SALESIANS: SANCTITY IS YOUR MAIN DUTY

VATICAN CITY, APR 12, 2002 (VIS) - The Holy Father received this morning the participants in the twenty-fifth General Chapter of the Salesians, including the new rector, Fr. Pascual Chavez Villanueva, and the general council of the congregation.

When recalling the previous rector, Fr. Juan Edmundo Vecchi, who died several months ago, the Pope said: "May his testimony serve as a stimulus so that each Salesian makes his own life a complete offering of love to God and his brothers."

"In this season of Easter," he continued, "the Church, after the days of the passion and crucifixion of the Son of God, invites believers to contemplate the resplendent face of the divine Teacher, resurrected. ... Only in Christ can we find the answer to the intimate hopes of our heart."

"Dear Salesians, if you are constantly faithful to this commitment," assured John Paul II, "if you make every effort to stamp your work with a constant energy of evangelical love, you will be able to carry out your mission until the end with joy and efficacy. Be saints! Holiness is, as you well know, your main duty, as it is for all Christians."

After recalling that next Sunday three Salesians will be beatified - Luigi Variara, Artemide Zatti and Maria Romero Meneses - he said: "Sanctity constitutes the major guarantee of an effective evangelization, because in it the most important testimony is found which we must offer to young people, participants in your diverse activities."

AC;...;...;SALESIANS; CHAVEZ;VIS;20020412;Word: 250;