(ANS - Rome) - In view of 11 November, the anniversary of the first departure of the Salesians of Don Bosco to the missions in South America, the General Councilor for the Missions, Fr Alfred Maravilla, shares a reflection.

Rome, RMG - November 2020 - The annual meeting of the Youth Ministry Delegates and the members of the Provincial Youth Ministry team of the South Asia Region was held from 1 to 4 November. The animation of the meeting, conducted through the Zoom platform, was by Fr Miguel Angel Garcia, General Councilor for Youth Ministry, and by Fr Patrick Anthonyraj, of the YM team. The main topics of sharing and discussion were: reflection following the "face-to-face" meeting, the pastoral keys of the GC28, the timetable of the Youth Ministry Team for the next six years, and the Salesian Youth Movement. 51 Salesians participated and interacted in the sessions. In the final session, Fr Garcia published the report of the "Don Bosco Youth Animation" (DBYA) for 2019-2020. He also summarized the four days of the meeting in three recommendations: simple, clear and flexible structures of Youth Ministry; the Vocation Ministry is the crown of the Youth Ministry; the Salesian Youth Movement must be strengthened at the local level, the provincial level, and made visible at the regional level.

(ANS - Rome) - "Hope" is a word that, in difficult times like the ones we are experiencing, takes on an even greater value. Never as much as the present, we all need to "hope". And it is around this word, in fact, that the message of Fr Guillermo Basañes, addressed to the whole Congregation, revolves.

(ANS - Rome) - The light that emerges from the text of article 38 of the Salesian Constitutions, dedicated to the Preventive System, clearly expresses the focus of the third seed which in November is offered as an aid for the dissemination of "Young Salesians and Accompaniment – Orientations & Guidelines."

Rome, RMG - November 2020 - The Youth Ministry Department (YM) of the Salesian Congregation met the 28 European Youth Ministry delegates on 5 and 6 November. A popular form of accompaniment and formation during a health emergency that makes it difficult to continue activities, the program saw a pastoral reinterpretation of the Covid-19 emergency. Fr Miguel Ángel Garcia, YM General Councilor, and Fr Tarcizio Morais, of the same Department, not only listed the problematic elements, but also highlighted: the need to activate a "pro-active" ministry, reacting with creativity and taking advantage of some unpredictable opportunities of this time; to focus more on the difficulties of certain confreres; the recovery of reciprocity and accompaniment in the construction of educational communities; the primacy of relationships and proximity so as not to lose young people; learning to change without deluding oneself to leave things as they are; confidence in the potential and resources of young people; the dynamism in the proposals to which complexity calls; the interdependence that vulnerability makes manifest. The collection of experiences in group discussions has left space for the Department's Planning for the next six years. The Salesians want the sense of loss to be replaced by a renewed heart that knows how to find new ways to bear witness and bring God's closeness to young people.

(ANS - Rome) - From today the new video of the “Dear Confreres” column, which the Rector Major, Fr Ángel Fernández Artime, recorded in Valdocco is available online. Don Bosco's Successor speaks to the Salesian Family from the Don Bosco House Museum, a place that reopened its doors on 4 October “to offer us a profound and true experience of Salesianity, which will allow us to touch the true history of Don Bosco with our hands: his dreams, his reality, his faith, his problems.”