(ANS - Jesolo) - Two grand Sunday celebrations with 400 animators involved, 200 budding artists led by a dozen professionals, twelve thousand young participants and above all … no one left behind, or #nessunoescluso, as per the hastag that accompanies the 2017-2018 pastoral proposal of Italy's Salesian Youth Movement (SYM). In this current year that sees the Church reflecting on and with young people, SYM wanted to highlight the feeling of joyful belonging to the Church via the Youth Festival (March 4) and the Festa dei Ragazzi (11 March) promoted by SYM of North-East Italy.
(ANS - Madrid) - The Faculty of Theology of Salamanca celebrated the feast of St. Thomas Aquinas with a Eucharist presided over by the Bishop of Ávila, Msgr. Jesús García Burillo, and a conference by Fr Rossano Sala, Salesian, Special Secretary of the XV Ordinary General Assembly of the Synod of Bishops, who spoke about: "Youth of the Church and hopes of the young: what can we expect from the next Synod?"
(ANS – Cap-Haitien) – Over the winter break in February, four students from Don Bosco Prep High School in Ramsey, N.J., along with their chaperones — Fr. Paul Chu, Bro. Travis Gunther, Salesian candidate John Castonguay, and two parents — traveled to Haiti to spend the week assisting the Missionaries of the Poor in Cap-Haitien, Haiti.
(ANS - Nizza) - It was in Nice that Don Bosco inaugurated his first center outside Italy and where he spoke about the Preventive System for the first time. 140 years later, it is in Nice that children and young people representing eight French Salesian houses have rediscovered the Salesian history of the city and experienced Salesian pedagogy firsthand. Through a great game.
(ANS - Rome) - "From March 19 to 24, about 300 young people from all over the world will come to Rome for a preparatory meeting of the October Synod," Pope Francis announced a few weeks ago. "There will also be young non-Catholics, non-Christians, non-believers, so as to listen to the broadest range of young people possible."
(ANS - Rome) - With a beautiful and passionate letter, Pope Francis addressed young people all over the world and gave them the message for the World Youth Day (WYD) of 2018, which represents another step in preparations for World Youth Day, taking place in Panama in 2019. The Pope reminds young people that Mary will be the companion of this wonderful journey.
PHOTO GALLERY
INTERVIEWS
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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
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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
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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
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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
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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.