(ANS – Turin) – Although General Chapter 28 concluded more than one month ago, at the moment 46 “survivors” (provincials and delegates) of GC28 are still living, working, praying and witnessing to their Salesian vocation at Valdocco. Most of them are GC28 delegates from South Asia - India, some from Latin America of from Eastern Europe, including also one PGS delegate and 3 Salesians from East Timor. Here Fr Robinson Parappilly, PGS Province Delegate to GC28, shares his experience.
Alassio, Italy - April 2020 - The "table of the heart" of the Salesian oratory of Alassio is an experience that has lasted for 5 years. It provides a meal and a place to homeless people, people in economic difficulty or to the elderly who are alone. It usually involves about thirty volunteers, many supermarkets and shopkeepers in the town who donate food useful for preparing meals. For some years, moreover, it has been dealing with the distribution of used clothes to those who need it with the so-called "wardrobe of the heart". The COVID-19 pandemic has not stopped, but only changed the modalities of the service, making it substantially a take-away. To the usual guests, other new ones have been added. And if the service has become difficult for the elderly to reach, parcels of food are now brought to them from the Bonadiman Solidarity Bank, which works in synergy with the Municipality.
(ANS - Rome) - A passion that becomes an instrument of growth, and a path made of trust, which becomes a path of faith and donation: all this is present in the testimony of Chiara, a young volunteer of the Civil Service at the oratory of the work "Pius XI" in Rome.
Turin, Italy - The feast of Mary Help of Christians is celebrated every May 24 in many places around the world. 2020 is a year of uncertainty, due to the pandemic that has paralyzed the whole world. Will the Help of Christians go out on the streets of Turin and all the countries of the world? Let us place ourselves in some corner of the great Basilica to appreciate and thank Mary Help of Christians and to remember what Don Bosco said: "Whoever puts his trust in Mary Help of Christians will never be disappointed."
Turin, Italy - 1936 - The project for the expansion of the Basilica of Mary Help of Christians in Turin was started in 1934, with a letter from the then Rector Major, Fr Pietro Ricaldone, asking "not to forget to extend the devotion to Mary Help of Christians.... and to complete the enlargement of the Basilica." In 1936 the Salesian Bulletin reported on the works and major projects to "embellish and enlarge the Basilica and to erect an altar dedicated to Don Bosco."
(ANS - Tivoli) - Mother Graziella Benghini, Superior General of the Salesian Oblates of the Sacred Heart, after the communication that Pope Francis has given consent to the opening of the Cause of Beatification of Msgr. Giuseppe Cognata, SDB, (1885-1972) Bishop of Bova and Founder of their Congregation, gave this interview.
PHOTO GALLERY
INTERVIEWS
-
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
-
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
-
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
-
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
-
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."