{"id":1029099,"date":"2026-01-14T23:00:00","date_gmt":"2026-01-14T23:00:00","guid":{"rendered":""},"modified":"-0001-11-30T00:00:00","modified_gmt":"-0001-11-30T00:00:00","slug":"trans-26682-1","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/infoans.news\/en\/trans-26682-1\/","title":{"rendered":"South Korea \u2013 \u201cLiving the Mystery: The True Authority of Love\u201d. Salesian Family Superiors Deeply Moved by the conference on the \u201cService of Authority\u201d"},"content":{"rendered":"

This visit marked his first return to Korea in 15 years, the last being during his tenure as Rector Major in 2010. Although a decade and a half has passed\u2014enough time for the landscape to change entirely\u2014no weight of age could be found in Fr Ch\u00e1vez as he stood on the podium. Instead, with eyes more intense than 15 years ago and an undying passion, he spread the living charism of Don Bosco and a spirit of unity and love for the Rector Major to the Salesian Family worldwide. His presence brought deep wonder and a tremor of love to all attendees.
\u00a0
Living the \u201cMystery\u2019, Not Just \u2018Work\u2019: Echoes from the Retreat<\/strong><\/p>\n

Prior to today\u2019s conference, Fr Ch\u00e1vez had invited participants into deep silence and meditation through two retreat sessions for the FMA sisters and SDB confreres, concluding yesterday (the 13th). The theme of the retreat was \u201cWitness of God\u2019s Love in the World.\u201d He emphasized strongly that \u201cthe fulfillment of our mission and the practice of evangelical counsels must not be mere obligations, but must be rooted in a \u2018mystical experience\u2019 of meeting God.\u201d<\/p>\n

Throughout the retreat, he pierced through the essence of spirituality, stating, \u201cCarrying out the Salesian mission means not becoming an activist, but living the mystery within that activity,\u201d asserting that activity and prayer are inseparable. In particular, his daily homilies became unforgettable spiritual nourishment for the participants. As a world-renowned scripture scholar, he exquisitely connected the day\u2019s Gospel with the retreat\u2019s theme, serving as an \u201cexcellent guide of souls\u201d who led participants away from a fleeting faith and toward tasting the true love of God\u2014that mystery\u2014and immersing themselves deeply in it.
\u00a0
\u201cService of Authority\u201d Born from Mystical Experience<\/strong><\/p>\n

Built upon this spiritual foundation, the conference on the 14th for the Superiors of the Korean Salesian Family groups resonated even more profoundly. Standing once again at the lectern under the theme \u201cFor a Synodal Mission: The Service of Authority as New Wine Required in the Process of Practising Governance,\u201d he eloquently explained how the \u201cmystery of love,\u201d emphasized during the retreat, should be expressed as \u201cauthority\u201d within community governance.<\/p>\n

Emphasizing that \u201cauthority is not domination, but a service of love blossoming on the Cross,\u201d he called upon the leaders of the Korean Salesian Family to adopt a \u201cleadership of accompaniment\u201d: \u201cWalk ahead to show hope, walk behind to care for those lagging so no one is left behind, and walk in the middle to share in the joys and pains of the brothers and sisters.\u201d
\u00a0
\u201cStrive to be loved first.\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\n

This advice, originally given by Don Bosco to Don Rua, was presented as a concrete tip derived from the \u201cmystical experience\u201d Fr. Ch\u00e1vez highlighted during the retreat. It represents the very spirituality of a Salesian who must exercise \u201cfraternity\u201d in their life setting and serves as a precious teaching that explains the core of the Salesian spirit, Amorevolezza (Loving-kindness), in a single phrase. He explained that God loved us first, and we, human beings who feel and realize this, respond to that love; this is the essence of the mystical experience and, he emphasized, the true meaning of Amorevolezza as spoken of by Don Bosco.
\u00a0
\u201cNec laudibus nec timore<\/em><\/strong>\u201d (Do not be swayed by praise, nor yield to fear)<\/strong><\/p>\n

At the end of the conference, Fr. Ch\u00e1vez offered a final blessing to the leaders of the Salesian Family in Korea with the Latin maxim, \u201cNec laudibus nec timore<\/em>\u201d (Do not be swayed by praise, nor yield to fear). This was the earnest plea of the Rector Major Emeritus, urging them to care for the Lord\u2019s flock with the boldness that can only be possessed by a \u201cmystic\u201d who has deeply experienced God\u2019s love.<\/p>\n

Over the past 20 days, Fr Ch\u00e1vez embodied the model of an \u201cactive mystic\u201d for the Salesian Family in Korea. For the 12 years since his retirement as Rector Major, he has dedicated himself entirely to the requests of his successors, considering it his mission to witness to and preach Don Bosco\u2019s charism with overflowing passion. Now, after a short two-day rest, he will return briefly to Rome on the 16th, before continuing his busy schedule toward the world that awaits him.<\/p>\n

The Salesian Family in Korea, having welcomed Don Bosco\u2019s ninth successor again after 15 years\u2014a man who enlightens our eyes with touching and irresistible intuition\u2014feels truly great joy and gratitude. We earnestly pray that Fr Pascual Ch\u00e1vez may continue, in even greater health, to convey such insight and love to the Salesian Family worldwide, leading the Salesian charism to bloom firmly.<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

This visit marked his first return to Korea in 15 years, the last being during his tenure as Rector Major […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":2026682,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_angie_page":false,"site-sidebar-layout":"default","site-content-layout":"","ast-site-content-layout":"default","site-content-style":"default","site-sidebar-style":"default","ast-global-header-display":"","ast-banner-title-visibility":"","ast-main-header-display":"","ast-hfb-above-header-display":"","ast-hfb-below-header-display":"","ast-hfb-mobile-header-display":"","site-post-title":"","ast-breadcrumbs-content":"","ast-featured-img":"","footer-sml-layout":"","ast-disable-related-posts":"","theme-transparent-header-meta":"","adv-header-id-meta":"","stick-header-meta":"","header-above-stick-meta":"","header-main-stick-meta":"","header-below-stick-meta":"","astra-migrate-meta-layouts":"default","ast-page-background-enabled":"default","ast-page-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"ast-content-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"page_builder":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[97,45,27],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1029099","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-east-asia-oceania","category-events","category-salesian-family"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/infoans.news\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1029099","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/infoans.news\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/infoans.news\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/infoans.news\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/infoans.news\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1029099"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/infoans.news\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1029099\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/infoans.news\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2026682"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/infoans.news\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1029099"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/infoans.news\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1029099"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/infoans.news\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1029099"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}