Before Vatican II we used to speak o f the U niversal C hurch, but now ecclesiology is centred on the local churches and on the com m union o f the local churches. R eligious, w hile rem aining exem pt, m ust adapt them selves to this new situation. Hence:
a. It will no longer be sufficient to attend only to w hat com es from G en
eral H eadquarters; we have to live w ithin the local C hurch, sharing in it, both by giving and receiving: our particular charism m ust be given as an inheritance to the lay people in the com m unity o f w hich we form a part.
We cannot be o f the Church w ithout being in a church. It is not sufficient to work fo r it; we have to live by it.
b. B ut let us not deceive ourselves: it d o e sn ’t seem that our w orks do all that m uch to sensitize local churches. If at one tim e we lam ented the separation o f R eligious w ithin the C hurch, today it seem s that a progres
sive m arginalization is taking place. We risk being exploited as being able to give a helping hand to others rather than as having a specialized service to contribute. The fact is that the dom inant parochialism o f the clergy is try in g to subo rd in ate to itse lf all available energies, fo r the p u rp o se of having m any w orkers to further its ow n initiatives. E very charism is need ed for this objective; a charism that lies buried is useless. W hy are there so m a n y d i f f i c u l t i e s a b o u t th e a p p lic a tio n o f th e s t i l l v a lid M u tu a e Relationes, w hich revised such relationships? Is it because o f an u n w ill
ingness to agree about areas o f intervention, or is it because o f differing concepts o f ecclesiology?
c. The SD Bs belong to the priesthood as such, as well as to their own relig io u s co m m unity; the ap o sto lic su b ject is the com m unity. A ttention m ust be given therefore to the confrere w orking on his ow n, show ing an exaggerated individualism rather than reflecting the voice o f the com m uni
ty. T here are religious w ho carve out fo r th em selv es a very sig n ifican t place in pastoral activity, but w ithout any reference to their com m unity.
The result is that their initiatives are seen as the w ork o f a single person and no account is taken o f his congregational identity.
4.2. Shifting o f the apostolic en vironment
F or som e tim e now there has been a m ovem ent tow ards local pastoral p ro jects, ra th e r than th o se d ep en d in g en tirely on the G en eralate or the Province. In the past we operated as a “house” w ithin our ow n w orks, and the house was often an island: a reserved religious place o f silence. Now we m ove ever m ore outside our works, in secular places w here there is no religion at all.
W h eth er we are in o u r h o u se or o u tsid e it, w e are im m ersed in the w orld. A nd so it happens that it is the individual rather than the com m unity that bears w itness to the faith, even though the com m unity as such plays its part. M oreover the individual does not alw ays have the com m unity at his back to defend and protect him , and make up for his shortcom ings. A bility is re q u ire d , and p e rs o n a l m a tu rity , a p ro fe s s io n a l a p p ro a c h , w ith o u t anonym ity but w ith a great deal o f spirituality.
An exam ple. F or a long tim e poverty w as considered as som ething indi
vidual w ithin solid property; the principle o f econom y held sway: profit and sav in g s w ere p lo u g h ed back into the w orks; little a sse ssm e n t w as m ade o f o n e ’s personal w ork. B ut now there has been an explosive change;
each o n e’s w ork is paid and we know how m uch he is w orth - there are pensions and insurance policies. A nd the changed situation should enable us to get a better understanding o f the anxieties attached to unem ploym ent problem s and the uncertainties o f life.
4.3. Collaboration with lay adults
Don B osco soon learned the art o f involving others; we m entioned this on the first day. He found it a strategy that paid dividends. T hink o f the
spreading o f the Catholic Readings and the lotteries he organized even in the 1850s. The num ber o f people he got involved w as incalculable.
B ut he w as not thinking only o f money, urgently necessary though it was. He was equally concerned about m obilizing the energies o f these p eo
ple “for the greater glory o f G od and the salvation o f souls” - the souls o f the young and o f the adults them selves. To realize his plans he had to be capable, ingenious, inventive and tenacious. H e needed to have recourse to strong m oral virtues o f relationship, o f adaptation, and o f tolerance in the face o f frustrations w ith persons such as the follow ing:
• Ecclesiastical collaborators at the Oratory, and lay people too.
• M en and w om en to be brought back to the faith o r to be strengthened in it (Catholic Readings).
• M en and w om en o f societies for m utual help, o f conferences o f St V in
cent de Paul, o f lay people associated w ith the C atholic R eadings.
• M en and w om en, C atholic or not, called to prom ote the lotteries or join in the incessant selling o f tickets.
• Ecclesiastical and lay adults needed as leaders in activities o f religious anim ation.
• A dults w ho appear in his books as defenders o f religion and o f the faith.
• A dults who form ed a netw ork o f religious and social solidarity for the good o f society, o f public m orality, and o f the C hurch (the C ooperators A ssociation).
Today the reasons fo r the insertion o f lay people as co llab o rato rs in the w ork o f o u r ho u ses are the sam e as b efo re, w ith the ad d itio n o f a large num ber o f new ones. In the first place the new aw aren ess o f the b ap tism al and m issionary identity o f the laity in the C hurch. M oreover the w ave o f lay volunteers in m issionary territo ries has, by declericaliz- ing the m ission, m ade it clear that the developm ent o f p eo p les cannot be a task for priests alone. C ollaboration is a w idespread need; the laity can not b e regarded as auxiliaries o r second-row w orkers; they m ust be an i
m ated and anim ators them selves. P aternalism is out o f place, c o llab o ra tion is needed on an equal footing. The cen tu ries-o ld p ractice o f seeing the position o f the laity as being prevalently p assive helpers, called in by o b e d ie n c e ra th e r than fo r th e ir crea tiv e ability, is now dead . W h at we have to fear now adays is not a confrontation betw een differen t sen sitiv i
ties, but a silent h o m ologous uniform ity, the presence o f a laity that al
w ays says “ y es” .
It is ev id e n t that the S alesian s w ill becom e less and less the “m ajor sh a reh o ld er” in face o f the e v er-g ro w in g n u m b er o f lay p eo p le engaged in o u r w orks; b u t it is eq u ally ev id en t th at a S alesian an im atin g nucleus (not necessarily co m p o sed o f co n secrated S alesian s) can n ev er be w an t
ing. It is sig n ifican t that the b est-k n o w n arran g em en t fo r ecclesial m o v e
m ents is th at they be an im ated from w ithin by p artic u la r nuclei w hich are th e re to sh ap e an d d ire c t th e w h o le fre e m o v e m e n t su rro u n d in g them . T hey form part o f the group and are not an elite section separated from it.