Alassio, Italy - December 2021 - The V Provincial Chapter of the Salesian Circumscription of Central Italy (ICC) was held at the Salesian Institute in Alassio from 27 to 30 December, chaired by the Provincial, Fr Stefano Aspettati, and led by the regulator Fr Francesco De Ruvo. On the opening day, the Irish Salesian Fr Jack Finnegan offered the approximately 90 capitulars a meditation on community discernment, and Fr Aspettati then offered his report. After a personal moment of prayer, the day continued with the work of the three thematic commissions. The second day was centered on the responses of Fr Aspettati to some questions about his report and the discussion within the commissions. The third day began with the move to Turin-Valdocco in the "Salesian holy land" for a visit to the Don Bosco House Museum, Mass in the Basilica of Mary Help of Christians, and work for the commissions, and a final return to Alassio. The last day of the chapter took place under the banner of the common search for operational criteria, attendance and modes of presence to pay attention to, guidelines for formation, and for economic-structural development.

(ANS - Rome) - 2022 opens with good news for the Salesian Family and all the sympathizers and friends of Don Bosco: starting tomorrow, 1 January, and until the feast of Don Bosco, 31 January, TV2000 will broadcast Mass live every day from the Salesian Basilica of the Sacred Heart of Jesus in Rome. Furthermore, on Sundays throughout the month, Canale 5 will also broadcast the Mass from the same basilica.

(ANS - Turin) - On December 27, in the Basilica of Mary Help of Christians in Turin, the Diocese of Alba and the Salesian Family commemorated the 70th anniversary of the episcopal consecration of the Servant of God Monsignor Oreste Marengo, appointed by Pope Pius XII as the first bishop of Dibrugar in North-East India on December 27, 1951. The young Salesian missionary learned of his nomination as bishop from a little girl from one of the missions who saw him and greeted him saying: "Long live Jesus, Monsignor" and from a man who was pulling a rickshaw who turned around and said "Father, I heard that you have been promoted to bishop of Dibrugar". Initially, he opposed a sharp refusal, but then obeyed.

(ANS - Castello di Godego) - What Don Bosco saw in the prisons of Turin would mark him for the rest of his life. He will never forget those “crowds of youngsters, from 12 to 18 years of age; all healthy, robust, with a lively intellect; but to see them there idle, gnawed by insects, struggling for spiritual and temporal bread, was something that horrified me.” This is how Saint John Bosco describes the experience of visiting and assisting the prisons of Turin under the guidance of his formator Saint Joseph Cafasso.

(ANS - Rome) - The Basilica of San Giovanni Bosco becomes a canteen for the most fragile and poor people, sharing lunch with them on Boxing Day. This is the appointment organized at the largest parish in Rome by number of inhabitants. Strengthened by the experience that the La Goccia Association - an association that operates at the parish Caritas center of Don Bosco - has been offering for more than two decades, the volunteers of the Parishes of the 20th Prefecture have created the lunch on December 26 having as a special location the Don Bosco Temple.

(ANS - Rome) – The forthcoming Christmas concert with the good wishes of Pope Francis shall highlight the extreme poverty in two countries and illustrate what the Church is doing to alleviate the suffering of their people. Lebanon and Haiti will thus be featured on prime time television on Friday 24 December on Canale 5 (from about 9:30 pm) thanks to the Congregation for Catholic Education, which invited "Missioni Don Bosco" - the Salesian Mission Office of Turin - and the Pontifical Foundation "Scholas Occurrentes" to participate in the event. The appointment, which is in its 29th edition, this time from the Auditorium della Conciliazione in Rome, will also be broadcast on the 25th.