(ANS – Vasto) – Sports, religion, socialising, hospitality and lots of fun. Among the founding basics of the Salesian work that, on 2 September 2024, with as many as 450 young people invaded the streets of Vasto with happiness and colours. From 4 pm until late in the evening, the Salesians in Vasto, after the last few months of intense and full of appointments in the Oratory, continue their incessant work.
(ANS – San Giovanni Rotondo) – From 30 August to 1 September, 140 representatives of the Educative and Pastoral Communities in the Salesian Province of Southern Italy (IME) met in San Giovanni Rotondo (Foggia) for the Youth Ministry Conference.
(ANS – Rome) – The local Romei 25 APS association, founded at the beginning of 2024 and affiliated with the TGS - Youth and Social Tourism, proposes, in collaboration with TGS Nazionale and CNOS FAP Lazio, a first cycle of professional formation from September to November to create a community of companions capable of offering outdoor educative and pastoral paths in Salesian style, forming young university students to become Cultural Animators of pilgrim groups.
(ANS – Locorotondo) – On 30 August 2024, 126 years after the birth of the Venerable Francesco Convertini, a Salesian missionary in Bengal, and 50 years after his last trip to Italy, the Church and civil communities of Locorotondo and Cisternino, led by Mayors Dr. Antonio Bufano and Dr. Lorenzo Perrini respectively, and by parish priests Fr Stefano Bruno and Fr Giancarlo Lacarbonara, gathered to experience the 9th Torchlight procession of Peace.
(ANS – Mestre) – The start of the year 2024-25 took place at the Don Bosco Institute in Mestre on Tuesday 3 September for school teachers and formators at Vocational Training Centres in the Province of North-East Italy (INE). It involved the participation of 750 people, including about 70 new recruits, from 16 Salesian institutes in north-east Italy.
Rimini, Italy – September 2024 - A meeting of Salesian Cooperators (ASC) from the Middle East who have been resident in Europe for years (Italy, Germany, Belgium and the Netherlands) took place in Rimini from 30 August to 1 September. The event was led by Antonio Boccia, World ASC Coordinator, Italo Canaletti, Head of ASC for Italy, the Middle East and Malta, and Fr Aisen Barbar, SDB. The programme included spiritual themes, formation, sharing, as well as moments of preparation and pentiential rite, prayers and masses. The concept of the identity of the Salesian Cooperator in today's world was explored and issues related to the group of Salesian Cooperators of the Middle East in Europe were discussed, with an exchange of ideas to strengthen the group spiritually, operationally and organizationally. There were also cultural moments, sharing of spiritual experiences, and planning of future meetings.
PHOTO GALLERY
INTERVIEWS
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RMG – Fr Gildasio Mendes, General Councillor for Social Communication, talks about his two new books on Don Bosco(ANS – Rome) – At the end of the International “Shaping Tomorrow” Communication Conference (Rome, 1-7 August 2024), the General Councillor for Social Communication, Fr Gildasio Mendes, publicly presented his most recent two literary works, both dedicated to Don Bosco and motivated by the bicentenary of the latter’s famous Dream at Nine Years of Age. They are As seeing him who is invisible and Parallels 15 and 20. Today he shows us in detail the meaning and perspectives of the two books.
EDITORIAL
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Myanmar – Tragedy of Innocent Children in the midst of Armed Conflicts(ANS – Naypyidaw) - Myanmar finds itself immersed in profound grief and anguish as innocent lives, particularly those of children, continue to be mercilessly lost in the enduring armed conflicts. Families are left devastated by the tragic loss of their loved ones while the relentless violence shows no signs of abating. This week, a heartfelt plea from Myanmar reached our community, shedding light on the heart-wrenching death of a young girl Juliet in a military airstrike, prompting a unified call for prayers and action.
EVENTS
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Italy – The chapel of the relics at the Basilica of Mary Help of Christians in Turin celebrates 90 years and celebrates them with an exhibition on the Shroud(ANS – Turin) – Again this year, on 14 September, on the occasion of the liturgical feast of the Exaltation of the Holy Cross and the day of the Opening of the Crypt, the Shrine of Mary Help of Christians in Turin hosted an evening dedicated to the Shroud,, as part of the "Culture in the Basilica" exhibition, entitled "The Shroud: witness of great love".
SPECIAL REPORTS
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RMG – 100 years of Salesian holiness in the shadow of Mary: 8 September 2024 in Slovenia and Slovakia(ANS – Rome) – Don Bosco was a great lover of Our Lady and the "thread" of her strong and discreet presence as a mother, teacher and helper, never failed for each of her children. It is therefore not surprising that so much Salesian holiness is also interwoven with very deep bonds with Mary: every Servant of God, every Blessed and Saint of the Salesian Family has a special, sometimes all-encompassing bond with her, as it was for Fr Silvio Galli, SDB, or Sister Antonietta Böhm, FMA. This 2024 is also marked by two anniversaries directly connected to some figures of Salesian holiness: those of the Shrine of Mary Help of Christians in Raknovik, Ljubljana, consecrated on 8 September 1924, and that of the arrival in 1924 of the Salesians at the national Marian Shrine in Šaštín, Slovakia, dedicated to Our Lady of Sorrows.
MESSAGES OF THE RECTOR MAJOR
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On WINGS of HOPETHE MESSAGE OF THE VICAR OF THE RECTOR MAJOR, Father Stefano Martoglio
While continuing my service as Vicar in the coming months, quietly, very simply, and completely in continuity, I’ll replace the Rector Major in leading the Congregation to the General Chapter, the 29th, in February 2025.