(ANS - Rome) - The first official presentation of the ten volumes of the Epistolario or ‘Epistolary of Don Bosco’ took place on Tuesday 28 January 2025, at the Pontifical Salesian University (UPS) in Rome. This is a monumental documentary heritage that will long be at the disposal of all those who wish to know the life, work, ideals and spirit of the holy educator from Turin.
(ANS – Rome) - From January 27 to 29, 2025, the Global Conference of Catholic Institutional Communicators took place at the Pontifical Urbanianum University in Rome. Organized by the Dicastery for Communications of the Holy See, in collaboration with the Dicastery for Evangelization, the conference gathered 200 participants, including bishops, presidents of Episcopal Commissions for Communication, directors of communication offices, representatives of religious congregations, and leaders of Catholic communication agencies worldwide.
Rome, Italy - January 2025 - On Friday 24 January at 7pm in the Basilica of St John Bosco in Rome, the Salesian Symphony Orchestra performed a Symphonic Concert in honour of St Francis de Sales. The Salesian Symphony Orchestra is a youth orchestra made up mostly of talented young musicians under the guidance of its young founder and conductor Giuseppe Lo Presti. It is the result of a dream, namely, to bring young people together, just as our beloved Don Bosco always wished in his dreams, to spread and make beauty and the Salesian spirit known to the world through music. The concert was made possible thanks to the collaboration of the parish priest Fr Giorgio Mocci and the Salesians of the Don Bosco Oratory community, who support and share the project of this young Salesian musical reality; the young people of the Salesian Oratory and the Don Bosco University Residence for the presentations of the pieces. Present at the concert were Cardinal Ángel Fernández Artime, SDB, Pro-Prefect of the Dicastery for Institutes of Consecrated Life and Societies of Apostolic Life; Fr Joan Lluis Playà, Central Delegate of the Rector Major for the Secretariat for the Salesian Family, and other distinguished guests.
Catania, Italy - January 2025 - Over 800 people from all over Sicily took part in the installation ceremony of the new Provincial of Sicily (ISI), Fr Domenico Saraniti, in Catania on Saturday 25 January. The ceremony, for reasons of logistics and attendance, was held at the St Anthony Church at the Capuchin Sisters of the Sacred Heart. Among the participants were civil and military authorities from different parts of the island, and Salesian superiors from the various provinces of Italy. Representing the Sicilian bishops,Archbishop Antonino Raspanti, Archbishop of Acireale and President of the Sicilian Bishops' Conference (CESI), took part. The Eucharistic Celebration, with over one hundred concelebrants, was presided over by the Councillor of the Mediterranean Region, Father Juan Carlos Pérez Godoy. Fr Saraniti, visibly moved, after signing his mandatet, said: ‘The charism of Don Bosco continues to call together and involve so many people. I hope it will be a beginning of hope and enthusiasm for everyone. We Salesians are and remain on the side of the young. My wish, as the Church invites us in this jubilee year, is that we can truly convert and direct all our educational choices in favour of the young’. In his homily, the Regional Councillor said: ‘Today, dear young people, Fr Dominic is a gift for the Salesians and the Salesian Family of this province, but, in particular, he is a gift for all of you. It is true that he must accompany the Salesians in always placing you young people at the centre of their hearts, because without you our vocation has no meaning'.
Rome, Italy – January 2025 – On Friday, January 24, the Feast of St. Francis de Sales, patron of the Congregation, a simple inaugural function was held for the renovated Salesian Generalate. The Generalate, which houses the General Council and the Sacred Heart of Jesus community, including the central offices of the Salesian Congregation, was reopened after a three-year renovation of the complex.
(ANS - Rome) - From the centre of the Church to the city dreamt of by Don Bosco, that is, from Rome to Brasilia. The second stage of the journey of knowledge of the Saint of the Young through his sanctuaries leads to a symbolic place in Salesian geography, the capital of the most populous country in Latin America, seen in a vision by John Bosco well before it was built and still today the nerve centre of Salesian devotion on the continent.
PHOTO GALLERY
INTERVIEWS
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Chile – Former Salesian student in the fight against Alzheimer's disease(ANS - Santiago) - Dr Nibaldo Inestrosa, graduate of the Salesian Institute in Valdivia and national prize of Natural Sciences winner, is a pioneer and expert in the study of Alzheimer's disease in the country. In this interview, he offers an insight into the current challenges, but not before reflecting on his formative experience at the Salesian Institute in Valdivia and how this influenced his interest in biology and science.
EDITORIAL
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Myanmar – Tragedy of Innocent Children in the midst of Armed Conflicts(ANS – Naypyidaw) - Myanmar finds itself immersed in profound grief and anguish as innocent lives, particularly those of children, continue to be mercilessly lost in the enduring armed conflicts. Families are left devastated by the tragic loss of their loved ones while the relentless violence shows no signs of abating. This week, a heartfelt plea from Myanmar reached our community, shedding light on the heart-wrenching death of a young girl Juliet in a military airstrike, prompting a unified call for prayers and action.
EVENTS
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Italy – On-Line Course on Integral Ecology 2025: An Initiative of the Alliance for the Care of Our Common Home (Pontifical Universities & Atheneums of Rome)(ANS – Rome) – 2025 marks the tenth anniversary of Laudato Si’, Pope Francis’ landmark encyclical letter on the Care for Our Common Home, in which he invited all people of good to “a new dialogue about how we are shaping the future of our planet” (Laudato Si’, 14). However, as Pope Francis recognizes in Laudate Deum, the apostolic exhortation published on 4th October 2023, “our responses have not been adequate” and “the world in which we live is collapsing and may be nearing the breaking point.” (Laudate Deum, 2).
SPECIAL REPORTS
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RMG - St. Francis de Sales Communicator: All for Love(ANS – Rome) - The figure of St. Francis de Sales, chosen by Don Bosco as an example of a communicator, teaches that communication is a matter of the heart. In his expression, "Everything in the Church is love: everything lives in love, for love, and of love," we understand his revolution in the way of communicating, and how communication becomes fruitful when it allows communion and the exchange of one's experiences in a path of accompaniment and collaboration in God's project.
MESSAGES OF THE RECTOR MAJOR
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WHAT A GIFT TIME IS!THE MESSAGE OF THE VICAR OF THE RECTOR MAJOR,
Fr Stefano Martoglio, SDBThe beginning of the new year is illuminated in our liturgy by the ancient formula with which the Israelite priests blessed the people: "May the Lord bless you, and keep you. May the Lord show His face to you, and have mercy on you. May the Lord turn His countenance to you, and give you peace."