Mestre, Italy - February 2023 - On February 4, the third and final session of the VIIth Provincial Chapter of the Northeast Salesian Province (INE) was held at the Salesian Work of Don Bosco in Mestre. The two previous working sessions were held in Turin-Valdocco from October 14-16, 2022, where the themes of reflection to be addressed were outlined, and in Mestre, from December 27-30, 2022, intensive work on the drafting of the final text, starting with the contributions of the various working commissions. The general objectives of the work planned by the Chapter were: review of the implementation of GC28 and the choice of steps to be taken for the next three years; the approval of the INE Training Plan; and the approval of the INE Economic Directory. Among the novelties of this Chapter was the active participation of youth and laity, in fact - in addition to the 70 Chapter members participating by right and elected by the Salesian communities - 20 laity, 4 representatives of the Salesian Family and 7 youth also participated as invited guests, who made an excellent contribution in terms of fraternity and reflection on the issues. The last session saw the final vote on the documents prepared by the different commissions. In summary, the final work reports the desire of the Salesians of the INE Province to be more and more evangelizers and companions of young people in a secularized context, capable of living a true fraternity in the works in which they meet, taking care of religious identity and co-responsibility in the Pastoral Educational Community as best they can. For this reason, it is also important to implement choices that lead to downsizing and redesign of the works.

Fr. Emanuele Zof
INE Social Communication Delegate

Rome, Italy - January 2023 - From January 28 to 31, on the presbytery of the Basilica of St. Mary Help of Christians, located in the Tuscolano neighborhood in Rome, on the occasion of the triduum and feast of St. John Bosco, middle school children, high school students, the Vocational Training Center and all parishioners were able to admire, solemnly exposed to the veneration of the faithful, next to the high altar, the precious large reliquary containing an entire vertebra of St. John Bosco. As can be read on page 95 of Paolo Iafolla's book "Monsignor Salvatore Rotolo" (the first Director and first pastor of St. Mary Help of Christians in Rome), published by Elledici in 2004, this reliquary is the one that the then Rector Major of the Salesians, Fr. Pietro Ricaldone, gave to Pope Pius XI in 1934 on the occasion of the canonization of St. John Bosco. After that, the Holy Father himself wanted to give the precious relic back to the Salesians, and more precisely to the Salesian Parish of Mary Help of Christians in Rome, for the consecration of the new church that would take place later, exactly on May 17, 1936.

(ANS - Rome) - On Sunday, January 29, the parish community of the Basilica "San Giovanni Bosco al Tuscolano," in Rome, gathered for the Sunday Eucharistic celebration in view of the feast of Don Bosco. The celebration was attended by a large number of faithful, civil and military authorities, all gathered around Cardinal Pietro Parolin, Secretary of State of the Holy See and close collaborator of the Pope.

(ANS - Turin) - A historical event, a work of mercy, a powerfully evocative gesture, an act of love in the full style of Don Bosco: the visit made on the morning of Wednesday, February 1, by Fr. Ángel Fernández Artime, Rector Major of the Salesians, to the Juvenile Penitentiary Institute (IPM) "Ferrante Aporti" in Turin, has so many connotations; it was once the "Generala" penitentiary so many times visited by Don Bosco, the place that inspired him to create oratories as an antidote to juvenile delinquency.

Caserta, Italy - January 2023 - On the occasion of Holocaust Victims' Remembrance Day, secondary school students of the Salesian Institute "Sacred Heart of Mary" in Caserta engaged in research activities on the Shoah. In addition, the final year students carried out specific work on the historical reconstruction of the events that led three Salesian priests and a Salesian coadjutor from Caserta, along with three other civilians, to lose their lives at the hands of Nazi soldiers on Sept. 28, 1943, at the Villa Santoro, located on Garzano Hill. The province of Caserta at that time was prey to bombing following the armistice that led Italy to abandon its baleful alliance with the Third Reich. The Caserta work was also badly hit by bombing, and the senior priests were displaced to the hills. There, following the killing of a German soldier by a partisan, the Nazis decided to retaliate with a reprisal in which Fr. Tommaso Chiapello, Fr. Francesco Coratella, Fr. Domenico Borgiattino, Salesian coadjutor Br. Giuseppe Di Gennaro, civilians Agostino Brandi, Donato Rucci and young soldier Antonio Caricato lost their lives. This massacre was commemorated in 1944 first with a plaque, later replaced in 1966 by a funerary stele. On March 15, 1997, the then Rector Major of the Salesian Congregation, Fr. Juan Edmundo Vecchi, also went to the hill in prayer to remember his Salesian brethren. Thus, on Saturday, January 28, the students of the Salesian Institute went with the teachers to Garzano and were able to see with their own eyes the site of the incident, experiencing a moment of meaningful remembrance.

IME Press Office

Modica, Italy - January 2023 - After a two-year stop due to the pandemic, Modica returned to the city streets to celebrate St. John Bosco, Father, Teacher and Friend of the Young. The city's Salesian Family, as per tradition, gathered around its holy founder together with children, youth, adults, and the elderly. In the afternoon, the procession with the statue of the saint, carried on the shoulders of the oratory animators, departed from the upper part of the city. Awaiting the arrival of the procession in Falcone-Borsellino Square were also children and youth from the Salesian school in Modica, run by the Daughters of Mary Help of Christians. The route ended at the Mother Church of St. Peter, where the Eucharistic celebration was held, presided over by Bishop Antonino Staglianò, president of the Pontifical Academy of Theology and Apostolic Administrator of Noto. During his homily, Bishop Staglianò invited those present to become models for young people, following the example of Don Bosco and the Servant of God Nino Baglieri (1951-2007), a member of the Don Bosco Volunteers (CDB) and a native of Modica itself. The prelate also engaged in dialogue with the children and young people present, marveling at their numbers, often far from ecclesial circles. At the end of the Mass, Fr. Paolo Terrana, a Salesian in charge of the work in Modica, thanked all those present and those who had gone out of their way to make the day a success. A wreath was then laid at the bust of Don Bosco present in Piazza Municipio.