(ANS - Rome) - Everything had been made ready for the great celebration of the golden Mass of Don Michele Rua on June 24, 1910, but the Lord called Don Rua to Him three months earlier, on April 6, at the age of 72. He had spent half of it beside Don Bosco and 22 as his successor. They had shared everything: bread, work, labors, anxieties, joys and sorrows, disappointments and hopes, until his death. Same passion for young people, zeal for souls, love for the sacramented Jesus, for the Help of Christians, for the sacraments, for the Pope, same readiness for hard work and sacrifice, same capacity for mortification, same arduous journeys, accompanied by graces and miracles. They shared the aspiration to holiness, achieved by both with the canonization of one (1934) and the beatification of the other (1972).
Italy - March 28, 2020 - The 2020 National Assembl.y of the Salesian Association C.G.S. (Cinecircoli Giovanili Socioculturali) took place on the Zoom platform due to the coronavirus pandemic; its theme: "Essere associazione #lìdovesei, or Being association there where you are there." There was ample participation of its various Circles in the event, operating throughout the country, with a territorial representativeness rarely achieved so far, paradox of this difficult situation. The success of the social event shows the association is alive and well and continues to walk forward. The 44 Circles surveyed, operating in 15 regions, are also running 6 territorial Coordinations, scattered throughout the peninsula, and the extensive report of President Cristiano Tanas documented the liveliness and skills spent on the territory, well beyond courtyards and local steeples.
(ANS - Rome) - It is not easy to deal with emergencies and social confinement with four children under the age of 10 at home. Yet there are those who do so with creativity and prudence, considering the large family an added value in this moment of great difficulty. To offer a similar testimony are Marta and Nicola, two Salesian animators linked to the Valdocco of Rome, the Borgo Ragazzi Don Bosco.
Torre Annunziata, Italy - April 2020 - Those who have experienced gestures of solidarity on themselves generously donate them to others. Like the boys of the "Peppino Brancati" community, home of the "Salesians for the Social Aps", who, these days, thanks to the workshop "Mani in pasta", hands in the dough, are churning out and distributing “suspended” pizzas to all those in need in Torre Annunziata. The initiative is inspired by the traditional custom of paying for an extra espresso coffee, a custom born many years ago in Naples, for whomever follows and cannot afford one, and the "suspended expenditure" initiative implemented in many parts of Italy during the coronavirus emergency.
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Latina, Italy - March 2020 - The Salesian community of Latina has created a service and help project carried out in synergy with Caritas Diocesana and the municipality of Latina, which has started in these days. There are three main activities: preparation of sandwiches and takeaway bags at the canteen, and distribution of the same to those who do not have a home to stay at; home delivery of parcels of food to all those who, for various reasons, are unable to leave or are in financial difficulty; flanking the Red Cross (possibility, this, reserved for medical students). More than 50 volunteers, including some young adults of the Educative-Pastoral Community of Latina, immediately gave their availability and the project has already taken off. All in full compliance with safety standards: first of all, the distance of bodies, but not of hearts.
Rome, Italy - March 2020 - Salesian.online is a project born from the collaboration of the Don Bosco Study Center (Salesian Pontifical University, Rome) and the Study Center of the Daughters of Mary Help of Christians (Pontifical Faculty of Educational Sciences "Auxilium", Rome). The main objective is to make available a wide choice of original documents in a reliable and citable form: sources, studies, research and digital resources on Salesian history, pedagogy and spirituality. The full-text materials, freely downloadable, are organized by categories, themes, authors, bodies, educational structures, groups of the Salesian Family, temporal and geographical coordinates. For this time of quarantine, in view of the ongoing formation of the members of the Salesian Family, the site also offers online courses on the Salesian Preventive System and pedagogy, with abundant teaching materials. The project coordinators invite you to visit http://www.salesian.online and to follow https://www.facebook.com/salesian.online to stay connected and updated on the materials inserted weekly. You can also subscribe to the YouTube channel.
PHOTO GALLERY
INTERVIEWS
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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
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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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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
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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."