RMG – Rector Major visiting Canary Islands

01 May 2023

(ANS - Rome) - The Rector Major, Fr. Ángel Fernández Artime, begins his visit to the Canary Islands on May 2. It is an institutional visit - as part of the celebrations for the 75th anniversary of the Salesians in La Orotava and the centenary of the Salesians in Las Palmas - that will allow the Congregation's Superior General to get a closer look at Salesian work in the islands of Tenerife and Gran Canaria.

During his trip, he will meet with Salesians, members of the Salesian Family, educators, youth, church and civil authorities.

The May 2 program begins at 9:30 a.m. local time with his arrival in Tenerife Norte, where he will be welcomed by more than 100 Salesian students from the island's schools. After the welcome, he will go to La Cuesta House, where he will greet the Salesian community, then at 11:30 a.m., there will be a meeting with the youth in the schoolyard, followed by singing, dancing, and words of thanksgiving. Following the photo session with the students, at 1 p.m. there will be a blessing of a commemorative azulejo - a Portuguese and Spanish ornamental art form of glazed ceramic tiles - and a meeting with the Bishop of the Diocese of Nivar, Bishop Bernardo Álvarez Alonso, and the mayor of La Laguna, Hon. Luis Yeray Gutiérrez Pérez.

In the afternoon, starting at 5:15 p.m., there will be time for a dialogue between the Educational-Pastoral Community of La Cuesta and the Rector Major, concluding the day with the Eucharist at the parish church of "Our Lady of Candelaria" at 7 p.m.

The May 3 program will begin at 9:00 a.m. in Taco with a visit to the headquarters of "Fundación Don Bosco - Salesianos Social" to learn about the residential care, socio-educational, and socio-work placement projects that the Salesian foundation carries out for and with at-risk youth. The Rector Major will be conversing with the technical teams and the young people who participate in the projects. Finally, it will be the turn of the Salesians of La Orotava, with whom he will share one of the main events of their anniversary.

From 11:30 a.m., there will be a festive gathering to recreate Don Bosco's Oratorian style and to thank Don Bosco's 10th Successor for his visit. After a photo session with the pupils and a tour to learn about the work (12:30 p.m.), there will be a visit to City Hall (1:15 p.m.) with a greeting from the mayor of Villa de La Orotava, Francisco Linares García.

In the afternoon there will be a meeting of the entire Educational-Pastoral Community and Salesian Family, which will conclude with the blessing of another commemorative azulejo and the Eucharist of renewal of the Salesian commitment: a project with deep roots, centered on the work of social and educational promotion of the inhabitants of at-risk areas, a mission that remains intact to this day and is built on devotion to Mary Help of Christians.

The next stop will take place on May 4 with a visit to Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, where the Rector Major will have the opportunity to share in the centennial celebrations of the local presence. He will arrive on the island at 8:30 a.m. on the same Thursday from Tenerife. At 10:00 a.m. he will meet in the Episcopal Palace with Bishop José Mazuelos Pérez, Bishop of the Canary Islands. An hour later he is scheduled to arrive at the Salesian presence, where young people from the island's school and Daughters of Mary Help of Christians will welcome Don Bosco's 10th successor in an academic celebratory act.

The morning ends at 1:15 p.m. with the blessing of the azulejo commemorating the 100th anniversary of the arrival of the first Salesians in the city.

In the afternoon, events begin at 5 p.m. with a meeting between the Rector Major and members of the Educational-Pastoral Community and Salesian Family of Gran Canaria. Then, starting at 7 p.m., the Eucharist will be celebrated, presided over by the Rector Major himself; and the day will end in the courtyard of the work.

The second day of the visit to Las Palmas, Friday, May 5, shall begin at 8:30 a.m. with a Eucharist with the local community of the Daughters of Mary Help of Christians, at the end of which, the Rector Major will go to the airport where he will continue his itinerary in the city of Malaga, to participate in the Assembly of Salesian Cooperators of the Province of Mary Help of Christians.

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