(ANS - Rome) - Fr Giampiero De Nardi is a Salesian missionary who has been active in Guatemala for over a decade. There, together with his confreres, he works to make Christ known and in social development projects. He learned his missionary vocation in his family. His parents, Lillina and Carlo, lived in the Amazon for 2 years in the 1970s and then returned home to continue living as missionaries in their homeland. “The important thing,” they confide, “is to always keep the door open to welcoming others.”
(ANS – Rome) – The Superior General of the Institute of the Daughters of Mary Help of Christians is henceforth Grand Chancellor of the Pontifical Faculty of Educational Sciences “Auxilium” in Rome. The Holy Father Francis approved the proposal in the audience granted to the Excellent Substitute for General Affairs of the Secretariat of State, Archbishop Edgar Peña Parra, on 2 November 2021. The official communication bears no. 853/2021 of the protocol. The Grand Chancellor is therefore Mother Chiara Cazzuola, current Superior General of the Institute of the Daughters of Mary Help of Christians (FMA).
(ANS - Turin) - On the occasion of the fourth centenary of the death of Saint Francis de Sales, the Don Bosco House Museum presents the exhibition "Francesco di Sales 400", an exhibition that shall illustrate the life, faith and spirituality of the Genevan bishop. The exhibition will be inaugurated next Saturday, January 15th, at 10:30 (UTC + 1), at the Teatro Grande of Valdocco. The event will be chaired by the Rector Major of the Salesians, Fr Ángel Fernández Artime, who will be joined by Fr Leonardo Mancini, Provincial of the Salesians of Piedmont, Aosta Valley and Lithuania (ICP).
Rome, Italy - January 2022 - In the "Egidio Viganò" room of the Library of the Salesian Pontifical University (UPS), the first session of the XIII Chapter of the "Maria Sede della Sapienza" Vice Province was held from 7 to 8 January; its theme: “What Salesian for the UPS today. Identity & Formation". Under the guidance of the Regulator, Fr Giuseppe Ruta, the first day centered on the presentation of the Report of the Visitor, Fr Maria Arokiam Kanaga, and on his answers to his confreres’ questions. Also, the program saw the alternation of group work in three commissions and sharing in the assembly. In conclusion, the Coordination Commission was entrusted with the creation of a working outline useful for dialogue and to share in the individual communities. From this work will emerge the contributions on which the basic text will be elaborated for the second chapter session, scheduled from 29 April to 1 May 2022.
Italy - December 2021 - Due to the pandemic’s resurgence, the first session of the Provincial Chapter of the Salesians of Sicily and Tunisia (ISI) was postponed to April 2022, and the 56 capitulars were convened online on December 27 for a "celebratory-inaugural" moment and continue the path of reflection already begun. Fr Giovanni D'Andrea, ISI Provincial, outlined the guidelines that will mark the path of the work of these months, recalling first of all the meeting’s priority objectives: the reflection on General Chapter 28, particularly with reference to 3 of the 8 guidelines of animation drawn up by the Rector Major for the next six years - the evangelization of young people, the preferential option for the most abandoned, the mission shared with laity; then, also the redefinition of the Provincial Organic Project; and the discussion on the plan of redesigning the Salesian presence in Sicily and Tunisia. Fr Arnaldo Riggi, Regulator of the Provincial Chapter, greeted the capitulars, exhorting everyone to live it responsibly as a true event of grace. Also present at the inaugural session were various members of the SYM from Sicily and various groups of the Salesian Family. In the afternoon, Prof. Mario Bolognari, Professor of Cultural Anthropology, gave an in-depth analysis of the conditions of young people in the region.
(ANS - Rome) - After just a few days of broadcasting, there has already been much positive feedback to the transmission of the Eucharist from the Salesian Basilica of the Sacred Heart of Jesus in Rome - every day, three times a day, live on TV2000, and Sunday also on Canale 5. And on Sunday 30 January, on the eve of the Feast of Don Bosco, Rai 1 will also broadcast a "Salesian" Mass with live coverage of the Eucharist that the Rector Major, Fr Ángel Fernández Artime, will preside from the Basilica of Mary Help of Christians of Valdocco, Turin.
PHOTO GALLERY
INTERVIEWS
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RMG - Preparation, objectives, challenges and perspectives of GC29: in dialogue with the Moderator, Fr Alphonse Owoudou(ANS - RMG) - Just a few days before the beginning of the 29th General Chapter (GC29) of the Salesian Congregation, Fr Alphonse Owoudou, Councillor for the Africa-Madagascar Region and Moderator of GC29, recounts in detail, through an articulate interview, the work preceding and underlying this responsibility, indicating the spirit that will animate it and the attitudes and conditions to make it truly a Cenacle in which the Holy Spirit can act, for the benefit of the Congregation, the Salesian mission and the youth of the world.
EDITORIAL
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RMG – Don Bosco: “The Fascinating Saint”(ANS - Rome) - Don Bosco is perhaps the most amazing and fascinating saint, history has ever produced. The humble work which he began for the welfare of his poor and abandoned boys in Italy has produced astonishing results, and today there are nearly 14000 Salesians working in 138 countries, and there are more than 200,000 members belonging to the 32 groups of the worldwide Salesian Family sharing the charism of Don Bosco and reaching out to the needy young people.
EVENTS
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Spain – 33rd Edition of the Edebé Prize for Children's and Young Adult Literature: Here Are the Winners(ANS – Madrid) – The 33rd edition of the Edebé Prize for Children's and Young Adult Literature has been awarded to Beatriz Giménez de Ory (Madrid, 1972) for her novel Tres niños tristes y medio unicornio (Three Sad Children and Half a Unicorn) and David Lozano (Zaragoza, 1974) for his novel La cacería (The Hunt).
SPECIAL REPORTS
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United States – CATHOLIC WORLD DAY OF THE SICK: Salesian Missions highlights medical programs for people in need around the globe(ANS – New Rochelle) – Salesian Missions, the U.S. development arm of the Salesians of Don Bosco, joins Catholic organizations around the globe in honoring the Catholic World Day of the Sick. Every year on Feb. 11, the Pope marks the day with a special message calling for spiritual and physical closeness to all those who are ill. Saint John Paul II instituted the day “to encourage the people of God, Catholic health institutions and civil society to be increasingly attentive to the sick and to those who care for them.”
MESSAGES OF THE RECTOR MAJOR
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GOOD, FAITHFUL, AND COURAGEOUS SERVANTSTHE MESSAGE OF THE VICAR OF THE RECTOR MAJOR, Fr Stefano Martoglio, SDB
During this Jubilee year, in this difficult world, we are invited to rise up, set out again, and, in newness of life, make our journey as human beings and believers.