Uruguay - Celebration of Don Bosco with professions of two Salesians, missionary sending, and an ecological emphasis
Montevideo, Uruguay - January 2023 - Animated by the motto "Growing from within," some 1,300 members of the Salesian Family, young people, and friends of the Salesian charism gathered on January 31 in the courtyard of Maturana College, Montevideo, to celebrate the Feast of Don Bosco. It was an emotionally charged feast as Juan Manuel Fernández Bustos made his perpetual profession as a Salesian of Don Bosco and Santiago Di Siervi made his first profession; as part of the Eucharist, there was also the missionary sending out of Malena Laso, a young member of the Salesian Missionary Movement (VMS). This year, in line with the roadmap drawn up by the congregation, the emphasis of the celebration was ecological, in fact, the following took place: the ECO FAIR, an ecological fair where several entrepreneurs displayed their organic products; and the ECO PATIO, a time of celebration and agape, with an environmental and solidarity focus. The central act, however, was the Mass, presided over by the Salesian Provincial of Uruguay, Fr. Alfonso Bauer, and concelebrated by numerous Salesian priests, diocesans, and deacons who came from different parts of the country.