For this reason, on the afternoon of last Thursday, 28 May 2026, via a webinar, the coordinator of the organising team for the 2025 Missionary Congress, Fr Francisco Chimento, SDB, opened the reflection by stating: “In the Mission, today and always, we are moved by the person of Jesus, his sending and his actions, which touch the wounded flesh of the world like the Good Samaritan.”
“Starting from a spirituality of care and compassion, we are invited to make the mission entrusted to us an intercultural encounter with the ‘other’ who becomes a brother, with what is different and becomes an opportunity, and with what the other has or does – not to compete, but to share, in mutual enrichment and in a deeper learning from the spirituality of Don Bosco, who taught us to look upon the faces of young people and the poor as a theological locus in the Mission.”
Following the welcoming addresses by the rectors of UPS in Ecuador, Fr Juan Cárdenas Tapia SDB, and of UNISAL, Fr Guillermo Tanos SDB – who emphasised the importance of the academic world not imposing truth “from above”, but walking alongside the people, conducting research from an intercultural perspective – the floor was given to Dr José Juncosa, of the Abya Yala Salesian publishing house at the Ecuadorian UPS.
In his address, Juncosa proposed starting from a historical observation that encompasses both the past and the present: “The Salesian mission establishes very particular and powerful links between knowledge and mission. This is because the missionaries of yesterday and today are guests in territories that are not their own and which they do not know; they are welcomed by people whose languages and codes of communication, whose collective lives, are not only unfamiliar to them but often inaccessible as well.”
Nevertheless, he explained that “the link between knowledge and mission is not automatic and tends to fade when crises are resolved with a return to normality”; and that “missionary accounts teach us how, in times of crisis, new knowledge and new ways of looking at and positioning oneself within reality are necessary in order to make progress.”
In turn, the General Councillor for the Missions of the Salesian Congregation, Fr Jorge Mario Crisafulli, after conveying the greetings of the Rector Major, Fr Fabio Attard, to the webinar participants, stated: “To revitalise the mission, we must undergo a personal and communal conversion. No project can survive in the Church and in the Congregation unless we first undergo a personal conversion, becoming better listeners to the Word of God, in love with Jesus Christ and focused on the salvation of souls.”
And to emphasise the importance of synodality in mission, he quoted an African proverb: “If you walk alone, you go faster. If you walk with others, you go further.” He also recalled Fr Agostino Radrizzani, SDB, who was his formator during the postnovitiate phase: “He always told us that it is better to do little together than to do much alone.” For this reason, he invited everyone to “work in partnership with other institutions, with other groups, with the dioceses and with other congregations.”
Finally, he asked us to “be careful not to imitate Don Bosco, but rather to try to make his way of life our own, in order to respond to the new challenges of our time. What is Jesus asking of us today?”
Lastly, Dr Mariana Hernández, Coordinator of University Life at UNISAL, together with Br Juan Pablo Tobanelli, SDB, delegate for Mission Animation in the Argentina North Province, recalled the conclusions of the 2025 Missionary Congress by reading the declaration approved on that occasion by all the congress participants, entitled “The mission weaves us together in going forth”: “The courtyards of the mission are the margins: the world of young people, indigenous peoples, the new vulnerabilities generated by globalisation, the digital world, ecology, addictions, the affective-sexual sphere, emotional health, social justice.”
The webinar concluded with a blessing imparted to all those connected by the Superiors of the Salesian Provinces of Ecuador (ECU), Fr Marcelo Farfán, Argentina North (ARN), Fr Julio Boffelli, and Argentina South (ARS), Fr Manuel Cayo.
The American “Entrelazando Caminos” Salesian Missionary Congress sought to blend the rich Salesian missionary history with some critical reflections, to promote a more effective cultural evangelisation in the Americas. This initiative was organised by the UPS of Ecuador and UNISAL, as part of the celebrations marking the 150th anniversary of the arrival of the first Salesian Missionary Expedition in America in December 1875.
For anyone interested, a recording of the event is available online.
