NEWS
(ANS - Buenos Aires) - On the occasion of his animation visit to Argentina for the 150th anniversary of the arrival of the first Salesian missionary expedition, the Rector Major, Fr Fabio Attard, had an hectic schedule on Friday 12 December, meeting communities, young people and provincial leaders in an atmosphere of remembrance, gratitude and renewed apostolic zeal.
(ANS - Turin) - The traditional music and solidarity event of the ‘Christmas Concert in the Vatican’, now in its 33rd edition, will begin in the late afternoon of Saturday 13 December, at the Auditorium Conciliazione in Rome, a stone's throw from the Vatican. Once again this year the event is associated with a charity project of the Salesian NGO “Missioni Don Bosco” in Turin, aimed at supporting the education of minors at risk in Côte-Matève, near Pointe-Noire, in Congo Brazzaville.
(ANS – Rome) – The IUS network continues to expand its global presence in 2025 with the incorporation of six new partners: Istituto Universitario Don Giorgio Pratesi (Italy), Istituto Universitario IPU (Italy), Scuola Superiore di Scienze dell’Educazione “San Giovanni Bosco” (Italy), Katholische Stiftungshochschule München — University of Applied Sciences (Germany) and Don Bosco Kilimanjaro International Institute of Technology (KIITEC), Arusha (Tanzania), Instituto Superior Dom Bosco in Dili, (Timor-Leste). These institutions expand the IUS network’s reach across continents and strengthen its capacity for collaboration.
PHOTO GALLERY
INTERVIEWS
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Great Britain – ABBA star in exclusive interview with “Faith Matters”(ANS – London) – It is not every day that a world-famous rock star dedicates an interview to a school newspaper, moreover talking about rather unusual topics such as the relationship between music and politics. Yet that is what happened with Swedish singer songwriter Björn Ulvaeus - from the supergroup ABBA, who features in the Christmas edition of “Faith Matters”, just published by student reporters at St John Bosco College in Battersea, south London, under the guidance of editor-in-chief Fr Andrew.
EDITORIAL
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RMG – Don Bosco: “The Fascinating Saint”(ANS - Rome) - Don Bosco is perhaps the most amazing and fascinating saint, history has ever produced. The humble work which he began for the welfare of his poor and abandoned boys in Italy has produced astonishing results, and today there are nearly 14000 Salesians working in 138 countries, and there are more than 200,000 members belonging to the 32 groups of the worldwide Salesian Family sharing the charism of Don Bosco and reaching out to the needy young people.
EVENTS
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South Korea – Catechist Formation, From Theory to Practice: Symposium Held on “The Wise Use of the Guidelines for Catechist Formation”(ANS – Seoul) – A symposium titled “The Wise Use of the Guidelines for Catechist Formation” was successfully held on Saturday, 8 November, at the Salesian Provincial House in Shingil-dong, Seoul, to diagnose the current state and seek the future of catechetical education in the Korean Catholic Church.
SPECIAL REPORTS
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RMG – The feast that gave Birth to the Oratory and the Salesian Mission(ANS – Rome) – The solemnity of the Immaculate Conception is like a “birthday” in Salesian history: it marks the beginning of Don Bosco’s Oratory, the foundation of the Congregation, and a permanent Marian key for Salesian spirituality and mission. All the successors of Don Bosco have repeatedly returned to 8 December to rediscover in it the style, hope, and maternal presence of our Immaculate mother that continues renewing the Salesian Family today.
MESSAGES OF THE RECTOR MAJOR
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The Christmas Grotto, where Heaven Meets EarthTHE MESSAGE OF THE RECTOR MAJOR, Fr Fabio Attard, SDB
The mystery of Christmas begins with a “scandal of love”: the Great One who makes Himself little. It's not a poetic image, but the most shocking reality in human history.
God, the Infinite, chooses to become finite; the Almighty chooses the fragility of a newborn baby who cannot yet speak, walk, or defend Himself. It is pure gratuitousness made manifest, a gift that seeks nothing in return, that imposes no conditions in order to gain access.