NEWS
(ANS - Bukavu) - Since July 2018, the Don Bosco Center (CDB) of Bukavu has favored the creation of 20 groups of "AVEC" (Association Villageoise d'Epargne et Crédit, the Village Savings and Credit Association) which today count over 500 members, almost all women, mostly mothers.
(ANS - Rome) - As part of the work of the winter plenary session of the General Council, the Rector Major, Fr Ángel Fernández Artime, with the agreement of his Council, appointed yesterday, 12 December, the Superiors of three Provinces: Fr Siegfried Kettner, for Austria (AUS); Fr Peter Timko, for Slovakia (SLK); and Fr Janoš Andrasfalvy, for Hungary (UNG).
(ANS - Rome) - 50 years have gone by. It was December 13, 1969, just four days before his 33rd birthday, when Jorge Mario Bergoglio was ordained a priest. His vocation dates back to 21 September 1953, the Feast of St. Matthew. In the his memories of this priest, today Pope Francis, the prayer he wrote for that memorable day has remained impressed upon him: "I believe that in the story, which was pierced through by the gaze of God's love, on the day of spring, September 21, He came forth to invite me to follow Him ... And I hope in the surprise of every day, in which love and strength, betrayal and sin manifest themselves, that they will always accompany me until that final encounter with that marvellous face that I do not know how it is, which constantly escapes me, but which I want to know and love."
PHOTO GALLERY
INTERVIEWS
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Japan – Fr Achille Loro Piana, SDB, witness to growth of Missionary Culture in EAO region(ANS – Tokyo) – Fr Achille Loro Piana celebrates 50 years of missionary life at the service of the youth of Japan this year. He has calculated to have taken over a thousand flights in his life to attend Salesian events in the East Asia-Oceania region and is a profound connoisseur of Salesian reality and missionary commitment in this part of the world. "More Japanese than the Japanese," the Italian Salesian Bulletin once described him. In this interview, he speaks in full about the missionary animation and its challenges.
EDITORIAL
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Forming Good Christians and Upright Citizens is a thing of the heartThe Strenna of the Rector Major for next year invites all of us to confront ourselves with the ideal that we must reach with our young people in 2020 in a concrete way. In the current conditions, in the new social and cultural contexts, it is undoubtedly a complex task as it is the result of a delicate pedagogical relationship in which the young person is the protagonist of this process. A testimony of Don Bosco's life may enlighten us:
EVENTS
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Dominican Republic – Good pedagogical and pastoral practices at the service of Salesian education(ANS - Santo Domingo) - In the first week of December, the Salesian Schools Network, belonging to the Salesian Province of the Antilles, held their first "Good Pedagogical and Pastoral Practices Fair", to make known and strengthen the best examples of pedagogical and pastoral activities carried out in Salesian schools, promote significant learning and exchanging promising experiences between schools on the Net and their teachers.
SPECIAL REPORTS
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United States – It’s Time to Change: Are You Ready to Be Challenged?(ANS – Los Angeles) – Juan Carlos Montenegro, a young lay person, has been working for years in Youth Ministry and Mission Animation in the West US Province (SUO). He has recently attended a conference on Catholic Volunteering, which has raised a few questions in him, and which we report below.
MESSAGES OF THE RECTOR MAJOR
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GOD IS BORN ALSO AMONG THE “DIFFERENTLY-SKILLED” CHILDREN OF AGARTALAMerry Christmas to all of you friends of Don Bosco’s charism. I’m writing this greeting to you a few hours after returning to Rome from visiting Nepal and the Salesian province of Shillong in beautiful Northeast India.