In a letter dated May 24, 1966, Fr. Luigi Ricceri (1901-1989), then Rector Major of the Salesian Society, introduced a new edition of the Constitutions to his confreres. Nearly one year had elapsed since the close of the nineteenth general chapter of the Salesian Society, and six months had passed since the close of Vatican II In this context, Fr. Ricceri introduced the constitutions which carried a number of changes that were to usher the Society toward its twentieth general chapter.