(ANS – Bkerké) – For his last event on the first full day in Lebanon, December 1, Pope Leo XIV met with young people in Bkerké, Lebanon. The event began with the testimonies of volunteers and young people, before two more asked the Holy Father questions. Then Pope Leo XIV urges them not to give into despair, rather to cultivate friendships rooted in genuine love and to keep the enthusiasm that is needed “to change the course of history.”
(ANS – Beirut) – At 3:34 on Sunday 30 November (UTC+2) the plane carrying the Pope landed at Beirut’s Hariri International Airport after leaving Istanbul and Turkey. In the capital of the “Land of the Cedars”, the second stop of his first apostolic journey, the Pontiff dedicated the afternoon to institutional meetings. ‘Here, peace is a desire and a vocation, it is a gift and a work in progress,’ the Pontiff exclaimed.
Ankara, Türkiye - November 2025 - The Apostolic Journey of Pope Leo XIV to Türkiye and Lebanon began on 27 November, on the occasion of the 1700th anniversary of the First Council of Nicaea. In Türkiye the Pontiff spent busy days characterised by official visits and meetings with civil authorities and the heads of Churches and Christian communities. On each occasion there was no lack of appeals for peace and harmony from Pope Leo XIV. The second leg of the Apostolic Journey then took the Pontiff to Lebanon. From the Land of the Cedars the Pontiff exhorted Christians, inviting them to be peacemakers, united to overcome wounds and injustice.
(ANS - Vatican City) - A delegation from the Salesian University Institute of Venice (IUSVE), aggregated to the Pontifical Salesian University, and comprising the Director General, Fr Nicola Giacopini, SDB, the Director of Institutional Communication, Marco Sanavio, the Head of the Communication Area, Michela Drusian, and students Matteo Barbassi, Alessia Fattorel, Naike Pittana and Alice Tessari, met Pope Leo XIV on the sidelines of the general audience on Wednesday 26 November.
Vatican - November 2025 - On the morning of Thursday, 27 November, Pope Leo XIV took off from Rome's Fiumicino airport for Türkiye, the first stop on his journey, which will then touch down in Lebanon from Sunday, 30 November until Tuesday, 2 December. The Pontiff carried out the wish of Pope Francis, who intended to return to Türkiye in May 2025, after his 2014 visit for the 1700th anniversary of the Council of Nicaea. The highlight will in fact be in Iznik, at the archaeological excavations of the ancient Basilica of St Neophytus, where the Pope with the Patriarch of Constantinople Bartholomew will pray together with some 20 patriarchs and representatives of Christian churches before the icons of Christ and the Council. During the flight, the Pope also sent a telegram to the President of the Italian Republic, Sergio Mattarella, in which he emphasised that his trip was to ‘meet those populations, especially brothers and sisters in the faith, encouraging paths of peace and fraternity’.
United States – “What would you ask the Pope?” A Salesian Teen Gets His Chance at Indianapolis Event
(ANS – Indianapolis) – Ezequiel Ponce, a 17-year-old senior at Downey High School and a member of the Salesian parish of St. Dominic Savio in Bellflower, was one of a small group of teenagers chosen to ask Pope Leo questions during a historic digital Q&A on November 21, the second day of the National Catholic Youth Conference (NCYC) in Indianapolis.
PHOTO GALLERY
INTERVIEWS
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Italy – In conversation with a Salesian influencer: Fr Eustace Siame(ANS - Rome) - ‘“Go and mend the nets.” Jesus called his first apostles while they were mending their fishing nets (cf. Mt 4:21-22). He asks the same of us today. Indeed, he asks us to weave other nets: networks of relationships, of love, of gratuitous sharing where friendship is profound and authentic; networks where we can mend what has been broken, heal from loneliness, not focus on the number of followers, but experience the greatness of infinite Love in every encounter.’ This was the appeal Pope Leo XIV made to Catholic influencers and digital missionaries last July for the Jubilee dedicated to them. Salesian Fr Eustace Siame is certainly one of them, and today he presents his apostolate to us.
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.