(ANS - Rome) - Pope Francis has offered the Amazonian Church, the universal Church and all men of good will the post-synodal document: Querida Amazonía. Below, Fr Martín Lasarte, who participated in the Synod of Bishops on the Pan-Amazon region, indicates only a few of the many significant points.
(ANS - Rome) – Still five days to the start of the 28th General Chapter (GC28) of the Salesian Congregation: the main sign of the unity of the Congregation in its multiple diversity, the fraternal meeting in which Salesians carry out community reflection, the body that holds the supreme authority in the Society. From next Sunday, 16 February, until Saturday April 4, over 240 Capitulars will be busy at the Mother House of the Congregation in Turin-Valdocco to answer the Chapter's guiding question: "Which Salesians for today's young people?"
(ANS - Rome) - In recent years, the Salesian Missionary Day (SMD) has focused on the theme of the First Proclamation, framing each time a different continent: Oceania (2016), America (2017), Asia (2018) and Africa (2019). In this 2020, at the end of the six-year term, the reference area is Europe, and the specific focus is on the Oratories and Youth Centers.
(ANS - Rome) - Oratories, schools, Vocational Training Centers, parishes, universities, apostolate programs, social and development projects ... All that is most typical of the Salesian charism and mission is summarized in 4 minutes and 33 seconds of video, now online and available to everyone so as to present to the world, a few days from their 28th General Chapter, who the Don Bosco Salesians are and what they do.
(ANS – Rome) – The revised Manual of Salesian Prayer requested by General Chapter 27 is in the DTP phase. The title continues to be In Dialogue with the Lord, and various language versions are ready (Italian, UK English, US English, Spanish, Portuguese, French), while others are being prepared.
(ANS - Rome) - In his recent meeting with journalists in view of the Congregation's 28th General Chapter, the Rector Major, Fr Ángel Fernández Artime, was asked what the Salesians are doing in Venezuela. The Rector Major replied by talking about the concrete, even financial, help being offered to needy families and clarified: "The Salesians always remain at the side of the population in times of difficulty." To show even more the closeness of the whole Congregation to the Venezuelan people, exhausted by years of suffering, starting tomorrow, Thursday 6 February, until Tuesday 10, Fr Á.F. Artime will be on an Animation Visit to Venezuela.
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.