(ANS – Vatican City) – On November 25, 2024, Pope Francis received His Eminence Cardinal Marcello Semeraro, Prefect of the Dicastery for the Causes of Saints, in audience. During the meeting, the Holy Father authorized the promulgation of the decree concerning:

- the miracle attributed to the intercession of Blessed Maria Troncatti, a professed Sister of the Daughters of Mary Help of Christians, born in Córteno Golgi, Italy, on February 16, 1883, and deceased in Sucúa, Ecuador, on August 25, 1969.

With this act, Pope Francis has paved the way for the canonization of Blessed Maria Troncatti. The date for the canonization will be decided during an ordinary consistory.

(ANS – Montevideo) – The General Councillor for the Missions, Fr Alfred Maravilla, made a missionary animation visit to Uruguay's St Joseph Province  (URU) from 19 to 22 November 2024. During his stay, accompanied by Fr Francisco Lezama, Superior of URU, he visited the Mother houses of the Salesians of Don Bosco and the Daughters of Mary Help of Christians in the country, as well as several other presences and met the 7 novices from Argentina, Paraguay and Bolivia, the Uruguayan missionary volunteers who worked abroad, some youth group leaders preparing for the student missionary experience and his Salesian confreres.

(ANS - São Gabriel da Cachoeira) – Salesian missionaries in the Amazon are better able to travel to remote villages to provide people pastoral support thanks to outboard motors that were purchased with donor funding from Salesian Missions, the U.S. development arm of the Salesians of Don Bosco. More than 1,000 youth and their families living in the Alto Rio Negro region of Brazil have been impacted by this donation.