Vietnam, 25 July 2022 - On the Saturday morning, July 23, 2022, at the Don Bosco K'Long Retreat Center, Father Provincial Barnabas Le An Phong, SDB celebrated the closing Mass of the annual retreat of the fourth batch of the Vietnam Province. The retreat took place from July 17 to 23 with 51 confreres attending. The topic shared by Fr. Joseph Nguyen Xuan Quang, SDB during the retreat week was about fraternity: "Brotherhood is like leaven in new wine, and His holy people share in the joy" (Psalm of Friday Evening Prayer, week III). The first batch of the annual retreat had been from May 29 to June 4, 2022 and the second one from June 8 to 14, 2022 at K'Long Retreat Center, led by Father Francis Xavier Tran Cong Phan, SDB; the third batch from July 3 to 9, 2022 at the Benedictine sisters' convent in Thu Duc, Ho Chi Minh City, led by Father Joseph Nguyen Xuan Quang, SDB. And the last one for temporary professed confreres will take place at K'Long Retreat Center from August 6 to 12, 2022, led by Father Peter Nguyen Tan Toi, SDB. May God, through the intercession of Mary Help of Christians and Saint John Bosco, grant the necessary graces to enable Salesian confreres to live their full and happy consecrated vocation.

Želimlje, Slovenia - July 2022 - "Our Garden of Eden" was the title of the five-day (July 20 - 24) Spiritual Exercises for Families offered by the Salesians of Slovenia, a real novelty in addition to the traditional Spiritual Exercises for young people that have already been held at the Salesian Institute in Želimlje for decades. The director of the boarding school at Želimlje, Fr. Gašper M. Otrin, SDB, with the animators and Ms. Sanja O. Brodnjak, from the Maribor Youth Center addressed the spouses with a biblical passage from Genesis about the creation of man and the Garden of Eden, giving a biblical interpretation and emphasizing the context for individual and couple work. The children were supervised by facilitators and, with catechesis specially designed for them, worked in three age groups. "We spent really beautiful and spiritually rich days together, filled with experiences of prayer, meditation, reflection, and the Word of God, but also with socialization, games, activities in nature, and getting to know each other. So many children in a group always means liveliness, curiosity, but most of all a lot of joy. Everyone was able to get the spiritual nourishment they needed and a relaxing break from the hustle and bustle of daily life, work, routine, and worries," commented one of the parents.

Lubumbashi, D.R. Congo - July 2022 - On July 26 Fr. Guillermo Basañes, Provincial of the Central Africa Province (AFC), met with novices who are preparing for their first religious profession scheduled for next August 15. During the meeting Fr. Basañes delved into the figure of Don Bosco, sharing with the novices some fundamental traits of the Saint of Youth, whom all Salesians are called to know, love, and share across the globe.