(ANS - Rome) - "From the age of 6 to 12, I played in the oratory, prayed, attended catechism and cinema, and I began to mature many of the passions that accompanied me as an adult. Around 13-14, the parish priest educated us to observe the neighborhood, to take on the problems of others, to participate ...". Many people, especially those born in the 1950s and 60s, can see themselves in this testimony of Nando Pagnoncelli, polling researcher and President of "Ipsos Italia", an important market research firm. Today, thanks to its own survey, IPSOS reveals how the oratory, in what is a deeply changed context, still shows surprising vitality.

Turin, Italy - November 2017 - 440 children of the Salesian Youth Movement from a number of Salesian and Daughters of Mary Help of Christians centers from Piedmont and Valle d'Aosta met on November 19 in Valdocco to discuss the theme of the pastoral year "#none excluded", as per the dynamic of "Already called, not yet perfect." The SYM youth proved to be ready to carry out a series of group activities guided by the animators with moments of animation – stage animation and games involving all the children in the different environments offered by Valdocco - and moments of introspection and prayer. Sister Carmela Busia, Delegate of Youth Ministry of the FMA of Piedmont and Valle d'Aosta, commented: "The image that I take with me from this experience is the attentive gaze of these children who look on and listen desiring true and sincere words."

(ANS - Rome) - In Italy, NEET - or young people not in education, employment or training - represent 20% of the population: a waste of otherwise enormous potential. Vocational Training is an educational path that over the years has demonstrated its effectiveness in acting as a bridge between work and school; on this path, one must include the Dual System, which alternates formal class lessons and working internships inside companies and businesses. For this reason, the Salesians, who have always been active in Vocational Training, hope that the experimental phase will obtain "regulatory stabilization in the government's next budget," as requested by Fr Enrico Peretti, Director General of the National Center of Salesian Institutions – Vocational Training and Continuing Education.

Pavia, Italy - November 2017 – The 120 years of the Salesian presence in Pavia were celebrated in recent days. Sent by Fr Michele Rua, the first Successor of Don Bosco, it was exactly on October 21, 1897, when the first Salesians took possession of the Sanctuary of Santa Maria delle Grazie. Current celebrations commenced on Saturday, October 21, with the First Vespers presided by the Bishop of Pavia, Msgr Corrado Sanguineti, and animated by the Corale of Oliva Gessi, birthplace of St. Luigi Versiglia, SDB. The following morning, Mass was presided by Mgr Mario Toso, SDB, Bishop of Faenza-Modigliana, and concelebrated by the Salesians of the house and other priests related to the house. Other events are planned to celebrate the anniversary, including a publication on Salesian history in the Pavia area and a recital being drafted by the young people of the Salesian house.

(ANS - Turin) - The mortal remains of Fr Luigi Ricceri, Fr Egidio Viganò, Fr Juan Edmundo Vecchi - respectively, the sixth, seventh and eighth successors of Don Bosco - arrived in Valdocco on the afternoon of Monday, November 20. Their remains lay in the Salesian cemetery at the Catacombs of San Callisto, Rome, until the morning of Saturday, 18 November, when they started their journey from the capital to Turin; in Turin, a delegation from the Community of Mary Help of Christians arranged for their placement inside the dedicated wing, namely, in the Chapel of the Relics of the Basilica of Mary Help of Christians.

(ANS - Rome) – Definitely a prominent figure, Msgr Giuseppe Fagnano (Rocchetta Tanaro 1844 – Santiago del Cile 1916), member of the first Salesian Missionary Expedition (1875), the first Salesian director in Patagonia (1880), the first Salesian to land in the Tierra del Fuego (1886), the first and only Apostolic Prefect of Southern Patagonia, the Malvine Islands and the thousands of islands beyond the Magellan Strait (1883). To such a multifaceted character, the Faculty of Theology of the Salesian Pontifical University (UPS) and the Salesian Historical Institute (ISS) devoted an afternoon of study this past November 9.