Message of the Rector Major on the situation in Venezuela
(Kakuma - Kenya, April 27, 2017) - Faced with the delicate situation in Venezuela, the Rector Major of the Salesians, Fr Ángel Fernández Artime, in a statement sent from Kenya, expresses his support for the Salesians in Venezuela and the Venezuelan people. In a fraternal message he says, "You are not alone. We, in the different parts of the Salesian world, are worried about you. We are attentive to what you are experiencing and well aware of everything that happens to you.
"Below is the text of the message:
I am on a visit these days to the Salesian work in Kakuma (Kenya), where my Salesian confreres have been living for years in the United Nations refugee camp, sharing the lives and the fate of these 150,000 people. Our simple vocational school helps young people to learn a job for when they leave the camp. They are mostly young people and families from South Sudan, Rwanda, Congo and other countries. They have come here, to this place in the north of Kenya, and they continue to come, fleeing conflict in their own countries, the lack of security, the instability in their villages and the hunger that these situations create.
In this context, I have seen the video recorded personally by Fr Francisco Méndez, Superior of the Salesian Province of Venezuela, in which he states that he had to make this video because he felt in his conscience that he could not remain silent.
With these words of mine, I want to express fully my total support for Fr Francisco Méndez and all my Salesian confreres in Venezuela, and also my total support for the great Salesian Family in Venezuela.
As Superior General of the Salesians of Don Bosco in the world, I want to tell Fr Francisco and my confreres, that we are with you, we are by your side. We can sense the pain you feel and the tiredness you are experiencing. For a long time, we have been praying for this beautiful country and its good people. We have prayed for the dead of recent weeks, some of them close to the Salesian work.
Today I want to express our affection and our support and help. I want to say to Fr Francisco and to the Salesians and the Salesian Family in Venezuela, that you are not alone, and that from various parts of the Salesian world we care for you, we are attentive to what you are experiencing and well aware of all that happens to you. Today we are close to you more than ever.
I pray for all of you and for your people that you may have Peace, that Peace that is possible always and everywhere in the world only if it comes from the hand of Justice and Respect for the most inviolable human rights of each person.
And I ask the Good God to give you that inner and spiritual strength that comes from Him.
With true affection,
Fr Ángel Fernández A., SDB
Rector Major
PHOTO GALLERY
INTERVIEWS
-
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
-
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
-
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
-
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
-
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.