NEWS
(ANS - Cape Town) - Even in South Africa, as in the rest of the world, COVID-19 has shocked everything. Salesian organizations have adhered to the state of emergency decreed by President Ramaphosa and have started working in different ways to help people in need. The following is an account of the activities and services they have provided in the past few weeks to help people left without support.
(ANS - Rome) - Last 24 May, Solemnity of the Ascension of the Lord, in memory of the Blessed Virgin Mary Help of Christians, the Grand Chancellor of the Salesian Pontifical University (UPS), Fr Ángel Fernández Artime, promulgated the General and Faculty Statutes and Regulations of the renewed Studies of the UPS. And the novelties do not end here, because these days the University Council has also approved some guidelines for the 2020/2021 academic year.
(ANS - Vatican City) - After the long period of confinement in their homes, during which the only certainty was that the Church would not leave young people alone in the summer, Italian families have become aware that they will, again this summer, be able to take advantage of that formidable educational environment that is the summer oratory. But for the families of the employees of the Holy See, the news is even more wonderful: for the first time, the Summer Camp, or Estate Ragazzi, will be held in Vatican City, coordinated by professionals of the sector: the spiritual Sons of Don Bosco.
PHOTO GALLERY
INTERVIEWS
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Cambodia – What does it mean to live and work with lay missionary volunteers?(ANS – Poipet) – The Cambodia Delegation has the largest number of volunteers within the East Asia - Oceania region. Hundreds of volunteers since 1991 served there, bringing great benefit to the Salesian mission in the country. Fr John Bok Nam is a Salesian in charge of the Poipet community, that consists of two Salesians and one Salesian Cooperator-Priest, living together every year with many lay missionary volunteers and carrying on a Primary school, a Secondary technical education and a boarding house. Here he tells us his experience about the shared mission with young lay missionary volunteers.
EDITORIAL
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Thanks for being so impulsiveIn general, we hear that young people are: passionate, fearless, idealistic, reckless. Young people are indeed like this, sometimes it could be an advantage or a danger. But, on a cold December 1859, in the silence of the outskirts of Turin, in a modest room, 19 young people listened attentively to the words of a dreamer priest and made a covenant: they promised to give themselves entirely to God and to help young people throughout their lives. And to be like Don Bosco, that priest who above all loved them.
EVENTS
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RMG – Don Bosco Network General Assembly and Working Group meetings(ANS – Rome) – On 26 and 27 May 2020, members and partners of the Don Bosco Network (DBN) – including the Councilor for Missions Fr Alfred Maravilla, Councilor for Youth Ministry Fr Miguel Ángel García Morcuende, Economer General Bro Jean Paul Muller and the Coordinator of Mission Offices Fr George Menamparampil – took part in the annual General Assembly and Working Group meetings online.
SPECIAL REPORTS
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Chile – When our frailty becomes viral: the God to whom we cry does not abandon us!(ANS - Santiago) - "Do you think what is happening with coronavirus in the world will happen here too?" I remember a colleague asked me about it on Friday 13 March 2020. Two days earlier the World Health Organization (WHO) had officially declared a pandemic as cases had already been reported in 114 countries on four continents. The virus was identified as Sars-Cov-2, and its effects are the acute respiratory disease Covid-19.
MESSAGES OF THE RECTOR MAJOR
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THE GREATEST OF ALL IS LOVE"In moments of difficult trials such as these, it is love that gives us life"
Dear Friends and Readers of the Salesian Bulletin:
Receive my cordial greeting at a time when all our minds are overwhelmed. I am writing these words on April 1st, thinking about the month of May, the month of our Mother. We have entrusted ourselves to her throughout the Salesian world during this very painful period of the Covid-19, or “coronavirus”, pandemic. From all parts of the world, we have raised up prayers – and continue to do so – to ask the Lord through the intercession of our Mother for help and comfort in these terrible hours for us all, with the loss of so many lives, even while knowing that later, also, there will be other difficulties that we will have to face.