(ANS - Rome) - Saturday 24 March the teams of the Youth Ministry and Formation Departments, led by Fr Fabio Attard and Fr Ivo Coelho, met for a day of study on the results of the personal accompaniment research presented in the publication edited by Mr. Marco Bay, SDB, "Young Salesians and accompaniment". Fr Miguel Angel García Morcuende and Fr Michal Vojtas also took part.

(ANS - Thessaloniki) - The first meeting of the European Community of Learning Providers was held in Thessaloniki, Greece, on March 13-14, on the theme: "Promoting the Quality of Learning”, an event attended by over 45 representatives of institutions active in the field of vocational education and training (VET) in Europe.

(ANS – Golaghat) – The Departments of Political Science and Sociology at Don Bosco College Golaghat and Salesian College Sonada jointly organised a national seminar entitled “Conflicts in South Asia: Its Consequences and Implications” from 16 to 17 March 2018. Peace activist and socio-cultural academician Prof. Thomas Menamparampil, SDB, Archbishop Emeritus of Guwahati, graced the event as chief guest.

(ANS - Turin) - Emotions were highly palpable at Valdocco last Thursday, March 15, when the audience listened to the testimonies of the small delegation of the Salesian "Ciudad Don Bosco" of Medellin, invited to Turin to describe the pacifying action that the Salesians have been carrying out in Colombia.

(ANS - Rome) - The banlieue, inner-city, or periphery as a space, as a dimension, the periphery, above all, as a lively and vital reality, and not simply a catalyst of social problems and degradation. Because "reality is better seen from the periphery," as Pope Francis said, who has brought the theme of the banlieues into the magisterium of the Church. From this point of view, on March 10th, at the Salesian Pontifical University in Rome, a formation course was held entitled: "Narrating the peripheries: positive observations, constructive words."

(ANS - Turin) - Fifty-two years of conflict between the Colombian government and the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) have left more than 260 thousand dead, 45 thousand desaparecidos and 6.9 million displaced persons on the ground. But after the peace agreement ratified in Bogotá on November 30, 2016, young people shall be the architects of the renewal of a nation. Tomorrow, March 15th, at the invitation of "Missioni Don Bosco", a female ex-child soldier of FARC and the heads of the "Ciudad Don Bosco" recovery and rehabilitation center of Medellín bring their testimony to Turin for the conference “Scars of War - Matrices of Peace”, which will also address the ongoing pacification process.

(ANS - Madrid) - The Faculty of Theology of Salamanca celebrated the feast of St. Thomas Aquinas with a Eucharist presided over by the Bishop of Ávila, Msgr. Jesús García Burillo, and a conference by Fr Rossano Sala, Salesian, Special Secretary of the XV Ordinary General Assembly of the Synod of Bishops, who spoke about: "Youth of the Church and hopes of the young: what can we expect from the next Synod?"

(ANS - Fatima) - "The Initial Proclamation and the Salesian Mission" is the title of the Continental Seminar of Missionary Animation and Formation currently being held in Fatima. From 4 to 11 March, under the tender gaze of the Madonna appearing before the three young shepherds, Francesco, Giacinta and Lucia, 60 participants attended, including Salesians (SDB), Daughters of Mary Help of Christians (FMA) and volunteers from various parts of Europe and the Middle East.

(ANS – Seoul) – The Annual EAO Provincial Economers Meeting has just been concluded in Seoul, Korea. It was headed by the Economer General, Br. Jean Paul Muller, and managed by FIS Economer and EAO Regional Coordinator, Fr. Andy Satura. In attendance were 14 Provincial Economers, the KOR Mission Office, and 8 lay staff of some of the EAO Provinces. The entire meeting ran from March 1-4, 2018.