Torreano di Martignacco, Italy - October 2016 - On 15 and 16 October a Robotic Olympiad was held as part of the Electronics Fair. A team of six students from the Bearzi Salesian Technical Institute in Udine took part. From a common hardware equipment each team had to make a robot capable of performing certain tests. The Bearzi team emerged victorious and will participate in the finals to be held in Forlì in May 2017. The team from the Bearzi Institute created robots built with Lego and the prototype of a meteorological station that can monitor air quality.

Rome, Italy - October 2016 - The Missionary course organized by the Missions Sector with the Faculty of Theology of the Salesian Pontifical University of Rome started on 26 September. The course will end with a week of pilgrimage to the Holy Land from 9 December.

(ANS – Rome) – On October 21st and 22nd, at the “Sacred Heart” Salesian House in Rome, Principals and Directors of Salesian Houses meet to revive and relaunch the Salesian scholastic experience between tradition and innovation. The Salesian School meets to read and propose afresh the educational criteria of the Salesian Scholastic Proposal, which focuses on the development of the young in building up their lives by answering their dreams, wishes and opportunities.

Rome, Italy - October 20th, 2016 – On October 20th, at the Institute of Dogmatic Theology of the Salesian Pontifical University in Rome, in the presence of a large audience, there was the presentation of the figure of Fr. Luis Bolla, SDB, entitled “Possibilities and Future of the Missions”. Fr. Antonio Escudero chaired the encounter and introduced the speakers who reflected on the emblematic figure of this missionary and of those who directly knew his missionary work among the Achuar. Worth mentioning is the report of José Aranlot, who for two years knew his missionary work. During this day of study, the figure of Fr. Bolla was presented also by Fr. Juan Bottasso, Antonio Colajanni, Ann Meiser, Maurizio Gnerre and Fr. Aldo Giraudo.

Turin, Italy - October 2016 - A cordial meeting took place between the Ambassador of the Republic of Korea to the Holy See, Francis Kim Kyung Surk, and the Salesian community of the UPS at Crocetta, Turin. On the evening of 17 October, Surk shared with the Salesian students of theology the history and current situation of the Korean Catholic Church, recalling the most important stages of the local church founded by the laity. "In recent years,” he said, “Catholics have grown from 2% to 11% and now number 5.5 million." In his words of thanks, the Rector Fr Marek Chrzan said that the meeting had taken place "in an attitude of openness to the universal Church and, in particular, to that of South Korea. It has been good for me and for the young Salesians to know, however briefly, the history and the situation of our brothers and sisters in the land watered by the blood of martyrs Andrew Kim Taegon, Paul Chong Hasang and their 101 companions.”

by Antonio Carriero

Rome, Italy - October 2016 - On 7 October a building for the reception of migrants was inaugurated at the Generalate of the Daughters of Mary Help of Christians, in the presence of the Mother General of the FMA, Mother Yvonne Reungoat. The building was blessed and dedicated to Laura Vicuña. The house can accommodate two families or a small group of young people and currently hosts a young African family. During the ceremony Mother Reungoat recalled the appeal that Pope Francis made in September 2015 "to put the Gospel into practice and to accommodate a family of refugees" and she said: "we felt challenged personally and we tried right away to welcome and accommodate migrants wherever we could. Unfortunately conditions in the house did not meet the requirements set by law and so we got the idea of a separate house for them in the grounds of the Generalate even though it meant sacrificing a bit of space and some money.”