Moldova – March 2024 – On March 23 and 24, Fr Alfred Maravilla, General Councillor for the Missions, carried out a missionary animation visit to Chişinău. Upon his arrival he was able to greet the leaders who were holding a formation meeting and also met the youngsters from the family home. On Palm Sunday he concelebrated the Eucharist in the parish of Cretoaia, entrusted to the Salesians, and learned about the history of the Salesian presence in that country. After the establishment of Soviet power, pressures on Catholics escalated to forced collectivisation and mass deportations to Siberia. Almost all places of worship were destroyed or confiscated. The only parish officially recognised by the Soviet state was the "Divine Providence" parish of Chişinău. Here Salesian Father Bronislaw Chadanionek from the Province of Warsaw, was the only priest for the whole of Moldova for 24 years (1949-1973). Thanks to his work and hidden sacrifice, the faith and the Catholic Church in this nation were saved. Today the remains of Fr Chadanionek rest in the cemetery in Chişinău. The Salesians of the North-East Italy Province (INE), who had already been in neighbouring Romania since 1996, arrived in Moldova in 2005. Some years earlier the Salesians of the ICP had already begun to organise summer experiences for young people in some Moldovan diocesan parishes. Today the Salesian community, comprising six confreres, runs an oratory, an after-school, a family home, a small training centre and two small parishes.