(ANS - Talca) - On 12 November last, we learned and reacted with shock and anger that a group of vandals had attacked the church of Mary Help of Christians of Talca. They burned images, paintings and benches to make barricades. The only image left without a scratch was the portrait of Mary Help of Christians, the mother who surely, like Our Lady of Guadalupe, will have told the young people who committed this barbarism: "Am I not here, your Mother? Aren't you in my shadow and refuge? Am I not the source of your joy? Aren't you also under my mantle? Is it something else you need?"
(ANS - Buenos Aires) - Sunday 10 November, inside the Basilica of Mary Help of Christians of Buenos Aires, filled with faithful from 36 countries attending the VIII World Congress of Mary Help of Christians, the Father of the Salesian Family, Rector Major Fr Ángel Fernández Artime, announced the decision to stage the next International Congress, the Ninth, in Portugal, in Fatima, in August 2023.
(ANS - Buenos Aires) - "We are gathered to celebrate Mary as a believing woman for young people. The whole Salesian Family knows that we are sons and daughters of Mary Help of Christians. This is why we propose Mary as a model of Christian life." With these words, yesterday, November 7, Fr Alejandro Gómez welcomed the participants of the VIII International Congress of Mary Help of Christians, scheduled until Sunday 10 in Buenos Aires, Argentina.
Buenos Aires, Argentina - November 2019 - The temple dedicated to St. Charles Borromeo and Mary Help of Christians, in the neighborhood of Almagro, in Buenos Aires, was started in 1899, with Pope Leo XIII who was the patron of laying and blessing the first stone, sending in his representation, Msgr. Antonio Sabatucci. The inauguration took place 11 years later, in 1910. Fr Ernesto Vespignani, a well-known Salesian architect, was responsible for the work of this magnificent Minor Basilica.
Buenos Aires, Argentina - 1910 - Chapel of the Institute of Mary Help of Christians, run by the Daughters of Mary Help of Christians, in Yapeyú street, at that time a street with no name. It was the first shrine dedicated to Mary Help of Christians in America, and was built in 1883. It stands in front of the "Pio IX" Institute of the Salesians, in what is now identified as the neighborhood of Almagro, in Buenos Aires.
(ANS - Buenos Aires) - Just one day before the start of the International Congress of Mary Help of Christians, we meet Fr Daniel Antúnez, Economer of the Province of South Argentina, who is part of the Congress organizing committee, scheduled in Buenos Aires from 7 to 10 November. "It will be a congress that will remind us of the great past of Argentine history and that deep love for the Virgin under the title of Help of Christians that the first Salesians brought us," he said.
PHOTO GALLERY
INTERVIEWS
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Italy – Religious publishing. Fr Costa, SDB: "Against the crisis: cultural initiatives and education to reading"(ANS - Catania) - "It is possible to sell books in different versions and formats, but the problem of the (current) crisis is in the drop in the number of readers," said Fr Giuseppe Costa, a Salesian, professor and publishing expert, for ten years the director of the Libreria Editrice Vaticana, the Vatican publishing company, who discusses the current state of the book market in the Catholic world, amid challenges and new proposals.
EDITORIAL
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2020: "Young people on the front line"Which young people should be the protagonists of history?
Young agnostics? Yes.
Young people who have a lukewarm faith? Yes.
Young people who have estranged themselves from the Church? Yes.
Every young person has something to say to others, to adults, to priests, to nuns, to bishops and to the Pope.
EVENTS
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India – Sacred Heart Novitiate turns 25 in Province of St Joseph, Hyderabad(ANS – Manoharabad) – The Sacred Heart Novitiate Manoharabad of the Province of St. Joseph Hyderabad celebrated its Silver Jubilee on 11th January 2020. Celebrations started with the Holy Eucharist presided by Most Rev. Thumma Bala, the Archbishop of Hyderabad diocese, concelebrated by Rev. Father Thathireddy Vijaya Bhasker, Provincial, Fr Jose Mathew, the delegate for formation of South Asia, Fr John Samala, the first Novice Master, Fr K.M. Sebastian and Fr Sebastian John, the latter Novice Masters, Fr Noel, the 3rd Provincial of Hyderabad Province, other Priests who worked in the Novitiate as administrators, as well as other Salesian Priests, priests, other religious.
SPECIAL REPORTS
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Italy – Head, heart and hands for deeply human communication(ANS - Rome) - Our communication is increasingly mediated by electronic devices that connect us to the network and that modify our perception not only of reality, but also of interpersonal relationships. More and more various types of Artificial Intelligence manage many of our activities, get to know us by tracing our network activities and are used to influence our behavior. It is no wonder that economic-financial and political powers are interested in using the cognitive, analytical and predictive power of algorithms.
MESSAGES OF THE RECTOR MAJOR
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FOUR BOYS AND A DREAMA tiny piece of paper written on by a 17-year old boy, and the most moving and precious moment of our history.