【慈幼通訊社 ─ 2014 年 03 月 22 日羅馬慈幼會總部訊】 ─ 大會已進入下半階段。總會長在周末的講話中評論說：「我們已在半途，現在要懷著滿足之心，回望過去的進展。」
今早，大會成員進入會議廳前，均獲贈一份由慈幼會梵蒂岡團體送出的禮物，禮物雖小卻令人怡悅，且甚具意義。這就是一本精美的，以「以愛致慈父」為題的彩色小冊子，這冊子也可透過網絡 sdb.org 取得。
小冊子表達著對查偉思神父的感恩，感謝他十二年來，在服務修會中展示出很多優良的特質：喜樂、善於溝通、向不同文化開放、接近所有人、有愛心、神修深入、愛護自然、熱愛聖地、到訪各地、永不言倦、決斷、鮑思高代言人、慈幼大家庭的慈父、與青年同行的青年、歡樂、忠貞服從、司鐸心、權威嚮導、熱誠的策勵者、和藹友善、兄弟般、以瓜達露盧佩聖母的引導作鮑思高神父的繼承人。
查偉思神父最後一次以總會長的身份參與會議，他在演說中總括了大會直至此刻已達到的成果：「有關副總會長及慈幼大家庭的修改會憲事宜，將會交由秘書處；歐洲及中東兩個地區的成立；以及總部議會各部門負責議員，引入新的選舉程序。」現在各大會成員，在草案委員會的協助下，進入草擬最終文件的階段。慈幼青年牧民參照架構的第三修訂版本，現已發表。
下星期將全力投入辨識總會長和議會成員人選，以及選舉的工作。顯然，「大會已進入新階段，並更聚焦於GC27的主題：見證福音的徹底性。」
大會工作將更形集中及具體。我們保證有關主題的修會生活反省，將成為一種精神，並能反映在文件中，為以後數年的未來大方針。這就是查偉思神父所堅持的。
「GC27要成為一個轉捩點，在這教會新春天的時期，尤其是修道者及修會的恩寵時期，確切讓我們進入一個新世界的視野。因此我膽敢再邀請大家，在三個層面上作出徹底的選擇：個人層面、制度層面（團體、會省及修會），以及架構層面。我們需要作出抉擇，好能讓我們更親近基督及福音，使我們更能投入敎會事務，更愛護窮人，效法鮑思高神父。這就是會憲第146條，有關召開全會代表大會的意義：『這是慈幼會士藉此兄弟般的聚會，作出團體的檢討，為能忠於福音及會祖的神恩，並敏銳地辨認出時代及環境的需求。透過全會代表大會，整個修會順從聖神的領導，努力探索；在歷史的時刻，天主要本會怎樣為教會提供更佳的服務。』」
GC27: Halfway - now on to the next stage.
(ANS - RMG –Roma, 22 March 2014) – The Chapter has passed the halfway mark. In a speech at the weekend the Rector Major commented, "we have passed halfway and we can look back with satisfaction at the progress made."
Before entering the Assembly Hall this morning, the Chapter members received a small but pleasant and meaningful gift, offered by the Salesian Community of the Vatican, and also available online at sdb.org. It is an elegant colour brochure entitled With Love to Father.
It is a way of saying thanks to Fr Pascual for twelve years when he displayed many fine qualities in the service of the Congregation: joyful, a good communicator, open to different cultures, close to all, loving, spiritually profound, a lover of creation, in love with the Holy Land, a traveller, tireless, determined, the voice of Don Bosco, father of the Salesian family, young with the young, jovial, loyal and obedient, a priestly mind, an authoritative guide, an enthusiastic animator, affable and friendly, fraternal, successor of Don Bosco with the guidance of Our Lady of Guadalupe.
In this speech, one of his last as Rector Major, Fr Pascual listed the conclusions reached so far in the Chapter: "one constitutional change which concerns the Vicar and the Salesian Family which will be entrusted to a Secretariat; the establishment of two regions in Europe and the Middle East; the introduction of new procedures for the election of the General Councillors in charge of the sectors." Now we proceed with the participation of all the members to the drafting of the final document, with the help of the Drafting Committee. The third updated edition of the Frame of Reference of Salesian Youth Ministry has been presented.
With next week devoted entirely to discernment and the election of the Rector Major and the members of his Council, it is clear that "the Chapter is entering a new phase, more and more focused on the theme of GC27: Witnesses to the Radical Approach of the Gospel.
The work will have to be more focused and more concrete. We have to ensure that the reflection on the life of the congregation in the light of the topic becomes a spirit and will result in a document with the broad lines of the future for the next few years. This is what Fr Pascual is insisting on.
"GC27 has to be a chapter that marks a turning point, that definitely makes us enter into the new vision of the world in this new springtime of the Church, in this time of grace for Consecrated Life and the Congregation in particular. That's why I take the liberty to renew the invitation to make radical choices at three levels: personal, institutional (community, province, congregation) and structural. We need choices that will bring us closer to Christ and to his Gospel, that will enable us to be more involved in the Church and make us love the poor more, after the example of Don Bosco. This is what Article 146 of the Constitutions means when it says that the General Chapter “is the fraternal meeting in which Salesians carry out a communal reflection to keep themselves faithful to the Gospel and to their Founder's charism, and sensitive to the needs of time and place. Through the general chapter the entire Society, opening itself to the guidance of the Spirit of the Lord, seeks to discern God's will at a specific moment in history for the purpose of rendering the Church better service.”