Ecuador – Provincial Community Feast day and 30 years of institutional life of the UPS in Cuenca: "To be signs of God's love in Ecuador"
Cuenca, Ecuador – June 2024 - The Provincial Community Day was celebrated on Saturday 8 June at the headquarters of the Salesian Polytechnic University (UPS) in Cuenca, a moment to thank God for the life of Fr Marcelo Farfán, Provincial; for the celebrations of the Salesians celebrating significant anniversaries; and for the mission entrusted to the young people of Ecuador. This year the celebration took on a special motivation: the 30 years of institutional life of the Ecuadorian UPS, which began its activity in October 1994. The event brought together Salesians from different communities in Ecuador, representatives of the different groups of the Salesian Family, lay collaborators from various works and young people from various communities. Everyone gathered to celebrate the solemnity of the Sacred Heart of Jesus, to which the ECU Province is consecrated and for which it is named. The Feast of the Provincial Community began with the Eucharist presided over by Fr Farfán, who during the homily stressed, among other things: "We renew the desire to be Salesians who love the young people whom God has entrusted to us. We renew the will to make our Province not so much a great institution as a sign of God's loving presence in our Nation. Finally, we renew our vocation to serve the poorest who today have so many faces and who ask us for bold answers beyond our pessimism and our comforts." At the end of the Mass, a cultural arts programme took place in the UPS theatre.