NEWS PHOTOS
Venezuela – November 2024 - The Salesian Province of St Luke, Venezuela, recently celebrated the meeting of its priests in the quinquennium, a space for reflection and fraternity that strengthens the vocational journey of these young religious. For four days the participants deepened their experience of the ministry in the light of the guidance of the Rector Major and the Provincial. In addition, they enjoyed moments of rest and life together that allowed them to renew their energies and strengthen fraternal bonds. This meeting represents an important step in the support that the Province provides to its priests in the early years of their ministry, reaffirming its commitment to continuous formation and service to young people.
Argentina – November 2024 – the Quinquennium Salesian meeting is being held in Tanti, in the mountains of Cordoba from 28 October to 8 November. The goal is to pause along the journey and evaluate it after a number of years; to meet the confreres with whom the first steps of Salesian religious life were taken in order to be able to project themselves in a perspective of faith, attentive to new needs, both in consecrated life and in the world of youth. The meeting brings together Salesian priests who completed their initial formation five or six years ago and who in the Spanish-speaking America South Cone Region, include Salesian brothers who made their perpetual profession in the same period. The programme for the days includes addressing the different dimensions of Salesian life, human-emotional, being religious, spiritual accompaniment in this new stage, mission, pastoral care, etc. In addition, there are two opportunities for recollection and the reworking of one's life project. Very significant was the pilgrimage to the places of a holy priest, José Gabriel Brochero, witness and model of the "good shepherd with the smell of sheep".
Lomé, Togo – October 2024 - On 18 October, the Don Bosco Higher Institute in Lomé, Togo, hosted the Don Bosco Global Youth Film Festival (DBGYFF), bringing together around 120 participants aged between 18 and 30. This event aims to inspire local youth to engage in environmental issues through the influential medium of cinema. Important Togolese filmmakers, including Grâce Adjoï, Mama Djawad, Chimène Akpah and Jude Koudaya, attending DBGYFF 2024, were present at the event, adding depth to the festival experience. The day's programme included a series of film screenings, keynote speeches and interactive discussions, encouraging viewers to share their thoughts and conclusions on environmental responsibility. The screening had a strong impact, with participants praising the films for their powerful messages and original perspectives. Presented on the local news isdblome.com website, the event reached an even wider audience, amplifying its message of environmental awareness. DBGYFF 2024 at the Don Bosco Higher Institute successfully promoted dialogue and encouraged young people to take steps towards a more sustainable world.
Italy – November 2024 - From Tuesday 29 October to Saturday 2 November, 400 pilgrims, members and friends of the Salesian Family, coming from the various works of the France and Southern Belgium Province (FRB), went on a pilgrimage in the footsteps of Don Bosco, in the places of his life as a child and as an adult: the Bezcchi and Valdocco, in Turin. The previous editions had been held in Lourdes but, this time, the SDB and FMA Provinces wanted to go to Italy to celebrate the 200th anniversary of Don Bosco's Dream at 9 Years of Age. All were welcomed by Fr Daniel Federspiel, Superior of the FRB Province, and Sister Marie-Agnès Chetcuti, Provincial of the Daughters of Mary Help of Christians in the Notre-Dame des Nations Province (France, southern Belgium, Tunisia). There were numerous Salesian Cooperators, past pupils and young people from the Salesian Youth Movement. On the spot, they were accompanied in particular by Fr Mike Pace, SDB, deputy director of the "Museo Casa Don Bosco" in Turin, who explored John Bosco's Dream at 9 Years of age, again when he was 29 years old, in 1844, and the 1886 dream in Barcelona, a "missionary" dream with the future deployment of the Congregation in the world. The All Saints' Mass, celebrated in the lower basilica of Colle Don Bosco, was presided over by Fr Emmanuel Petit, the last ordained for the Congregation and now on mission in Guadeloupe. Finally, on the last evening, the children from two Salesian works in the south of France, La Navarre and Saint-Cyr, presented a musical comedy dedicated to Michael Magone: "From the street to the light, a teenager on the way".