Meruri, Brazil - March 2024 - The Village of Meruri wore a festive look on Sunday 10 March for the arrival of Cardinal Ángel Fernández Artime, Rector Major of the Salesians. The indigenous community and Salesian Family welcomed the Rector Major, marking the start of the morning with a warm welcome. This was followed by the Eucharistic celebration, a moment of great spirituality between the community and the Church, at the end of which Cardinal Ángel Fernández Artime received the "Title of Citizen General of Carneirense", as a sign of gratitude for all the benefits brought by the Salesians to the region. In an emotional moment, the Cardinal blessed the mission founded in 1902, also celebrating 130 years since the arrival of the Salesians in Cuiabá (MT). In a gesture of recognition and gratitude, a plaque was unveiled in honour of the Salesian pioneers, whose blood is fertilised in the land, Fr Rodolfo Lunkenbein and Simão Bororo, who continue to inspire and guide the mission in the region. The presence of Cardinal Ángel Fernández Artime represents not only a significant religious event, but also a moment of unity and renewal for the Meruri community.
Campo Grande, Brazil - March 2024 - Cardinal Ángel Fernández Artime, Rector Major of the Salesians, has returned to Brazil once again for an Animation Visit to the "Sant'Alfonso Maria de' Liguori" Province of Brazil-Campo Grande (BCG), coinciding with the celebration of 130 years of the presence of the Sons of Don Bosco in the territory. The 10th Successor of Don Bosco will spend a total of 10 days there, from Wednesday 6th to Friday 15th March 2024. A significant portion of his visit will be dedicated to the indigenous villages of Meruri, São Marcos, and Sangradouro, located in the State of Mato Grosso. In these villages, the Salesians provide accompaniment and assistance for the integral human development of the Boe-Bororo and Xavante populations.
(ANS - Campo Grande) - On the morning of Thursday, March 7, 2024, Cardinal Ángel Fernández Artime, Rector Major of the Salesians, was bestowed with the title of 'Son of Mato Grosso do Sul' at the Legislative Assembly of Mato Grosso do Sul. This prestigious honor grants him citizenship of Mato Grosso do Sul. The title was presented to him by Judge Sérgio Martins, President of the Court of Justice, with Bishop Dimas Lara Barbosa, Metropolitan Archbishop of the Archdiocese of Campo Grande, also in attendance at the ceremony.
(ANS – Araçatuba) – Cardinal Ángel Fernández Artime, Rector Major of the Salesians, arrived in Brazil, in Araçatuba, for his Visit to the St Alphonsus Maria Liguori Province of Campo Grande, Brazil (BCG). There were many young people awaiting his arrival at Dario Healed airport: Salesians, civil and ecclesiastical authorities of Araçatuba and the band. Also at the airport he met journalists for a press conference, accompanied by Fr Ricardo Carlos, BCG Provincial, and Bishop Sérgio Krzywy, bshop of Araçatuba.
(ANSin – Rome) – A few weeks after his last visit to Brazil, which took place between the end of January and the beginning of February at the Province of Recife, Brazil, Cardinal Ángel Fernández Artime, Rector Major of the Salesians, is returning once more to the South American country to make an Animation Visit to the St Alphonsus Liguori Province of Campo Grande, Brazil (BCG), which this year celebrates the 130th anniversary of the presence of the Sons of Don Bosco in the territory. The 10th Successor of Don Bosco will spend a total of 10 days there, from Wednesday 6 to Friday 15 March 2024, and a good part of his visit will take place in the indigenous villages of Meruri, São Marcos and Sangradouro, in the State of Mato Grosso, where the Salesians offer accompaniment and assistance for integral human development to the Boe-Bororo and Xavante populations.
(ANS - Rome) – On Tuesday, 5 March 2024, the Holy See Press Office announced that the Holy Father Pope Francis has assigned to Cardinal Ángel Fernández Artime, SDB, the Rector Major of the Salesian Society of St. John Bosco, the titular See of Ursona, with archiepiscopal dignity, in view of his episcopal ordination scheduled for coming 20 April.
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.