‘Love, reverence, respect the Supreme Pontiff, Vicar of Jesus Christ on earth. He who is with the Pope is on God’s side,’ Don Bosco taught his boys. Devotion to the Holy Father is one of the three ‘special loves’ that he always passed on as part of his spirituality, and today it shines through clearly in the moving words full of gratitude that continue to arrive from all over the Salesian world on the death of Pope Francis.
From all parts of the world where the Salesian charism is widespread, messages of condolence for the death of the Holy Father, and of gratitude for his legacy as pontiff, continue to be renewed.
‘We have always had a special rapport with Francis, and in many cases this has turned into real cooperation in support of projects for the least of the earth,’ says Fr Daniel Antúnez, president of “Missioni Don Bosco”, the Salesian Mission Office in Turin. Fr Antúnez had already met the Holy Father when he was Archbishop of Buenos Aires, and they met several times in Rome on the occasion of two important annual events at the Vatican: the Race of Saints and the Christmas Concert.
‘Francis‘ thinking is very close to that which animates Missioni Don Bosco: attention to the most needy, presence in the peripheries of the world,’ Fr Antúnez continues. ‘What is Don Bosco’s original charism has been confirmed to us and strengthened by the Pope’s constant magisterium: attention to the disinherited young people, to those who live without any hope of a future, to those made weak by a context of violence and misery. To the point that it was practically him, Francis, who dictated our programme: Salesian missionaries in 136 countries felt sustained by his words, encouraged to go beyond the usual limits, to raise awareness of the dignity of communities and populations in Amazonia as in Myanmar, in Africa constantly offended by wars, and under bombardment in the Near East and in our own Europe’.
From one Mission Office to another, from the one in Turin to the one in New Rochelle: ‘Salesian Missions’ joins the Salesian Family and the international Catholic community in mourning the passing of Pope Francis. Although a Jesuit, he was a long-standing friend of the Salesians of Don Bosco and maintained close ties with Salesian missionaries and priests throughout his life.
Pope Francis and the Salesians were particularly focused on helping the poor and marginalised, ensuring that they had assistance and access to the resources they needed. ‘Pope Francis will be remembered above all for his deep love for the poorest of the poor and his strong advocacy for those on the margins, particularly migrants, and for his care for the Earth and the environment,’ said Fr Michael Conway, Head of Salesian Missions. ‘The best way to honour his life and legacy is to try to embody in our lives the areas of faith and life that were most important to him: care for the poor, the marginalised and Creation.’
Remaining in America, but moving geographically southwards, the Salesian Bulletin of his native Argentina mourns the death of its compatriot Pope, recounting the estrangement of carrying on daily Salesian life without the gentle and reassuring presence of the Holy Father: ‘Offering the thought of the “Salesian good morning” to all the schoolchildren was more difficult today, even with the impetus of the Easter we have just celebrated! ‘ Fr Nestor Zubeldía, from Neuquén, Patagonia’s most populous city, testified hot on the day of his death, Monday 21 April.
‘Some,’ he continued, ‘even gave me their sincere condolences. Others have begun to ask: ‘What will happen now?’ And I really believe that this is the big question: what will happen now in a world whose powerful seem to prefer to look the other way in the face of poverty, inequality, injustice, mass migrations as never before in history? Who will phone the ruined parish in Gaza every day? Who will mourn the endless victims of the martyred Ukraine? Who will cry again and again for the health of our planet, our Common Home, which also seems mortally wounded? Who will go to the peripheries of the peripheries of this troubled and difficult world, to raise their voice for the persecuted minorities?’.
Back in Europe, finally, from Portugal, the Provincial, Fr Tarcízio Morais, shares: ‘Today, humanity is poorer. Pope Francis is gone. The Pope of simplicity, of presence, of listening, of Christ. Shepherd, good shepherd, of the common home, of universal brotherhood, of the humanity of love, of the Gospel of joy. A contagious, empathic and true joy for all. A life that breaks down the peripheries, makes them close, visible. A voice in defence of the poorest, the last, the most distant. An attitude of listening, of attention, of permanent non-conformism. Young in his old age, he made mercy, justice, admiration for the beauty of Creation, loving kindness in welcoming refugees and migrants, the strength of faith grow in all of us’.
Courtesy: (ANS – Rome)
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