(ANS - Rome) - From Sunday, Nov. 6, to Saturday, Nov. 12, 2022, the Rector Major of the Salesians of Don Bosco, Fr. Ángel Fernández Artime, will preside over the Spiritual Exercises of the Provincial Councils of the Central and Northern Europe Region. The appointment shall take place in Turin-Valdocco and will complete, with the seventh and last Salesian region, the journey of Spiritual Exercises with the Provincial Councils of the various Salesian regions that began, always in Valdocco, about a year ago, in November 2021.

(ANS - Rome) - After the intense month of October, which saw the Rector Major participate in a long series of events - from the Congress of Works and Social Services in Turin, to the events for the canonization of Artemide Zatti; from the honoris causa in Pedagogical Sciences ceremony in Palermo, to the visits to Croatia and Northeast India for the centenaries of Salesian presence - the month of November also promises to be full of commitments for Fr. Ángel Fernández Artime. Beginning with his visit to Liguria on Nov. 3-5 to visit the historic work in Alassio and celebrate 150 years of activity of the Salesian works in Genoa-Sampierdarena and Varazze.

(ANS - Rome) - The International Congress of Salesian Works and Social Services was held from September 28 to October 2 in Turin-Valdocco, an important moment of reflection and sharing of the experiences matured by the Salesian Congregation in this sector, and whose objective was to strengthen the charismatic identity of pastoral action in this field. A few weeks after that appointment, the Sector for Youth Ministry, which promoted and coordinated the whole activity and which daily accompanies the work of Salesian Works and Social Services, shares the conclusions that matured after those five days of intense work, great participation, and much Salesian commitment.

(ANS – Rome) – Recently the exciting news was announced that the Salesian Missionary Volunteering Advisory Board is running a competition for the design of a new volunteer cross that can be used throughout the Congregation. Below, some updates:

(ANS - Rome) - On 29 October 1972, Paul VI, now a saint, with his apostolic authority inscribed the Venerable Servant of God Michele Rua in the register of the blessed. When the Pope read the formula of beatification, the gaunt and slender figure of Fr. Rua appeared in the glory of the Bernini inside St. Peter's Basilica, and a long, thunderous, irrepressible applause burst forth from the thirty thousand faithful huddled in the basilica. The cameras switched from the figure of Fr. Rua to the imposing figure of Don Bosco, placed in the niches of the founders of orders, on the vertical of the famous bronze statue of St. Peter. Don Bosco was also present at the exaltation of his "Michelino," who, dividing all they had by two, did and shared precisely everything together, even sanctity. Just as the prophet Elijah bequeathed his spirit and mantle to Elisha, Don Bosco passed on his spirit and charismatic legacy to Fr. Rua, as Paul VI's masterful homily well illustrated. 

(ANS – Roma) – We have reached the fifth and last video in the series fostered by the Sector for Formation of the Salesian Congregation and realised by the Centre for Youth Pastoral Care and Social Communication of the ICP province in Piedmont, for the ongoing formation on St Francis de Sales' spiritual and pastoral heritage, on the occasion of the fourth centenary of his death: Francis de Sales MISSIONARY. It is a form of accompaniment we receive from our saint, most appropriate for this month of October, which will have for us yet another day of grace in November, where on the 11th we will commemorate the 127th anniversary of the first expedition of Salesian missionaries to Patagonia.