Mourning my friend Andrzej

Today when I returned from the Province Assembly, I received an email with the simple announcement of the death of another UPS professor. What a shock to learn than Andrzej Mazewski, professor of Latin and my table companion during 2007-2008, died suddenly in Ljubljana. He was with the Salesians in the Slovenia province for Easter Week and died on Wednesday, 27 April.

Andrzej (pronounced André) was born on 2 December 1956 in Plock, Poland. His father was in the military and Andrzej was what we call in America a "military brat". That was a help to him, really, for Andrzej was highly adaptable, not only to changing circumstances but to a great mix of people. He entered the Salesians in 1977, and was ordained to the priesthood in 1984.

As a young Salesian he worked in education but also was devoted to visiting incarcerated youth. His stocky and strong build, matter-of-fact attitude, down-to-earth language must have helped him to fit right in among such youth, and he is known to have helped many to open their hearts, change their ways.

Who would have taken him for a Latin professor! Yes, his doctorate was in Latin, and he taught both the Latin language and Patristics at the Salesian formation college in Lodz until he was invited to Rome to join the faculty at the UPS in 2007.

As I said, I was on the same table with him during 2007-2008, along with don Antonio Castellano (professor of systematics) and don Gianfranco Venturi (professor of liturgy). Every meal was a riot of laughs, but also of sharing scholarship, talking deeper issues of faith and life -- and generally of good friend-building. In the years since, even though I was assigned to a different table for the meals, I found many opportunities to get together with Andrzej, and our relationship continued to grow.

Needless to say, I am shocked by this news of his sudden death. The funeral and burial took place in his hometown of Plock, and prayers are being held at the UPS in these days. May the loveable Fr Andrzej find rest and joy in the presence of the Risen Lord, whom he served with such enthusiasm and dedication.

Photo by JM Garcia: Fr Andrzej Mazewski during a community celebration in Spoleto, 16 October 2010

Snow in Rome

The winter has been more rigid than usual and I am aware that my California clothing does not work in this cold weather… but today we had the big surprise: snow!

The Salesian Pontifical University dons a winter coat.

When the flakes got big, many could not resist going out to take a photo or two. Here I am with César from Venezuela. He is one of my students.

Argentine Mario Llanos, professor of education, was more snow covered than this photo indicates.

Snow is so rare in Rome that for many of our students this was the first snowfall they had ever seen.

Even was we posed for photos, I noticed that the garden at the entry of the campus was starting to get a thin white layer of snow. The flakes were bigger and a slight breeze picked up.

From the front of the university I could see through the windows and noticed that the snow was beginning to cover the internal courtyards and roadways of the campus.

The central courtyard covered with snow. In my own student days at the UPS, this courtyard was usually vacant, and in the afternoons many of the students and professors used to walk up and down, catching up on news and getting some exercise. Nowadays it has become a parking lot and remains full most of the day until late at night. But today is the last day of classes before the Christmas break, so many students were already gone by mid morning. That is a lucky thing. I can just imagine the skidding if they all tried to leave in the sudden snowfall.

Franciscan Sisters from Mexico were excited to see the snow and posed for a photo. Of course, before the shutter clicked, Salesian Benny Joseph from Hyderabad ran in to add his support as back-up.

Soon enough, the entrance to the university library began to cover with snow.

The central tower of the University under the white skies and snow clouds.

Spoleto

Today a group of professors from the UPS went on an outing to Spoleto…

Streets of Spoleto, where automobile traffic is restricted to residents only

The city is older than Rome… Overlooking the city is a fortress constructed in the 1300s, at the command of Innocent VI. Heading the construction was the Spanish cardinal Gil Álvarez Carrillo de Alboroz, who was papal legate to the Papal States in a campaign to pacify the area and pave the way for the return of the pope to Rome. The fortress, called La Rocca (the Rock) overlooks the city and has a commanding view of the mountain passes.

La Rocca (the Rock) is the Fortress of Spoleto

The Rock was never conquered in six centuries that it served as a military fortress. In 1815 it was converted into a penitentiary, and remained as such until 1982. Since that time the Rock has been restored, although much of the original art and frescoes had been destroyed during the long period that it served as a prison. Now it is a cultural center for Spoleto and Umbria.

The city is surrounded by forest land - and is perched on a mountain top. It was once surrounded by a double wall.

View of Spoleto from the mountain forests surrounding the city

… and there are many interesting historical and geographical features to Spoleto, which is located precisely in the geographical center of Italy.

View of Piazza Duomo from the entrance of the cathedral - at the opposite end of the piazza are the Steps of the Discourse, and at the top of the steps is the City Hall

Two popes came from this city. Neither was a native, but both served as archbishop here before his election. The first was Urban VIII. The second was Pius IX.

Bronze bust of Pope Urban VIII (Maffeo Barberini) originally located in the cathedral now in the Museum of the Diocese

Besides sight-seeing, we had the chance to mix and talk and enjoy each other's company.

José Ramón Uria, Associate professor of canon law (L), discusses chestnuts and new wine with Cosimo Semeraro, professor of Church History (C) and Antonio Arto, professor of psychology, at the end of the afternoon. 

Statistics and character traits

So here I am, back in Rome… for another semester. I arrived on Saturday, the 25th… and the jet lag continues, which is why I am awake so early today, showered, dressed and at my keyboard before the rest of the house comes to life.

Roman dawn

As I have done in previous years, I am living at the Salesian University, where I will be teaching during the Autumn Semester that will begin next week. Actually, ours is a pontifical university, but we are off the beaten track from historic, imperial, medieval, renaissance, risorgimental, and art deco Rome. We are in the northern sector, in district 4, which is totally blue collar (or proletarian, as it is said here). The advantage is that we are situated among the real folks, the immigrants, the workers, families with children, the workshops. Our university is open to the people of our district and the three that surround ours, in the sense that they can access our university library and make use of services that we offer.

Our student body is over 70% laity (which is by far the largest ratio of any of the pontifical universities and academies), and 95% of these are Romans (who are among the most pragmatic, blunt, down-to-earth, no-nonsense, life-loving people on the planet). The 30% religious come from 83 different nations, from every continent (oh yes! Italians count the continents as five: Europe, Asia, Africa, America, Oceania), and from at least 100 different religious communities.

There are some here who are aware of the politics (ecclesial and civil). In fact, one of the professors here has just been named bishop (and he's not the first of our faculty). Yet, most of the people that I know here follow the lead of the true Romans who are never too impressed by a show of power or brilliance. "What do you expect?" one Roman friend likes to tell me. "We've seen it all: Hannibal and his elephants, the Caesars, the lions, the barbarians, the Normans and the Saracens, the French and the Austrians, the Nazis and the Americans, the popes and the pagans. They all came, they all left, and we go onward."

The bulk of our students and instructors take care of cultivating relationships while working hard in the business of studies, out of the limelight but building for the future. And I must say that I appreciate this approach more than any other.

The sun is up and I need to get moving if I'm to join the community for morning prayers and mass.

Symposium on the Filotea

This morning at the UPS we celebrated the 400th Anniversary of the publishing of the Introduction to the Devout Life by St Francis de Sales (summer 1609) with a symposium.

Speakers at today's seminar: Eunan McDonnell, Valentín Viguera, Anne-Marie Baud, Joseph Boenzi, Eugenio Albuquerque, Moran Wirth, Aldo Giraudo

 It is almost two years ago that Aldo Giraudo and I began to speak of this and to plan for it. Originally my suggestion was for a scholars seminar, similar to what takes place in Stella Niagara every second year. Aldo and I contacted Salesians who study Francis de Sales and invited them to take part. We got a good response.

When the word reached the Formation Department at the Salesian General Headquarters, the formation councilor, don Francesco Cereda, invited all the formation houses of the Salesian family in Rome to attend. Thus, instead of a three day scholars' seminar, we were slated to give a one-day formation workshop with the scholars making their contributions.

And then… to complicate things a bit, the outgoing rector of the Salesian Pontifical University, don Mario Toso, was appointed secretary of the Vatican Commission on Justice and Peace, and named Archbishop. This afternoon is his ordination at St Peter's. This meant that we had to cut the seminar down to the morning.

Eight interventions in four hours? We did it, with over 300 people in attendance. It was all received very well, but of course we are all reeling from the intensity of it. At this point, most are hurrying off to St Peter's for an episcopal ordination. Aldo and I have just caucused to discuss publishing the Acts of this seminar… but we also intend just to bring some of the speakers into Rome this evening for a little tourist relaxation and a thank you supper in the old city.

Since it is all about the Introduction to the Devout Life, we will have to order something that is made with honey.

Thesis defense - Salesian studies deepen

This afternoon, the Salesian priest Jose Vettath (India Guwahati) defended his doctoral dissertation in the presence of a large contingent of students, professors, and Salesian confreres from other centers in Rome.

The dissertation, called The Mode of Government of Blessed Michael Rua, Rector Major of the Salesian Society (1888-1910), is a most timely one. It comes on the vigil of the centenary of the death of Blessed Michael Rua, first successor of Don Bosco. This fact in itself places the thesis in the context of what will be, for the entire Salesian Congregation and the apostolic family of Don Bosco, a year of reflection and celebration. Without doubt Fr Vettath’s contribution will find immediate use, particularly in English-speaking areas of the Salesian World.

The dissertation begins with a presentation of the state of the craft: who has studied the figure and writings of Michael Rua; the primary and secondary sources; the relevance of continued study of one of Saint John Bosco’s first collaborators in his mission among at-risk youth and his first successor as father and charismatic center of the Salesian apostolic world. Chapters one and two, then, offers us a historical grounding, while chapters three and four give us insights into the Blessed’s works, concrete and literary. Chapter five, finally, looks at Michael Rua’s governance itself. This chapter is something of a synthesis of all that has gone before and gives us a picture of an original and defining moment in the Salesian experience: the impact of Don Rua’s person and mission on Salesian life.

In allowing us to see the many elements of Don Rua’s governance – both in style and content – the candidate offers us a foundation, a study and a compendium. His presentation is meticulous. This makes it easy for others to reconstruct the period and to understand the inner dimensions of the Salesian Society in the earliest years. A compendium, yes, and quite valuable indeed!

∞∞∞∞

Jose Vettath (center) successfully defended his doctoral thesis today. Also pictured L-R are Jarek Rochowiak (registrar UPS), Francesco Motto (2nd reader), Giorgio Zevini (dean, theology school), Aldo Giraudo (thesis director), Joseph Boenzi (3rd reader).

Aldo Giraudo directed the scholar in his research and the writing of his dissertation, and Francesco Motto was the second reader. At Christmastime I had been asked to be the third member of the committee for the doctoral examination. I am grateful for that opportunity, for it allowed me access to Jose Vetthath’s work. Three years ago he frequented my course on the spirituality of St Francis de Sales, and at the time we had a number of conversations on the importance of creating an international team of Salesian scholars to share the sources of Don Bosco’s charism with the rising generations. I am very pleased to see that Jose has continued along this line. It is a day of pride for Salesian India, and for us all.

Of carols and festivals

This was the last day of class before the Christmas break at the UPS. As one might suspect, there were moments of caroling and parties in the key gathering points of the university. Caroling in the main classroom building has been going on every day during the past two weeks, but usually I was between classes on the other side of campus, or frantically preparing the next lesson in my office, which is located in the theology wing. Today, however, I managed to get to the classroom building to hear the Filipino students lead the singing.

The time between classes is five minutes, and usually not even that long since most professors go over time (but that is another story). This means that the caroling gathering only lasts ten minutes, but the preparation lasts two weeks. As you might suspect, the Filipino delegation brought a lively and joyous spirit to their Christmas medley.

Songs and celebrations continued through the rest of the morning, until the last hour before dinner when the entry all filled with students and professors and staff. There were more songs, this time from the Indian delegation.

But I said I would continue to give news of yesterday’s walk through the old quarter of the city of Rome with Mary Margaret Stein. Hmm, where were we?

We had dinner at Trattoria Pizzeria Polese, which I called my favourite little restaurant in all of Rome, if not on all the planet. I have qualms about calling it a restaurant because, in Italy, there are different names for different styles of eating places. A ristorante is usually upscale. You can tell because there are solid table cloths, fine china and beautiful stemware. A trattoria, on the other hand, is usually a smaller place, less elegant, more affordable and less formal, more familiar. You can recognize a trattoria through its multi-coloured table cloths, often checkered but not necessarily. The flatware is more modest too, and the price much, much more reasonable than that of the ristorante. The cooking, however, is just as good as the restaurant and often better. In the case of many trattorie in Italy, the meal can be truly superior.

Certainly this is the case for Trattoria Polese.

Mary Margaret surveys the menu of Trattoria Polese

Extraordinary as the menu is at Trattoria Polese, the meal was enjoyable for other reasons, starting with catching up on the goings on in our lives, in our families, and in our work. Mary Margaret is working now with the Bishops Conference of Alaska, which brings her into Washington DC several times a year to represent the concerns of the Catholic Bishops of the 49th state.

Image of Victory on Ponte Vittorio Emanuele

We had crossed the Tiber on the Ponte Vittorio Emanuele II (Victor Emmanuel II Bridge), where we spent nearly 30 minutes watching the fast moving currents of the near-flooded Tiber. That was before dinner. After dinner, instead of returning to the Vatican, we crossed Via Vittoria Emanuele to the Chiesa Nuova — the new church. Of course, it was still the mid-day break, and the church was closed. I was a little disappointed. This is the church built by Saint Philip Neri (so it is new, as of 1577), and his relics are preserved here. I would have liked to have shown the interior of this baroque church to Mary Margaret. Patience!

Afternoon shadows fall on the Chiesa Nuova

We walked around the piazza della Chiesa Nuova for a few minutes, and spoke about what it means to call a 400-year-old church “new”. Then made our way through the neighbouring streets to Piazza Navona.

Piazza Navona is a favourite tourist site. In other seasons of the years this piazza is filled with mimes, acrobats, street artists. At Christmas time, the piazza fills with little booths and stalls for Christmas as well as Epiphany. Most sell the decorations and trinkets, the desserts and stocking stuffers, children’s gifts and things of that nature.

The piazza is really a meeting place first, and this is true even when there is a mercato. Morning is the time to buy; afternoon is the time to browse and visit. It was very festive yesterday afternoon. There were many young families with their children, as well as many groups of children, adolescents and young adults. As usual, people move from booth to booth looking but not buying.

As we did our little stroll around Piazza Navona, we noticed a group of young men putting on red costumes and dressing up as Babbo Natale (literally Father Christmas). They were listening to an elder couple who were organizing these young Santas to march on behalf of abducted children. Amid all the shopping and touring that is Piazza Navona, these Santas were raising awareness to the plight of abused and abducted minors, and the heartache experienced by their families. It was very moving to see this social justice theme brought to the heart of the plaza right at the start of the Christmas preparations.

Mary Margaret said, at this point, that seeing these young men were good for her retreat meditation. She told her friends at home that she was coming to Italy for a silent retreat.

“And where have you done this retreat,” I asked.

“It has all been one great retreat,” she laughed. “I do not speak the language, so I have just been silent all these days, until today of course. So I have watched and listened, and this leads to thinking and reflecting and praying. So, it has been a silent retreat really.”

Cute! but true! Today Mary Margaret left for Assisi. She will stay there until 27 December, and then leave on the next day for home again. We might be in touch then… but if not, I’m happy that she let me interrupt her retreat.

Guadalupe or Chantal in rainy Roma

Portrait of St Jane Frances de Chantal, at Visitation Monastery, St Louis, Missouri

This morning in Rome, at the Salesian University, we celebrated Our Lady of Guadalupe… but when I went to give a conference to the postnovices in Via Appia Antica, they told me that they celebrated "Santa Giovanna di Chantal" … The ordo for the dioceses of Rome and Lazio lists an optional memorial of Our Lady of Guadalupe for December 12th; and St Jane’s memorial in on August 12th.

The young post novices insisted with me that they were following the Ordo -- and I told them that I was happy that they remembered Jane with great enthusiasm… but I really suspect that they were reading the feasts as found in the sacramentary and liturgy of hours published for the Great Jubilee (2000). I also expect that they do not yet know what the “ordo” is.

On my return, I consulted the Guida Liturgico-Pastorale 2008-2009, and yes, Jane is listed in August. Then I googled Chantal linked with Liturgy and I found that the changes were made in 2002, with the publishing of the Roman Missal 2002, and the new directory. Jane’s feast is set for August 12, as found on page 113 of the instruction.

The move was made to make room for at least 16 new saints, and for a number of other liturgical celebrations. It is amazing that these changes have never really been made known to the wider public. We keep waiting for updated sacramentaries and liturgical books in English, and so we will probably we playing catch up for a few years.

What was I doing in via Appia Antica? As I have said, I went to see the young Salesian “postnovices” at Comunità San Tarcisio, which is on the grounds of the Catacombe di San Callisto. I gave the young brothers a conference (too long) on Paolo Albera, second successor of Don Bosco. Morand Wirth teaches them a course on Salesian history, and he asked me to do this input. I gave a similar input to his licentiate students at the UPS last week, but I did not know about this group. It was a different level and perhaps I gave more information than needed. Still, I was happy for the opportunity to meet them and see the house. The last time I set foot inside San Tarcisio was in 1994 when I worked on the commission for volunteerism at the Salesian generalate.

Morand Wirth, SDB, Professor of Salesian Studies at the UPS

Our trip home was not so easy. The tiber is flooding and the city is worried that it will overflow its banks. That is amazing considering how high the stone embankments are! A number of roads were blocked and two bridges are closed. The city was one big traffic disruptions as we left the prenovitiate in Via Appia and drove home. But we made it back safely, and all is well in our little corner.

Cardinal Stickler to be commemorated

Instead of the usual half-hour of quiet prayer at 6.30 this morning, followed by Morning Prayers and Mass (Lauds and Eucharist), we had simply a half-hour of quiet prayer together. The community mass with take place this evening, with a special liturgy shared by all seven religious communities at the UPS. The occasion is the first anniversary of the death of Cardinal Alfons Maria Stickler. Cardinal Raffaele Farina will preside at that liturgy.

It is not clear to me why there will be this commemoration at the UPS, except that Cardinal Stickler was once Rector Magnificus, as was Raffaele Farina (back during my student days). It seems like the appropriate place and occasion, then, for a commemoration.

Don Stickler was rector at the time of the great organization of the several Salesian faculties and oversaw the move of the pontifical atheneum to the present site in Rome in 1966. He organized the faculty of classical languages here as well, before being called in 1971 to serve as librarian and archivist for the Vatican. His scholarly contributions are many (and he is said to have been a character and a half). John Paul II made him cardinal in the consistory of 25 May 1985, when he was already 74 years old. He died last 12 December, 2007; Pope Benedict XVI himself presided at the funeral, and I remember that a few members of our community went to that mass. Already then it was decided to do something to commemorate his contributions at the UPS; it has taken a year to organize it.

Besides all this, I am personally excited to be able to again see Don Raffaele. Okay, he is now Archbishop and Cardinal of Santa Romana Chiesa, but I still think of him as don Farina. Afterall, this is how I have known him for many years. Don Farina was rector when I received my Bachelor degree in 1979 and my doctorate in 1996. I had the joy of welcoming him to Bellflower when he came for a visit in 1983, and someone took some photos on that day, but who knows what happened to them. During my licentiate and doctoral studies, we had many long and friendly conversations. I have always found him warm, gentle and absolutely brilliant.

Raffaele Farina, Salesian, Cardinal, Scholar and Vatican Librarian

As for the nature of tonight’s commemoration, I am sure that things will become more clear to me once we have had the celebration.

At any rate, I have already eaten breakfast and shared the morning ritual of storytelling. It is still very dark right now, at 7.30 - but the sky is illuminated by lightning and the count from the lightening strike to the crash of the thunder is not very long. It is quite close: within 5 km.

This has been the story of the whole night past. Rome has been the scene of heavy rains, strong winds, lightening and thunder and more thunder crashing, booming or rolling in, depending of the distance. It was not easy to sleep and I unplugged everything in my bedroom during the night to be safe. Yet, even without being able to sleep, it was wondrous to stay under the warm blankets in the well heated room as I heard the world crashing around me.

But it is time to get on with the day!

Missions and Mission Procures

This morning the university was the site of a gathering of African Salesians who study or teach at the UPS and the Auxilium. They celebrated Natalino. The word literally means “Little Christmas” but really signifies a “Pre-Christmas Party”.

The gathering started with a welcoming and newsy talk by Fr. Guillermo Basañes, regional council member for Africa and Madagascar. Fr. Guillermo is one of the youngest members of the new council; he was born in Argentina in 1965, made first vows as a Salesian in 1986, and was ordained in 1995. He speaks Spanish, Portuguese, Italian and English. Perhaps now that he is regional, he is also working on French.

Guillermo Basañes

The talk was followed by a liturgy, followed by dinner. The enthusiasm ran high: we could hear the group singing during the mass across the piazza of the university! And at the end of the gathering, as they started to leave toward 15.00 in the afternoon, many lingered to socialize further.

As I watched the gathering of so many African Salesians who represented many different nations on that incredibly large continent, I could not help but reflect on the whole reality that Salesians called Project Africa. At the 21st General Chapter of the Salesian Society (GC24) in 1977-1978, the Salesians took up the call to make a concerted effort to help with evangelization on that, long neglected and exploited continent. When Project Africa was launched in 1980, we only had houses in Egypt, Ethiopia, South Africa and the Congo. But every province sponsored a mission, and now we are present in 42 nations. In 1980, only the Congo (Zaire then) was a province; the other works belonged to delegations of the Middle East (Egypt, Ethiopia) or Ireland (South Africa). Now there are 2 provinces, 9 vice-provinces, and one delegation, with 1271 Salesian brothers and priests, 93 novices, and 7 bishops. An incredible growth!

Novices from Sierra Leone, Liberia, Ghana and Nigeria in Ondo, posted by ANS in November 2007

This is reflected at the UPS. When I was a graduate student here between 1990 and 1994, there were no African Salesians as students, and only 3 missionaries who came to do advanced studies. Now one-third of the Salesian students are Africans, not to mention the many from other religious communities and dioceses. Don Bosco’s mission in Africa has really experienced a rich blessing.

By total coincidence, I ran into an old friend as I was closing my office before dinner. This was Fr Mark Hyde, the new mission procurator from New Rochelle, New York. With him was one of the professionals who works with the Salesian Missions, Jaime Correa Montalvo, who is the officer for international programs.

Don Gianfranco Coffele was bringing them around the UPS when I ran into them. Gianfranco invited me to join them for dinner, and so we had some time to visit before their return to the Salesian general headquarters for meetings. A very interesting chat we had.

From what I understood, Fr Mark and Professor Correa are here for a gathering of the four major mission procures in the Salesian world. These four are New Rochelle New York (which is the oldest), Torino (which is centered at the Salesian mother house at Valdocco), Bonn and Madrid (the newest of the four centers). We did not discuss the agenda of the meetings, but from what I understood, the leaders from the four centers planned to discuss resources, outreach and communications among themselves and with Salesian headquarters.

Fr Marc Hyde (L) and Prof. Jaime Correa Montalvo (R) receive the Medal of the Salesian Pontifical University from Rector Magnificus don Mario Toso

As I said, Mark Hyde is new to this work. He has worked in youth centers and as pastor in Manhattan (Mary Help of Christians, 12th Street), and only came to the Mission Office on 1 September of this year. Jaime Correa, instead, has worked with the Mission Office for a number of years. Previous to that time he worked for the state department and taught at George Wasington University; he studied Economy and Commerce at the University of Bologna and so, besides speaking Spanish (he is a native of Puerto Rico) and English, he is also well versed in Italian and, I suspect, can defend himself in the other languages as well.

What neither seemed well versed in, however, was the Italian concept of midday dinner. They were ready for a little lunch; Gianfranco brought us to a Sardinian restaurant where the appetizers were abundant, the four types of pasta rich… and where the two had no room for the main course. However through the slicing of cheeses, the dishing up of mushrooms and roasted zucchini, the pouring of Sardinian red wine and Roman mineral water, they shared their hopes for making a new presentation of the needs of the missions in developing countries. It is crucial to do so as the economy becomes more stressed and the recession (spelled with a “d”) becomes more accute.

But please don’t quote me. Everything that was said was very informal, and we alternated important international topics with explanations of Sandinian specialities in roasting potatos and egg plant. More than anything else, it was a happy midday dinner, a total surprise and a total joy.

Surprise Sardinian dinner in Rome with (L-R) Gianfranco Coffele, Jaime Correa Montalvo, Mark Hyde and Joe Boenzi

∞

Advent begins

Storm Clouds over the UPS

The last day of November, and this is the first Sunday of Advent. Again I joined the Don Rua Community for the morning liturgy and breakfast. The conversation centered on the latest terrorist attack in Mumbay. Political groups use religion to fuel unrest so that they can seize power: this seems to be the tactics behind all the recent violence in India, according to some of the Indian Salesians with whom I spoke at table.

At this point I do not know what to think of all this. Still, I need to be more aware of what is happening in India, since yesterday I received an invitation from Fr Joe Almeida, provincial of the Salesians in Guwahati, to come next summer and facilitate three retreats. I need to respond to that invitation… I'll do this in the next couple of days, as soon as I am sure of my calendar and commitments for 2009.

In the meantime, I continue to reflect on the recent presentations that I have been making: in Malta, and yesterday with the Comunità Don Rua. Salesians, young and old, are anxious to receive more input on the Salesian spirit and charism. This is the area that we have worked on for many years at Berkeley and at the Spirituality Institute here at the UPS. I often think that the whole world is immersed in this… but then I find out that very few are hearing these instructions. More outreach is needed.

And since I am part of a group that is deep into all the Salesian sources and traditions, it is imperative that I and all those others who are doing Salesian research respond to those who are asking for more.

This is also why it is very important that we form a team of younger scholars to take up the research and the study. The Salesian world is vast, but too few are engaged in this study and teaching of the charism. We risk losing touch with our roots, losing sight of our goals, losing vigor to serve.

Those were the thoughts coming to me after these interventions. Rain continued to pour today in the morning. This weather keeps us close to home.

Youth ministry or youth pastoral or youth apostolate?

This morning I had breakfast with Cryil de Souza and Francis Vincent Anthony. I have known both of these professors since my student days at the UPS in the early 1990s, at which time Cyril was new to the faculty and Francis, like myself, was completing his studies. Cryil is now the head of the Department of Youth Pastoral and Catechetics. Francis is Associate Professor of Foundational Theology.

Cyril told me that today the core team of the Youth Pastoral Department would begin to go over the minutes and notes of the Research Seminar held some days ago, and start to evaluate how to carry the reform of the department forward. In fact, there are two more weekends scheduled that will work as parts 2, 3 and 4 of the seminar. These take place in February, March and April. By that time I will have returned to California (or at least, this is the plan). However, as I told Cyril and Francis, I am very interested in how things develop. I also told them of the hopes of Michael Sweeney and Gael Sullivan to develop a youth ministry component both for the ISS and the DSPT.

Cyril stresses that studies in this area are constantly challenged by the every changing trends in culture and approach — and that these trends and shifts are most noticeable for those who are close to the young.

My own comments reflected conversations that we have been having in Berkeley over the last couple of years, particularly with Michael Sweeney. Michael stresses the need to recuperate the word Apostolate rather than speak only of Ministry. I said to Cyril and Francis that I have the feeling that the adoption of the word ministry in English to translate the Italian pastorale tends to create some difficulties. Ministry is very much an church word, and tends to keep us working within the confines of structure, Cyril agreed. Apostolate, instead, is all about being sent out into the wider world and is not tied down by structures, but is about being sent into the world, even the world of the unchurched.

Francis, who works a lot with language, observed that words can mean anything we define them to mean in a given context. While I agreed that this is true in the close confines of an academic environment, I also disagreed in terms of the application of this in a wider cultural context. The language we use, I feel from my own experience, has a way of shaping us, just as we stretch and shape language. What a word means in the wider experience of the folks determines how our words are received and our message interpreted and applied (or not). And this is where I see the wrestling with the theme of the renewal and reshaping of the Youth Pastoral Catechetics Department at the UPS. Pastoral means something much wider to the Rector Major Pascual Chávez than it does to the professors and many provincials.

Well… we had to leave it at that. Even after two cups of caffelatte and an extra roll, we had to get on to the work of the day. There are classes to be taught and students to see… this is a university after all.

Photos - Top: Cyril De Souza and Gianfranco Venturi at Seminario of 8 November (photo by Joe Boenzi); below: Michael Sweeney, OP, speaks at Salesian Province Feastday in Richmond, 2007 (photo by Duoc Le)

Rainy day and some art to appreciate

This afternoon the storm became more intense than in the morning. The downpour was continuous. The thunder and lighting were very loud and alarmingly close. It remained dark most of the day.

But there were some bright elements. Aldo Giraudo showed me one of his latest artistic finds. It is the bozzetto of a painting by Mario Caffaro Rore of St Francis de Sales… bozzetto being the first draft or rough sketch of a work. Some artists do this in charcoal or pencil. Caffaro Rore (1910-2001) used make his preliminary sketches by painting on a small wooden board or on masonite, as in this case from the looks of it. This draft was on sale in Torino, and Aldo bought it for €400 this past summer. The final product is in the chapel of the Salesian Sisters in Chieri.

In fact, Aldo has been telling me about this great find of his for months, and he was quite excited in showing me the actual piece. I became excited too when I saw it. As Aldo pointed out the intricacies of the bozzetto, I reached for my little camera and tried to make a few photographs.

In this painting of Francis made for the Salesian Sisters, the saint is depicted at his desk, plume pen in hand, body posture intense and at work, but his face turned toward the viewer. It is a Francis de Sales composing the Treatise on the Love of God, or writing a letter of spiritual direction. He is every bit the master, ready to teach; he is the founder of a school of Christian life, ready to direct. The painting is magnificent and classical, but immediate as it brings us into the saint’s environs.

Last year Aldo was able to purchase another Caffaro Rore’s bozzetto. The subject, again, is Francis de Sales. The destination for this piece was Tempio Don Bosco, the church on the birthplace of St John Bosco at the Becchi (Colle Don Bosco). Aldo has had this piece framed, and it is now in the chapel of the provincial community of the UPS, which is named Comunità San Francesco di Sales (St Francis de Sales Community).

This painting destined for Colle Don Bosco is very different from the one done for the Salesian Sisters in Chieri. Francis de Sales is again at his desk, but desk and writer are almost lifted up into heaven by strong, angel youths. Francis looks up to the sky (not to the viewer) with astonishment and joy. This is a moment of contemplation — of mystical union. The pen is suspended as Francis contemplates Divine Love. To look at this depiction, the viewer almost feels the urge to remain there, gazing with Francis at a loveliness that cannot be described but that can only be fathomed deeply in the heart and soul.

Well I say this because I have seen the actual painting several times, and my experience has been that I have never wanted to tear myself away from it. I would have rather loved to jump into the canvas and let myself be lifted up with Francis by those same angels to see what he sees in that moment of fascination, of mystery and of mysticism.

Ahhhhhhhh … incredible.

So now, thanks to Aldo, we have a little piece of these Salesian wonders on our university campus.

Finally, let me just make the note that Mario Caffaro Rore studied art history under don Alberto Caviglia, a great Salesian historian. Don Caviglia called upon the young Caffaro Rore to collaborate in recreating the image of Dominic Savio based on family photographs of his siblings (there were no photos of Dominic, who died in 1857).

Caffaro Rore’s 1940 portrait of Dominic became the standard by which all later images have been based. Through the 1950s until his death, Mario Caffaro Rore painted many works for the Salesian family in churches and in residences throughout Italy. If I call him a Salesian artist, it is done advisedly.

Rain and pre-registration

Well, good old St Martin did not hold off the rain. It came again last night and continued through the night in Rome. In fact, this morning we were greeted with more thunder and lightening as we sipped our latte in the staff dinning room at the UPS. This morning as I walked to my office I kept to the porticoes as the rain continued. Now there seems to be a little bit of a break, but more rain is forecast for the final days of this week.

Yesterday evening I did a lot of e-mailing with my students from DSPT regarding the pre-registration now underway for Spring Semester 2009. One of the responsibilities of every instructor at DSPT is to help a group of students in a personalized way as academic advisor. I have 22 advisees this semester at DSPT… and the trick is to keep up the advising process even when I am away from Berkeley to teach in Rome for 12 weeks.

I am so happy that God created e-mail.

The real time for registration is during the last week of January 2009. This pre-registration process is just a convenience offered to the students, especially those who are looking to get into courses with limited enrollments (and for some reason, there are many professors at the GTU who love to limit the enrollment to their courses). It becomes troublesome to many students who cannot meet their requirements because they cannot get a timely response from professors to enroll in courses that are required.

But for others, particularly those in the Master of Divinity program (MDV), there is less need to worry about this. Their courses are offered on cycles with an agreement among the various school to schedule classes in the same core areas so as not to conflict. I am speaking of the three Catholic schools here because, understandably, the Catholic MDV programs have many more requirements that those of the schools of Protestant denominations at GTU. Why should that be? Because the Catholic schools must follow the indications of the Holy See and the Bishops Conference in the area of priestly formation.

The greater concern for the moment is for the members of the Institute of Salesian Studies (ISS). Most come from other countries and find the system a bit difficult to understand. Last August I was able to walk most of the ISS students through all of this, and they all seemed to fit in more easily to the DSPT and GTU as we started the term. Now I have been in contact with each of them to make sure that they are working through the registration process with ease. Internet and e-mail has been the great help in this.

All of which leads me to reflect that, with the internet, one can really live in two worlds at the same time… or even more worlds. What does that do to the psyche? Ah… good question.

(Photos. Above: autumn rain at UPS; below: portico at DSPT)

End-of-term: Pointers for defending defending a Masters Thesis

Today is the last day of classes at the UPS. Most of the morning I spent working on class files, meeting students, correcting papers, and trying to get through e-mail with people at the DSPT in Berkeley.

All of this reminds me that I am living between two worlds as I prepare to return to Berkeley. And immediately on my return I will participate in a few important events. First is the launch of Arthur Lenti's book series on Don Bosco, 25 January. On 30 January one of my students, Larry King, will defend his MA thesis.

Larry and I have been in e-mail contact this whole time, and I have worked on corrections, sending him comments and observations with various emails and attachments. Today the exam has been scheduled (or will be scheduled as soon as people in California get in to work) for 20 January.

With all of this, I forgot that the thesis defense in Berkeley tends to be without an audience. In Rome everyone goes to the defense and so students learn what to expect. Professors too see how others do it, and so the thesis examination becomes a ritual of sorts.

How should a Master/Licentiate candidate prepare for his or her defense?

From my experience I tell my own students the following:

1) Write out a defense statement to present at the opening of the examination. Take your words from the introduction that you have written, and from the conclusion. In other words, tell us your original hypothesis, explain how you had planned to study this theme (introduction), then tell us what you discovered in the course of your study (conclusion), what have been the limits of the paper (conclusion), what are areas to promote for further study (conclusion), and finally restate your original hypothesis now as a proven thesis statement.

2) When you have put this paper together from your introduction and conclusion, streamline it to be no more than three pages, double-spaced. Reading this aloud should come to 9 minutes in time (Remember the rule of thumb: 7 pages = 20 minutes; for your doctoral defense you'll want to put together 7 pages or a 20-minute statement).

3) Some candidate make a print-out of this presentation, which they then give to the professors on the panel and to any others who may be in attendance. On this packet of pages, the candidate may wish to add any errors that you might have noted in your printout, with the appropriate corrections. Also, you can add your thankyous and acknowledements here as well.

4) After you have offered your opening statement, each of the professors on your panel will have 10 minutes to ask you questions (20 if we are doing your doctoral defense). Have your thesis open in front of you and bring along paper and pens for taking notes. As the professor asks you a question, write down the main points of his or her question on your note paper. In this way you will not forget the several points of the question (we professor-types tend to be complicated when we ask questions). This will also allow you a moment to collect your thoughts and then to speak clearly as you respond the each question point-by-point.

5) Do not hesitate to open your thesis and use what you have written there to respond to a question if you see that this will help. This is, after all, a defense of a thesis and not simply an oral examination. You can use your written work to your advantage.

6) Remember, in the last analysis, that you are defending your written work -- your thesis -- and not defending yourself. In other words, do not feel that there is an attack on you or on your ideas taking place. Accept observations gracefully, and corrections gratefully. Modesty and competence go together, after all. Once this examination is completed, there you will have time to make any corrections needed before making the final printout.

These are my suggestions. But don't take my word on this. There are great guides written in so many "how to" books designed for graduate students. I am sure you'll find much better recommendations there.

[Photos: 1) Students in my Francis de Sales class fill out the class evaluation forms on 16 January 2008; 2) Larry King and Ed Hopfner at DSPT on 19 September 2007; 3) John Roche defends his thesis on 18 June 2007]

Rome was not built in a day

That is an old proverb that I heard quoted to me often when I was an impatient child. The Italian equivalent is Roma non fu fatta in un giorno. I suspect that the proverb comes from a Latin maxim [nec uno die condita est Roma, nec uno cecidit die] since the phrase seems to be a longstanding saying used in all Western languages. Apart from its educative message, today I have reflected on its practical meaning. Something close to home brought this proverb to mind…

After nearly four years of construction and after we had given up all hope, the Comune di Roma today had workers taking down the barriers around the perimeter of Piazza dell’Ateneo Salesiano and open it for the public.

Even while I was a student at the UPS in the early 1990s, there was serious talk about the City of Rome making plans to excavate beneath the plaza to build parking garages there. Our quarter of the city had become more populated that first projected, and the use of cars had multiplied exponentially since the quarter went into construction in the late 1960s following the construction of the Salesian University in this spot. The building of a parking garage underground seemed logical, straightforward, easily accomplished…

However, once construction began, so did the politics. Many citizens (and the university itself) had believed that there would be underground parking and that the four lanes of traffic through Piazza dell’Ateneo would be restored. Others (the green party of the quarter) had other ideas, and so, in October of 2005, they pushed for public hearings, and demanded that a giardino pubblico (aka, a park) be built into the Piazza, curtailing traffic into two narrow lanes, with now parking above ground. Such a move would mean that the gate of the University would no longer open on to a roadway, but that the piazza itself would never again be filled with automobiles, all parked and hampering traffic anyway. The two carved lanes would permit a constant, if slow, flow of traffic and this would be an improvement.

That was the reasoning to ease the traffic congestion and the danger of racing cars. The park-piazza would also englarge the green footprint in our part of the town (although the University itself has three parks within its perimeter).

Don Mario Toso, rector of the University, protested the arrangement at the time, for he said that this would make it impossible for buses to enter the university grounds. However, his arguments were not heeded and the park project was approved. This, of course, mean a restructuring of the ground level after the garage was completed. According to the original plan, the ground level would be paved over and appear as it had before… a wide piazza with two lanes of traffic in either direction. Instead, the park had to be sculpted into place, and this is what added two more years to the construction job.

But today it is open finally - just in time for the feast of Mary Immaculate (there are festive lights decorating the sidewalks for the Marian celebrations already) and for the Christmas holidays. It is a nice holiday present to the neighborhood. As for the access to the university gate? Well it will not matter now. The piazza has been blocked off for four years already, so no students will remember the easy bus access of years past… nor will they experience the gridlock of the blocked piazza that was the reality of the 1990s.

So, this makes me think that there is a lot of truth to the proverb Rome was not built in a day. It is a lucky thing too. Taking so long to build around here makes people forget the conveniences of the past and welcome new arrangements for the future, because they have had to live with the inconvenient arrangements of construction projects that blocked and bothered for what seemed like a lifetime. Not only do you learn to deal with the waiting, but in the end you are ready for a shift that you might not have welcomed had it come quickly.

This might be kept in mind by liturgists too… but that would take us into another discourse. Nec uno die condita est Roma, nec uno cecidit die… but now that they finished another angle of Rome, it is a wonderful feeling!