As we enter this most holy of all weeks in the Christian calendar, I realise just how our world is so united in so many ways. I have just returned from a Salesian meeting in Germany: we were gathered from Croatia, Slovenia, Britain, Czech Republic, Spain, Italy, Malta, Germany, and Poland. The language used for our formal meetings, break out groups, tours and, most importantly, our liturgy was English. Over 50% of our young Salesians speak English, while only 13% can speak our traditional Salesian mother tongue, Italian. We were vocation promoters and thus responsible for supporting those who have expressed a desire to become a Salesian of Don Bosco. As you would imagine we are not talking about a huge number of men in our own Province, but we share the same experience with our brothers across Europe. In talking, online, with our Novice Masters in Italy, Slovakia, and Poland, we came to see that there will be under twenty who will make their first profession, as Salesians, this year. It would be all too easy to be pessimistic and downhearted. We could blame ourselves because we are not producing vocations. We could blame families, schools, and parish for not encouraging or supporting. We could blame the media. We could blame the abuse scandals…. the list of blame could go on! There is no need to 'blame' anyone, rather see what the Holy Spirit is asking of us. The mood of the meeting was one of positivity: we have a great Salesian story to share. We must, in these days of Holy Week, be the 'Easter People' that St John Paul II called us to be—we are glass half-full people! As Pope Francis reminds us in our need to encourage young people

Dear young people, do not be afraid of making decisive choices in life. Have faith; the Lord will not abandon you.

I must say that this is my own personal experience as I meet with our Vocations Team: Godwill, Nhan, Greg, Ste and Bob are Salesians of great integrity. As with all the SDBs in our province, they have a great vocation story to tell. Perhaps over these next few weeks you could speak with a Salesian you know: ask them why did they join in the first place? More importantly, ask them why did they stay? The charism of Don Bosco is wonderful and life affirming. In reading and sharing his story, we cannot be negative. It is his witness to the positive and overwhelming love of God for young people that should spur us on.

As a group we made a pilgrimage to Dachau, the concentration camp opened by the National Socialists in 1933, shortly after Adolf Hitler assumed power. While not an extermination camp, it was a place that the Nazis could send all those who were deemed 'undesirable'. That list included the homeless, criminals, gay people, communists, Roma, intellectuals, refugees, foreigners and the clergy who spoke out against the evils that Hitler and his followers espoused. Thousands were crammed into the huts with poor food and inadequate sanitary facilities. We saw the small gas chamber, in the cremation block, where some were murdered. However, the vast majority of those who died at Dachau were either worked to death or caught typhoid. It spoke to me of a society who allowed this to happen. The Nazi antisemitic rhetoric, the burning of books, the belittling of those who do not hold your political views, and narrow-minded nationalism started this campaign of hate off. Once people accepted the propaganda, then Hitler and the Nazis could then open camps like Auschwitz for the industrialised murder of Jewish people. As nations today we have to be aware of our own governments' use of language: how do your political leaders speak of refugees? How does your nation treat those who are different? Does your nation want to ban certain ideologies or groups? Are certain books banned?

The plea 'NEVER AGAIN' is seen across the ruins of the Dachau camp today. All of us are compelled by the values of the gospel to stand up for justice and the right way. I now have a new hero, the Salesian Fr Theodore Hartz SDB who died at the camp. Like so many of his confrere, he probably died helping prisoners with serious illness and victims of the Nazi medical experimentations. A total of 2,720 clerics are recorded as imprisoned at Dachau some with 2,579 (94.88%) being Catholics. What must go down as one of the most unusual religious ceremonies ever took place in camp chapel: Karl Leisner a deacon from Munster was dying of tuberculosis; in a secret mass he was ordained to the priesthood by the Bishop of Clemons-Ferrand, Gabriel Piquet, who was imprisoned for sheltering Jewish children. A Jewish violinist played music nearby to divert the soldier's attention, while Protestant clergy prisoners offered their support to ensure that the ceremony could go ahead. The support offered by Fr Theodore and these heroes reminds me of the great helpers on the Way of the Cross, Veronica, Simon and the Women and Children of Jerusalem. The systematic dehumanising of prisoners by the SS recalls Jesus being stripped and degraded. The unjust deaths of so many speaks for itself. While so difficult, it was good to share this experience with fellow Salesians, on fire with the deep love of Jesus—it is a love that we want to share and help others to embrace fully.

Our day at Dachau ended on a note of hope and resurrection. We visited the Russian Orthodox Chapel, and the Protestant Chapel, praying the Coventry peace prayer: with a replica of the Coventry Cross, I was reminded of how that great city was destroyed in the last War, and that the faith of the citizens would not allow that awful disaster to define them. Even in 1940, after a night of sustained Nazi bombing, the Bishop saw the need to be like Jesus and repeat the prayer from the cross: Father, forgive—they don't know what they do! In 1958, a more formal litany of reconciliation was devised by the Coventry Community of Reconciliation, and is prayed in Dachau every Friday at noon:

All have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God. The hatred which divides nation from nation, race from race, class from class,

Father forgive.

The covetous desires of people and nations to possess what is not their own,

Father, forgive.

The greed which exploits the work of human hands and lays waste the earth,

Father, forgive.

Our envy of the welfare and happiness of others,

Father, forgive.

Our indifference to the plight of the imprisoned, the homeless, the refugee,

Father, forgive.

The lust which dishonours the bodies of men, women and children,

Father, forgive.

The pride which leads us to trust in ourselves and not in God,

Father, forgive.

Be kind to one another, tender-hearted, forgiving one another, as God in Christ forgave you.

The theme of reconciliation lies at the heart of the ministry of the Carmelite Sisters whose convent lies behind the Catholic chapel. In an area that previously housed the SS training camp, these sisters offer a chance to pause and contemplate. This unique Carmel is situated by the North Guard Tower at Dachau, the 'Carmel of the Precious Blood' is where the nuns offer constant prayers for atonement—we were very privileged to meet with Sr Georgina ODC and share evening prayer with the community. The convent chapel houses the 'Madonna of Dachau', a statue of Mary from the Priests' Barracks. Former prisoners are also buried at the convent, and it houses relics from the priest-martyrs, such as handmade vessels that they used for secretly celebrating Mass.

The final religious memorial on the site is the Jewish place of prayer. It is designed so that you have to go down a ramp into darkness. As your eyes grow accustomed to the strange atmosphere, you notice a single beam of light in the darkness recess of this very special place of worship. Although millions of Jews were murdered by this brutal regime, the Torah offers hope—light in the darkness. As I returned home, that hope remains with me. Hope that we will see SDB vocations, hope that we will see a caring and humanitarian response to the issue of asylum seekers, hope that will see the end to racism and petty nationalism, hope that we will have an Easter Day, after the darkness of Good Friday. We would do well, in difficult times, to heed the prayer of a Protestant Pastor, Martin Niemöllerand inmate of Dachau. If we are not careful there will come a time when it is too late to be prophetic and stand up for what you know to be true and right. It is prayer of our time that emphasises the need to follow the example of the Good Samaritan and be a good neighbour to all:

First, they came for the socialists, and I did not speak out – because I was not a socialist. Then they came for the trade unionists, and I did not speak out – because I was not a trade unionist. Then they came for the Jews, and I did not speak out – because I was not a Jew. Then they came for me – and there was no one left to speak for me.