In the midst of his numerous institutional commitments - between the work in view of the 29th General Chapter and other already scheduled activities, such as the General Council meetings or the Team Visits to the various Salesian Regions - the Rector Major is once again returning to one of his most favorite appointments: the direct and personal meeting with Salesians, young people and the Salesian Family scattered around the world.
On this occasion, the 10th Successor of Don Bosco will add two new countries to the long list of nations he has visited in his almost ten-year rectorate: Senegal and Gambia.
Card. Fernández Artime will land in the evening of Tuesday, 14 November in Thiès, the third largest city in Senegal, and will be welcomed at the airport by the Superior of AON, Fr Jésus Benoît Badji, the Provincial Council and the Salesians of the local community. He will then reach Dakar, the country's capital, where, after a greeting from the community, he will spend the night.
The second day will include a meeting with young people, students, educators and teachers in the morning, which will also be enlivened by some cultural interludes, followed by a meeting with the Provincial for a presentation of the general programme. In the afternoon, the Rector Major will meet with the Provincial, his Council and that of the Delegation "Senegal-Mali-Guinea Conakry" to receive an update from them on the Salesian reality in the area and offer them his paternal guidance.
Back in Thiès, on Thursday 16th, the 10th Successor of Don Bosco will meet with young people, students, educators and teachers from that community, and will also visit the land on which a new institute is to be built. On the same day, the transfer to Gambia is scheduled, with arrival in the evening in Kunkujang, where the Rector Major will be welcomed at the airport by the local Salesians and also by Bishop Gabriel Mendy, Bishop of Bnajul, a diocese that includes the entire territory of Gambia.
Friday, 17 November will open with the Mass and then a meeting with pupils and staff at the Salesian institute in Kunkujang; while in the afternoon, there will be the blessing of a school at Yuna, and a meeting with clergy and religious at the Pastoral Institute of the Gambia, in Serrekunda, where Cardinal Fernández Artime will present the Pastoral Priorities of the Salesian Congregation.
Saturday, 18 November will be dedicated to the Salesian Family, with a meeting with animators and friends of Don Bosco from Kunkujang, the blessing of a Don Bosco garden, the Holy Eucharist followed by a procession to the Marian Grotto and fraternal agape with the Salesian Family and other guests.
On the last day, back in Dakar, Senegal, the Rector Major will preside the Sunday Eucharist, and then meet with the local Salesian Family and then with the Salesians of the Province and their Superior, before he leaves for the airport, to fly back to Italy.
The "Our Lady of Peace" Province of North West Africa was erected by the Rector Major Fr Á.F. Artime on 19 January 2021, as part of a broader reconfiguration of the Salesian presence throughout West Africa. This Province includes 105 Salesians (78 are present locally) and 18 houses, scattered in Benin, where the Provincial headquarters is located (Cotonou), and also in Burkina Faso, Mali, Gambia, Guinea and Senegal. The latter three nations then form part of a Delegation based in Dakar (Senegal). The new AON Province will also be able to develop its mission in Guinea Bissau in the future.
https://www.infoans.org/en/sections/news/item/19472-rmg-visit-of-the-rector-major-to-the-our-lady-of-peace-province-of-north-west-africa#sigProId1172654ac4
