Aleppo, Syria - May 2016 - The catechetical year for the young people of the Salesian Oratory in Aleppo ended on 22 May. This was the first time that the young people had come together since they had to close about three weeks ago, because of the conflict. Fr Pier Jabloyan says: "Here Don Bosco is still alive and working with and for young people. We try to convey to these children the spirit of Don Bosco, the family spirit. This is what we try to do in these times of war."
Dankotuwa, Sri Lanka - May 2016 - On 15 May there was a gathering of 51 former Salesian seminarians and past pupils of Don Bosco Dankotuwa, chaired by Fr Joseph Almeida, Superior of Sri Lanka, and Fr Felix Mellawarachchy, Economer of the Vice-Province and Provincial Delegate for the Past Pupils.
Tegucigalpa, Honduras - May 2016 - The fourth Provincial Meeting of the Salesian Cooperator Aspirants took place from 6 to 8 May. The theme was "Mercy of the Salesian Heart". The event was attended by 51 people, including aspirants of the three levels of formation and some formators from Guatemala, Honduras and El Salvador. The aim of the meeting was to provide a formative, fraternal and community experience for the aspirants to guide them in their vocational process.
Sydney, Australia - May 2016 - The annual meeting of the Salesian Youth Movement of Australia called OZBosco was held from 13 to 15 May. About two hundred young people attended. Fr Václav Klement, Councillor for the East Asia-Oceania Region, was present for most of the programme.
Oswiecim, Poland - May 2016 - On 14 May, at the Shrine of Mary Help of Christians, Fr Tadeusz Rozmus, Councillor for the Region of Central and Northern Europe, opened the Congress of Mary Help of Christians organized by ADMA in Poland. The theme of the Congress was “The Almighty has done great things for me”. Professor Wojciech Życiński, SDB, presented the report "His mercy from generation to generation". Then Fr Stanislaw Oskwarek, SDB, spoke about the first of the four places of Marian devotion in the Province of Krakow, the Szczyrk Shrine. The Krakow Provincial, Fr Dariusz Bartocha, presided at the Mass and the homily was given by Fr Andrzej Wujek, Provincial of Warsaw. Then the other three places of Marian devotion were presented: Krakow-Dębniki by Fr Zygmunt Kostka, SDB; Przyłęków by Fr Krzysztof Pilarz, SDB and Oświęcim by Fr Marek Głuch, SDB.
Wadi Al-Natrun, Egypt – 10 May 2016 - On the third anniversary of the meeting between Pope Francis and Pope Tawadros II, which took place at the Vatican on 10 May 2013, the feast of brotherly love between the Catholic Church and the Coptic Orthodox Church was celebrated in the Logos Centre at the "Anba Bishoy" Monastery in Wadi al-Natrun. Among those present were His Beatitude Ibrahim Isaac, patriarch of the Coptic Catholic Church, many Catholic and Orthodox bishops and abbots of the Coptic monasteries, and some theologians. Fr Dany Kerio, a Salesian priest working at the Holy See, was chosen to translate a letter of Pope Francis to Pope Tawadros II and to act as interpreter for the Apostolic Nuncio Archbishop Bruno Musarò.