(ANS - Rome) - In view of the centenary of the birth of the Servant of God Vera Grita, layperson, Salesian Cooperator, born on January 28, 1923, the "Opera dei Tabernacoli Viventi" (OTV) Study Center, the Conference of Salesian Provinces of Italy (CISI), and the Salesian Cooperators are offering an online interview with Maria Rita Scrimieri, Coordinator of the "OTV" Study Center. The interview shall be broadcast live on Saturday, January 21, 2023, from 9 to 10 a.m. (UTC+1), on the ANS YouTube channel and Facebook page, and will be conducted by Fr. Pierluigi Cameroni, Postulator General of the Causes of the Saints of the Salesian Family; conducted in Italian, there shall be translations in English, Spanish, French, Portuguese.
(ANS - Rome) - Negin is a young Afghan woman who fled her country in 2021, together with her family, to have the right to dream of a different tomorrow, in which she can be the protagonist of her choices. She now lives in Italy, welcomed by a supportive network and by the Salesians; she studies on a refugee scholarship and has started a new life with her family. “We are free here,” she says.
(ANS - Padua) - An event to celebrate the centenary of the proclamation of St. Francis de Sales as Patron Saint of Journalists and Writers will take place in Padua on January 28, 2023, organized by the Italian Catholic Press Union (UCSI) and the Salesian International Higher Institute of Educational Research (ISRE). Scheduled at the Theological Study Hall of the Basilica of St. Anthony, from 9:30 a.m. to 12:45 p.m. (UTC+1), the event shall also contribute to an in-depth discussion of some of the themes proposed by Pope Francis in his recent apostolic letter "Totum amoris est" (Everything pertains to love) on the figure of the holy bishop of Geneva.
(ANS - Macerata) - "I like Italy very much; in Macerata, I feel fine. I don't want our children's future to be like mine. Everything I had was wiped out. Destroyed in an instant. For them, I wish a peaceful life full of joy," says Mustafa Alizada, just 24 years old but with an already very troubled past: he is a young Afghan refugee in Italy, taken in, with his family, by the Salesians of Macerata.
Sondrio, Italy - December 2022 - On December 30, the 20th Provincial Chapter of the Salesian Province of Lombardo-Emilian Italy (ILE) concluded, presided over by Provincial Fr. Giuliano Giacomazzi and led by Regulator Fr. Claudio Silvano Cacioli. About 40 Salesians, a dozen lay guests representing the Salesian Family, and Fr. Roberto Dal Molin, appointed by the Rector Major as ILE Provincial for the next six-year term (2023-2029), were present at the second and final session that began on Dec. 27. The Eucharistic celebration at the end of the chapter was presided over by Cardinal Oscar Cantoni, Bishop of Como.
(ANS - Turin) - On Dec. 8, 1841, Don John Bosco, founder of the Salesian Congregation, inaugurated an "oratory" dedicated to St. Francis de Sales on the outskirts of Turin. It was the nucleus of what became the "citadel" of Valdocco. Where "everything began." Here, a group of 30 journalists accredited with the Vatican Press Office and the Italian Foreign Press spent the weekend of Dec. 16-18 visiting the central places where St. John Bosco worked. The group was organized by Fr. Giuseppe Costa, Secretary of the Rector Major of the Salesians, Fr. Ángel Fernández Artime, and co-spokesperson for the Congregation.
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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Spain – 33rd Edition of the Edebé Prize for Children's and Young Adult Literature: Here Are the Winners(ANS – Madrid) – The 33rd edition of the Edebé Prize for Children's and Young Adult Literature has been awarded to Beatriz Giménez de Ory (Madrid, 1972) for her novel Tres niños tristes y medio unicornio (Three Sad Children and Half a Unicorn) and David Lozano (Zaragoza, 1974) for his novel La cacería (The Hunt).
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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GOOD, FAITHFUL, AND COURAGEOUS SERVANTSTHE MESSAGE OF THE VICAR OF THE RECTOR MAJOR, Fr Stefano Martoglio, SDB
During this Jubilee year, in this difficult world, we are invited to rise up, set out again, and, in newness of life, make our journey as human beings and believers.