150 years is a long period of time and the Salesian Family is preparing to celebrate it appropriately. The booklet of Salesian Mission Day 2025 is a rich and useful tool to give thanks, rethink and relaunch the Salesian missions.
The booklet starts with some words of Fr Stefano Martoglio SDB, Vicar of the Rector Major, who recalls, the importance of this anniversary for the Congregation and the Salesian Family. Fr Alfred Maravilla SDB, General Councillor for the Missions, shares a reflection about the Missionary Option of Don Bosco. Even if Don Bosco had never left as missionary ad gentes, ad exteros, ad vitam, we can find his missionary spirit since his childhood: his Congregation’s missionary commitment is the fullest expression of his charism summed up in his own and the Congregation’s motto: Da mihi animas, caetera tolle.
Some contributions came from different perspectives: the Strenna 2025 “Anchored in hope, pilgrims with young people”, the Jubilee of the Sacred Heart of Jesus with some points from the encyclical “Dilexit nos,” written by Pope Francis and, of course, the The Holy Year of the Church, the Jubilee. We can read all these inputs as an invitation of the Holy Spirit to become “more missionary” in our daily life, with faith and hope.
We know that, among many events of 2025, one will be very special for the Salesians: the 29th General Chapter of the SDB Congregation. Fr Alphonse Owoudou SDB will be the Moderator of GC29 and he made a prophetic reflection of the Salesian missions in light of the General Chapter. Then, the presentation of the members of the first expedition of 1875, known above all thanks to the famous photo taken by Michele Schemboche. 11 November 1875 was a solemn and emotional day. Don Bosco prepared a sermon to accompany his sons who would be the first to cross the ocean to Argentina. To better understand the context of the Salesian missionaries, you will find an article in the booklet about the correspondence with Don Bosco and a summary of the five missionary dreams.
We have also the opportunity to better get to know and remember the eight General Councillors for the Missions up to 2025: Fr Modesto Bellido Iñigo (1948-1965), Fr Bernard Tohill (1971-1983); Fr Luc Van Looy (1984-1990); Fr Luciano Odorico (1990-2002); Fr Francis Alencherry (2002-2008); Fr Václav Klement (2008-2014), Fr Guillermo Basañes (2014-2020) and Fr Alfred Maravilla (2020-2025). Some figures of lesser-known Salesian ‘pioneers’ who have contributed to spreading the Salesian charism in the five continents: Fr Francisque Dupont, the initiator of the Salesian mission in Vietnam, Fr Valeriano Barbero, the sower of the Salesian charism in Papua New Guinea, Fr Jacques Ntamitalizo, the inspirer of Project Africa, Fr Raffaele Piperni, the forerunner of the Salesians in U.S.A., Fr Pascual Chavez, as the one who conceived Project Europe, and Fr Bronisław Chodanionek, the undercover pioneer in Moldavia.
The growth of the Salesian Family is a sign of the fruitfulness of the Salesian charism and, in particular, many Salesian Family groups were founded by Salesian missionaries: in the booklet there is a brief presentation of each one of them. It is good to see the missionary holiness of the Salesian Family, with a growing number of people walking in the path of the sanctity. Another tangible fruit of the Salesian missions is the life of four young people who can be considered as young witnesses of Christian hope: Ceferino Namuncurá, Laura Vicuña, Simão Bororo and Akash Bashir.
New Salesian presences are indications of the missionary impetus of the Salesian Congregation that invigorates faith, gives new vocational enthusiasm and revitalises the charismatic identity: the last presences are Niger, Botswana, Algeria, Greece and Vanuatu. The richness of Salesian missions overcomes the borders and reaches many fields: the Salesian missionary museums, as custodians of the Salesian cultural heritage, the Salesian Missionary Volunteers, who donate time and life to the others, the missionary groups, like the ones spread in Democratic Republic of Congo, AFC Province.
Each SMD proposes a project, linked to the theme of the year, as a concrete opportunity for solidarity and missionary animation. This year we chose the opening of an oratory in Pagos, Greece, one of the new Salesian missionary frontiers, on the island of Syros.
The booklet ends with some games to have fun and improve the knowledge about Salesian missions, the presentation of the members of the Mission Sector, who help the General Councillor to fulfil his role of promoting the missionary spirit and missionary commitment in the Salesian Congregation, and the final prayer.
SMD 2025 materials are available here.
For more information, please write to: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
Marco Fulgaro,
Missions Sector
