Alta Gracia, Argentina - May 2016 - The Curatorium of the Novitiate in Alta Gracia (Cordoba) met on 9 May.  The meeting was chaired by Fr Ivo Coelho, Councillor General for Formation and Fr Natale Vitali, Councillor for the American Southern Cone Region. It was attended by five Provincials of the Conference of Salesian Provinces of the Southern Cone Region (CISUR) and Fr Salvador Cleofás Murguía from the Department of Formation. In the novitiate there are 13 novices: 2 from Argentina North, 1 from Argentina South, 3 from Chile, 3 from Paraguay and 4 from Uruguay.

(ANS - Gizo) – When he announced the Jubilee of Mercy Pope Francis said that a Door of Mercy should be opened in every diocese, "so that everyone will be able to experience the love of God who consoles, who forgives and gives hope." The problem in the diocese of Gizo in the Solomon Islands is that the isolation and remoteness of parishes from the diocesan centre makes it virtually impossible for the people living in the villages to come to the Holy Door at the cathedral. For this reason the pastoral team of the diocese, led by Bishop Luciano Capelli, SDB, thought of a mobile Holy Door.

(ANS - El Alto) - Last March the Day of the Bolivian Woman was celebrated. However, "violence against women is on the increase, despite government laws," wrote the magazine datos-bo. What can be done in the face of violence and contempt for women is the question that the experts are asking. The answer lies in empowering women so that they are "recognized as makers of history, and so that they may be on an equal footing with men, and that there be no differences in society and in their personal development". For several years there has been a project in El Alto called "Strengthening the role of women through literacy, training and specialized qualifications", funded by the Extremadura Agency for Cooperation Development (AEXCID)