(ANS – Rome) – From 13-15 March 2017 Don Bosco Network is hosting a set of Working Group meetings at the Salesianum in Rome. The representatives of various Salesian organizations: Via Don Bosco – Belgium, VIS – Italy, Missioni Don Bosco – Italy, SWM – Poland, Don Bosco Missions – Germany, Don Bosco Mondo – Germany, Jovenes y Desarollo – Spain, BoscoNet/PARA – India, Don Bosco International and Salesian Past Pupils, gathered to share experiences, materials and best practices and to plan effective cooperation in various fields of work and support for Salesian Mission worldwide.

Rome, Italy - March 2017 - Fr Antonio Spadaro, Jesuit, Director of "La Civilta Cattolica," the oldest magazine in Italy (1850), has been appointed a member of the National Presidency of the Italian Federation of Past Pupils of Don Bosco. He is a Past Pupil and a Priest but not a Salesian.  His appointment is an expression of the full and unanimous agreement of CISI (Conference of Salesian Provincials of Italy), presided over by Fr. Stefano Martoglio, Councillor for the Mediterranean Region. In its last meeting from 12 to 16 January, he expressed the wish and gave his approval. Antonio Spadaro was born in Messina on 6 July 1966. He studied at the San Luigi Salesian High School in Messina and for many years attended the oratory of St Dominic Savio in the same city. He was part of the Don Bosco Boys and was one of the founders of the Salesian Youth Movement. He did his philosophical and theological studies at the Theological Institute of St. Thomas which was affiliated to the Salesian Pontifical University. He graduated in Philosophy from the University of Messina (1988), and in 2000 obtained his doctorate in theology at the Gregorian Pontifical University.

(ANS - Rome) - Today is the 160th anniversary of the death of Saint Dominic Savio, He died in Mondonio on 9 March 1857. His figure is well known almost everywhere in the Catholic world, thanks to the life written by Don Bosco in 1859, which has had numerous editions, reprints and translations.

(ANS - Rome) - "Being uprooted from their homes." This is the metaphor that the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) uses to describe forced migration. The refugee is like a tree that loses its roots, and is forced to leave the land where he grew up. Andrea Pecoraro, a lawyer and expert in immigration and asylum law, referred to this at a meeting of the Mondialità School entitled "Legal Clarity: refugee, illegal immigrant, asylum seeker, exile". The school is open to young people aged between 18 and 30. It is organized by the Missionary Animation Team of the Salesians in Central Italy. It offers opportunities for reflection on what is happening in the world from a Salesian and missionary perspective.

(ANS - Rome) - "Our pieces of paper are echoes and traces of the passage of the Church, indeed of the Lord Jesus in the world. The ‘cult’ of these cards, documents and archives, implies the worship of Christ, a sense of the Church, giving ourselves and those who will come after us the history of this phase of the transitus Domini in the world "(Paul VI, 1963). Today more than ever it is necessary to take care of the Salesian historical archives. It is a commitment to the preservation and promotion of the charism.

(ANS - Rome) - The Team Visit is an instrument of animation by the Rector Major and the General Council. Through it, the leaders of the congregation can assess the progress underway in the various Salesian regions and ensure convergence and unity with respect for diversity. Tomorrow, 28 February the Team Visit to the South Asia region starts in Chennai, India. It is the first of the series of seven visits to take place in the coming months in the seven Salesian Regions.