John Rasor – The concept of Secularity in salesian documents

This article examines the theological meaning of the term “secularity” in Salesian official documents. It begins with a survey of the meanings of secularity in recent theological dictionaries, then shows how these meanings are present in reflection by the sons of Don Bosco.

The documents examined are limited to those of the SDBs; they do not include those of the FMAs, Cooperators or other groups in the Salesian Family. They include the General Chapters, the various editions of the Constitutions and Regulations, the circular letters of the General Council, special documents like the Acts of the World Congress of Salesian Brothers, and the booklet The Salesian Brother.

The emphasis in the Churchwide view is in the post-Conciliar period, and in the Salesian view, on the works of the recently deceased Rector Major, Fr. Egidio Vigano.

Contents:

• Scope of This Study
• Theological Issues in Secularity
• World, Creation and Secularity in Salesian Pre-Renewal Documents
• Don Bosco
• Fuga mundi in the Rectorates of Fr. Rua and Fr. Albera
• Fr. Rinaldi, Brothers and Technology
• Fuga Mundi in the Salesian ’30s, ’40s and ’50s
• Fr. Ziggiotti and the Second Vatican Council
• The Special General Chapter
• Secularity in the Church-world problem
• Some Later Reflections of Fr. Ricceri
• The World Congress of Salesian Brothers
• The Lay Dimension of the Brother’s Vocation
• Juridical Identity
• Apostolic Identity
• The Proposals of the WCSB
• Fr. Ricceri’s Closing Address
• Fr. Vigano’s Years
• GC 21
• A Circular Letter on the Lay Element in the Salesian Community
• Thoughts from Other Letters
• GC 24
• Summary: A Lover Church in the Universe

Reference time period: 1876 – 1994

Reference institution:
Institute of Salesian Studies