(ANS – Rome) – During the winter plenary session of the General Council, Cardinal Ángel Fernández Artime, Rector Major of the Salesians of Don Bosco, with the consent of the members of his Council, appointed Fr. Domingos Leong Teng Kok as the Provincial of the Salesian Province of China for the six-year period 2024-2030. Fr. Domingos will succeed Fr. Joseph Ng Chi Yuen, who has served the Province of China as Provincial since 2018.
(ANS - Rome) - On 25 December, the feast of the Lord’s nativity, the presence of the tenth successor of Don Bosco, Cardinal Ángel Fernández Artime, at the headquarters of the Salesians of Don Bosco, did arouse an atmosphere of joyful celebration. The Basilica of the Sacred Heart had the privilege of hosting His Eminence for the celebration of Holy Mass, and the faithful and confreres were able to receive Fr Ángel's Christmas message and blessings.
(ANS – Rome) – Since the time of Don Bosco, the message of the Strenna has accompanied the life of Salesian communities around the world as a guideline that traces paths of education, evangelisation and developments related to the signs of the times and the life of the Church. This is why the presentation of the Strenna message is a moment awaited with great interest by the entire Salesian Family. For the coming year, the message is already prepared under the motto identified by the Rector Major: "The dream that makes you dream". A heart that transforms "wolves" into "lambs". And the appointment is already scheduled: today, 27 December at 5:00 pm (UTC+1).
(ANS – Rome) – On the day of the official presentation of the final Strenna in Fr Ángel Fernández Artime’s term of office, now that he has become a Cardinal of the Holy Roman Church for a few months, ANS concludes its retrospective look at the Strenna of Don Bosco and his ten successors so far. Therefore, if 2024 will open under the banner of the “Dream that makes you dream”, let us retrace together the journey made in the now almost 10 years under the guidance of the 10th Successor of Don Bosco.
(ANS – Rome) – In 2002, the 25th General Chapter of the Salesian Congregation elected Mexican Fr Pascual Chávez Villanueva as Rector Major. He was the first Successor of Don Bosco of the digital age, but even if projected into modernity, the program of his term of office was still very much based on Salesian roots: it was well summarised by himself in the first message to the Salesians after his appointment, in which he invited them to “rediscover and imitate Don Bosco who served the Church and man with the same love of Christ, dedicating every moment of his life to this.”
(ANS – Rome) – The first non-Italian Successor of Don Bosco (although the son of Italian immigrants) in the history of the Salesian Congregation was the Argentine Fr Juan Edmundo Vecchi, born in the same city where "the nurse of the poor" operated and today a saint, Artemides Zatti, SDB, with whom he was also related. Although illness did not allow him a longer term of office, it was he who guided the Salesians of Don Bosco from the old to the new millennium.
PHOTO GALLERY
INTERVIEWS
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Chile – Former Salesian student in the fight against Alzheimer's disease(ANS - Santiago) - Dr Nibaldo Inestrosa, graduate of the Salesian Institute in Valdivia and national prize of Natural Sciences winner, is a pioneer and expert in the study of Alzheimer's disease in the country. In this interview, he offers an insight into the current challenges, but not before reflecting on his formative experience at the Salesian Institute in Valdivia and how this influenced his interest in biology and science.
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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India – INS youth solemnise Don Bosco’s Feast Day with ‘Ka Sur Kynud S-3’ Grand Finale(ANS – Shillong) – The Youth of St John Paul II, Shillong Province, celebrated the Feast Day of St. John Bosco with the Grand Finale of “Ka Sur Kynud, Season 3.” Organised by Don Bosco Media Network Television, the Social Communication Department of the Province, at Don Bosco Youth Centre, Laitumkhrah, Shillong, this two-month-long singing competition, which imitates the global singing competition The Voice, concluded on 31 January 2025, coinciding with the Solemnity of St John Bosco.
SPECIAL REPORTS
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RMG - St. Francis de Sales Communicator: All for Love(ANS – Rome) - The figure of St. Francis de Sales, chosen by Don Bosco as an example of a communicator, teaches that communication is a matter of the heart. In his expression, "Everything in the Church is love: everything lives in love, for love, and of love," we understand his revolution in the way of communicating, and how communication becomes fruitful when it allows communion and the exchange of one's experiences in a path of accompaniment and collaboration in God's project.
MESSAGES OF THE RECTOR MAJOR
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WHAT A GIFT TIME IS!THE MESSAGE OF THE VICAR OF THE RECTOR MAJOR,
Fr Stefano Martoglio, SDBThe beginning of the new year is illuminated in our liturgy by the ancient formula with which the Israelite priests blessed the people: "May the Lord bless you, and keep you. May the Lord show His face to you, and have mercy on you. May the Lord turn His countenance to you, and give you peace."