(ANS - Rome) - The Salesians are preparing for the worst case scenario. Warned of the situation in Europe, those who participated in the 28th General Chapter in Turin, once they returned home, voluntarily placed themselves in quarantine. Some communities have suffered Salesian losses due to Covid-19, especially in Spain and Italy where there have been communities with many infected and hospitalizations. All over the world, the Salesian communities have suspended normal activities. They have closed courtyards, playgrounds, temples, classrooms; but they haven't locked themselves in. They continue to take care of young people and people in difficulty, they continue to take care of them, to help and to accompany.
(ANS - Rome) - In the celebration of the World Advisory Council (Consulta) of the Salesian Family, the Rector Major, Fr Ángel Fernández Artime, invited to prepare a new edition of the book "The Salesian Family of Don Bosco", considering also that the previous edition of the year 2000 was by now outdated, deprived as it was of the presence of the new groups that had in the meantime entered the Family of Don Bosco. Fr Á.F. Artime also pointed out how this ecclesial entity had made a long and rich journey, with very significant changes. For this reason it seemed not only appropriate, but also necessary to produce a new edition of this precious volume, now finally available.
(ANS - Rome) - The moment we are living must strengthen us in faith and intensify our prayers. It is the invitation that the Rector Major, Fr Ángel Fernández Artime, addresses to all Salesians, to the Salesian Family and to all the catechists, animators, young people and families.
(ANS - Rome) - Over the course of a few weeks, Covid-19 has gone from being a Chinese national problem to a pandemic involving the whole world. While the contagion has spread day by day in new regions and countries, the Don Bosco Network (DBN), the coordinating body of nine of the most important Salesian NGOs, has been hard at work. Under the patronage of the Rector Major, Fr Ángel Fernández Artime, it has initiated a coordinated response to the current emergency under the guidance of the Congregation's Emergency Response Coordinator - the coordinator of the Congregation's Mission Office.
(ANS - Rome) - On March 24, the day of the monthly commemoration of Mary Help of Christians, the extraordinary novena proposed by the Rector Major, Fr Ángel Fernández Artime, ended in considerations regarding the health emergency caused by the spread of Covid-19. At the end of the extraordinary Novena to Mary Help of Christians, prayed throughout the Salesian world, the Rector Major invited everyone to make an Act of Entrustment, renew with the heart of Don Bosco one's trust in Mary Most Holy, in this hour of great trial and suffering.
(ANS - Rome) - In just a few months, all of our lives have changed due to a virus that is spreading increasingly faster and that afflicts many people worldwide. It is a global emergency that is changing our habits and which, inevitably, also affects all the pre-novices, novices and Salesians in the formation communities in Italy. To them, Fr Ivo Coelho, General Councilor for Formation, addressed a letter with several recommendations and with an invitation to cultivate communion in the spirit "with all the more intensity in this time."
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.