Italy - April 2022 - At the end of April, 24 educators from "BoscoSocial", a Salesian organization that brings together the work of three Spanish social platforms, had the formative and spiritual experience of visiting the places of Don Bosco. It was a five-day experience, full of profound and emotional moments to reflect, share and pray. Each day served to bring the participants closer to a stage in Don Bosco's life, appropriately illustrated by José Antonio Hernández, Salesian animator and guide for the meetings, beginning with his childhood and retracing the subsequent milestones. Group work and reflection after each visit allowed educators to deepen and share the life of Don Bosco and apply it to their own reality. Especially meaningful were the visits to the Don Bosco House Museum of Valdocco, to the Don Bosco Hill, to Chieri, to the Basilica of Mary Help of Christians, to the shelter of the Marchioness of Barolo, to the church of San Francesco in memory of Don Bosco's meeting with Bartolomeo Garelli and to the Dominic Savio house. All this helped the participants to know much more about the man and the Saint. The educators lived this opportunity with the intention of sharing it in their places of origin with colleagues, boys and girls: an encounter that helped them grow in their charismatic identity and that focused on the profound motivations of their work.

Rome, Italy - April 2022 - 108 years after the laying of the iron cross on its summit, by the faithful of the Salesian parish of Santa Maria Liberatrice - led by the then parish priest, the future Venerable, Luigi Maria Olivares - last Good Friday, April 15th, finally, after years of mandatory closure due to the pandemic, the Sovrintendenza Capitolina ai Beni Culturali authorized that the faithful of the parishes of the historic center of Rome could return to celebrate the Via Crucis on Monte Testaccio. It, also popularly known as "Monte dei Cocci", is an artificial hill located in the area of the river port of ancient Rome, near the warehouses (horrea) where goods were deposited and transported up the Tiber River to the center of the capital of the Roman Empire. The mount, 54 meters high and with a circumference of about 1 kilometer, is formed by shards (testae) of amphorae used for the transport of goods, which were systematically unloaded and accumulated after being emptied in the nearby river port. In the photo, depicting the last station, at the foot of the historic cross erected by Testaccini, you can clearly see on the ground the shards of Roman amphorae of which the historic Monte Testaccio is composed.

Turin, Italy - April 2022 - On Saturday 30 April, at the Salesian Work "Michele Rua" in Turin, the Provincial Feast Day of the Special Circumscription of Piedmont and Valle d'Aosta (ICP) took place, on the occasion of its 100th anniversary. To welcome all the Salesians were the panels of the photographic exhibition dedicated to the copious fruits that in one hundred years the Salesian mission has brought forth in that location. In a festive and playful atmosphere, the event took place first of all in the Monterosa Theatre through the telling of the history of the Salesian presence and the role that "Michele Rua" still has today in the neighborhood, thanks to its many structures and activities: oratory, parish, schools, theater, gym and more. After a moment of play on the stage, which also featured Fr Leonardo Mancini, ICP Provincial, we moved on to the moment of the Jubilee anniversaries (of profession and presbyterate). For the occasion, all Salesian priests were given a stole with the logo of "Michele Rua" for the centenary of the work, made by the girls and women volunteers of the oratory. Fr Mancini then presided over the Eucharist in the courtyard of the oratory, followed by lunch together under the porticos of the work.

(ANS - Turin) – The Press, months into the conflict in Ukraine, presents the public with a wealth of data on armaments, attack and defense operations, the tragic consequences for soldiers and civilians, the territories and what they contain. Much less is known about the calls for a cease-fire, or the real efforts of diplomacy once they are away from the spotlight, truly committed to reaching peace agreements, or the actions of non-violent defense and respect of human rights even in a state of belligerence.

(ANS - Rome) - Following the official launch of the Diocesan Inquiry for the Cause of Beatification and Canonization of the Servant of God, Akash Bashir, a Past Pupil of Don Bosco, the first Pakistani citizen in the process of Beatification and Canonization, a booklet presenting the life of this young witness to Christ has been published by Velar.

Rome, Italy - April 2022 - As every year, the Feast Day of the Vice-Province "Maria Sede della Sapienza" of the Salesian Pontifical University (UPS) took place on April 25. The Rector Major's Strenna 2022 "Do all through love, nothing through constraint" was the event’s theme. It was a celebration of belonging to a family that works and operates at the service of the university mission and therefore of a wide-ranging formative mission, being the "body" of Don Bosco today, here and now, for the young people who attend Salesian environments. The Salesians gathered to be together and to show - in the joy of the celebration, made of songs, commemorations - of their "living and working together", remembering and emphasizing the fidelity and perseverance of all, but especially of the Salesians who are celebrating special anniversaries and jubilees. The Eucharistic Celebration was presided by Fr Luis Gallo, from Argentina, in his 70th anniversary of religious profession, accompanied by 11 other Salesians celebrating their anniversaries, 50th and 25th, of profession or presbyteral ordination. Finally, fraternal agape, group meetings, and the projection of a film on the figure of Fr De Agostini concluded the day. The Vice-Province consists of 8 communities, 6 on campus and 2 external, under the paternal and fraternal guidance of the Superior, Fr Maria Arokiam Kanaga.