Melbourne, Australia - May 2016 - On 22 May, Daniel Rafanomezantsoa made his perpetual profession as a Salesian of Don Bosco in the hands of Fr Greg Chambers, Provincial in Australia.
Cayambe, Ecuador - May 2016 - On 21 May Bishop Alfredo Espinoza, SDB, of the Diocese of Loja, presided at the ordination of the Salesian Andres Acosta. The concelebrants included Fr Jorge Molina, Salesian Provincial in Ecuador and Fr Robert García, Vice-Provincial.
Nairobi, Kenya - May 2016 - On 21 May, at the Shrine of Mary Help of Christians in Nairobi, Bishop Paul Kariuki of the Diocese of Embu ordained 4 new Salesian priests and 12 Deacons – 11 Salesians and one Franciscan of Our Lady of the poor.
(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 - Manta) - Tarqui is an area in Manta that has suffered a lot due to the earthquake. The memory of it is alive because only a few weeks have passed. We must lift our heads and keep living without a loved one who died in the earthquake, without a home, with nothing to live for. There may also be a moment of despair. But when we raise our eyes we meet the gaze of our Mother, the Help of Christians. She comforts us and encourages us to live in hope. "She can do everything!" On 24 May this was the phrase that the people of Tarqui remember. She is the mother who brings back the smile and restores faith and hope.
(ANS - Dilla) - "I have seen once again that as the Salesian Family we were born to be close, ever closer to the poor," said the Rector Major during his visit to Ethiopia. When I think of this country the two things that come to my mind are poverty and famine. To these two problems we can add a third which is drought. This year’s drought is "among the most serious of the last three decades, generating a vicious circle which leaves 10.2 million people exposed to a severe food crisis."