{"id":15240,"date":"2026-03-10T07:50:55","date_gmt":"2026-03-10T07:50:55","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/localhost\/wordpress\/index.php\/2026\/03\/10\/gc29-a-leap-from-salesian-life-to-the-governance-and-animation-of-the-congregation\/"},"modified":"2026-03-10T07:50:55","modified_gmt":"2026-03-10T07:50:55","slug":"gc29-a-leap-from-salesian-life-to-the-governance-and-animation-of-the-congregation","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/donboscoguwahati.org\/index.php\/2026\/03\/10\/gc29-a-leap-from-salesian-life-to-the-governance-and-animation-of-the-congregation\/","title":{"rendered":"GC29: A \u201cLeap\u201d from Salesian Life to the Governance and Animation of the Congregation"},"content":{"rendered":"<header class=\"entry-header pos-rel\">\n<div class=\"read-details\">\n<div class=\"entry-header-details af-cat-widget-carousel\">\n<div class=\"figure-categories read-categories figure-categories-bg categories-inside-image\">\n<ul class=\"cat-links\">\n<li class=\"meta-category\">\n                             <a class=\"morenews-categories category-color-1\" href=\"http:\/\/localhost\/ingoldsite\/index.php\/category\/gc29\/\" aria-label=\"GC29\"><br \/>\n                                 GC29<br \/>\n                             <\/a>\n                        <\/li>\n<\/ul><\/div>\n<h1 class=\"entry-title\">GC29: A \u201cLeap\u201d from Salesian Life to the Governance and Animation of the Congregation<\/h1>\n<div class=\"aft-post-excerpt-and-meta color-pad\">\n<div class=\"entry-meta author-links\">\n<p>                            <span class=\"item-metadata posts-author byline\"><br \/>\n                                            <i class=\"far fa-user-circle\"><\/i><br \/>\n                          <a href=\"http:\/\/localhost\/ingoldsite\/index.php\/author\/admin_gp\/\"><br \/>\n              Admin-ING      <\/a><br \/>\n                    <\/span><\/p>\n<p>                            <span class=\"item-metadata posts-date\"><br \/>\n                    <i class=\"far fa-clock\" aria-hidden=\"true\"><\/i><br \/>\n                    March 7, 2025                <\/span><\/p>\n<div class=\"aft-comment-view-share\">\n      <\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/header>\n<p><!-- .entry-header --><\/p>\n<p>        <!-- end slider-section --><\/p>\n<div class=\"read-img pos-rel\">\n<div class=\"post-thumbnail full-width-image\">\n          <img decoding=\"async\" width=\"655\" height=\"437\" src=\"https:\/\/donboscoguwahati.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/1-9.jpg\" class=\"attachment-morenews-featured size-morenews-featured wp-post-image\" alt=\"1\" loading=\"lazy\">        <\/div>\n<p>                                                                                    <span class=\"aft-image-caption\"><\/p>\n<p>\n                                                    Fr. Stefano Martoglio, Vicar of the Rector Major explained the \u201cleap\u201d from the first thematic core to the members of the GC 29.                                                <\/p>\n<p>                                            <\/span>\n                                                                    <\/div>\n<div class=\"color-pad\">\n<div class=\"entry-content read-details\">\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>(ANS \u2013 Turin) \u2013<\/strong>\u00a0The participants of GC29 have chosen to begin each assembly meeting with a meditation. This was also the case on Thursday, March 6, when Fr. Eunan McDonnell was once again invited to lead the reflection. The meditation was anchored in the Word of God, specifically Romans 12:2: \u201c<em>Let yourselves be transformed by God with a complete renewal of your mind.<\/em>\u201d<\/h3>\n<p>The importance of discerning \u201c<em>what is good and pleasing to God<\/em>\u201d at this stage of the Chapter quickly became evident from the introduction given by Fr. Stefano Martoglio. He explained that the \u201c<em>leap<\/em>\u201d from the first thematic core, which focused on the life of the Salesian, to the third thematic core, which concerns the governance and animation of the Congregation, was driven by the need to secure Vatican approval for any decisions affecting elements of the Salesian Constitutions.<\/p>\n<p>To ensure the Chapter members had a thorough understanding of these issues, two key reports were presented. The first, by Fr. Pascual Ch\u00e1vez, summarized the historical changes in the composition of the General Council and the Salesian Regions. The second, by Fr. Pier Fausto Frisoli, outlined the technical steps required to implement the decisions made in this Chapter.<\/p>\n<p>Fr. Ch\u00e1vez recalled that since the Second Vatican Council\u2014a pivotal moment of renewal initiated by the Holy Spirit\u2014the Church has required all religious orders to update their statutes and governance structures. The Salesians dedicated three \u201cextraordinary\u201d General Chapters to adapting the Congregation to these new times. As he explained:<\/p>\n<p><em>GC19, held during the Council, raised awareness and prepared the groundwork.<\/em>\u00a0<em>GCS20, which lasted nine months, set the new structures in motion.<\/em>\u00a0<em>GC21 revised, corrected, confirmed, and deepened the changes.<\/em>\u00a0<em>GC22 was tasked with re-examining, refining, completing, and finalizing the process.<\/em><\/p>\n<p>Throughout these transformations, the challenge was to maintain unity within the vast Salesian congregation while allowing greater autonomy at the local level. According to Fr. Ch\u00e1vez, all governance adaptations had to serve both a\u00a0<strong>synchronous<\/strong>\u00a0function (ensuring unity through the central sectors or departments) and a\u00a0diachronic\u00a0function (allowing decentralization through the Regions).<\/p>\n<p>Fr. Frisoli then directed the Chapter members\u2019 attention to three crucial topics requiring their deliberation:<\/p>\n<p>The configuration of the Regions\u00a0\u2013\u00a0<em>Based on an analysis of reports from provincial chapters, 64 times the need to divide the current Africa-Madagascar Region into two distinct areas has been highlighted.<\/em>\u00a0The composition of the General Council\u00a0\u2013\u00a0<em>The number of Council members must align with the updated definition of the Congregation\u2019s departments. This will determine how many members are to be elected (currently, there are five).<\/em>\u00a0Eligibility requirements for the Rectors Major, Provincials, and Rectors\u00a0\u2013\u00a0<em>A rescript issued by Pope Francis on May 18, 2022, allows religious superiors to be chosen from among non-priest confreres.<\/em>\u00a0While the first point will be addressed in the next six-year period based on GC29 decisions, the other two directly impact the election of the Rector Major and the General Councillors, as they require modifications to the Salesian Constitutions (Article 133 for point 2; Articles 162, 177, and 189 for point 3). Consequently, Vatican approval for any changes must be secured in time, as in just two weeks, the selection process for candidates to the various leadership roles will begin.<\/p>\n<div class=\"post-item-metadata entry-meta author-links\">\n                                    <\/div>\n<nav class=\"navigation post-navigation\" aria-label=\"Continue Reading\">\n<h2 class=\"screen-reader-text\">Continue Reading<\/h2>\n<div class=\"nav-links\">\n<div class=\"nav-previous\"><a href=\"http:\/\/localhost\/ingoldsite\/index.php\/2025\/03\/07\/rev-fr-kunnappillil-thomas-installed-as-rector-of-adbu-azara-community\/\" rel=\"prev\"><span class=\"em-post-navigation\">Previous:<\/span> Rev. Fr. Kunnappillil Thomas installed as Rector of ADBU, Azara Community<\/a><\/div>\n<div class=\"nav-next\"><a href=\"http:\/\/localhost\/ingoldsite\/index.php\/2025\/03\/08\/cg29-work-in-progress-with-clarity-and-sharing\/\" rel=\"next\"><span class=\"em-post-navigation\">Next:<\/span> CG29: Work in Progress with Clarity and Sharing<\/a><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/nav>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>GC29 GC29: A \u201cLeap\u201d from Salesian Life to the Governance and Animation of the Congregation Admin-ING March 7, 2025 Fr. Stefano Martoglio, Vicar of the Rector Major explained the \u201cleap\u201d from the first thematic core to the members of the GC 29. (ANS \u2013 Turin) \u2013\u00a0The participants of GC29 have chosen to begin each assembly&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":13879,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-15240","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-gc29"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/donboscoguwahati.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15240","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/donboscoguwahati.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/donboscoguwahati.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/donboscoguwahati.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/donboscoguwahati.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=15240"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/donboscoguwahati.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15240\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/donboscoguwahati.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/13879"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/donboscoguwahati.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=15240"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/donboscoguwahati.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=15240"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/donboscoguwahati.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=15240"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}