(ANS – Berkeley) – In a joint effort to provide the international Salesian community with innovative theoretical and management tools, the Salesian Center for Ongoing Formation in Berkeley, California, has announced the official release of its latest work in both Spanish and English: Volume I: The Profile: The Salesian Preventive Competence (Volumen I: El Perfil: La Competencia Preventiva Salesiana – Identity, Standards, and Assessment Tools).
This inaugural volume formally launches The Art of Accompanying, an ambitious and comprehensive seven-book series designed to explore the Salesian charism, leadership, and preventive management in the twenty-first century.
Written by the Center’s director, Dr. Alejandro Rodríguez Rodríguez, SDB, this first bilingual volume serves as an essential guide and conceptual framework for leaders, administrators, and coordinators of Salesian ministries across five continents.
The work responds directly to the complexity and uncertainty of today’s environment—often described through the BANI framework (Brittle, Anxious, Nonlinear, and Incomprehensible). In such a context, educational and pastoral ministries risk becoming trapped in routine and activity-driven approaches that can weaken their core identity. Dr. Rodríguez proposes a process of radical clarification, defining the Salesian Preventive Competence (SPC) not merely as a technical skill but as the very ontological structure of the Salesian vocation expressed through the language of competencies.
Both the Spanish and English editions provide the theoretical, pedagogical, and charismatic foundations necessary to strengthen the Preventive System amid the cultural challenges of contemporary society. One of the volume’s most significant practical contributions is its set of objective assessment tools and professional rubrics, enabling leadership teams to move beyond improvisation and conduct an honest evaluation of their current reality, guided by the questions: “Where are we now?” and “What do we need to become?”
Launch of a Global Formation Series
The Salesian Center for Ongoing Formation in Berkeley confirmed that the simultaneous release of both language editions provides a common framework for implementation worldwide. As the first volume in a seven-book series, The Profile establishes the foundation for a progressive formation journey.
While future volumes—including Volume II: The Process—will focus more extensively on practical implementation, provincial networking, and organizational development, later books will address the architecture of strategic Salesian preventive leadership. This opening volume establishes the identity standards needed by administrators, educators, pastoral leaders, and management teams throughout the Salesian world.
By publishing both editions simultaneously, the Center ensures that English- and Spanish-speaking Provinces can implement these diagnostic standards concurrently within their local communities of practice.
Series Structure: Volume I of a seven-book collection titled The Art of Accompanying.
Available Formats: Paperback editions available separately in Spanish and English.
Digital Distribution: The press release and user guides are available in PDF format for Provinces and study centers. Requests may be sent to arrsdb@gmail.com.
Global Availability: Both language editions are available through Amazon’s international platform.