(ANS – Turin) – "In Lviv I was impressed by the cemetery in the city centre. A place where the entire community can honour fallen soldiers, but which is full of young people's graves. And in the city I have also seen many people mutilated by war." These are the words of Fr Daniel Antúnez, an Argentine Salesian and President of Missioni Don Bosco, who returned to Italy a few days ago from a trip that took him to visit the projects of the Salesians in Slovakia, Poland and especially in Ukraine a few months later.

Chiari, Italy – April 2024 - The "DLDAY 2024" took place at the Salesian house in Chiari on Sunday 14 April: a day of celebration for pre-adolescents in the Salesian Youth Movement (SYM) of Lombardy, Switzerland, Emilia-Romagna and San Marino. This year everything was focused on the Olympics, a theme that guided the theatre and all the games. The almost 900 boys and girls present competed in the different sports to win the winner's prize. The central moment of the day was the Eucharistic celebration presided over by Don José Miguel Nuñez, SDB, in the Lombard-Emilian Province (ILE), to carry out the Extraordinary Visitation in the name of the Rector Major. In his homily he invited the young people to take Dominic Savio and Laura Vicuña as examples in life to reach holiness.  This opportunity for play would not have been possible without the help of the 300 teenagers of the Leaders Formation School who, since Saturday afternoon, together with their companions, have set up the spaces, prepared the materials and built the scenery. The Chiari Oratory and its volunteers have worked tirelessly to find clean and welcoming environments without ever missing a smile.

(ANS - Rome) - As he tells with a gentleness that does not seem to come from horror, he is "resting a little bit" in Rome these days. Fr Oleh Ladnyuk is a Ukrainian Salesian priest who is a military chaplain at the front, among the soldiers who fight in defence of their country and among the civilians who for over two years have seen their lives wiped out. He brings humanitarian aid where the missiles fall and from those places he helps with the evacuation of young people and adults - so far at least 500 people, but there are probably many more. These days the Salesian – who carries out his ministry in Dnipro and teaches History in a state school in the city – is in Rome to take part with two other priests and a dozen lay people from his country in the "Accompanying when Trauma Hits" course hosted by the Pontifical Salesian University in collaboration with the Faculty of Educational Sciences, with the DON BOSCO NEL MONDO Foundation and the Don Bosco Network. A project that aims to provide theoretical and methodological tools to deal with the traumas caused by war.

(ANS – Turin) – On 18 April 2024, the Association of Mary Help of Christians (ADMA) celebrates 155 years since its foundation: in Turin on 18 April 1869, by the work of St John Bosco, the year after the consecration of the Church of Mary Help of Christians in Turin (9 June 1868), as a sign of gratitude for the benefits that people recognised as received from the Virgin, and as an instrument for the defence and growth of the faith of the Christian people.

(ANS – Rome) – "Accompanying when trauma hits" is the title of the training course scheduled from April 3 to 17 at the Salesian Pontifical University in Rome. This course, organized by the University in collaboration with the Don Bosco nel Mondo and the Don Bosco Network, aims to provide tools for the management and prevention of trauma for educators, teachers, and members of the Salesian Family working in armed conflict contexts. Participants include representatives from three Salesian provinces - Middle East Province (MOR), Greek Catholic Vice-province of Ukraine (UKR), and Poland-Cracow Province (PLS) - as well as from the diocese of Donetsk, Ukraine.

Turin, Italy – April 2024 - The Salesian Spiritual Accompaniment School promoted and led by the Sector for the Formation at Salesian Headquarters in Rome has reached its sixth edition. The school, in English, began on 7 April 2024 in Valdocco with 25 participants from 18 Provinces of 4 Salesian Regions: East Asia-Oceania, South Asia, Africa-Madagascar and Central and North Europe. The first week was spent in Valdocco reflecting on the roots of the spirituality of St John Bosco, on his experience of formation at the Convitto, and on his experience of going almost uninterruptedly for more than 30 years to St Ignatius at Lanzo, for the spiritual exercises, Joining Fr Joseph Cafasso. It was also a time to visit and get to know the different Don Bosco places in Turin. Currently, participants are in their second week at Colle Don Bosco where they are conducting the individually guided silent retreat with five spiritual guides. It is an experience much appreciated by all the previous participants for the profound religious experience experienced. After these two weeks, there will be another three weeks of school where participants will learn what spiritual accompaniment means from a Salesian charismatic perspective.