Panama City, Panama - 24 January 2019 - Apostolic Journey of the Holy Father to Panama on the occasion of the XXXIV World Youth Day. Opening ceremony of the WYD in the Campo Santa Maria La Antigua.
Panama City - January 2019 - Young people participating in the WYD2019 welcomed Pope Francis and SYM youth attended the Forum and the Feast with the Rector Major of the Salesians and the Mother General of the Daughters of Mary Help of Christians.
(ANS - Panama City) - Pope Francis landed yesterday, January 23rd, at 4:15 pm local time, at Tocumen Airport, Panama, after a journey lasting about 13 hours, on a plane that also carried a large delegation of journalists. On his arrival the Pope was received by the President of Panama, Juan Carlos Varela, and his wife; by the Apostolic Nuncio in Panama, mgr. Mirosław Adamczyk, and several other civil and ecclesial authorities.
(ANS - Soloy) - An authentic novelty, as part of the World Youth Day: the one represented by the World Meeting of Indigenous Youth, which was also held in Panama, in the village of Soloy, just before the start of the WYD, on January 17-21. "Go back to the culture of the origins. Take charge of your roots, because from the roots comes the strength that makes you grow," said a video message by Pope Francis to the young indigenous participants.
Vatican City, Vatican – 14 January 2019 - The Holy Father, Pope Francis has received the Permanent Committee of the Chilean Episcopal Conference: Archbishop Santiago Jaime Silva Retamales, Military Ordinary for Chile, President; Archbishop René Osvaldo Rebolledo Salinas, Archbishop of La Serena, Vice President;Cardinal Ricardo Ezzati Andrello, SDB, Archbishop of Santiago, Chile; Bishop Juan Ignacio González Errázuriz, Bishop of San Bernardo; Bishop Luis Fernando Ramos Pérez, titular Bishop of Tetci, Apostolic Administrator “sede vacante et ad nutum Sanctae Sedis” of Rancagua, Secretary General. The meeting lasted three hours, one hour in the Library of the Apostolic Palace and two hours over lunch at the “Domus Santa Marta”.
(ANS - Vatican City) - On the occasion of the opening of the Salesian Family Spirituality Days, we publish the preface by the Holy Father to the volume edited by Antonio Carriero, SDB, "Evangelii gaudium con don Bosco", a text in which the Salesian Family takes up the message of the Apostolic Exhortation of Pope Francis from a pastoral educational point of view.
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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Latin America – Strengthening Vocational and Educational Commitment Today: 30 Years of the Salesian School in Latin America(ANS) – Since the first meeting in Cumbayá (Ecuador), 30 years ago, educational processes on the continent have found a collaborative epicentre which has given rise to the Salesian School in (Latin) America – ESA, in Spanish – as a forum for reflection and a common path. Many Salesians of Don Bosco (SDB), Daughters of Mary Help of Christians (FMA) and other groups of the Salesian Family (SF) have enriched this synodal journey, focusing on young people and their integral development. What are today's demands of us in the educational field? How are we building the Salesian School of the future? Can we further strengthen this great Salesian educational network in America? Some FMAs and Salesians who were at the first meeting in 1994, share their experience and their vision of how this journey has allowed a growth in the understanding of the youth reality, in the strategic decisions within the Provinces themselves and in the challenges that emerge for Salesian education.
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.