(ANS – Kigali) – Wednesday, 21 February 2024 was a special day for participants in the Team Visit to the Salesian Africa-Madagascar Region, still underway at Gatenga, in Kigali, Rwanda. The day began with a Eucharistic celebration presided over by Cardinal Ángel Fernández Artime, Rector Major of the Salesians, in which the assembly prayed for Fr Jésus Benoît Badji, Superior of the Province of North West Africa (AON), whose birthday was celebrated. After two intense and rich work sessions, the day was enlivened by the visit of Cardinal Antoine Kambanda, Archbishop of Kigali.
(ANS – Kigali) – The 15 Superiors of the Salesian Provinces and Vice-Provinces of the Salesian Africa-Madagascar Region, with their respective Councillors, have been gathered in Kigali from Friday 16 February 2024 for the traditional meeting known as the "Team Visit" – an animation tool used by the Rector Major and the General Council to verify the ongoing journey in the different Salesian circumscriptions and ensure their convergence and unity. The meeting began with a day of pilgrimage, Monday, 19 February in Kibeho, in southern Rwanda, a significant place where several Marian apparitions took place between 1981 and 1989. It was a good opportunity for all those present to entrust the Salesian African Provinces and Vice-Provinces, with all their young people, to the Virgin Mary.
(ANS – Santo Domingo) – Saturday morning, 10 February, marked a significant milestone in the community of Villa Altagracia, where about 800 young people from Santo Domingo joined Cardinal Ángel Fernández Artime, Rector Major of the Salesians of Don Bosco, in a day of tree planting. The initiative, promoted by the Salesians, aimed to promote an ecological sensitivity among young people and the population and an awareness of the importance of nature conservation.
(ANS – Rome) – The Feast of Don Bosco is a day of celebration in all Salesian communities around the world. Great celebrations were also held at the Basilica of the Sacred Heart of Jesus in Rome, a church Don Bosco strongly and which he had built at the expense of his own health. The climax of the feast came with the solemn afternoon Eucharistic concelebration, presided over by the titular Cardinal of the Basilica, Cardinal Giuseppe Versaldi.
(ANS – Jaboatão dos Guararapes-PE) – On Wednesday, 31 January 2024, Cardinal Ángel Fernández Artime, Rector Major of the Salesians, celebrated the feast of Don Bosco by presiding over two distinct and complementary moments. In the morning he presided over the First Religious Profession of 10 young Salesians from three Provinces of Brazil; and in the afternoon he officially opened a rest and care home for elderly and sick Salesians in Bongi, near Recife.
(ANS - Mandaluyong) – Don Bosco Technical College (DBTC) in Mandaluyong welcomed Cardinal Mario Grech, Secretary General of the Synod of Bishops, on January 26, 2024. Cardinal Grech plays a vital role in the ongoing Synod on Synodality.
PHOTO GALLERY
INTERVIEWS
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Italy – A Salesian on the front line of the war in Ukraine: "Being close counts, words come later"(ANS - Rome) - As he tells with a gentleness that does not seem to come from horror, he is "resting a little bit" in Rome these days. Fr Oleh Ladnyuk is a Ukrainian Salesian priest who is a military chaplain at the front, among the soldiers who fight in defence of their country and among the civilians who for over two years have seen their lives wiped out. He brings humanitarian aid where the missiles fall and from those places he helps with the evacuation of young people and adults - so far at least 500 people, but there are probably many more. These days the Salesian – who carries out his ministry in Dnipro and teaches History in a state school in the city – is in Rome to take part with two other priests and a dozen lay people from his country in the "Accompanying when Trauma Hits" course hosted by the Pontifical Salesian University in collaboration with the Faculty of Educational Sciences, with the DON BOSCO NEL MONDO Foundation and the Don Bosco Network. A project that aims to provide theoretical and methodological tools to deal with the traumas caused by war.
EDITORIAL
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Myanmar – Tragedy of Innocent Children in the midst of Armed Conflicts(ANS – Naypyidaw) - Myanmar finds itself immersed in profound grief and anguish as innocent lives, particularly those of children, continue to be mercilessly lost in the enduring armed conflicts. Families are left devastated by the tragic loss of their loved ones while the relentless violence shows no signs of abating. This week, a heartfelt plea from Myanmar reached our community, shedding light on the heart-wrenching death of a young girl Juliet in a military airstrike, prompting a unified call for prayers and action.
EVENTS
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Italy – "Education and culture of safeguarding in sport. Towards the establishment of protection and prevention models": PGS conference with UPS(ANS – Rome) – The synergy between the Salesian Youth Sports Centres (PGS) and the Pontifical Salesian University (UPS) in Rome gave rise to the conference on "Education and culture of safeguarding in sport. Towards the establishment of models of protection and prevention", which will take place on 13 April, from 9:00 a.m. to 12:45 p.m., at the UPS facilities in Rome.
SPECIAL REPORTS
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United States – INT’L DAY FOR STREET CHILDREN: Salesian Missions highlights programs that provide shelter and support(ANS – New Rochelle) – Salesian Missions, the U.S. development arm of the Salesians of Don Bosco, joins humanitarian and international organizations around the globe in highlighting the plight of homeless children on the International Day for Street Children. The day provides organizations and the millions of street children in countries worldwide with an opportunity to have their voices heard while ensuring that their rights are not ignored.
MESSAGES OF THE RECTOR MAJOR
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I’M A SALESIAN AND I’M A BOROROTHE MESSAGE OF THE RECTOR MAJOR, Fr Ángel Fernández Artime, SDB
Diary of a Happy and Blessed Missionary Day
Dear friends , I’m writing to you from Meruri in the state of Mato Grosso do Sul, Brazil. I write this greeting almost as if it were a journalistic report, because it has been only 24 hours since I arrived in the middle of this Brazilian state.