By Fr Josep Lluís Burguera, SDB
Provincial Delegate for Social Communication - SMX
Fr Ángel felt at ease in our province from the moment he set foot in the Santa Justa station in Seville till he climbed the steps of the plane for the return flight to Rome.
He visited 16 houses in all. The Rector Major met with hundreds of students and teachers, the various branches of the Salesian Family, teenagers and young people in youth centres and social platforms as well as his Salesian confreres.
In Utrera, near Seville, he visited the Mother House of the Congregation in Spain. He met with more than 200 Salesians and gave them hope and enthusiasm, convinced that the Salesian Congregation is a magnificent reality full of hope.
He was really at home with children and young people: this was evident in every playground and every theatre that he visited during these days. With infinite patience he let himself be photographed. He captivated the smallest. No one was unmoved by him.
He encouraged the Salesian Family not to be nostalgic for the past and to live the Salesian charism with wide open doors. He invited the young people to be the protagonists of their future. He told the members of the Salesian Youth Movement never to give up on their dreams.
But his most cherished words were for his sick and elderly Salesian confreres. "Our greatest patrimony is the life given to the Lord and to the young." He invited the post-novices to learn to live a shared mission with the laity, without ever losing sight of the young.
In his visit to our Province of Mary Help of Christians he said the words "thank you" hundreds of times. The image of Fr Ángel Fernández Artime in the playground is a symbol of the sincerity and sympathy that emanated from his presence and that, no doubt, reflect his authenticity and fatherliness.
Further information can be found on the blog https://visitarectormayor.wordpress.com and fore more photos visit https://www.flickr.com/photos/140626487@N08/sets/
