Fr Nelson is 57 years old and was born in the city of Concepción on 11 September 1965. He met the Salesians at the Salesian College in Concepción, where he was a student and was involved in youth groups and pastoral activities.
His parents Fabriciano Moreno and María Mercedes Ruiz currently live in the city of Concepción.
He did all his initial formation in the city of Santiago. He made his perpetual profession on 8 August 1992 in Santiago (La Florida). He was ordained a priest on 6 August 1994 in Santiago. His first years as a priest were spent in the Salesian presence at Colegio San José de Punta Arenas and at the Salesian school in Concepción, where he worked in pastoral ministry. From 2001 to 2006 he was rector in Puerto Natales and from 2006 to 2012 rector in Puerto Montt.
From 2012 to 2017 he was provincial economer and rector of the provincial house. In 2018 he was rector of the Salesian house in Gratitud Nacional in the city centre of Santiago and from 2019 rector in Puerto Montt, where he is currently located.
Fr Moreno Ruiz succeeds Fr Carlo Lira Airola, who completed his six-year term in January 2024.

Can you present yourself?
I am a Salesian happy with life, who in the Salesian religious vocation has found the presence of God in the young people, whom I serve and accompany as a educator and pastor.
I am Father Nelson Moreno Ruiz, Provincial of the Chilean Province. I was called to this service of animation by the Rector Major Cardinal Ángel Fernández Artime, taking up this responsibility in January this year.
I got to know the Salesians at a young age, when I entered the Salesian school in the city of Concepción, which is the first work in our country, where the missionaries sent by Don Bosco arrived from Argentina to Chile in 1887.
In this Salesian school environment, I grew up around the educative and pastoral proposal offered by the school; sports meetings, missionary activities and many social service activities, all of which had an echo in my life as a young man; it was also important to see and meet Salesians in the school yard, and with these experiences my vocation developed and over time I felt called to follow in Don Bosco’s footsteps as a Salesian.
My family consists of my parents, now elderly – my father Fabriciano aged 93 and my mother aged 83 – my four brothers, the three boys who studied at the Salesian school, and my older sister, who often had the task of looking after us. We are a relatively small family, completed by four grandchildren, who are now young professionals.
As a Salesian, I made my first religious profession on 31 January 1987, then I was a religious for 37 years and was ordained a priest on 6 August 1994. In my religious life, I had the opportunity to animate some communities as director of works, as well as serving as provincial economer before becoming provincial.
I consider that one of my characteristics is to be attentive to rendering good service wherever the Lord wants it, so I spent time preparing and studying for the mission. After graduating from high school at the Salesian school in Concepción, I entered the Congregation where I studied Philosophy, then obtained a Licentiate in Theology at the Pontifical Catholic University of Chile, a Degree in Religious Education and a Licentiate in Education in School Management at the Raúl Silva Henríquez Catholic University; later, I obtained a Master’s Degree in Educational Management from the University of Concepción in Chile, a Master’s Degree in Quality and Excellence in Education from the University of Santiago de Compostela in Spain, and a Doctorate in Educational Sciences from the University of Seville, Spain.
And now, with humility and simplicity, I serve my Province, the confreres and animation of the works.

What did you dream of as a child?
As a child, along with my brothers and friends, I had a very normal and happy childhood. I loved sport, I played football regularly in a local club and this led me to dream of taking up sport in the future. What I liked most was sharing and having friends, and this was what sport offered me.
When I entered school and joined the various pastoral activities, I realised that I also enjoyed teaching the children and young people I had contact with in these pastoral activities. The educational and pedagogical theme made a lot of sense to me and became part of my life project, as I saw it as a dream that was possible to realise.
These concerns mingled with my inclination to study something related to the area of health; this motivation was very present, since some in my family were engaged in professions in this area.
I see that the common thread of these inclinations that I have felt from childhood to adolescence were always oriented towards working with people, being of service to them, serving them, teaching them, accompanying them.

What is the story of your vocation?
My vocational story, without a doubt, begins in my family, I come from a home where the faith was lived, through devotion to St Sebastian and St Rita of Cascia, and it was my parents who inculcated the faith in us, allowing us to receive the sacrament of baptism and confirmation. My vocation began at home, in a very simple way, with a sense of God perceived naturally and without any great religious practices, but with a deep sense of gratitude to God in everyday life.
At the Salesian school in Concepción, I discovered a new world, because it was a huge and prestigious school in the city. When I arrived, I immediately felt welcomed and motivated to participate in the proposals it had for its students, especially the pastoral activities, in which I was gradually involved, as well as sport, which was an important part of my life at that age.
When I was studying at Salesian school, I was very interested in all the pastoral activities, and in my last year of primary school, I had the opportunity to participate as a monitor in the ‘Summer Camps – Villa Feliz’, where I discovered that I could be useful and give something to the poorest children; from then on, I made a commitment to continue on this path of service, which gave a lot of meaning to my adolescent concerns.

It was in the youth groups that my vocation to religious life became more clearly defined, I became part of the sacramental ministry, as a Confirmation monk, where I reaffirmed my call to serve.
All this pastoral life gave me the opportunity to meet and share with the Salesians who, with their witness and closeness, presented me with a vocational proposal that caught my attention, as they were beautiful testimonies of a service close to young people. This was already the seed of my religious vocation, which gave me the impetus to decide to enter the Congregation, the beginning of the vocational journey in the call the Lord made to me, where I have been a Salesian priest for 30 years, accompanied by the motto I chose for my priestly ordination: ‘Lord, you know everything, you know that I love you’ (Jn 21:17),

Why Salesian?
Why Salesian? Because it was in a school of the Congregation where I studied, where I grew up, where my convictions, my certainties and my life project were formed.
With the Salesians, through pastoral activities, I got to know the mission of the Church more deeply, all this environment gave full meaning to my life, confirming that the charism of joy, youth and education, was the path that the Lord presented to me, in which I actively participated, because it responded to my concerns and desires, and made me happy; there was no possibility of another answer, because the Salesians were what covered everything I was looking for and desired, and that I had known since my childhood.
During my formation, I had contacts with other congregations and charisms, which helped me to confirm, even more, that Salesian spirituality was my style, what covered the meaning of what I wanted to do; the life of Don Bosco, work with young people, pastoral work, everything, the fruit of the experience I had with them, where I was formed, where I served and where my vocation was formed and consolidated.
The Lord gave me the gift of getting to know Don Bosco and Salesian spirituality, it was the proposal he invited me to follow and I accepted it, I consecrated my life here, and today I feel that my vocation as a Salesian makes me all that I am.

How did your family react?
Once I made the decision to take the step of joining the Salesians, I told my family, especially my parents. They were surprised, and it was my mother who first understood, supported and accompanied me, inviting me to take this step.
My father, worried, asked me if I was really sure, if it was what I really wanted, what made me happy and if it was my path; to all these questions I answered yes. He confirmed that if it was what I wanted and was willing to see if it was really my future, and made it clear that I could always count on them and not to forget that I would always have my home, in case it was not my path, and told me that I could count on all his support.
Hearing my parents’ support so clearly was very nice, it gave me a lot of joy and serenity, since I was starting out on a path without being sure that it was really the path for a young person.
My siblings were also surprised, because I had a very natural life, tied to sports, with friends, but when they were sure that I really wanted to follow the Lord’s call, they supported me.
I always felt very accompanied and supported by my parents and brothers, which gave me a lot of serenity to start the formation process; to this day, I count on them, I know they accompany me with love made prayer.

What are the most urgent local and youth needs?
In Chile today, the population up to 17 years of age  is 4,259,115, 24% of the country’s total population. And we Salesians are particularly dedicated to the formal education of this segment of the population. We have 22 schools, where children and young people from 4 to 19 years old study, with a total of 31,000 students being educated in our schools. Today, it is the largest school network in the country offering this service to young people.
In addition, there is a University which serves some 7,000 students, and the Don Bosco Foundation, which is dedicated to taking in and accompanying street children, the most vulnerable segment among them, and serves more than 7,000 children and young people.
The most urgent need that our young people experience and suffer is that they are highly exposed to alcohol and drug consumption, as well as the indiscriminate use of technology. This, together with the loneliness they experience due to the disintegration of their families, often leads them to suffer from ‘mental health’ situations, depression, anxiety, panic attacks and the like.
This reality prompts us to try to accompany them in their search for meaning, emotional well-being and emotional stability, all basic needs of human beings, especially those who are developing and growing. We also try to provide them with Christian values, so that step by step they commit to living their faith in youth communities and the Chilean Church, as well as providing them with the education they need to integrate into society.
Young people are Don Bosco’s favourite portion and we owe it to them to provide them with education and tools so that they can become ‘good Christians and honest citizens’.

What are the most significant works in your area?
The Chilean Province has a varied range of works: parishes, youth pastoral centres, reception centres, schools and universities. But the pastoral proposal has focused fundamentally on formal education in schools, which provide education from pre-school age – 4 years of age – to secondary education – 19 years of age.
Chilean education provides training both to prepare young people to enter higher education, universities, and to provide technical vocational education, where students graduate with a technical diploma in a career of their choice.
We can say that vocational technical education is one of the most significant jobs we have, because it is a real promotion of young people, allowing them to enter the world of work with a technical diploma, which, although it is true that it is not everything, makes it easier for them to work with their families, and often finances their continuation in higher education.
I would also like to emphasise the work we do in the Fundación don Bosco, which takes care of children on the street who do not have or do not have a family, working with them to contain, rehabilitate, promote and socially integrate them, creating – as Don Bosco did – evangelised children and young people with values.

Do you communicate through magazines, blogs, Facebook or other media?
Social media today are very important and of great help in reaching many young people and adults. I regularly communicate with the Salesian Family through the Salesian Bulletin, the Agorà blog, the official websites of the Province, the website and Instagram.

What are the most important areas?
Of the mission that I have to carry out today in the Province, I believe that the most important thing is to accompany and animate the lives of my confreres, especially those with whom I work and share responsibility for the Province as councillors, and the confreres who have the responsibility of animating and accompanying the confreres as rectors of communities and works. In short, the priority is to accompany my Salesian confreres.
In the same way, the task of animating the life of the Salesian Family seems relevant to me, an important task, animating in fidelity to the charism, all those who are part of it; consecrated Salesians, Daughters of Mary Help of Christians, Salesian Cooperators, Volunteers of Don Bosco, Association of Mary Help of Christians and others.
We cannot fail to mention as a relevant task, that of animating the lives of young people, through youth pastoral work, associations and the various groups that can exist under the Salesian charism, giving an important place among these, to the pastoral work for vocations, and to those young people who feel the desire to respond to the Lord’s call in our Congregation.

How do you view the future?
Faced with a society thirsting for meaning it seems to me that we Salesians are called to respond to these quests and to give meaning to what we do, to give meaning to life, especially for the young.
We have a fundamental task, which is to educate the young, and those who educate them and work with them must certainly be bearers of dreams and hope.
The world is constantly being built, and it is up to us Salesians to contribute, with our lives, our actions and our mission, to its construction, through the education of today’s young people, so that, knowing that they are loved, valuable, capable and bringing out the best in them, they can give meaning to their lives and be builders of hope in their families and in society.

Do you have a message for the Salesian Family?
The message that I can share with the entire Salesian Family, first of all, is that we are custodians and bearers of a gift, a gift that God gives to the Church, which is the Salesian charism, a gift and a task for each of us.
This year, the Cardinal and Rector Major of the Congregation, Ángel Fernández Artime, invites us to dream, in imitation of our father Don Bosco, a dreamer father. Don Bosco dreamed of things that seemed impossible, but his great trust in Mary Help of Christians and his persevering and tenacious work led him to realise his dreams. We too, worthy sons of this father, are called to dream and to add young people to these dreams, which are nothing more than desiring a better world for them, where they can fit in, building a society that is more amiable and more sensitive to human and Christian values. Together with them, we want to contribute and become good Christians and upright citizens, feeling deeply loved by God.

We asked Fr Luis Víctor SEQUEIRA GUTIÉRREZ, the new Provincial of the Angola Province (ANG), some questions for readers of the OnLine Salesian Bulletin.

His appointment is due to the fact that the previous superior of the Salesians in Angola, Fr Martin Lasarte, was appointed Bishop of the Diocese of Lwena.
With this appointment, the Rector Major has also decided, again after consulting his Council, to elevate the Angola Vice-Province to the rank of Province, starting from the day of the installation of Fr Sequeira Gutiérrez. He will therefore be the first Provincial of the new Province.
Son of Cristóbal Sequeira and Victoria Gutiérrez, Victor Luís Sequeira Gutiérrez was born on 22 March 1964, in Asunción, Paraguay. He attended the Salesian aspirantate in Ypacaraí in 1984, the prenovitiate in 1985 and finally the novitiate in La Plata, Argentina, in 1986. He made his first profession on 31 January 1987. His philosophy studies took him to São Paulo, Brazil, and to the Catholic University of Asunción.
From 1992 to 2020, he worked as a missionary in Angola, holding various posts: Bursar of the Don Bosco formation house in Luanda (1997-98), Rector of the Catholic Mission in Libolo (1998-2005), Rector and parish priest in Dondo (2005-11). From 2011 to 2014 he was Rector of the Luanda Formation Centre, as well as Deputy Director of the Institut Supérieur de Philosophie et Pédagogie Don Bosco in Luanda, now known as ISDB.
He previously served as Superior of the Salesians of Angola for the six-year period 2014-2020.
In November 2020, he was sent to Portugal to be part of the formation team for Theology students in Lisbon, also serving briefly as chaplain at the Medical Rehabilitation Centre in Alcoitão. Finally, in February 2023, he returned to Angola, where he had recently been appointed Rector and Parish Priest of the Lwena community.
Fr Sequeira Gutiérrez is fluent in Spanish, Guarani, French, Italian and Portuguese.

Can you present yourself?
I am Father Victor Luís Sequeira Gutiérrez, Provincial of Angola. I have been in Angola for 32 years and I am Paraguayan.

How did your vocation come about?
At a time of military dictatorship and in a Church where young people found a place for free expression, the encounter with the Word led me to conversion and commitment. I felt called to be at the service of this Church that leads to liberation, especially of young people.

Why Salesian?
Because my roots are Salesian, my mother was familiar with Salesian settings, in contact with the FMA and my father with the oratory and the priests who were real fathers (dads); furthermore, I was born and grew up in a Salesian parish, we can say that my nature is Salesian.

Do you remember any educators in particular?
Father Edmundo Candia, Father Rojas, Father Aquino.

Why a missionary?
It all started with aspiration, when I came into contact with the missions in the Chaco, then also with the missions in Africa and the Africa project. From that moment on I felt called.

What are the greatest difficulties you have encountered?
The encounter of the Gospel with the local culture, where the life and dignity of people must be valued.

What are the greatest joys you have encountered?
The way people do not lose hope and always give you a smile, the gratitude they have for the missionaries.

How do you find work in this environment?
Above all, useful as an instrument of God, not indispensable, and therefore fulfilled as a consecrated and missionary person.

What are the young people in the area like?
They are cheerful, full of vitality, ready to learn, to be formed and to develop.

Are Christians persecuted in the area?
No, thank God, Angola is predominantly Christian.

What are the great challenges of evangelisation and mission today?
Human formation and the proclamation of the Gospel, in-depth dialogue with the culture.

What could be done more and better?
Give quality education and vocational training, embody the Gospel more in the culture, a catechesis that touches current reality.

We put a few questions to Fr Aurélien MUKANGWA, Superior of the Africa Congo Congo (ACC) Vice-Province, for readers of the Salesian Bulletin OnLine.

Fr Aurélien was born on 9 November 1975 in Lubumbashi, Democratic Republic of Congo. He completed his novitiate at Kansebula from 24 August 1999 to 24 August 2000. He then made his perpetual profession in Lubumbashi on 8 July 2006 and was ordained a priest on 12 July 2008.
At local level, he has held the positions of Headmaster in Uvira, Kinshasa, Lukunga and Le Gombe, and of School Principal in Masina. Before the establishing of the current ACC Vice-Province, he was chosen to be the Superior of the DRC-WEST Delegation for four years, and at the time of this appointment, he was again the Provincial Delegate in the new AFC East Delegation, based in Goma.
Fr Mukangwa is the son of Donatien Symba Mukangwa and Judith Munyampala Mwange, and holds a Diploma in Pedagogy. He has taken on this new role of leadership and governance of the ACC Vice-Province – covering part of the Democratic Republic of Congo and the Republic of Congo – for the six-year period 2023-2029.

Can you present yourself?
My name is Mukangwa Mwanangoy Aurélien, and I was born in Lubumbashi (Haut Katanga) in the Democratic Republic of Congo on 9 November 1975 to my late father Donatien Symba Mukangwa and my mother Judith Munyampara Mwange. I am the second of 11 children, 7 boys and four girls.
I became a Salesian of Don Bosco nearly 24 years ago, on 24 August 2000. And since 24 May 2023, I have been installed as the second provincial superior of the vice-province of Mary Help of Christians Africa Congo-Congo (ACC). Immediately after my initial formation, I worked in Uvira, Kinshasa, Lubumbashi and Goma, and now I’m at the Vice-Province headquarters in Kinshasa.

What is the story of your vocation?
Thank you very much for this beautiful question, which I find very essential, because what’s important for me is the encounter with Don Bosco that led to my being called a Salesian.
The vocational influence I’ve had depends on the place of my birth, my childhood and my youth. I was born and grew up in a district that was pastorally served exclusively by the Salesians of Don Bosco. At the time, all the parishes in the commune of Kenya (Lubumbashi-RDC) were run by the Salesians of Don Bosco. My first contact with the Salesians was at kindergarten (aged 4), where I met Salesians such as Fathers Eugène, Carlos Sardo, Angelo Pozzi and Luigi Landoni. In my parish of Saint Benoit (Kenya), when I was very young, I used to go to the oratory and the playground, where I also met Father Jacques Hantson, SDB, and the young Salesians in formation who came from Kansebula (post-novitiate). In the same parish, I also met Father André Ongenaert, SDB. Around 1987, the family moved to the neighbourhood behind the Cité des Jeunes de Lubumbashi, founded by the Salesians. And there I had the privilege of getting to know many African Salesians and missionaries.
So, from an early age, I harboured the desire to become like these Salesians who came to do pastoral work in my parish, because they inspired me so much by their way of doing things and being with us, their way of welcoming children and the availability they had to listen to young people, especially their commitment to the service of poor young people and the joy they put around us all.

How did you get to know Don Bosco / the Salesians?
As I said earlier, I got to know Don Bosco through the Salesians of Don Bosco in my parish, in my school, in my education through the Salesians, books and films about Don Bosco.

Do you remember a particular teacher?
Father Jacques Hantson, for the Salesian and missionary spirit with which he guided us in the oratory of the parish of Saint Benoît in Lubumbashi. Father Hantson was a Belgian missionary and today he rests with his heavenly father.

What were the greatest difficulties you encountered?
The greatest difficulties we have encountered so far are the poverty of young people abandoned by the state, their parents and adults; young people who have become victims of war, unemployment, drugs, prostitution, poverty and exploitation in various forms. The other difficulty is the lack of real solutions to the problems of young people and the lack of human, material and financial resources to provide proper assistance to these vulnerable young people in difficulty.

What is your best experience?
My best experience in my Salesian life has been as an assistant in the pre-novitiate house, in oratory activities, and in school and social pastoral work.
Over time I’ve learnt that from both positive and negative experiences, we need to draw good lessons for life and try to be positive in order to make Salesian optimism a reality.

Are Christians in the region persecuted?
I have to say here that the geographical area of our vice-province is, by grace, predominantly Christian. So Christians are not persecuted here. However, they are sometimes victims of the socio-political and security situation in the countries that make up our Vice-Province.

What are the major challenges of evangelisation and mission today?
Today the great challenges of evangelisation and mission are those of the digital world, where we find a fairly large number of young people confronted with Artificial Intelligence, with all its pitfalls.
Another specific challenge for our Vice-Province is the expansion of the Salesian mission throughout our geographical area. There are young people on the periphery who need Don Bosco’s charism. But for this to happen, we need to invest heavily in the formation of quality Salesians who are truly “passionate about Jesus Christ and dedicated to young people”.

What role does Mary Help of Christians play in your life?
As a Catholic Christian and a Salesian of Don Bosco, Mary has an important place in my life. Thanks to Salesian spirituality, I have learnt to deepen the dimension of devotion to Mary Help of Christians. Every morning, at the end of our meditation, we pray the Salesian prayer to Mary Help of Christians, and I find time during the day and in the evening to ask the Virgin Mary for help with my vocation, the Salesian mission, the Salesian family and especially young people. I have great confidence in her. She is my Mother. She is intrinsically linked to my vocation; in fact, I owe it to her.

What would you say to the young people of today?
In view of the challenges facing young people today, there are many things to say. To young people, I say that God has given them a great gift in the person of Don Bosco through the Salesian charism. Every young person who meets Don Bosco has a duty to build his or her life on Salesian values. I don’t need to remind you of the command Don Bosco left us: “Teach young people the ugliness of sin and the beauty of virtue.” Anyone who has not yet met Don Bosco should contact a Salesian organisation. Dear young people, you are the protagonists of your future, a better and radiant future! So don’t waste time. Get involved. Take advantage of the Salesian charism. It’s there for you.

We asked Fr Philippe BAUZIERE, the new Provicial of Brazil Manaus (BMA) to answer a few questions for readers of the OnLine Salesian Bulletin.

Fr Philippe Bauzière was born in Tournai, Belgium, on 2 February 1968. He did his Salesian novitiate at the house in Woluwe-Saint-Lambert (Brussels) and made his first profession, also in Brussels, on 9 September 1989. In 1994 he arrived in Brazil for the first time, in Manaus, where he made his perpetual profession on 5 August the following year.
He was ordained a deacon in Ananindeua on 15 November 1997, and a year later, on 28 June 1998, he was ordained a priest in the cathedral of his home town, Tournai.
His first years as a priest were spent at the Salesian presence in Manaus Alvorada (1998-2003). From 2004 to 2008, he then lived in Porto Velho, first as parish priest and then as Rector (2007-2008). In the following years, he lived in Belém, São Gabriel de Cachoeira and Ananindeua. From 2013-2018 he was in Manicoré as Parish Priest and Rector. Back in Manaus, he lived in the houses in Alvorada, Domingos Savio and Aleixo until 2022. This year, 2023, he is in Ananindeua, where he accompanies the Salesian School of Work. Since 2019, he has been a member of the Provincial Council, where he has held various positions of responsibility: since 2021, he has been Vice-Provincial and also Provincial Delegate for the Salesian Family and for Formation.
Fr Bauzière succeeds Fr Jefferson Luís da Silva Santos who has completed his six-year term as Superior of the Province of Brazil-Manaus.

Can you present yourself?
            I am Philippe Bauzière, a Salesian of Don Bosco, a missionary for thirty years in Brazil and a priest for twenty-six. I understood my vocation, the Lord’s call, especially through the missionary aspect. A great influence was the parish priest of my village in Belgium: he was an Oblate of Mary Immaculate who had lived for many years in Sri Lanka and Haiti, who shared his missionary experience… So, at the age of eighteen, after discernment, I realised that the Lord was calling me to religious life and the priesthood.
            A curiosity: I am the eldest of my two brothers, and at the time they were attending a Salesian school; I was attending a diocesan school… Yet it was I who discovered the Salesians! And it was the Salesian spirit that won me over.
            In September 1989 I made my first religious profession, asking to go to the missions. The Councillor for the Missions at the time, Fr Luciano Odorico, sent me to the Amazon Province (Manaus, Brazil), where I arrived on 30 June 1994.
            The first challenges were those of adaptation: a new language, the equatorial climate, different mentalities… But everything was counterbalanced by a beautiful surprise, that of the welcome I received from my confreres and the people.
            After my ordination, I was sent to work in social works and parishes, where I had the opportunity to meet many young people and simple people. As a Salesian, I am very happy about this contact, to be able to serve the Lord together with young people and families. I feel small before the Lord’s action in so many young people, and also the Lord’s action in myself.

What are the greatest difficulties you have encountered?
            Today we Salesians in Amazonia feel the powerful challenges that young people face: the lack of opportunities, training and work; the burden of drug trafficking, addictions and violence; many young people who do not feel loved in their homes or families (they feel more at home in our Salesian works, than in their own homes…); the major mental health problems (depression, anxiety, alcoholism, suicide, etc.); the lack of a sense of life among young people; the lack of guidelines for the proper use of new technologies.
We also feel the challenge of ensuring that ethnic groups in Brazil do not lose their cultural identity, especially young people. Faced with this picture, we understand that our life must be given to the Lord, at the service of defending the LIFE of so many people, especially the young. May the Lord enlighten us! May Don Bosco intercede for us!

What are the most urgent local needs?
            Times are changing rapidly – as you can understand – and we must respond appropriately to these new times. Our works need a lot of financial resources (especially since our location in Amazonia entails very high costs, due to the great distances involved), as well as adequate and renewed training for our human resources (Salesians and lay people). The demands are many: we need more Salesians! It would be a great good if we had vocations, even indigenous ones.

What place does Mary Help of Christians occupy in your life?
            I believe that, as in Don Bosco’s life, Our Lady is our Help of Christians; she is present and helps us.

We asked Fr Francisco LEZAMA, the new Provincial of Uruguay (URU), a few questions for the readers of the Salesian Bulletin OnLine.

Fr Francisco Lezama was born in the city of Montevideo on 11 September 1979. He got to know the Salesians in the Salesian work of Las Piedras, where he took part in youth groups and parish activities.
His parents Luis Carlos Lezama and Graciela Pérez currently live in the city of Las Piedras.
He did all his initial formation in the city of Montevideo. He made his perpetual profession on 31 January 2006 in Montevideo. He was ordained priest on 11 October 2008 in Las Piedras (Uruguay). His first years as a priest were spent in the Salesian presence of the Colegio Juan XXIII in the city of Montevideo. From 2012 to 2015 he studied Sacred Scripture at the Pontifical Biblical Institute in Rome.
From 2018-2020 he was rector and parish priest of the Colegio Pio IX in Villa Colón, a member of the formation team and in charge of vocations ministry. In the year 2021 he takes up the service of Provincial Vicar and Provincial Delegate for Youth Ministry until October 2022 when he was appointed Provincial Economer.
Fr Lezama succeeds Fr Alfonso Bauer as Provincial of URU, who finished his six-year term in January 2024.

Can you introduce yourself?
I am Francisco Lezama, a Salesian priest. I am 44 years old… I am passionate about educating young people, I feel at home among them. I come from a family that has taught me the value of justice and concern for others. Life has given me friends with whom I can share who I am and who help me to grow all the time. I dream of a world in which everyone has a place, and I work to the best of my ability to make this a reality.

What is the story of your vocation?
Since I was a child I felt called to put my life at the service of others. I looked in many places: I became involved in political and social activism, I thought of dedicating myself professionally to education as a teacher… As a teenager I approached the parish because of my desire to help others. There, participating in the oratory, I discovered that this was the environment in which I could be myself, in which I could develop my deepest self… and in this context, a Salesian suggested that I discern a consecrated vocation. I had never consciously considered it, but at the time I felt a light in my heart that told me it was that way.

Since then, in the Salesian vocation, I have been developing my life, and even with the thorns among the roses I have been discovering that Jesus’ calls have been marking my path: my profession as a religious, my university studies in education, my ordination to the priesthood, my specialisation in Sacred Scripture, and above all each mission, each young person with whom God has given me the gift of meeting, allow me to continue to be grateful and to unfold my vocation.

Why a Salesian?
I am passionate about education, I feel called to fulfil my vocation there, and I also believe that it is an instrument to change the world, to change lives. I have also discovered that as a Salesian I can give my whole life, “until my last breath”, and that makes me very happy.

How did your family react?
They have always accompanied me and my siblings, so that everyone can find their own way to happiness. In my father’s family I have an uncle and an aunt who have also been called to the consecrated life, but above all I have in my family many examples of faithful and generous love, starting with my parents, and lately I see it in the love of my sister and my brother-in-law for their children, who have given me the vocation of an uncle, and help me to discover new facets of the same love, which comes from God.

Who first told you the story of Jesus?
I remember my grandmother and my godfather who encouraged me a lot to get to know Jesus… then in the catechesis of my parish, I began to follow the path that allowed me to grow in his friendship… Finally, with the Salesians, I discovered that Jesus is close to me, makes himself present in everyday life and encourages me to grow in his friendship.

You studied Sacred Scripture at the Pontifical Biblical Institute in Rome. Are young people today interested in the Bible? How can you bring them closer to it?
I have discovered that young people are very interested in the Bible; even in a university youth centre in Montevideo, a group of young people asked me for Greek classes so that they could study the text in depth! The reality is that the biblical text shows us the Word of God always in dialogue with cultures, with the challenges of the times, and young people are very sensitive to these realities.

What have been the greatest challenges you have faced?
There is no doubt that the injustices and inequalities that our societies experience are very great challenges, because for us they are not figures or statistics, but they have a name and a face, in which the suffering face of Christ is reflected.

What have been your greatest satisfactions?
For me, it is an immense joy to see God at work: in the hearts of young people, in the communities that listen to his voice, in the people who bet on love even in the face of difficulties.
On the other hand, it is a great joy to share the charism with the Salesian brothers and with so many lay people who make it possible today to develop the Salesian work in Uruguay. We have taken very significant steps towards synodality, sharing life and mission, in a style that enriches us and allows us to work from the depths of our identity.

What are the most significant works in your area?
There are many works that have great significance in Uruguay. Some have a high impact on society, such as the Tacurú Movement on the outskirts of Montevideo, which is undoubtedly the most relevant social project in Uruguayan society as a whole. There are other works with great significance in their area, such as the Paiva Institute in the department of Durazno, which allows adolescents from rural areas to access secondary education (which would not be possible for them otherwise) and to open up new horizons in their lives. Or Obra Don Bosco, in the city of Salto, which in addition to various projects that accompany them from birth to 17 years of age, has a specific project for adolescents in conflict with the law, accompanying them in various aspects of their lives.

Do you have any project that particularly interests you?
The last project we started is a home for children that the state has taken under its guardianship, because their rights were being violated, and entrusted them to us, the Salesians. Significantly, we have called it “Casa Valdocco”, and there the children are accompanied while at the same time we look for a way for them to rejoin a family reality that can help them in their development.

What place does Mary Help of Christians occupy in your life?
In Uruguay we have many churches and works dedicated to Mary Help of Christians. In fact, it is in our province that the tradition of the monthly commemoration, every 24th, was born. But there are two places that are significant to me: one is the National Shrine, in Villa Colón, the mother house of the Salesians in Uruguay, from where missionaries later went out to all America. The other place, in the north of the country, is Corralito, in Salto. There, devotion to Mary Help of Christians arrived before the Salesians did, thanks to former students who spread their devotion. I believe that this is a sign of the vitality of our Family, and also of how she is always present, using means and ways that always surprise and amaze us.

We asked Fr Alexandre Luís de Oliveira, the newProvincial of the Salesian Province of São Paulo (BSP), some questions for readers of the OnLine Salesian Bulletin.

Fr De Oliveira was born in Campinas, in the State of São Paulo, on 18 October 1975. He met the Salesians in the Salesian work in Campinas, where he was a student at the institute and participated in youth groups and parish activities.
His mother, Tamar A. Da Silva, still lives in the city of Campinas.
He did his novitiate in Indápolis, near Dourados, his postnovitiate in Lorena, his practical training in San Carlos and Pindamonhangaba, and his theological studies in the house at Lapa in São Paulo. He made his perpetual profession on 31 January 2004 in São Paulo, and was ordained a priest on 17 December 2005 in Campinas.
He spent his first years as a priest in the Salesian presence in Lorraine, at the San Joaquín Institute (2006-2008). From 2009 to 2011 he was Rector and Parish Priest of the Salesian work in the city of Americana; in 2012 he became Rector of the Provincial House in São Paulo, and at the same time Delegate for Youth Ministry; from 2013 to 2017 he was Rector of the Postnovitiate in Lorraine and Provincial Delegate for Formation; from 2018 to 2022 Rector and Parish Priest of the Mary Help of Christians house in Campinas, and is currently Rector of the San José house, also in Campinas. He also served as Provincial Councillor for three consecutive three-year terms, from 2012 to 2020.
Fr De Oliveira succeeds Fr Justo Piccinini, who has completed his six-year term as Provincial.

Can you present yourself?
I am Fr Alexandre Luís de Oliveira, Brazilian, from the Salesian Province of São Paulo (BSP). I am 49 years old, 25 years of religious profession, 19 years of priestly ordination and I am currently a Provincial.
I am from the city of Campinas SP. I attended the Salesian house as a child. I was a little chorister, attended the oratory and was a former student at the Don Bosco Vocational Centre at the Salesian St Joseph’s school. Together with my family, I also attended the chapel at St Joseph’s and the Parish of Our Lady Help of Christians. Living with the Salesians and frequenting these places I felt called to vocational discernment.

Why Salesian?
Salesian, because I feel deeply identified with Don Bosco’s charism: the education and evangelisation of young people.

How did your family react?
From the beginning, my family accompanied me with its support and constant prayers so that God’s will for me would be fulfilled and that I would be happy with my life project.

The encounter and individual who most impressed you
I have always been impressed by the presence of the Salesians who are very close to young people. This ease of access always brings back good memories and has also stimulated me in my vocational response.

Your greatest joy?
My greatest joy is my religious consecration and the day of my priestly ordination. Being a Salesian priest fulfils me deeply.

What are the most urgent local and youth needs?
I believe that the most urgent need of young people is to have creative references in their formation/education in values.

What could be done more and better?
I believe that, as Salesians of Don Bosco, we can be closer to young people, we can offer them more opportunities for contact with us as consecrated persons, and in this way, through our witness, we can also invite them to their vocation.

Plans for the future? Dreams? Initiatives?
For the present and the future, we can be living signs of Don Bosco’s presence among the young, our communities can be more open to welcoming them and offering them real opportunities for spiritual, human, educational and professional growth.

Do you have a message for the Salesian Family?
A message of living hope, of a return to our origins, of a return to Don Bosco. May we dream his dream and the dreams of the young. May our communities, schools, social works, parishes and university centres be a home for young people, a place for their realisation.

Fr Václav Klement has held various positions in the General Council: Councillor for the East Asia-Oceania Region (2002-2008), General Councillor for the Missions (2008-2014), Councillor for the East Asia-Oceania Region (2014-2020) and Extraordinary Visitor “ad nutum et pro tempore” (2020-2022). In December 2022, the Rector Major, Fr Ángel Fernández Artime, with the consent of the General Council, appointed him as the new Superior of the Southern Africa Vice-Province for the six-year period 2023-2029. Here is the interview granted on the occasion of his new appointment.

2. What is it about religious life, especially Salesian consecrated life that attracted you and made you choose it? Which Salesians influenced you the most?

I would say, that my aspirations, dreams and personal preparations ‘simply’ clicked with the first explicit invitation to join the first underground Salesian vocation ‘Come and See’ encounter. I was deeply touched, amazed, attracted by all those senior Salesians who were able to hand over the Salesian vocation and charism after hard years of prison, forced labour and a tough life. I can’t forget my first encounter with the ‘Salesian Bulletin’, stories of Salesian family saints and especially Salesian spirituality environment – family spirit, apostolic drive and deep faith. Since there were no ‘official formation structures’ until 1989, the Salesian charism was passed on through close personalized spiritual accompaniment. Not just one novice-master, but three Salesians who took care of me during that special year! Until now the Salesians of Don Bosco are the most numerous religious men congregation in the Czech Republic.

3. What did you do before you entered religious life?
Actually, for me ‘to enter religious life’ was not like to ‘enter a Salesian house’. During those ‘blessed’ times of the communist totalitarian regime there were 400 SDBs in my homeland but no ‘official’ Salesian house. Half of the Salesians were really living and working underground, while another half were involved in the diocesan structures of the Church. In my vibrant home parish (second Czech city of Brno) since my childhood I was involved in many services as altar server, boy scout, choir member, volunteer or youth leader. At the age of 10 I got a life of Don Bosco in my hands for the first time, but the first living Salesian I met only at the age of 22, after the end of 2 years of military service. Those years ‘before’ becoming a Salesian were a time of hard studies, hard work in the parish, as a youth leader in different ways, while living as a second class citizen being a fervent young Catholic.

4. After having lived so many years of Salesian Consecrated Life, how would you sum up your life as a Salesian priest so far?
At the age of 65 it is probably time to ‘sum up’ my life already, right? Hard to say in just a few words. My life motto has changed over the years and since 2008 I stick to the Asian version of Da mihi animas, cetera tolle: All for Jesus, Jesus for all! It means to live each task, mission in my life with enthusiasm, joy and passion. The last 20 years at the side of the Rector Major I have never ‘looked back’, always trying to contribute to the growth of the Salesian charism with the best of my strength. Well, life is starting at 65!

5. Share the most memorable event in your life as a Salesian of Don Bosco?
Well, I treasure too many rich Salesian memories. First the Czechoslovakia underground formation time, like the 24-hour walk in the mountains to reach a secret provincial day gathering or listen to sharing of confreres who spent years in prison and forced labour camps. Really, it is very difficult to mention ‘the most memorable’ event: every day during the 16 years in Korea was a special time, then as the first regional councillor for East Asia – Oceania (EAO) it was probably our first Team Visit (2005) with its Vision-Mission workshop, or the EAO Salesian Brothers Congress in Vietnam (2018). There are too many events to give thanks to God for during my whole life. It is never enough to tell and give thanks for these stories and events! If you access the EAO (East Asia-Oceania) news ‘AustraLasia’ on the www.bosco.link you may know a little bit more!

6. Have you any regrets in life?
Yes, my regrets are always of the same nature. At the end of the ‘day’ (after an event, apostolic mission, after accomplished entrusted task) I regret that I didn’t give my whole heart to this task or mission. Concretely, that I didn’t listen enough to this confrere or lay mission partner, that I didn’t give my best to the process going on (maybe a discernment, preparation of a regional event).

7. What advice would you give to a young person who is considering religious life? What message do you want to send to young people regarding the missionary vocation?
Would you like to become consecrated to God? Would you like to follow Jesus like Don Bosco and his family members? ‘Give your heart completely to Jesus!’ – I would like to share this invitation of Don Bosco in all-encompassing youthful language to be attracted to this lifestyle of ‘becoming bread for others’.
Would you like to be deeply happy? Share your faith with those who are not so privileged to encounter Jesus face-to-face! During the past 30 years I have met most of the 14,000 Salesians and found that the most happy among them are usually the missionaries who left everything behind, their own country and culture, to be the light of Jesus as missionaries! Without sharing the faith the Church would cease to breath.

8. When you heard that you were appointed as provincial, what was your reaction?

Yes, it was a huge surprise and somehow a shock. Just two days before Christmas 2022, already prepared for another extraordinary visitation, this time in South Asia, I was called by the Rector Major. Fr Ángel asked me to accept this unexpected new obedience. During my whole life I have never said ‘No’ to Don Bosco. Since this new call happened at Valdocco, I had plenty of time to digest this dramatic change in my life and pray over it and for each of the AFM (Africa Meridionale, Southern Africa) confreres on the first day and then slowly start the mindset change from South Korea to Southern Africa. On January 1, 2023 I went on pilgrimage to walk from Valdocco to Becchi, to ask Don Bosco to bless all of us in the AFM!

This call was not much different from 1996, when Fr Juan E. Vecchi reached me by phone in the Philippines during an East Asia-Oceania regional congress of Salesian Cooperators. It was an overwhelming shock, not allowing me to sleep the whole night, absolutely unexpected, since I was not even a provincial council member and had just reached Korea 10 years before this new calling.

9. What would you say are the leadership qualities that you bring to your new role as provincial?
I’m happy to share with my Salesian confreres, lay mission partners, Salesian Youth and Salesian Family members my life, faith, Salesian convictions for the next 6 years. Leading is possible mainly by life witness; this is my deep personal conviction. As every disciple – missionary of Jesus, probably the first contribution is my personal life witness as a passionate Salesian, missionary, communicator, friend of the young, deeply in love with Don Bosco.
During the recent past I have assisted many provinces in their discernment process of reshaping, growing, visioning, and moving forward. After two years as a rector, six years as provincial of Korea and 20 years with the Rector Major’s council as extraordinary visitor I would like to share this experience with the dynamics of Salesian charismatic growth. As Don Bosco Salesians we are very rich in the spirit, living in the family with so many saints (living or helping from heaven). As my personal animation style, I like to bring everyone’s attention to cherishing and making these treasures fruitful in Lesotho, eSwatini and South Africa.
Animation and government in the Catholic community and in the Salesian family is rooted in deep listening. Not by accident do we ponder the 127 questions of Jesus in the Gospels. Also the current GC28 theme ends with a question mark: What kind of Salesians for the Young people of Southern Africa? I love sharing questions and ‘wasting time’ listening and walking with each confrere.
Returning after 21 years to the service of authority, after serving many years as councillor, is a challenge. However, fostering a family spirit and teamwork, investing in the lifelong formation of all the confreres, and getting closer to Don Bosco are the main qualities I’m longing for as I start my service of leadership.