Caracas, Venezuela - August 2023 - The Salesian Youth Ministry Sector for St Luke Province Venezuela is conducting the "Oratory on Holiday" (Ovas, in Spanish) 2023 programme over these weeks in all Salesian works and presences. Its motto is "Like Mary, do what Jesus tells us to do." Over 7,000 children, teenagers and young adults are participating in the various summer activities, carried out with the aim of continuing to educate and evangelise Venezuelan youth even during the school break. Last week, leaders and participants experienced their activities in an atmosphere of connection and spiritual communion with the more than one million pilgrims who came to Lisbon for the great event of World Youth Day. Through their testimonies, the youngsters are happy to be part of the great movement of young people who continue to seek Jesus in their lives and their vocation.

(ANS – Žytomyr) – Thinking about relief and fun for young Ukrainians during this summer is the task that the Salesians in the country have given themselves. “Although the war continues and there are frequent alarms night and day, we tried to make our children happy” they write from Žytomyr, a region bordering Belarus.

(ANS – Kiev) – The war in Ukraine has now lasted for over 500 days. Many families are taking advantage of the summer to return to their hometowns and reunite with their families, but millions of refugees and displaced people are unable to do so due to the danger of shelling. Children, who suffer most from separation from their families and from the traumas of the Russian invasion, have the opportunity in recent weeks to participate in numerous summer camps organised by the Salesians both in Ukraine and in the countries hosting Ukrainian refugees.

(ANS – Vatican City) – The role of educator is undoubtedly fascinating, especially when it takes place in a setting like the Vatican. The Salesians who are conducting the Estate Ragazzi 2023 know something about this They are young people who have become educators by choice and by mission. Faithful to Don Bosco's and Mary Domenica Mazzarello's charism, they seek to bring the Gospel message to the new generations and, at the same time, to form and encourage creativity so that minds can grow.

(ANS – Vatican City) – For the fourth consecutive year, what is happening in many other Salesian oratories and summer centres around the world is being renewed in the shadow of the Dome of St Peter's: Estate Ragazzi (Summer Youth). Coordinating what is not only time for play and recreation, but also of formation, socialisation and friendship is, as in past years, Salesian Fr Franco Fontana, chaplain of the Directorate of Security and Civil Protection Service and the Vatican Museums, the one whom Pope Francis last August called “the spiritual soul of the Vatican”.

(ANS - Damascus) - More than three months after the Feb. 6 earthquake and the countless aftershocks that followed, the situation for the people of Syria has not improved significantly. The war's aftermath, the economic and social crisis the country is experiencing, rising prices, lack of food, lack of work... have thrown the population into a great and widespread depressive mood, to which even children are no strangers. Like every year, the Salesians in Syria are now preparing summer activities for children, which this year have a stated purpose: to help nearly 2,000 children, teenagers, and young people overcome the trauma caused by the earthquake.