Turin, Italy - November 2021 - The closing ceremony of the "Don Bosco Global Youth Film Festival" took place on Friday 19 November at the Grand Theatre in Valdocco (Turin), during which the winners in the respective categories in the competition were announced. The event was presided by the Rector Major, Fr Ángel Fernández Artime, in the presence of the Councilor for Social Communication, Fr Gildasio Mendes, the Director of the Festival, Fr Harris Pakkam, the President of the "Italian Film Commission" and member of the Grand Jury, Cristina Priarone, and Alberto Rodriguez, President of the Don Bosco in the World Foundation.
Castelnuovo Don Bosco, Italy - November 19, 2021 - Yesterday, Thursday November 18, the third nucleus of the “Course for New Missionaries” ended at Colle Don Bosco, held with the aim of helping those departing to better understand the fundamental missiological concepts. The members of the Missions Sector team led the reflections and sharing on culture, culture shock, intercultural dialogue, missionary generosity, a renewed vision of missions and missionary activity, and the consequent renewed profile of missionaries. Today the new missionaries moved to Valdocco for the final preparatory phase before the Missionary Sending, and they will have some joint formative moments with the missionary departures of the Daughters of Mary Help of Christians. The missionary sending will take place next Sunday, during the Eucharist at 12:30 (UTC + 1) presided over by the Rector Major, Fr Ángel Fernández Artime, in the presence of the new Mother General of the Daughters of Mary Help of Christians, Mother Chiara Cazzuola. They will hand over the missionary cross to the departing SDB and FMA missionaries. The missionary sending to the Basilica of Mary Help of Christians in Valdocco is a gesture with which the Congregation renews its missionary commitment before the Help of Christians. The distinctive Salesian Missionary Cross is given during the sending ceremony only to those who offer themselves to be missionaries "ad vitam". Their names are written in the special official register that is now in the Casa Don Bosco House Museum.
Turin, Italy - November 2021 - The traditional "SYM Day" event took place on Sunday 14 November in the heart of Valdocco. Over 500 young people from the Salesian Youth Movement were invited to retrace the theme of this year's theme: "Beloved and called", which accompanies the reflection on the dream of Don Bosco when he was of 9 years of age. Those who participated in the day, were full of intense ideas, and were able to listen to the testimony of the parents of Giulia Gabrieli, a young girl who died at 14 in 2011 and proclaimed a Servant of God by the Church.
Source: www.salesianipiemonte.info
Castelnuovo Don Bosco, Italy - November 2021 - The traditional meeting of the "Savio Club", aimed at boys and girls from Grades 6 to 8, took place on 6 and 7 November at Colle Don Bosco. The children of Grades 6 and 7 dealt with the theme of prayer - taking up the three fundamental ingredients that Don Bosco indicated to the young Dominic Savio to become saints: to be happy, to do their duties well and to pray, or to cultivate a relationship with God. The Eight-grade students, on the other hand, dealt with the issue of relationships, especially those with their parents.
Castelnuovo Don Bosco, Italy - November 2021 - The second phase of the "Orientation Course for New Missionaries" ended on Sunday 14 November, after a week-long course held at Colle Don Bosco for the departing missionaries. This charismatic core of the Course aims to give these missionaries the opportunity to follow in the Founder’s footsteps as a source of identity for their Salesian missionary vocation. The missionaries are the bearers of Don Bosco's charism to the places where they are sent. Therefore, a personal contact with the places linked to the origins of the Salesian charism is fundamental. This will allow them to evaluate their personal experience in the light of Don Bosco's charismatic experience to continue his mission in their new field of work. The mornings were spent at the Colle for Lectio Divina and personal reflection and prayer led by Fr Alfred Maravilla, General Councilor for the Missions. The afternoons were characterized by guided visits to the Salesian holy places with Fr Eligio Caprioglio. Today, November 15, the third phase begins: the missiological nucleus, animated by the members of the team of the Missions Sector.
(ANS - Rome) - 12 November saw the presentation of the book “Ho fatto cristiano il Papa” (I Christened the Pope). The event took place in Rome at the Pontifical Urbanianum University. Involved were the Rector of the “Urbaniana”, Fr Leonardo Sileo OFM, Cardinal Luis Antonio Tagle, Prefect of the Congregation for the Evangelization of Peoples, the Hon. Lorenzo Guerini, Minister for Defence, former Mayor of Lodi, and Fr Ángel Fernández Artime, the Rector Major of the Salesians.
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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India – INS youth solemnise Don Bosco’s Feast Day with ‘Ka Sur Kynud S-3’ Grand Finale(ANS – Shillong) – The Youth of St John Paul II, Shillong Province, celebrated the Feast Day of St. John Bosco with the Grand Finale of “Ka Sur Kynud, Season 3.” Organised by Don Bosco Media Network Television, the Social Communication Department of the Province, at Don Bosco Youth Centre, Laitumkhrah, Shillong, this two-month-long singing competition, which imitates the global singing competition The Voice, concluded on 31 January 2025, coinciding with the Solemnity of St John Bosco.
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.