostolicam Actuositatem. Vatican City: Libreria Editrice Vaticana, 1964.
• Vatican. “Message of His Holiness Pope Francis for Lent 2025: Let us journey together in hope.” February 6, 2025. https://www.vatican.va/content/francesco/en/messages/lent/documents/20250206‑messaggio‑quaresima2025.html
• Vatican II. Gaudium et Spes. Vatican City: Libreria Editrice Vaticana, 1965.
• Vatican II. Gravissimum Educationis. Vatican City: Libreria Editrice Vaticana, 1965.

A PROPHET, REJECTED IN OWN COUNTRY

    

In Matthew’s account, the rejected Jesus at Nazareth, refers to himself as a prophet. More than a prophet Jesus is the Word Incarnate - the Truth in person. According to the OT, a prophet is a religious visionary and truth-teller, someone who feels with God and speaks out that felt experience. They speak truth to power. As he/she stubbornly sees the world through the lens of God’s word and speaks the truth, it implies opposition, confrontation, and critique. Prophets often spoke a ‘message from God’ while reading the signs of the times, spoke of God’s revealed truth into that particular situation, as a warning of what was to come if one did not follow the way. They simply and fearlessly pointed out the obvious (John the Baptist spoke bluntly against Herod the Tetrarch living with his brother’s wife). 

 Today’s prophets do not  condemn a person, instead, presents God’s word to evoke and provoke in order to enlighten others, and help to come face-to-face with the living God. We all need to heed to the “prophets'' of our days and participate in the prophetic ministry of Christ by incarnating God’s word within a particular situation; allow them to inform our way of thinking, acting, and speaking. Their ‘insights’ are the lens by which we read the signs of the times. John’s outspoken truth cost him his head. The nonsensical pride and vanity of the day can make people spineless. Persons become unable to resist the lure of the world. Sin strives.  Conscience and truth are compromised. Prophets, in such situation, become a light in the darkness. They give witness to us. We all are called to follow in the same prophetic path, remaining firm in the truth. Can we be counted among the prophets of our days? 

 The Present Day Prophets

It is time to listen to the prophets of today. Swami Agnivesh and Stan Swamy have been led to their death; so too many, innocent though, are languishing behind bars. Hans Kung died recently, unreconciled with the doctrinal Church. A Prophet raises up the conscience of the people with an existential and contextual significance. Persecuted as God’s servant ((Jn 15:20) Stan Swamy proved his prophetic identity, through a fuller participation in paschal mystery by self-emptying, for the sake of the marginalised and the exploited Adivasis in India (cf. Edwin Rodrigues, editorial, VJTR, 85(August 2021)8, p.4). Stan resisted inequality, and took prophetic stand for justice and human rights. A true prophet infuses valour and courage in persons, to be other prophets in the society. Like Stan, many a prophet, serve as a “grain of wheat that falls to the ground and dies” (Jn 12:24) through their upright life and struggle. Prophets express dissent and raise questions, to right the wrong through a strength of character. While the common people acclaim them, they face criticism and condemnation from the authority, for whom they are a threat. Prophets commit themselves to the cause of the most vulnerable and speak out for them through critical thought and action. They are the ‘salt’ and ‘leaven’ on this earth, to energize and bring new life in the people.

 Many prophets are still existing today through their extraordinary life of dedication to truth and justice. Many are critical of the Church, and yet are loyal to her despite of difficulties. Some are treated harshly by the Church and the society. Yet, they continue asking questions that calls for reflective answers. Many dare making significant contribution to the society and to the Church. Some recognize their prophetic nature manifested through their work and teaching. They serve as the signposts for a journey of radical transformation and change. Many of them prophesy through their writings and critics. In this changing time, their actions and words sum up their prophesying. The prophets seize the moment as ‘hot’, and alert others to opportunity for change, towards new direction. But often enough, the prophet in them is ignored, their words rejected. But in course of time, they are recognized, and the truth they hold to is acknowledged. Jesus had experienced so:  "A prophet is not honoured in his own home town"(Jn 4: 44). "No prophet is ever accepted in his own country" (Lk 4:24).

If we but listen, the words of prophesy continue to echo down the years, convincing people to follow the path that one should tread. Its vision continues creeping in. Their words continue to teach and take form, as people begin to imprint them in their minds and hearts. It disturbs, though, the peace of mind. That is what the prophets do. They dare disturb human silence, ask questions and suggest ways to follow. Like John the Baptist, the voice of the prophet leads to discomfort. Today, they raise issues that many avoid listening. Prophets today raise the problem of climate change and on caring for creation, for the sake of all, for now and for the future. They challenge our style of living, our values and judgments. They persist on saying, “listen before it is too late”. The Old Testament Prophets told a story for their people, in order to reflect, in practical terms, on the perceived will of God for their lives. The voice of John the Baptist, crying in the wilderness, drew attention of the people to Jesus. Prophets earn the title of prophet by their courage, examples and their fearless voice.

 Men and women of such fortitude and courage, point the direction that we must all follow. Some are titled ‘saints, others are passed by, unacknowledged.  Yet, their rippled impact is felt on our lives. If one discerns and observes, their prophecy becomes real. Prophets are persons, set aside, chosen from the people, to tell a story with a radical vision. In Deuteronomy we read, "The Lord your God will raise up for you a prophet like me from among you, from your countrymen, you shall listen to him" (Deut 8.15). All faith traditions have their prophets, who tell a story to inspire and act. The Global Ethic Foundation (1996) of Hans Küng promotes dialogue between the faiths for peace and unity. Prophets give guidance, to which we need to listen and adhere to. But how? Prophetic words are written out there, if we are only ready to read them in our times. (cf. Chris McDonnell, https://international.la-croix.com/news/religion/prophecy-in-our-time/14349, 5.9.2021)

The Secular Lay Prophets

There are more lay prophets than the ‘clerical’ ones. The pandemic has precipitated a situation that ushered in many such lay prophets – doctors, nurses, social workers, health centres, etc., often without reputation.  They are known for taking decisive action to deal with the immediate solution to problems presently felt through a "leap of faith". These lay prophets rise above the reality of religious practices and rituals, in order to serve the society with responsibilities. During the past pandemic seasons since its start, many of them have not taken any vacation. Many stayed away from families for months just to serve the sick. Today’s lay prophets have started serving the Church and its clergy as official representatives in socio-secular fields and in the governance of the Church.  They serve as close collaborators with the Church authority, in a move that is “audacious, even prophetic”, entailing risks though. For them it is further more prophetic in being careful not to become an authoritarian "clericalized layperson". Instead, they try to promote complementarity between the different states of life while keeping in tune with the society and the representative of the "people of God". In fact, thy are ‘models’ to follow, in order to build a new reality. It is a lay culture of participation, which demands for progressive ecclesial changes by being discreetly outspoken. All the baptized are called to participate more fully (prophetically) in the life of the Church, motivated by more pragmatic considerations. It is more than doing a job as priests or laity. Now is the time and a chance to better appropriate a prophetic process in the life of the Church. (Cf. Mélinée Le Priol, Leap of faith leadership, https://international.la-croix.com/news/religion/diocese-in-switzerland-becomes-a-laboratory-for-lay-leadership/14724, 30.7.2021).

Prophets dream dreams.  They are essential for the world's evolution (Cf. Brendan MacCarthaigh, https://international.la-croix.com/news/ religion /dream-and-take-a-first-step/14832, 5.9.2021). They think and talk more seriously about dreams beyond mere expectations. These lay prophets anticipate the Kingdom of God while suffering ridicule and head-on opposition. Following certain ideals in life, they buy into a new interpretation of life, and dare promote it, in the midst of opposition. Such prophetic dreams are dangerous.  These dreamer-prophets come to us as unpleasant, yet history will speak of them in future.