Who is Don Bosco for you?
I feel that he is a father and a friend. I have discovered his fatherhood in so many faces of the Salesians who have shown me the heart of Don Bosco, and I really feel that he is a friend. In fact, in these days when the Council meetings were held in Valdocco, I liked to spend some time chatting with him, as with a friend, telling him things and asking him other things. I could also say that I feel he is a good intercessor. I beg him to intercede with our dear Father God for my Salesian brothers.
How did you meet him?
In the Tulio boarding school in Tucumán, a Salesian school where I had the grace to spend my secondary school years. I got to know him in the person of the Salesians in that house. I got to know him together with the young people in my youth group, in meetings, in missions, in school camps, in theaters and in sports. I enjoyed the atmosphere of the school and youth groups at that time. That year was also the centenary of his death (1988), and participating in the musical and theater helped me learn more about his life, choices and feelings.
Why did you decide to become a Salesian?
I suddenly realized that I was spending a lot of time at school, it was my second home, I enjoyed everything. That joy had to do mostly with the experiences of youth group, Catholic Action, formation, oratory and missions, and the desire to give my whole life to the Lord, to serve young people, began to appear. I felt that the Lord was asking my heart to embrace many, to expand, to be generous.
What was your vocational path?
I did all my formation as a Salesian in Córdoba, except the Novitiate in the city of La Plata, with all the novices from Argentina and Paraguay, and the internship in the city of San Juan, in the west of the country. As a priest, I have worked pastorally in the formation houses (Novitiate, Pre-Novitiate and Post-Novitiate) and in the schools and parishes connected to them. For the past four years I have served as a Provincial in the "Blessed Artemide Zatti" Province in northern Argentina (ARN) until CG28.
Was there any person who was a new "Don Bosco" for you?
It would be hard to think of just one person. In school I was friends with all the Salesians and I liked that everyone was close to the young people, each with their own characteristics and according to their responsibilities. Later, all my formators helped and accompanied me a lot. I am very grateful to all of them, true friends and fellow travelers.
What are the characteristics of Don Bosco that you most admire?
The clarity of his option for the poorest young people and his paternal presence among them, and how he maintained it until the end of his life. The centrality of God in his heart, his missionary spirit and ability to create networks and links with all kinds of people who could help his mission.
In your opinion, can young people still find inspiration in Don Bosco?
Yes, of course, I think young people are inspired when they meet consistent and bold people; they are moved by the witness of a radical and full life. And very striking is our father Don Bosco's strong option for the poorest young people, living in poverty himself and dedicating himself tirelessly to the mission that the good Lord asked of him. A Don Bosco consumed to his last strength and happy to be able to devote his energies to the salvation of young people impresses, enthuses and inspires commitment.
In what ways can Salesians be new Don Bosco for young people?
We Salesians are Don Bosco for young people when we vibrate with their feelings, when we devote time to listening, to dialogue, to sharing, when we help them find solutions, when we love them well and help them to love others well, when we encourage them to get involved, to be protagonists of change in their own lives and in society.
And how does Don Bosco inspire your work as a Regional?
When I arrive in a Salesian house and in a province, I think of him, of his missionary heart, of how his work spread around the world, how he would have loved to be in the midst of this community, these young people, these Salesians. I think of his heart as a father who enjoys seeing his children involved in mission and who continually thanks God for the plurality and beauty of Salesian work around the world.
If you could meet Don Bosco, what would you like to say or ask him?
Thank him for his faithfulness to God and to the mission he received; and ask him for all Salesians a heart capable of loving intensely as he loved.
