General Secretariat of the Congregation

Organisation of the Salesian Congregation

The Secretariat of the Salesian Congregation
Every organization operating on a worldwide scale needs structures that guarantee order, continuity and communication. In the Salesian Congregation, one of the bodies that performs this function is the General Secretariat of the Congregation. It is not a representative office, but a concrete and daily service, indispensable for the good functioning of the central government.

Who leads it
The Secretariat is entrusted to the General Secretary, a member of the General Council. This placement is not by chance: the General Secretary is part of the central governing body of the Congregation, which enables him to follow closely the decisions that are taken and to ensure their proper documentary and administrative management. He is appointed by the Rector Major with the consent of his council and remains ad nutum.

What the Secretariat does
The work of the Secretariat is largely carried out away from the spotlight, but it is essential for keeping the life of the Congregation in order. Its main tasks concern three fundamental areas.
The first is themanagement of official documentation. The Secretariat collects, files and preserves the official acts of the Congregation: the decrees of the General Council, the minutes of meetings, formal communications with the provinces and with the Holy See. This work ensures that the Congregation’s institutional memory is preserved over time and is accessible when needed.
The second is theinternal communication. The Secretariat is the channel through which many official communications pass between the central government and the Salesian provinces throughout the world. Letters, circulars, notifications of appointments, normative documents: anything requiring formal, traceable transmission passes through this office.
The third concerns support for thelegal and administrative processesconcerning individual Salesians or communities: dispensations, authorisations, matters related to the religious life of the confreres. This is work that requires attention, confidentiality and knowledge of the norms governing the life of the Congregation.

A service to communion
The Secretariat is not simply a bureaucratic office. In the context of a religious Congregation, the care of documents, communications and procedures has a value that goes beyond the technical aspect: it helps to keep alive the communion among the different parts of the Salesian Family, spread across more than a hundred countries.
When a province receives an official communication, when a Salesian obtains a reply to his request, when the acts of a General Chapter are preserved for future generations, behind it all there is the patient and precise work of the Secretariat. It is a service that requires competence, discretion and a sense of responsibility.

In the spirit of Don Bosco
Don Bosco was a practical man, attentive to building solid and lasting works. The General Secretariat of the Congregation fits into this spirit: not as an end in itself, but as an instrument at the service of the mission. For order, clarity and attention to detail are, in their own way, also a contribution to building the common good.

To access the documents of the General Secretariat of the Congregation, click HERE .