Sonada, India – November 2024 – The 12th Annual General Meeting of the Don Bosco Higher Education (DBHEI) was held at the Salesian Institute in Sonada from 15 to 17 November. The event, organised by the Saint John Bosco Province Calcutta, India on the occasion of the centenary of its foundation, brought together 73 participants from the eleven Indian Provinces. The meeting focused in particular on three issues related to higher education innovation: autonomy, technology and industrial collaboration. Bishop Stephen Lepcha, Bishop of Darjeeling, opened the event with a prayer followed by the celebration of the Eucharist. Many Salesians also spoke, including Fr Johny Nedungatt, Rector of Sonada, Fr Joseph Pauria, Superior of the Salesian Province of Calcutta, Fr Jose Thomas Koyickal, Superior of the Salesian Province of Bangalore, India and Fr Babu Joseph, Principal of the Institute, who outlined the objective of the meeting. Fr George Thadathil, former Principal of the Salesian Institute of Siliguri and Sonada, and now General Coordinator of the Salesian Institutions of Higher Education (IUS), addressed the participants and discussed the challenges and opportunities awaiting the Indian Salesian world in the field of education. The main guest, Dr Nupur Das, Rector of the North Bengal University addressed the Salesian educators, underlining the importance of inclusive education. Finally, there was discussion on topics such as leadership, student exchanges and Artificial Intelligence. 

Carisolo, Italy - November 2024 - ‘Pausing to be formed’:  with these words Fr Roberto Dal Molin, Superior of the Salesian Province of Lombardy-Emilia (ILE), in the name of the Provincials and the Vice-Provincials, introduced the formation event addressed to the young Salesians of Don Bosco and Daughters of Mary Help of Christians fromthe Provinces of ILE and ILO. It is not a slogan, but the expression of a precise purpose: to carve out a precious time in a demanding and sometimes overwhelming everyday life destined to allow oneself to be powerfully strengthened by the Spirit in the interior life (cf. Eph 3:16). The central theme is new evangelisation: accompanied by the wise text The Soul of the Apostolate by Dom Jean Baptiste Gustave Chautard. The SDB and FMA young people were accompanied by Luca Crivellari and Arianna Scalabrin from the Salesian University Institute in Venice (IUSVE). The formation event set out to refine some important skills for personal development, empowerment and the exercise of leadership, and to help create some necessary conditions for the proclamation of the Gospel. The activities followed one another at a fast pace, allowing participants to work on all the dimensions of the human person that come into play in evangelisation. At the end of the sessions, each participant was able to have any number of impulses to improve their relationship with themselves, others and God for a more productive evangelising activity. The retreat that was the culmination of the days made  the virtues necessary for evangelisation more evident, as Chautard teaches, virtues are formed in intimate contact with Jesus: ‘to speak of Christ, one must live by him’ and ‘put oneself in close communion with His feelings’.

Rome, Italy - November 2024 - On the weekend of 9-10 November, the National Team for Missionary Animation (ENAM) met at the Salesians of Don Bosco Italy National Centre, made up of those in charge of the Salesians of Don Bosco (SDB) and the Daughters of Mary Help of Christians (FMA) of AM, plus two young people from each area of the Salesian Youth Movement (SYM) in Italy. ENAM was officially established a year ago in Genoa and was set up with the aim of growing in the coordination and synergy of Mission Animation in Italy through shared responsibility by SDB, FMA and young people. Specifically, the team met to plan a National Youth Festival to be held in a year's time in Valdocco on the occasion of the celebrations for the 150th anniversary of the first Salesian missionary expedition. The team received support and greetings from Fr Elio Cesari, Director of the National Salesian Centre, and Sr Mara Tagliaferri, President of the Italian Salesian Women's Works Centre (CIOFS). The meeting was characterised by a good family atmosphere and an intense rhythm of work.