(ANS - Vatican City) - One of the figures of intellectual, pastoral and missionary importance in the Synod of the Bishop for the Amazon is Fr Juan Bottasso, SDB. He is an anthropologist by profession, ordained a priest in 1963 and he has been in the Amazon for over half a century. In an open letter sent to the Synod Fathers gathered in the Vatican he presents two proposals: that "the Amazonian Church becomes aware and humbly apologizes" and makes "a solemn invitation to all Christian groups to stop dividing the Amazon peoples."
Vatican City, Vatican - October 2019 - On 8 October, at the Salesian community of the Vatican, Fr Ángel Fernández Artime, Rector Major of the Salesians of Don Bosco, met with the 15 Salesians and 2 Daughters of Mary Help of Christians participating in the Synod of Bishops for the Pan-Amazonian Region. Also present: Fr Francesco Cereda, Vicar of the Rector Major, and Fr Franco Fontana, director of the Salesian community of the Vatican.
(ANS - Vatican City) - Those who leaf through the pages of the history of the great missionaries of the Amazon, find true stories of missionaries who live side by side with the tribes and the Amazonian communities. "The church has always been in the Amazon," said Fr Giovanni Botasso, SDB. "It is right," declared Cardinal Claudi Humes, speaker and President of the Synod, "to remember, acknowledge and exalt, in this Synod, the history of heroism, and often of martyrdom, of all the missionaries of yesteryear, and also of those who today are in the Pan-Amazonic Region."
(ANS - Vatican) - On 2 October 2019, the Holy Father Francis received Cardinal Angelo Becciu, Prefect of the Congregation for the Causes of Saints, in audience with His Most Reverend Eminence. During the Audience, the Supreme Pontiff authorized the same Congregation to promulgate the Decree concerning the heroic virtues of the Servant of God Augusto Cesare Bertazzoni, titular Archbishop of Temuniana, former Bishop of Potenza and Marsico; born January 10, 1876 in Polesine di Pegognaga (Italy) he died August 30, 1972 in Potenza (Italy).
(ANS - Vatican City) - "When peoples and cultures are devoured without love and without respect," said Pope Francis, "it is not God’s fire but that of the world. Yet how many times the gift of God has not been offered but imposed, how many times there has been colonization rather than evangelization! May God preserve us from the greed of the new colonialisms." These are the words of Pope Francis from Sunday 6 October in the homily of the opening of the special Synod for the Amazon.
(ANS - Vatican City) - On 5 October Pope Francis created 13 new cardinals; among them, a Salesian bishop, missionary in essence, a son of Don Bosco who departed as an apostle in Paraguay, then was sent as a provincial in Bolivia. After Bolivia, he returned to serve as a provincial in his country of origin: Spain. While serving in Seville, he received the "missionary" assignment to serve as Pastor in Morocco. In all his interviews, he says he is proud to be Pastor of a country that has only 0.08% of Catholics. "The Catholic Church exists in Morocco!" he exclaims. "It is a living Church, young, full of grace and eager to bear witness."
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.