(ANS – Madrid) – The Italian National Civil Service continues in the Salesian Provinces of Spain. 50 young Italians are currently undergoing training to then go to Spain for a year and carry out service activities in different Youth Centres and in the Social Platforms run by Salesians.
(ANS– Rome) – On 30 September 2023, the statue of Our Lady of Fatima will arrive at the Basilica of St John Bosco in Rome. It was sculpted following indications from the Servant of God Sister Lucia dos Santos, the shepherdess to whom the Virgin appeared in 1917. The image of the Mother of Christ, as seen by Sister Lucia, will remain at "Don Bosco" until 15 October.
Turin, Italy - September 2023 - The fifth edition of the Salesian School of Spiritual Accompaniment, for Italian and Spanish-speaking Salesians, concluded on 23 September in the presence of the Rector Major, Fr Ángel Fernández Artime, who presented the participants with their certificates and offered them some words of encouragement. The Rector Major stressed the importance of this school for the growth of the individual, the formator and guide, his growth in the ministry of accompanying the confreres. So that all may become credible and authentic signs and bearers of God's love for the young. GC27 reminds us that young people are our burning bush. We should approach them with reverence because we are encountering the presence of God in them. Through them, we find our way to holiness. At the same time, GC28 reminds us that we are the sacrament of presence for young people. The participants greatly appreciated three important moments: the individually directed silent retreat, learning about the history of St John Bosco's life in the different places of Valdocco and Colle Don Bosco, and the practical skills training. These three moments allowed them to appreciate the three important attitudes needed to grow in the Salesian spiritual life: inner silence, contemplative listening to how God, St John Bosco or the young people communicate to us, and the need to be accompanied on life's journey.
(ANS – Venice) – The "Volunteers for sustainability" seminar was the fourth and last scheduled activity of the "The Future is Europe" partnership project of the Erasmus+ Key Action 2 programme. This project, put forward by Don Bosco Youth-Net, the European network of Salesian youth organisations, has encouraged young people to work together to come up with a vision of volunteering for the coming years, setting long-term goals and helping all partner organisations to develop concrete actions.
Castelnuovo Don Bosco, Italy - 14 September 2023 - Returning to the origins to look to the future: moved by this intuition, young Salesian students at the Crocetta went on a two-day journey to the places of John Bosco's childhood at Colle Don Bosco, to enter the new year and begin to think together about their formation journey. Today, 65 Salesians of 22 different nationalities live at the Crocetta community. These days were an opportunity for a grateful memory of last year and the summer experiences, to cast a first glance at the future, to look at the formation journey ahead. The formation team invited the young Salesian students to reflect, in this bicentenary year of the Dream at Nine Years of age, on three guiding words to make God's dream concrete for them: asceticism, trust, generosity. The days ended with a pilgrimage from Colle to Castelnuovo, to follow in the footsteps of Fr Cafasso - who accompanied Don Bosco in his delicate years of formation - and to entrust their journey to the Madonna del Castello (Our Lady of the Castle), to whom Mamma Margaret also entrusted John Bosco.
Source: Salesianicrocetta.it
(ANS – Venice) – The national Cinecircoli Giovanili Sociocultural" (CGS) association, active since 1967 and promoted in Italy by the Salesians of Don Bosco and the Daughters of Mary Help of Christians, has renewed its presence at the Venice Lido for the 80th edition of the International Film Festival (30 August – 9 September 2023), with the work of cultural animation linked to the critical study of film language and web review promoted within the Venice Film Workshop. This is a qualifying step of the CGS national training course, reserved for cultural animators aged 18 and over and modified over the course of its forty years of existence, up to the formula today aimed mainly at young people and attentive to the dissemination of film culture via the web.
PHOTO GALLERY
INTERVIEWS
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RMG - Preparation, objectives, challenges and perspectives of GC29: in dialogue with the Moderator, Fr Alphonse Owoudou(ANS - RMG) - Just a few days before the beginning of the 29th General Chapter (GC29) of the Salesian Congregation, Fr Alphonse Owoudou, Councillor for the Africa-Madagascar Region and Moderator of GC29, recounts in detail, through an articulate interview, the work preceding and underlying this responsibility, indicating the spirit that will animate it and the attitudes and conditions to make it truly a Cenacle in which the Holy Spirit can act, for the benefit of the Congregation, the Salesian mission and the youth of the world.
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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United States – CATHOLIC WORLD DAY OF THE SICK: Salesian Missions highlights medical programs for people in need around the globe(ANS – New Rochelle) – Salesian Missions, the U.S. development arm of the Salesians of Don Bosco, joins Catholic organizations around the globe in honoring the Catholic World Day of the Sick. Every year on Feb. 11, the Pope marks the day with a special message calling for spiritual and physical closeness to all those who are ill. Saint John Paul II instituted the day “to encourage the people of God, Catholic health institutions and civil society to be increasingly attentive to the sick and to those who care for them.”
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."