(ANS - Rome) - A dream embedded in a postage stamp! And if that dream is the one St John Bosco had at the age of nine, the undertaking seems even more arduous. But that has not stopped the Vatican Post Office, which has decided to include in its philatelic launches for 2024, precisely a stamp dedicated to that episode in the life of the founder of the Salesians, two hundred years after its occurrence.
Santiago de Cuba, Cuba – February 2024 - From 16-18 February the Salesians in Cuba celebrated a communication meeting at the María Auxiliadora community in Santiago de Cuba, where representatives of the Camagüey and Santa Clara communities, as well as various guests participated. With the fraternity that characterises the Salesian charism, the community welcomed Fr Pablo Abreu, Delegate for Social Communication in the Salesian Province of the Antilles (ANT), and engineer Philippe Madé, Delegate for Communication at Maria Auxiliadora in Santo Domingo, who presented the Rector Major's 2024 Strenna and the Provincial Communication Plan. The General Councillor for Social Communication, Fr Gildasio Mendes, sent a greeting to the participants, urging them to use creativity to continue communicating, just as Don Bosco did in his time: "It is very important to understand digital culture today. Don Bosco was creative and we have to communicate with the creativity he had." Similarly, Fr Ricardo Campoli, from the Social Communication Sector at Rome Headquarters, recalled that "to communicate is to connect with others". Together with Fr Carlos Luis Fernández, Coordinator of Communication in Cuba, participants explored a strategic and effective communication that embraces and includes all Salesian work, thus strengthening the commitment to young people.
(ANS – Madrid) – A very special event will take place in Madrid on 29 February and 1 March 2024 for those who feel and live the world of information from a Salesian perspective: the Spanish National Delegation for Communication is organising the tenth edition of a forum that, year after year, brings together more than a hundred participants to share, reflect and plan the Salesian journey in this strategic key area of the Congregation.
(ANS - New Delhi) – The Jesus the Good Shepherd Province, New Delhi, India, has been begun a season of grace as the Extraordinary Visitation (17 February to 30 May, 2024) by Fr Biju Michael, Regional Councillor for South Asia and the delegate of the Rector Major, gets underway.
(ANS – Bethlehem) – The Salesian work in Bethlehem, begun by its forerunner Fr Antonio Belloni in 1864, continues to promote the integral growth and vocational and technical training of thousands of young people from ordinary folk. Today it takes on new challenges, networking with the cultural, social and religious institutions of the Palestinian territory between Jerusalem and Hebron.
(ANS – Rome) – Just a few days after the Team Visit to the East Asia-Oceania Region, the entire General Council of the Salesian Congregation, led by Cardinal Ángel Fernández Artime, is now preparing for a similar Team Visit to the Africa-Madagascar Region. The appointment is in Kigali, Rwanda, from Tuesday 20 to Friday 23 February.
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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Argentina – UNISAL Participates in the International Forum “Territories of the Future: South Atlantic and Antarctica”(ANS – Río Grande) – From February 19 to 21, the cities of Río Grande, Tolhuin, and Ushuaia hosted the International Forum “Territories of the Future: South Atlantic and Antarctica”, organized by the University Network for the Care of the Common Home (RUC) and the Municipality of Río Grande, with support from the National University of Tierra del Fuego (UNTDF). The event brought together universities from Argentina, Latin America, and the Caribbean to discuss sustainability and conservation in these regions, with the Salesian University of Argentina (UNISAL) playing an important role.
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.