Acireale, Italy - January 2024 - From 3 to 5 January, the Meeting of the Adolescents of the Salesian Youth Movement (SYM) of the Salesian Province of Italy-Sicily (ISI) was held at the "Wave Hotel" in Acireale. It was an event eagerly awaited upon by the Young Salesian animators. Among the topics addressed and the opportunities provided for spiritual growth, there was also enough time for building new friendships. The meeting was punctuated with many moments of fun and fraternity, listening to various testimonies of faith, with moments of reflection and group sharing, confrontation and self-knowledge. The annual pastoral proposal is focused on the Strenna - the "Dream", and the regional SYM council chose to focus on it during the meeting. The words of Pope Francis at WYD 2023: to shine, to listen and not to fear, helped the participants to understand the training clearly and effectively, under the guidance of two trainers. Fr Giovanni D'Andrea SDB, the Provincial of the ISI Province, presided over the Mass, in the presence of the FMA Provincial, Sr Angela Maria Maccioni FMA.

(ANS - Turin) - The technical training course for young refugees has been organized by the educational-pastoral community of the Salesian house of 'Rebaudengo' at Turin. This course is being conducted in collaboration with the Biella Industrial Union and the Italian Red Cross, in these weeks at the Salesian Vocational Training Centre 'Rebaudengo' in Turin. Launched in November 2023, it represents a single window opportunity for job training and placement for young refugees who are at risk of marginalization and social exclusion.

(ANS - Forlì) – Italian Vice-Premier and Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani and the minister for University Education Anna Maria Bernini visited the town of Forlì (city in Emilia-Romagna, Northern Italy) on Friday, 12 January to get to know some of the city's excellences - and certainly they could not miss out the 'Don Bosco' Salesian Institute in Via Episcopio Vecchio. On the occasion, the two ministers also had a dialogue with the young students of the Salesian presence, which was also attended by Fr Roberto Dal Molin, National President of 'Salesian Association for Social Promotion'.

(ANS – Turin) – The presentation of the so-called "Social Saints" of Turin concludes today: apparently ordinary people, but in reality extraordinary, because they lived by putting God and their neediest neighbours first, forgetting about themselves. Precisely because of this commonality of attitudes and because of their shared existence more or less at the same time in the same geographical area, many of them knew each other directly and cooperated – or at least, shared a part of the journey together. And for this reason many of them are also remembered, with relics and panels, in the Casa Don Bosco Museum at Valdocco in Turin.

(ANS – Rome) – It will touch 7 Italian regions, will actively involve 12 municipalities – including Genoa, Padua and Salerno - more than 140 middle and high schools and 5,600 students on the "2060" path that from January to June will allow girls and boys experience the conditions of discomfort caused by the climate crisis and the new environmental context.

(ANS – Rome) – The Civil Service with the Salesians is much more than a simple volunteer experience; it is a journey full of meaning, a journey that goes far beyond the individual contribution and is intertwined with the history of commitment and dedication of the Salesians themselves. With the new calls for applications, a total of 903 places are available, of which 830 are in Italy and 73 abroad.