Saturation

Hmm… at this point I guess that I've reached the saturation point myself. For the last couple of weeks I've been a little too washed out to care.

On Thursday, however, I got some good feedback on my writing, and so am setting to revise my manuscript for the Francis de Sales book. Hopefully I can get my mind focused on this.

Time changes tomorrow in Europe -- Spring Ahead!

Pizza induced musing

Finally, after months of saying we'd do it, I went for Pizza with Mario Llanos and José Luis Plascencia. We had worked together during the long summer of 1999 when we all served on the international commission for the updating of the formation plan for the Salesian Society.

One of the issues we talked about over mushrooms and mozzarella was that there are folks who are trying to close ranks around our young adults in initial formation -- that is, if I can express it -- give them a fullproof, protective, closed environment. This refers to their living arrangements, but also to their course work. Solid, foundational theology courses are being diminished as courses in so-called "Salesian topics" are being increased. Instead of the traditional four-year course of theology, they are being put through a three-year program. Of course the plan is that they continue for a two-year licentiate, but the fact is that many provincials withdraw their students from the university (and the formation house) when they are deacons or when they are newly ordained priests, insisting that they attend courses but live and work in active communities. The arrangement works for about a month. In the end, these newly ordained are so taken by the "apostolate" that they never complete their theology studies beyond the first cycle "STB" (Bachelor in Sacred Theology).

Last week while I was at the Crocetta I heard the same conversation taking place. My old friend and ex-preside of the Crocetta Sabino Frigato told me that, at the Crocetta, they have had to cut part of their programs because the provincials don't want to let the newly ordained finish their theology studies. There too program has been changed from five years to three-plus-two years, with diaconate at the end of the third year, and priesthood at the end of the fourth… and then provincials are bringing the newly ordained back to the provinces so that they never get their licentiate.

Bishops are doing the same thing. We've got a group of newly ordained who commute to the UPS once a month and try to finish their course work and theses… but it takes them five years instead of one, if they do it at all. Great foresight on the part of the provincials and bishops!

The result is that the UPS faculty now wants to cram more courses into the three years, because they know that otherwise the clerics-to-deacons-to-priests will not have completed all their theology requirements otherwise. The Crocetta faculty is more cautious, but the result is that their students do not finish either, and three-years is too little.

Are we facing the dumbing down of the congregation and of the Church?

Letter to a young pastor

The young pastor of Corpus Christi parish in San Francisco wrote to ask my opinion on placing the people in lines for the reception of Communion. It seems that he and the older associate pastor had a disagreement on the point.

Here is how I have responded.

Rome, 22 March 2006

Monza carissimo:

thanks for your note; I'm glad to know that "Boschetto's Dream" has been well used. Sr Kathleen Gibson was able to get some more information from the author's husband that the book's price is greatly reduced, from $15 that it was orginally to $6 now. So if there are groups that are interested, Sr Kathleen will know where to get more copies.

I'm afraid that I would be the wrong person to ask about any notion of the "orderly reception of communion". I agree with Don Bosco that enforced lines and directives from ushers are to be totally avoided at that time of the liturgy. If people naturally put themselves into line, that is great; they should not be placed into lines by others, in Don Bosco's thinking.

Note that this is not a cultural issue, Monza. Don Bosco was in fact very counter-cultural when it came to this point because he operated from a pastoral concern. And his concern, as Fr Pestun has said, was that every person, especially the young, be free to approach the sacrament or be free to NOT approach it. In fact, in Turin as in much of Europe people received communion in a very orderly fashion, and everyone could see who went to communion and who didn't. In parishes there were let out by rows… in monasteries of sisters or in convents of friars, the superior received first, and then every sister or confere by rank in office and order of profession.

Don Bosco absolutely wanted to avoid any formality at this point, and so he invited the boys to come up spontaneously but respectfully. To "cover the noise" of the shuffle and also to invite a type of spiritual recollectedness, he instituted the custom of singing a hymn during Communion, and not waiting, as was the custom, for the Post-Communion for a choral piece from the choir. The Communion songs were rehearsed before mass so that everyone could learn the simple refrain and join very easily in the singing. It was the most participated song during the 11:00 High Mass, and was always sung during the 8:00 Low Mass when the boys otherwise prayed the rosary together.

This practice at the Oratory of Valdocco became Salesian practice in all of our houses, and in all the houses of the Daughters of Mary Help of Christians. It was a Salesian practice, and we were looked down upon for not insisting on orderliness during Communion time in our schools, oratories, and in our parishes (when we took up this ministry rather late in our history). However, the Salesians always insisted on this practice and for pastoral reasons. No one, young or old, should be forced to feel inadequate because he or she is not ready to approach the Sacrament of the Eucharist. No child should feel that his or her parents are unworthy or sinful if they do not approach the Sacrament (and there are many cases where divorced and remarried parents, struggling to right their situation, give up on church rather than face the embarrassment of not being able to join the Communion Line).

Is the practice out-dated? I don't think so. I have never felt comfortable with ushers directing people; I feel even less comfortable with the directives of Cardinal Mahoney for the communion lines… and while I have voiced my concerns, I have not been attached to parishes and so I have never pushed these considerations unless asked. And since you asked, Monza, I say that Don Bosco did not disregard lines for cultural reasons but our of pastoral considerations; he stressed prayer and insisted that Salesians follow the liturgical norms (and rubrics are really are addressed to the priest/celebrant and not to the people), he cultivated artists and musicians who could render prayer times and liturgies more beautiful and participated, and he continually invited people to frequent the sacraments, making himself available as a confessor and a preacher. He was criticized for this too: people complained that Don Bosco's boys prayed the rosary too often (daily); local priests complained that Don Bosco had too many kids in the choir (but the people loved to hear the young people sing with devotion, and many vocations came from those choirs in the singers and the listeners). And he asked that lines not be regimented by authorities, but that the people be free to approach the Sacraments as they felt ready.

Rather than simply pastoral, then, Don Bosco's teaching on this point is charismatic and moral. No one should ever be forced or conditioned to practice the faith out of fear or human respect. He never forced kids into prayer times at the Oratory; he never wanted anyone to be forced to receive the sacraments out of fear that someone would have motive to judge them badly if they did otherwise. In fact, from this point of view, to force young people or adults to go Communion by strongly conditioning them through administrative tactics is an abuse of the person.

The way to move toward a more reverent reception of Communion, it would seem, would grow out of "preaching the beauty of virtue" and instructing the people of the loving presence of Christ who invites and who is merciful, and in making the other sacrament, reconciliation, readily available… but that is another discourse. In any case, Monza, I'm sure you and Fr Pestun and the others will continue to search for a solution in keeping with Don Bosco's pastoral compassion and by being true to his charism.

Yours,
Joe

The country and raising kids

As a contrast, I spent the day with one of my past pupils in Turin yesterday. He was a kid at the Oratory when I was a theology student and "assistant". He has two sons. The oldest was born when they had a small condominium-apartment in the city of Chieri. The second one is growing up in the country since they bought a home in the area of Moncucco (where John Bosco was a cow-hand at the ages of 11 to 13).

The son from Chieri is 14, and when he comes home from school he goes up to the boys' bedroom, to his desk, does his homework. He walks directly to and from places, and seems to draw an invisible boundary around himself so that he doesn't venture past it. The second son from Moncucco, age 5, runs and jumps through the fields, has a hundred questions for the farmers, climbs trees and rocks, has built a "fort" in the forest, and never watches TV or plays electronic games. Here is the story of the City Cousin and the Country Cousin, except they are brothers. I wonder if in southern California we have built our perfect homes in perfect communities where kids can no longer roam or explore -- and these homes are so expensive that we can't afford not to work 10 hours a day to pay for them… and our kids have become timid, unnoticed, confined.

Need for pastoral formation

If there is something that I notice among most of the young Salesians who are students here at the UPS, it is that they long for practicality and pastoral rootedness. I am not sure that they find it here. Let me explain what I'm picking up in my conversations and in observing the student priests in the communities of Don Rua and Don Bosco.

While it sounds like the plan to centralize is well thought-out, I continue to wonder if it comes out of a lopsided cultural-awareness. I do not see the Salesians from new environments (Eastern Europe, Eastern Asia, Africa) having an easy time of adapting to European-based studies. Many find it very difficult to learn the Italian Language, and by the time they are able to communicate, their two year licentiate course is over. There are many of these same students who tell me that they find the studies here generally very abstract or very idealistic or both. Instead, if given the choice, they would opt for something that is more concrete – something that allows them to explore their Salesian vocation and heritage while helping them examine the real world of the youngsters and people among whom they have or will work.

Numbers game: Rome vs Berkeley

Jacques Schepens told me that he notes a trend to centralize all formation: large studentates with all the teaching of first cycle theology (STB or MDV) under Rome’s direct control. By extension, the teaching of Salesian Studies (education, spirituality, history) is also thought to need centralized control, since those who study these sciences will work in initial formation … in the large studentates… supervised tightly by Rome.

In hearing this, my thought has been that it is increasingly difficult to dialogue with anyone with regard to formation in the provinces because they have all memorized the refrain “all roads lead to Rome” – beginning with Francesco Cereda. In other words, whereas the third edition the Ratio was put together between 1999-2001 with the idea of decentralization and of ensuring that throughout the congregation formation took place on the human, spiritual, intellectual and pastoral level, the thinking today has shifted. There are forces in the congregation that are endorsing the large group and studentate once again.

Why the centralized studentate? The reasons are based on demographics. While there are upward of 500 novices in the congregation this year (similar to vocation numbers before the 1950s), these new recruits come from many far-flung provinces, many of which are mission territories or Eastern European foundations where Catholic and Salesian traditions are very limited. A second consideration is that these 500 young-adult novices, divided among 90 provinces and 130 countries, often are found in small units, as opposed to the large numbers of teenaged novices of the 1940s that came half of the 40 provinces in existence in that era. In other words, while we have the same number of novices as in the building years of the 1930s and 1940s, we in fact have a much smaller number with respect to the huge number of provinces and apostolic presences now in existence. Outside of a few countries, therefore, the numbers of novices average between 2 and 6 per nation.

Follow this group of novices through the years of vocational journey and, by attrition, the number of theology students is smaller and much more scattered. In practice, this means that, if left in their own national environments, many theology students would remain isolated. Instead, the general councilor for formation reasons, it would be better if these young Salesians were formed in peer groups where they can receive good instruction, careful accompaniment, and consistent experiences in Salesian-style apostolic, human, spiritual and intellectual formation. Centralized, international, interprovinical studentates would respond to the needs of the isolated young Salesian in formation at this stage of his vocational itinerary.

As I say, there is something of a "numbers game" at play here that results from the new Salesian demographics. The fact that the congregation is large but spread very thin means that many provinces do not have enough personnel to carry out formation work – work that demands intense dedication even if there are only a few novices and young confreres on the local scene. It also means that formation has been seen as meager until now, especially in those areas of the world where the congregation is growing rapidly (India, Eastern Europe, Vietnam, Timor-Indonesia, Africa). The concern, therefore, is to train young Salesians in Salesianity (which includes spirituality, but also other studies). With limited trained personnel across the provinces, and indeed very few trained in Salesian sciences, education and spirituality, the thought is to bring all the experts together to one center – Rome – and offer a quality training to all those whom the provinces will send.

As a theory, this would make a lot of sense to me. I question whether this is what happens in practice. Had the leaders of formation in the several regions been called to consider the problems and find solutions together, the distribution of theology students and formators might have conformed more closely to local needs and realities. Instead it seems to me that the dicastery alone is surveying the situation and coming up with its own assessment and unilateral solutions. The result is that many young confreres come to the studentates and find themselves on a great adventure in a foreign country, but risk losing a sense of their own local realities.

As if to bear this out, the student priests from Santo Domingo who are here at the UPS have told me that their theology students are in three or four large centers, and a high percentage reach ordination, but when they get back to their province they fall into three categories. Those who studied in Tlaquepaque are activists; those who studied in the Holy Land are hermits; those who studied in Rome are “men about town” (borghesi). All of them have difficulty readjusting to the realities of Santo Domingo.

Of course, the big problem is that many of the clerics have a hard time learning the new language, and spend half of their three-years of MDV/STB work just trying to understand Italian (or in Jerusalem now, English). Since native speakers are rare in either place, no one really learns the idiom well. And after the first semester, where 10 out 22 people in my course did not understand Italian, I just wonder what anyone is really learning. They will return to their countries with half-an-idea, and will be considered experts because they studied in Rome. Many of the professors here are recognizing the same problem, but when I tried to bring this to the attention of Cereda, he brushed it aside. Evidently, he has no problem with languages, so he doesn’t quite see that anyone else might have a problem.

Our formation for theology students at Don Bosco Hall must sustain an added weight. Constant complaints by other provinces about Berkeley – too worldly, or too secular, and therefore a place of good information but not of good formation – has worked to our disadvantage. Juan José Bartolomé’s hunch is that once the current group of our three clerics finish at Berkeley, no one else will be allowed to do their first cycle (MDV) studies there, unless we can get a group of at least 20 clerics.

More on Francesca Romana

Yesterday was the feastday in Rome of Francesca Romana, and many Romans made their way to visit her tomb in the church of Santa Maria Nova, which overlooks the forum. The church is also know as the Basilica of Santa Francesca Romana.

Why the two names?

Here is the story.

When Francesca Romana died, her body was brough to the church of Santa Maria Nova, which overlooks the forum. She used to go to that church regularly; it was attached to a monastery of Olivetan Benedictines, who were a stricter branch and very new at the time. They wear white habits instead, and have a strong contemplative tradition. Francesca's community felt that it would be difficult to have mourners come to view the body in the convent chapel of the Oblates, and everyone in Rome knew that Francesca was part of the parish of Santa Maria Nova.

Well, to make a long story short, instead of burying her the next day, they had to postpone burial because so many people came in a constant procession to see her body and pay their last respects. The lines continued day and night for seven days (not even that many people came to see John XXIII or John Paul II). In the end, it was decided to bury her in the church of Santa Maria Nova. People continued to come to the church to pray near the tomb, and to leave flowers.…… I say "near the tomb" because she was buried in the floor of the nave of the church before the altar, but the floor was not marked so people weren't really sure where the tomb was. But the impact was there. The people of Rome forget the original name of the church and started to call it "Francesca's church".

While everyone in Rome considered her a saint, she was not canonized until 1608. Several years after the canonization the Olivetan Benedictine monks needed to repair the foundations of the church (it has been built in the 1200s). In so doing, they discovered the remains of Francesca. After 200 years her remains were intact. The sanctuary of the church was revamped, and her tomb was placed below the altar, so that it was visible from the church, and so that people could walk beneath the altar and see her remains close up. The remains have since deteriorated, so that all that is left is her skeleton, which is clothed in her widow's garments and her white mantle. The first time I saw her was 30 years ago, and I was very surprised… but I have since been to visit her tomb many times. It is a serious but joyful experience.

Debate: University or Studentate

There is a huge discussion going on here at the UPS, and particularly among the professors of the School of Theology, over directives that Pascual Chavez gave last Spring. At that time the rector major asked the UPS to give up the notions of being a major studentate and to give itself completely to recognize its identity as a university. This means that while the UPS attends to intellectual formation and scientific research (as do all universities), religious formation will need to be carried out in formation communities. The university must concentrate on academic excellence, not only in the areas of education and communications, but also in the areas of philosophy, canon law, and theology.

This sounds like a no-brainer, but the significance of the remark is that the university has to become competitive. Salesians who enroll in university programs must seriously do the work of intellectual formation, and become truly competent in their fields. As for the other concerns of formation (human, spiritual and pastoral), the local and smaller formation communities need to be proactive in resourcing to the young Salesian in these sectors.

The house of Francesca Romana

Before it slips out of my memory, I want to record something about a little expedition that a number of us SDBs and FMAs took on Sunday, March 5th.

It was a simple thing, really: after dinner (Romans have their main meal at mid-day), a small group of us caught the bus to downtown Rome and met a group of FMA at the Tomb of the Unknowns (L'altare della patria) in Piazza Venezia. From there we rounded the corner, moving to the right of the monuments of the unknowns (20th Century), past the Ara Coeli (a church of the 4th Century built on the remains of a temple dedicated by Caesar Augustus 15 years before the birth of Christ), past the Capidoglio (the municipal center of Rome, designed by Michelangelo in the 16th Century), to a monastery built at "Tor de' Specchi" by a widow named Francesca de' Leoni Ponziani in 1425.

This widow is known to the Romans as "Ceccolela", but to the rest of the world as Francesca Romana (or in English: "St Frances of Rome"). I found this painting (at right) of her by Gentileschi (painted in 1615). Although she lived to a ripe old age, she is always depicted as a young woman.

Ceccolela gathered a group of women at the time of the plagues and organized relief for the poor and sick of the city of Rome when civic and church leadership was too inept to do anything. She also created a community of women that included widows and mothers of families who acted as a support group to one another and to their families in the years of chaos that was the 15th Century. The group of laywomen prayed the liturgy together, and eventually became a semi-religious community, but with the freedom of the women (who were all called "mothers" and not "sisters") to care for their families whenever needed. St Frances of Rome's feastday, by the way, is tomorrow: 9 March.

But why did we go to see the house of Ceccolela? Because in 1878-1879, when Don Bosco was visiting Rome to try to complete the regulations and gain approval for the Salesian Cooperators, he found lodging in a house owned by the "mothers" of St Frances of Rome, right across the street from the monastery of the "Oblates", as they are also called. He went there because the Oblates of Frances of Rome had heard about his work among the street kids of Turin as early at 1850, and they had been instrumental in getting support for him from many parts of Italy. So, on the feast of St Francis de Sales, in January 1879, the first ever meeting of the Salesian Cooperators took place -- and it took place in the chapel of the monastery built by St Frances of Rome, in the presence also of her community.

From that experience, Don Bosco not only launched the Cooperators in their organizational structure, he also launched the Cooperators on the national scene in Italy, and on the international scene, since a number of ambassadors to the Holy See and the Cardinal Vicar of Rome also participated in that first "Conference of St Francis de Sales".

The house where don Bosco stayed later became the first residence of the Salesians, who came to Rome permanently two years later. That same house, by the way, was also the place where St Francis de Sales and his brother stayed on their first visit to Rome in 1599. Unfortunately, the house no longer exists. Mussolini tore it down to beautify Rome and liberate area around the Roman Forum so that archeologists could do their work. The only thing that remains of the house is the front steps, which were incorporated into a stair that climbs the Palotine Hill. But the monastery of "Tor de' Specchi" remains…

Okay -- too long a post, but tomorrow is the feast of St Frances of Rome. In Rome it is very festive in spite of Lent. On this day it will be good to remember that the Cooperator Salesians got their start in the house of his mighty widow and mother and mystic who not only gave herself to save the poor, but organized a great force of laywomen to make a social and religious impact on their ancient city that was falling into ruin. It seems to me that her family concerns and lay activisim inspired Francis de Sales and Don Bosco both in their own missions; and in their admiration for her, they make her a model of Salesian laity and family people.

Christmas Novena

I started this blog on the day when the Christmas Novena began… and a Visitandine friend of mine, Grace MacCormack, asked me about the Christmas novena and the Salesians. In preparing some notes for her (she is a musician and a liturgist), I thought I'd post my little essay here too. Why not? Lent has started, but I'm thinking of Advent.

Here goes…

CHRISTMAS NOVENA: The Christmas Novena grew out of the devotion to the Incarnation fostered by the Vincentians (Priests of the Mission) in Torino in the early 1700s. The Marchesa Gabriella Marolles delle Lanze, Verrua Savoia and Caluso, came to live in Torino when her husband died. (Verra Savoia was the fortress from which Principe Eugenio di Savoia was able to ward off the French attacks in 1704-1705, expelling them from Savoy and Piedmont in 1706).

The Marchesa settled in a house close to the convent of the Vincentians (now the chancery for the archdiocese), and worshiped regularly in their external oratory, dedicated to the Immaculate Conception.

Because of her contact with the Vincentians, the Marchesa Gabriella Marolles delle Lanze nurture the devotion to the Incarnation, and suggested that the feast of the Incarnation be solemnized with a novena. The learned and pious Fr Antonio Vacchetta CM, formation director for the CM theology students, composed a new novena, incorporating antiphons from the Roman breviary, verses from the prophets and passages from the psalms that refered to the Messiah. The novena was celebrated for the first time in December 1720, in the church of the Immaculate Conception.

As the Torinese Vincentians preached missions throughout Piedmont, Lombardy and Liguria, they brought the novena with them, and this is how the novena spread throughout different parts of Italy. It became the music of Advent in many places; most wonderful are the "O" antiphons for the magnificat.

SALESIAN CONNECTION WITH THE CHRISTMAS NOVENA: Of course, as a Society we have our roots in Torino. One of Don Bosco's spiritual guides was Fr Marcantonio Durando, provincial of the CMs and rector of the House of the Visitation (where Don Bosco made his retreat before ordination). Don Bosco was ordained in the church of the Immaculate Conception on 5 June 1841. He introduced the boys to the Christmas Novena at his Youth Hostel and Oratory in the Valdocco district of Torino, and published popular editions for the people. And Salesians missionaries brought the novena with them wherever they went -- in an age where worship was in Latin, there was no problem. Thus, the Salesians have always celebrated this Novena, and after 1960, translated it from Latin into many different languages.

I myself first took part in the novena by when I was 14, and by the end of the 9 days I knew all the chants (except the magnificat antiphons) by heart. This year in Rome we sang it in Italian, and although we have Salesians from 20 different countries and all five continents in the community, everyone knew the melodies: it was a matter of fitting the Italian words to the service that they all knew in their own languages. But of course, none of them know that it is Vincentian in origin, nor that the Marchesa sponsored the writing and the first celebration. They just know that this is the novena that Don Bosco and his boys always prayed and sang to prepare for Christmas at Valdocco.

Status of Berkeley Formation Project

UPS is starting to apply greater pressure on me, urging me to stay and become part of the faculty full-time. Almost by instinct Dave Purdy wrote me a letter today telling me that I must not stay. Oh yes! It is fun to be wanted, but I am not sure if I'm really more than a warm body at this point.

Looks to me that Berkeley has no support from the Formation office at the Pisana, or from anywhere else for that matter. We are no longer able to attract folks for the renewal course, and provincials have been told that the only place to do degree programs in Salesian spirituality is the UPS (even though our accredited courses allow us to offer a degree program in Spiritual Theology with an emphasis in Salesian Tradition at the GTU in English).

A committee has been meeting monthly in San Francisco to examine the problems and come up with a plan. I've not been made aware of these discussions, so I don't know where it is going. My own feeling is that the "Berkeley On Wheels" proposal of Michael Winstanley, made at the last team visit in Lysterfield in 1993, has really undone us more than helped. It has allowed us to offer mini-experiences, but not to do the kind of deep study and producing of resources that comes from research and scholarship.

So here we are, a decade after the dissolution of the Anglophone region, dissolving into thin air.

Meetings, meetings

During this week I have attended a couple of faculty department meetings -- and another one later today. My personal resolution was to simply keep my mouth shut, but I find that I have less patience now than I used to, and so as the discussion became involved, I would blurt out my own opinons (also because there does not seem to be a way to orderly invoke the faculty's contributions as the chair tends to dominate).

So have I become impatient at this time of my life? I have begun to think so, but this may not be true. When I reflect back, I realize that I never had patience. Perhaps I was more timid in the past. Now I just speak up and don't really care what the others think. Truth needs to be spoken and heard. If no one acts on it, that doesn't bother me so much any more: at least they have heard it.

Crazy little March

There is a saying in Italian that goes like this "Marzo pazzarello: esci con sole, ma porti l'ombrello" -- "Crazy little month of March: go out and enjoy the sun, but carry your umbrella". Here is is the second day of March, and we have had every manner of weather so far: sun, freezing cold, rain, clouds, wind and sun…

I've had to vacate my office. One of the rooms is being refurbished, and between the detergents, the plastering and the paint, the fumes have given me a massive headache. I've asked for a study room in the university library, and fr Juan Picca has been kind enough to provide me with one. I've looked up books for my Francis de Sales work, and they will be delivered to my study room there… and I've tried to answer some of the e-mail that is stacking up.

Time is passing quickly on this little Roman adventure.