(ANS - Castellammare di Stabia) - The town of Castellammare di Stabia hosts (4-11 August) the 14th edition of the School of Formation for Family Animators (SFAF). Organized by the Associazione Cerchi d'Onda, a non-profit organization, there were circa two hundred participants, including adults and children.
London, Great Britain - July-August 2018 - The summer activities of the association "Youth and Social Tourism" (TGS), promoted by the "National Center for Salesian Works" (CNOS), ended on August 1st. For four weeks, more than 100 students aged between 11 and 18, led by various animators and Salesians, took part in a Christian experience of group life, improved their knowledge of English and participated in cultural activities. TGS Eurogroup has been organizing study visits to England for young students since 1968: a path of personal growth and education becoming true in a joyful and informal setting. A TGS Summer 2018 "book of memories" is now available to relive the whole experience through diary pages from the blog TGS Journal, picture books in the TGS Gallery and the TGS Social Wall created by students and leaders.
Castelnuovo Don Bosco, Italy - 1815 - Two straw mattresses, four whitewashed walls, a small window, a small bench and a crucifix. A room poorer than what they will later have from the Moglia family. This is where, in the burgh of I Becchi, the three Bosco brothers slept side by side: Giovanni, Giuseppe and Antonio.
Castelnuovo Don Bosco, Italy - Colle Don Bosco is the contemporary name of the ancient burgh known as I Becchi, in the municipality of Castelnuovo Don Bosco, in the province of Asti, in Piedmont. It is where Giovanni Bosco was born on 16 August, 1815, in a house owned by the Biglione family. The Temple of Don Bosco is located right on that site. The foundation stone of the Basilica was blessed on 11 June 1961 and the lower church was opened for worship in 1965.
Capriglio, Italy - 1812 - House of the Occhiena family in Capriglio, a small town in Piedmont. Margherita Occhiena was born in that house on April 1, 1788, and stayed there until 1812, when she married Francesco Bosco.
Pracharbon, Italy - Again this year, the Association of Mary Help of Christians (ADMA) Primary of Turin proposes the experience of the Spiritual Exercises for families. Around 500 people take part in the exercises located in Pracharbon, Valle d'Aosta, in various shifts, from 29 July to 18 August. It is a complete 360° family experience in which everyone has the opportunity to participate actively: parents have time to pray and meditate, while their children are involved in games and activities, with the oldest acting in the role of animators, and the smaller ones the beneficiaries. These exercises, which see consecrated and lay collaborators involved, are an interesting example of communion within the Salesian Family.
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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Italy – On-Line Course on Integral Ecology 2025: An Initiative of the Alliance for the Care of Our Common Home (Pontifical Universities & Atheneums of Rome)(ANS – Rome) – 2025 marks the tenth anniversary of Laudato Si’, Pope Francis’ landmark encyclical letter on the Care for Our Common Home, in which he invited all people of good to “a new dialogue about how we are shaping the future of our planet” (Laudato Si’, 14). However, as Pope Francis recognizes in Laudate Deum, the apostolic exhortation published on 4th October 2023, “our responses have not been adequate” and “the world in which we live is collapsing and may be nearing the breaking point.” (Laudate Deum, 2).
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."