(ANS – Cité du Vatican) – Below we publish the Message of the Holy Father Leo XIV for the 111th World Day of Migrants and Refugees, which will be celebrated on 4 and 5 October 2025, on the occasion of the Jubilee of Migrants and the Missionary World, on the theme: ‘Migrants, missionaries of hope’.
(ANS – Castel Gandolfo) – Pope Leo addresses participants in an international conference on climate justice and reflects on Pope Francis’ landmark ecological encyclical Laudato Si, noting that when the time comes, God will ask us if we cared for our common home.
At the end of the General Audience on 24 September, Pope Leo XIV announced a Rosary for Peace in St Peter's Square on 11 October. This prayer initiative will be held on the day on which the Church remembers St John XXIII, the Pope of the encyclical Pacem in Terris. The Pontiff is thus continuing the tradition begun by his predecessors, who at difficult moments in the history of humanity invited people to clasp the Rosary, entrusting the sorrows of humanity to the Virgin Mary.
(ANS - Vatican City) - The Holy See's Dicastery for Evangelisation, Section for Fundamental Questions of Evangelisation in the World, in collaboration with the Salesian University Institute of Venice (IUSVE), is preparing to represent innovation in digital communication at the Holy See Pavilion at Expo 2025 in Osaka. From 22 to 28 September, ‘Harmonia’, a webapp that transforms Pope Leo XIV's message of peace into a global chorus for universal brotherhood, will be presented and exhibited.
(ANS - Rome) - On this joyful day, when the universal Church gives thanks to God for the 70 years of life of the Holy Father Leo XIV, the Rector Major on behalf of the Salesian Congregation and the entire Salesian Family, expresses his warmest greetings, closeness, and prayers to the Pope. In his message, he assures the filial fidelity and service of the Don Bosco’s Family to the Successor of Peter, recognizing in him a prophetic guide who calls for peace, unity, and a renewed faith in Christ.”
The message of the Rector Major to the Holy Father is available in the attachment
(ANS – Vatican City) – Addressing over eighty thousand faithful filling Saint Peter’s Square on Sunday for the Mass with the canonization of Pier Giorgio Frassati and Carlo Acutis, Pope Leo XIV says the examples of these two young Saints invite all of us, especially young people, to direct our lives upwards to God and make them masterpieces of holiness, service, and joy.
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.