RMG – Rector Major's Visit to the Antilles Province

06 February 2024

(ANS – Rome) – After the conclusion of the Animation Visit to the Province of Brazil-Recife, Cardinal Ángel Fernández Artime does not immediately return to Salesian Headquarters, but continues his trip to America: from Wednesday 7 to Monday 12 February 2024 he will carry out a new Animation Visit, this time to the St John Bosco Province of the Antilles (ANT).

The Rector Major's visit has several priority objectives: first, to participate in the Youth Forum on the Environment organised by the "Sustainable Latin America" Regional Project; then, to meet, animate and support the Provincial and his Council, the Salesians and the local Salesian Family; last but not least, to celebrate the richness of Salesian life in ANT.

The program of activities includes a full and intense day for the 10th Successor of Don Bosco, who will land in Santo Domingo, Capital of the Dominican Republic, on the morning of Wednesday 7th, from Brazil, and who after the first reception at the airport will be accompanied to the Provincial House for a first moment of greeting and meeting.

On the morning of Thursday 8th, the central event will be the meeting of Cardinal Fernández Artime with the Provincial of ANT, Fr José Pastor Ramírez, and his Council; the lunch will follow, during which he will also have the opportunity to talk informally with the Apostolic Nuncio in the country, with the Superiors of the groups of the Salesian Family present in the country, and with some benefactors of the Salesian work. And in the afternoon there will still be time for another very significant appointment: the interview with the Rector Major, on the theme of the Rector Major's Strenna, by some 9-year-old children (the age Don Bosco was when he first had his charismatic dream).

On Friday 9th the Rector Major will have a meeting with the Salesians of the Dominican Republic, followed by the community celebration of Mass.

While on Saturday, 10 February , the focus will be on the fundamental activities of his participation in the Youth Forum on the Environment: the Rector Major will meet with the boys and girls participating in this regional initiative at ECOBOSCO – a space strongly desired by the Salesians of Don Bosco with the aim of promoting attention to the environment and the defence of natural resources among the country's young people, which has been active since 2022. He will listen to their talks, converse with them and eventually deliver a message to them as well. And the day will then be completed with the Eucharist for the Salesian Family, in which the Rector Major will also accept the promises of some Salesian Cooperators.

On Sunday, 11 February, the Rector Major will preside at the Sunday Mass and will then be accompanied on a get-to-know visit of the Salesian and civil setting in Santo Domingo.

The Rector Major's visit will then officially end on Monday, 12 February, with his departure from the country.

The ANT Province currently has 101 Salesians in as many as 22 canonically erected works and several other presences scattered across three different Central American nations: the Dominican Republic – which houses the majority of the works (15), including the Provincial House; Cuba, with four works; and Puerto Rico, with three houses. The Salesians give life to a multitude of apostolic and social activities, aimed primarily at the most needy young people and their families.

Although the Province was formally erected in 1953, the Salesians were there much earlier, and their mission is now over a hundred years old, having been started in 1917 – and Á.F. Artime himself first went there as Rector Major in 2017, on the occasion of the centenary.

The name of Don Bosco is well known and appreciated throughout the Province, as a synonym for education and attention to young people, particularly the most disadvantaged. Over the years, the Salesian Family has also flourished, which through various and numerous groups collaborate profitably to carry out the mission of Don Bosco.

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