Brasilia, Brazil – August 2024 – The 10th Meeting of the University Pastoral Network of the Salesian Higher Education Institutions (IUS) America took place from 28 to 30 August at the Catholic University of Brasilia The event aims to train the leaders and facilitators of IUS America pastoral care, involving representatives of IUS from Colombia, Bolivia, Ecuador, Guatemala, Brazil, Mexico, Argentina and El Salvador, as well as to evaluate and plan the work of this network in accordance with the common programme 6. The meeting was opened by the UCB Pastoral Care team, followed by the welcome of the Rector of the university, Carlos Longo; the President of the Board of Directors of the UBEC-Brazilian Union of Catholic Education Group, UCB managing body, Fr Geraldo Adair da Silva, SDB; the Network Coordinator, Prof. Genésio Zeferino; the Pastoral Care Coordinator for IUS America, Fr José Marinoni; and the General Coordinator of IUS, Fr Oscar Lozano. Before concluding the meeting, there was an analysis of the book "Pastoral Universitária Salesiana Reflexões e experiências nas IUS América", the result of the network's reflection on this important dimension of Salesian educative and pastoral work.
(ANS - Bolivia) – The Salesians of Don Bosco in Bolivia have made significant progress in their commitment to the protection and well-being of their communities, through the success of the Socialisation of the Safeguarding Policy. This key process has been carried out in several cities across the country, with an exceptional participation of over 100 people at each event.
(ANS – Quito) – The Eucharistic Theological Symposium began on the afternoon of Wednesday 4 September at the Pontifical Catholic University of Ecuador (PUCE), in Quito. About 600 people signed up for this event, which precedes the start of the 53rd International Eucharistic Congress and whose purpose is to reflect on the intrinsic relationship between the Eucharist and Fraternity, in the context of a wounded world. Fr Juan Flores, Vice-Provincial of the Salesian Province of Ecuador, and Fr Luigi Ricchiardi participated in the opening programme.
(ANS – Locorotondo) – On 30 August 2024, 126 years after the birth of the Venerable Francesco Convertini, a Salesian missionary in Bengal, and 50 years after his last trip to Italy, the Church and civil communities of Locorotondo and Cisternino, led by Mayors Dr. Antonio Bufano and Dr. Lorenzo Perrini respectively, and by parish priests Fr Stefano Bruno and Fr Giancarlo Lacarbonara, gathered to experience the 9th Torchlight procession of Peace.
(ANS – Jakarta) – As the first stage of his 45th Apostolic Journey, the longest of his pontificate, Pope Francis chose Indonesia: a country that also sees a more than thirty-year Salesian presence, where the Salesians have various works and numerous apostolates at the service of young people – and, as Don Bosco wanted, especially the poorest and most needy.
(ANS – Mestre) – The start of the year 2024-25 took place at the Don Bosco Institute in Mestre on Tuesday 3 September for school teachers and formators at Vocational Training Centres in the Province of North-East Italy (INE). It involved the participation of 750 people, including about 70 new recruits, from 16 Salesian institutes in north-east Italy.
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.