(ANS - Würzburg) - One hundred years of youth, commitment, education and evangelization in the style of Don Bosco - these are the reasons for the festival in Würzburg, the Mother House of the Salesians in Germany. About a thousand people gathered for the three-day celebration, drawn by the joy of sharing the dream of Don Bosco today. The Successor of Don Bosco, Fr Ángel Fernández Artime, came from Rome and presided at the festivities.
(ANS - Hong Kong) - Visit of the Rector Major, Fr Renato Ziggiotti, to the St. Louis School in 1955.
(ANS - Florence) - Don Bosco was at home in Florence: from 1865 to 1887 he went there 23 times. A visit to the Tuscan capital was therefore a must for the one who is the successor of Don Bosco today, Fr Ángel Fernández Artime. Yesterday, 29 May, the Rector Major paid his first visit to the two Salesian centres in the city: Mary Immaculate in the city centre, and San Giusto in the suburb of Scandicci.
(ANS - Rome) - "Loving poverty is solidarity, sharing and charity and is expressed in moderation, in the quest for justice and in taking joy in the essential." So said Pope Francis in a message of 8 March 2014. The Rector Major, Fr Ángel Fernández Artime, took that as his starting point in the talk he gave yesterday at the 87th Bi-annual Assembly of the Union of Superiors General, which ends today, Friday 27 May, at the Salesianum in Rome.
(ANS – Turin) – “Great respect and prayer… and a great faith, much simple faith in all of us. Certainly Don Bosco was present with his spirit … and the MOTHER interceded for ALL before the Lord”. This is the impression remaining in the eyes and heart of the Rector Major, Fr. Ángel Fernández Artime, at the end of the traditional procession of the statue of Mary Help of Christians in the streets of Turin.
(ANS - Rome) - On the eve of the Feast of Mary Help of Christians, in a video-message from the series "Dear Confreres" the Rector Major sends greetings to all the Salesians and the Salesian Family from Valdocco, the heart of the Salesian world. It is not only a message of good wishes to remind us of the importance of the celebration of 24 May, but also an invitation to deepen the Marian dimension of the charism, "something that really touches our hearts and our way of educating young people in the world."
PHOTO GALLERY
INTERVIEWS
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RMG – Fr Gildasio Mendes, General Councillor for Social Communication, talks about his two new books on Don Bosco(ANS – Rome) – At the end of the International “Shaping Tomorrow” Communication Conference (Rome, 1-7 August 2024), the General Councillor for Social Communication, Fr Gildasio Mendes, publicly presented his most recent two literary works, both dedicated to Don Bosco and motivated by the bicentenary of the latter’s famous Dream at Nine Years of Age. They are As seeing him who is invisible and Parallels 15 and 20. Today he shows us in detail the meaning and perspectives of the two books.
EDITORIAL
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Myanmar – Tragedy of Innocent Children in the midst of Armed Conflicts(ANS – Naypyidaw) - Myanmar finds itself immersed in profound grief and anguish as innocent lives, particularly those of children, continue to be mercilessly lost in the enduring armed conflicts. Families are left devastated by the tragic loss of their loved ones while the relentless violence shows no signs of abating. This week, a heartfelt plea from Myanmar reached our community, shedding light on the heart-wrenching death of a young girl Juliet in a military airstrike, prompting a unified call for prayers and action.
EVENTS
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Italy – The chapel of the relics at the Basilica of Mary Help of Christians in Turin celebrates 90 years and celebrates them with an exhibition on the Shroud(ANS – Turin) – Again this year, on 14 September, on the occasion of the liturgical feast of the Exaltation of the Holy Cross and the day of the Opening of the Crypt, the Shrine of Mary Help of Christians in Turin hosted an evening dedicated to the Shroud, as part of the "Culture in the Basilica" exhibition, entitled "The Shroud: witness of great love".
SPECIAL REPORTS
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RMG – 100 years of Salesian holiness in the shadow of Mary: 8 September 2024 in Slovenia and Slovakia(ANS – Rome) – Don Bosco was a great lover of Our Lady and the "thread" of her strong and discreet presence as a mother, teacher and helper, never failed for each of her children. It is therefore not surprising that so much Salesian holiness is also interwoven with very deep bonds with Mary: every Servant of God, every Blessed and Saint of the Salesian Family has a special, sometimes all-encompassing bond with her, as it was for Fr Silvio Galli, SDB, or Sister Antonietta Böhm, FMA. This 2024 is also marked by two anniversaries directly connected to some figures of Salesian holiness: those of the Shrine of Mary Help of Christians in Raknovik, Ljubljana, consecrated on 8 September 1924, and that of the arrival in 1924 of the Salesians at the national Marian Shrine in Šaštín, Slovakia, dedicated to Our Lady of Sorrows.
MESSAGES OF THE RECTOR MAJOR
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On WINGS of HOPETHE MESSAGE OF THE VICAR OF THE RECTOR MAJOR, Father Stefano Martoglio
While continuing my service as Vicar in the coming months, quietly, very simply, and completely in continuity, I’ll replace the Rector Major in leading the Congregation to the General Chapter, the 29th, in February 2025.