Rome, Italy - June 2019 - On 28 June the Rector Major, Fr Ángel Fernández Artime, presided at the Eucharistic celebration for the feast of the Sacred Heart of Jesus. The Eucharistic concelebration presided by Cardinal Giuseppe Versaldi was followed by a procession in the neighborhood, dinner in the courtyard and a musical evening.
(ANS - Rome) - The future saint of the young was just one day old, on that 17th of August 1815, when his parents Francesco Bosco and Margherita Occhiena brought him to be baptized, with the name of Giovanni Melchiorre. "At Valdocco various festivals were organized with solemn liturgical functions, rich poetic-musical academies and illustrious guests ... In Turin the feast of St. John the Baptist (June 24) was the patronal feast of the city and of the diocese, celebrated even with a cannon shot and the blank shots of the troops' rifles," writes the Salesian historian, Fr Francesco Motto. "The young people of the very first Valdocco oratory began that day to celebrate Don Bosco and offer him flowers, believing it to be the name day. Don Bosco let him do it and did it all his life." So now this feast has become a heritage of the history of Don Bosco's Successors.
It was very moving for me to meet with Bororo and Xavante youth joined together in this land where the Bororos live, to meet the missionaries who share day-to-day life with them and to celebrate our Faith right on the spot where our martyrs met their deaths.
Turin, Italy - May 2019 - From 20 to 25 May, 47 Salesian novices from Europe met at Colle Don Bosco and Valdocco. 5 come from Poprad (Slovakia), 11 from Kopiec (Poland), 13 from Genzano (Rome) and 18 from Pinerolo (Turin). It was the XI consecutive meeting around the time of the feast of Mary Help of Christians. The novices exchanged their novitiate experiences in a life full of moments of prayer, sharing, visits to Salesian places and Salesian spirituality. Two intense moments marked the meeting: the conversation with the Rector Major and the feast of Mary Help of Christians at Valdocco. Fr Ángel Fernández Artime presented the current situation of the Salesian Congregation, his thoughts on formation and the particular orientations for novices. The formators and teachers of the various novitiates, in addition to explaining many things about Salesian Places, encouraged the exchange of experiences and the particular situations of the formation awaiting them.
(ANS - Turin) - The Feast of Mary Help of Christians isn't just one, but thousands: as many as the pilgrims who come to the Basilica of Turin, as many as the churches and chapels dedicated to her in the 134 countries where the Salesians have extended their works.
(ANS - Rome) - The International Meeting of the Salesian Bulletin began yesterday, Sunday 26 May; the first indications that it is a wholly Salesian conference is the joyful cordiality and smiles of its participants: all the Directors and collaborators of the world's Salesian Bulletins, about seventy happy people.
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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United States – INT’L DAY FOR STREET CHILDREN: Salesian Missions highlights programs that provide shelter and support(ANS – New Rochelle) – Salesian Missions, the U.S. development arm of the Salesians of Don Bosco, joins humanitarian and international organizations around the globe in highlighting the plight of homeless children on the International Day for Street Children. The day provides organizations and the millions of street children in countries worldwide with an opportunity to have their voices heard while ensuring that their rights are not ignored.
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.