Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone, SDB, had the opportunity to know the late Cardinal Angelo Amato very well. Both shared the Salesian vocation and had collaborated as teachers at the Pontifical Salesian University. Later, Fr. Angelo Amato succeeded Mons. Bertone as Secretary of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, a position he held from 2002 to 2008.
His Eminence Cardinal Bertone wishes to offer his personal testimony about Cardinal Amato, which we present below.

            Cardinal Angelo Amato was one of the most intelligent Salesians, well-versed in the human and ecclesiastical sciences. His ability to grasp and connect Philosophy and Theology was especially evident during his years of study at the Salesian University, as part of a group of exceptional students who brought prestige to the same and who later distinguished themselves not only in teaching, but also in service to the Holy See at the Dicasteries of the Roman Curia.
            I particularly remember his exceptional skill in the study of Christology and Mariology. His writings were highly refined, and he was sought after as a preacher of Spiritual Exercises, especially for consecrated persons, not to mention the sharpness of his opinions in promoting Ecumenical and Interreligious Dialogue. In fact, he was particularly appreciated by the then Prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger (who later became Pope Benedict XVI), and by the Pontifical Council for the Promotion of Christian Unity. For this reason, he was sent to Greece to study the Theology of the Eastern Fathers, learned ancient Greek and modern Greek, and even published a highly regarded study at the Greek University of Thessaloniki on the conception and practice of the Sacrament of Penance among the Eastern Fathers. During that time, he learned the art and spirituality of “writing” icons, which he continued to practice until the end of his life. In Rome, he primarily taught at the Pontifical Salesian University, becoming Dean of the Faculty of Theology, and as an expert in Christology and Mariology, he was appointed Consultor of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith and later also Secretary of the same.

            It is interesting to note the contribution that Fr. Angelo Amato made in collaboration with Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger to the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith for the drafting of the famous dogmatic declaration “Dominus Jesus” of September 1, 2000. It is declaration desired by Pope John Paul II and drafted by Cardinal Ratzinger with the fine and intelligent collaboration of Fr. Angelo Amato. Cardinal Ratzinger later valued him for the documents and reflections produced by that doctrinal Dicastery of the Roman Curia. Then, when Secretary, Msgr. Tarcisio Bertone was appointed Archbishop of Genoa, a successor was sought. I remember very well the consultations of Cardinal Ratzinger and the dialogues with His Holiness John Paul II. Among the candidates for succession, the name of Fr. Angelo Amato stood out, but in a conversation between Cardinal Ratzinger and myself with Pope John Paul II, I pointed out a peculiarity that seemed to create some difficulty, namely the fact that one Salesian would succeed another Salesian in this important role. Pope John Paul II asked Cardinal Ratzinger, “But does this pose a problem for Cardinal Ratzinger? Would Cardinal Ratzinger like to appoint another Salesian to the position of Secretary of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith?” Cardinal Ratzinger replied, “I would prefer Fr. Angelo Amato because I have found it very good to work with him here at the Dicastery, and we are in perfect harmony.” John Paul II responded, “Then let us appoint Fr. Angelo Amato as the new Secretary of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith.” And so this happened on December 19, 2002.

            He carried out many activities in drafting the documents that characterised the Magisterium of this Dicastery of the Roman Curia presided over by Cardinal Ratzinger, and subsequently, Pope John Paul II decided to create him a Cardinal and appoint him Prefect of the Congregation for the Causes of Saints. In this role, he carried out intense activity promoting holiness in the Church, holiness in consecrated life, lay life, and priesthood. He also published among his volumes a series of biographies of Blessed and Saints that made known and multiplied the attraction of holiness in the variety of charisms, cultures, and people that enriched the Church, with many beneficial examples and initiatives.
He remained Prefect of the Congregation for the Causes of Saints for 10 years, until 2018, and continued his magisterial activity for the Church in service to the Popes. Pope Francis sent a beautiful telegram to the General Vicar of the Salesian Congregation, praising the “Salesianity” of Cardinal Amato and his work as Prefect of the Causes of Saints.
            We include the message in full:

REVEREND DON STEFANO MARTOGLIO SDB
VICAR OF THE RECTOR MAJOR
SOCIETY OF SAINT FRANCIS DE SALES (SALESIANS)
ROME

            Upon learning of the news of the passing of dear Cardinal Angelo Amato, I express my closeness to you and to the Brothers of this Religious Institute, as well as to the family of the late Cardinal. I thank God for the edifying testimony of this spiritual son of Saint John Bosco, who for many years dedicated himself with human finesse and generosity to the Gospel and the Church. I think of his priestly soul and the theological preparation with which he served the Holy See, especially in the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith and in that of the Causes of Saints. I assure my prayers for the soul of this good and vigilant servant who, faithful to his motto ‘Sufficit gratia mea’, even in the final days marked by suffering, entrusted himself to the goodness of the Heavenly Father. I trust that, accompanied by Mary Help of Christians and the Saints and Blesseds he led to the glory of the altars, he will be welcomed into the eternal banquet of Heaven, and I send my blessing to all who share in the sorrow of his passing.

Francis

            Among the Salesian Cardinals, especially endowed with great theological charisma, Cardinal Angelo Amato stands out, leaving a great heritage of doctrine and wisdom available not only to the Pontifical Salesian University but also to various institutional centres of study and spirituality, with the hope that it continues to impact the life of the Church and the formative Communities.

✠ Tarcisio Card. Bertone

On December 24, 2024, on Christmas Eve, the Pope opened the Bronze Door in St. Peter’s Basilica, thus marking the beginning of the Jubilee of 2025. This gesture was subsequently repeated in other basilicas: on December 27, on the Feast of St. John Apostle and Evangelist, in the Lateran Basilica (of which he is co-patron); on January 1, 2025, the solemnity of Mary the Holy Mother of God, in the Basilica of St. Mary Major; and finally on January 5, the Vigil of the Epiphany, in the Basilica of St. Paul Outside the Walls.
Below, we briefly explain what the Jubilee is and the Jubilee basilicas where it is possible to obtain plenary indulgence.

Origins
Sometimes there is confusion between the first Jubilee and the first Bull that established their frequency, however the Jubilee finds its roots in biblical legislation. It was God Himself who commanded Moses to celebrate a “Jubilee” year every fifty years (Leviticus 25). Over the centuries, this practice passed on to the Christian community, gradually adapting to the needs and traditions of the Church.

In 1300, in response to the great influx of pilgrims to Rome, Pope Boniface VIII published the bull Antiquorum Habet Fida Relatio, which did not establish the Jubilee ex novo, rather it recognised the already existing secular tradition. He conducted various inquiries, even questioning very elderly people, such as a 107-year-old Savoyard, who remembered being brought to Rome by his father a hundred years earlier to gain “great indulgences”. This widespread belief prompted Boniface VIII to solemnly establish what was being transmitted orally, namely the possibility of obtaining the plenary indulgence by visiting St. Peter’s Basilica during the “secular” year.

Originally, according to the bull of Boniface VIII, the Jubilee was to be celebrated every hundred years. However, the periods between Jubilees changed over time:
– Pope Clement VI reduced it to every fifty years (thus resuming the frequency of the Old Testament);
– Pope Gregory XI set it every thirty-three years, in memory of the years of Jesus’ life;
– Pope Paul II finally established the frequency of twenty-five years, so that more faithful, including young people, could enjoy this grace at least once in their lifetime (considering the low life expectancy of those times).

In addition to “ordinary” Jubilees (every 25 years), “extraordinary” Jubilees are sometimes proclaimed for particular circumstances or needs of the Church. The last three extraordinary Jubilees have been:
– 1933-1934: Extraordinary Jubilee of Redemption (1900th anniversary of the Redemption of Christ, traditionally dated to the year 33 AD);
– 1983-1984: Extraordinary Jubilee of Redemption (1950th anniversary of the Redemption of Christ);
– 2015-2016: Extraordinary Jubilee of Mercy (to centre upon the theme of Mercy).
Since not everyone could travel to Rome, the Popes granted the possibility of obtaining the plenary indulgence also to those who, for economic reasons or other nature, could not travel. Instead of the pilgrimage, other works of piety, penance, and charity could be performed, as is still the case today.

Meaning and spirit of the Jubilee
The Jubilee is a strong time of penance and conversion, aimed at the remission of sins and growth in God’s grace. In particular, the Church invites us to:

1. Renew the memory of our Redemption and evoke a lively gratitude towards the Divine Saviour.
2. Revive in us faith, hope, and charity.
3. Arm ourselves, thanks to the Lord’s particular enlightenment in this period of grace, against errors, impiety, corruption, and scandals that surround us.
4. Awaken and increase the spirit of prayer, a Christian’s fundamental weapon.
5. Cultivate penance of the heart, correct behaviours, and repair with good works those sins that draw God’s wrath.
6. Obtain, through the conversion of sinners and the perfection of the righteous, that God anticipates in His mercy the triumph of the truth taught by the Church.

One of the culminating moments for the faithful during the Jubilee is the passage through the Holy Door, a gesture that must be preceded by a remote preparation path (prayer, penance, and charity) and by a proximate preparation (fulfilling the conditions to receive the plenary indulgence). It is important to remember that one cannot receive the plenary indulgence if one is in a state of grave sin.

The conditions for receiving plenary indulgence are:
1. Sacramental confession.
2. Eucharistic communion.
3. Prayer according to the intentions of the Holy Father (an Our Father and a Hail Mary).
4. Inner disposition of total detachment from sin, even venial (that is, the strong will to longer want to offend God).
If full disposition is lacking or if all conditions are not met, the indulgence is only partial.

Information on the Jubilee of 2025
As usual, this Jubilee was proclaimed by a Bull of Indiction, entitled Spes Non Confundit, which can be consulted HERE. Additionally, the Norms on the Granting of the Indulgence During the Ordinary Jubilee of 2025 are available, and can be read HERE. The official website of the Jubilee of 2025, with information on the organization, events, calendar, and more, can be found HERE.

In the jubilee tradition of the Catholic Church, pilgrims arriving in Rome make a “devout pilgrimage” to the churches enriched with indulgence. This custom dates back to the time of the first Christians, who loved to pray at the tombs of the apostles and martyrs, certain of receiving particular graces through the intercession of St. Peter, St. Paul, and the many martyrs who soaked the land of Rome with their blood.

In 2025, several pilgrimage routes have been proposed, and in each of the indicated churches, it is possible to obtain the plenary indulgence. All the basilicas and churches mentioned below have been enriched with this jubilee gift.

1. Itinerary of the four Papal Basilicas
The four Papal Basilicas of Rome are:
1.1 St. Peter in Vatican City
1.2 St. John Lateran
1.3 St. Mary Major
1.4 St. Paul Outside the Walls

2. Pilgrimage of the 7 churches
The pilgrimage of the Seven Churches, initiated by St. Philip Neri in the 16th century, is one of the oldest Roman traditions. The itinerary, about 25 km long, winds through the entire city, also touching the Roman countryside and the catacombs.
In addition to the four Papal Basilicas, it includes:
2.5 Basilica of St. Lawrence Outside the Walls
2.6 Basilica of the Holy Cross in Jerusalem
2.7 Basilica of St. Sebastian Outside the Walls

3. “Iter Europaeum”
The Iter Europaeum is a pilgrimage through 28 churches and basilicas in Rome, each associated with one of the member states of the European Union for its artistic, cultural value, or for the tradition of hosting pilgrims from that specific country.

4. Female Patrons of Europe and Doctors of the Church
This route offers the opportunity to get to know European saints more closely, particularly those recognised as Female Patrons of Europe or Doctors of the Church. The itinerary leads pilgrims through the alleys of the Monti district, Piazza della Minerva, and other iconic places in Rome, to discover female figures of great importance in the history of Catholicism.

5. Christian Catacombs
Places that are both historical and sacred, where the mortal remains of numerous saints and martyrs are preserved.

6. Other Jubilee Churches
In these churches, catechesis will be held in various languages to rediscover the meaning of the Holy Year. It will also be possible to approach the Sacrament of Reconciliation and enrich one’s experience of faith through prayer.

Basilicas or churches enriched with plenary indulgence
To facilitate visits and devotion, here we are presenting the list of all the basilicas and churches enriched with plenary indulgence for the Jubilee of 2025, accompanied by links to the Jubilee sites, Google Maps, the official web pages of the individual places of worship, and other useful information. Three of them have been repeated because they are included in a double category (Basilica of St. Mary of Minerva, St. Paul at the Rule, and St. Bridget at Campo de’ Fiori).

The start of a new year in our liturgy, is enlightened by the ancient blessing with which the Israelite priests used to bless the people: “May the Lord bless you and keep you. May the Lord let his face shine upon you and be gracious to you. May the Lord look upon you with kindness and give you peace.”

Dear friends and readers of the Salesian Bulletin, we are at the beginning of a new year. Let us express our best wishes to each other for this new year and for all the time that lies ahead. Let our greetings be a gift that contains all other gifts for a truly fulfilling life.
Let this wish be really enlightening. Let us let Don Bosco who, when he arrived at the seminary in Chieri stopped in front of the sundial that still exists today in the courtyard, and reflected: “Looking up at a sundial, I read this verse: “Afflictis lentae, celeres gaudentibus horae.” Here, I said to my friend, is our program of life: let us always be cheerful and time will pass quickly (Biographical Memoirs I, 374).
Our first wish to all of you is to live what Don Bosco reminds us: live well, live serenely, and bring serenity to all those around you and time will acquire a different value! Every moment in time is a treasure; but it is a treasure that passes quickly. Don Bosco always loved to comment: “The three enemies of man are: death (which surprises); time (which escapes him), the devil (who lays his snares to entice him)” (MB V, 926).
According to an old saying: “Remember that being happy is not having a sky without storms, a road without accidents, work without effort, and relationships without disappointments.” “Being happy is not just celebrating successes, but learning lessons from failures. Being happy is recognizing that life is worth living, despite all the challenges, misunderstandings, and periods of crisis. It is thanking God every morning for the miracle of life.”
A wise man kept a huge pendulum clock in his study that chimed every hour with solemn slowness, but also with a resounding echo.
“But doesn’t it disturb you?” asked a student.
“No,” replied the wise man. “Because at every hour I am forced to ask myself: what have I done with the hour that has just passed?”
Time is the only non-renewable resource. It consumes itself at an incredible speed. We know that we will not have another chance. Therefore, all the good we can do, all the love we can give, all the kindness and the gentleness we are capable of must be given now. Because we will not return to this earth again. With a perpetual veil of remorse within us, we feel that Someone will ask us: “What have you done with all that time I gave you?”

Our hope is called Jesus.
In this new year that we have just begun, the dates and numbers of a calendar are conventional signs; they are signs and numbers invented to measure time. In the transition from the old year to the new year, very little has changed. Yet the perception of a year that is ending forces us to always take stock. How much have we loved? How much have we lost? How much have we become better? How much have we become worse? Passing time never leaves us the same.
The liturgy, at the dawn of the new year, has its own way of making us take stock. It does so through the initial words of the Gospel of John – words that may seem to be difficult to grasp, but actually reflect the depth of life: “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God: all things were made through him, and without him nothing was made that was made. In him was life, and the life was the light of men; the light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not comprehend it.” At the core of every life resounds a Word greater than us. It is the reason for our existence, for the existence of the world, for the existence of everything. This Word is God Himself – the Son. This Word is Jesus. The name of the reason why we were made is called Jesus.
He is the true reason for which everything exists, and it is in him that we can understand what exists. Our life should not be judged by comparing it with history, with its events, and with its way of thinking. Our life cannot be judged by looking at ourselves and at our own experience alone. Our life is understandable only if it is approached from the perspective of Jesus. In him everything takes on a profound sense of meaning. Even the apparent contradictions and injustices are seen in a different light. It is by looking at Jesus that we come to get a deeper insight into ourselves. A psalm says it well: “In your light, we see light.”
This is the way to see Time according to the Heart of God, and we hope to live this new time in this way.
The new year will bring to all of us, to the Salesian family, and to the Congregation in particular important events and novelties. All in the context of the gift of the Jubilee that we are living in the Church!
Within the spirit of the Jubilee, let us be carried away by the Hope that is the presence of God in our lives.
The first month of this new year, January, is dotted with Salesian feasts that lead us to the Solemnity of Don Bosco. Let us thank God for this delightful dish with which he allows us to begin this new year.
Let us therefore leave the last word to Don Bosco and let this maxim of his shape our 2025: “My children, preserve time and time will preserve you forever.” (MB XVIII 482, 864).

As the pastor of a diocese the vast majority of which was made up of illiterate villagers and mountain dwellers, heirs to an ancestral and practical culture, Francis de Sales was also the promoter of a learned culture among the intellectual elite.To convey his message, he understood that he had to get to know his audience and take account of their needs and tastes.When he spoke to people, and especially when he wrote for educated people, his method was the one he set out in the Preface to his ‘Treatise on the Love of God’: ‘Of course, I took into consideration the condition of the minds of this century, and I had to: it is very important to consider the age in which one writes’.

Francis de Sales and popular culture
            Born into a noble family with strong ties to the land, Francis de Sales was never a stranger to popular culture. The environment in which he grew up already brought him into close contact with the common people, to the extent that he himself would willingly place himself among the ‘big mountain people’ when they got up in the morning. During his pastoral visits, he used the patois, colloquially familiar with ‘the coarse language of the country to make himself better heard’. In any case, it is certain that direct contact with the population as a whole gave his pastoral experience a concrete and warm character.
            As we know, popular culture is much better expressed in narrative form than in writing. Need we remind you that while a certain percentage of the population could read, most could not write? Nevertheless, books from established booksellers and hawkers were appearing, not only in towns but also in villages. This production of inexpensive booklets must have been very varied, with the majority undoubtedly coming from popular literature that conveyed a still medieval sensibility: lives of saints, romances of chivalry, marvellous tales, stories of brigands or almanacs with their weather forecasts and practical advice.
            But popular culture was also conveyed through everyday encounters and festivals, when people went out to eat and drink together in taverns and cabarets, particularly ‘on weddings, christenings, funerals and confraternities’, and at fairs and markets. Francis de Sales may well have done society a favour by not systematically shunning all forms of conviviality and public revelry, imposing restrictions only on ecclesiastics who were obliged to keep to themselves.

Wisdom and know-how
            A sympathetic observer of nature and people, François de Sales learned a great deal through his contact with them. It was the farmers and those who ploughed the land who told him that when it snows in winter, the harvest will be better the following year. As for the shepherds and herdsmen in the mountains, their care for their flocks is an example of ‘pastoral’ zeal. In the world of trades, we often discover admirable know-how:
            ‘Ploughmen do not sow fields until they have cleared them and removed the thorns; masons do not use stones until they have cut them; locksmiths do not use iron until they have beaten it; goldsmiths do not use gold until it has been purified in the crucible.’
            Humour is not absent from some of the stories he tells. Since ancient times, barbers have been known as great talkers; when one of them asked a king: ‘How would you like me to do your beard? the king replied: ‘Without saying a word.’ Carpenters work small miracles: with a twisted piece of wood they can create ‘some beautiful masterpiece’. Glassmakers, too, are astonishing, creating marvels with the breath of their mouths.
            As for the art of typography, he understood its importance, especially for religious purposes. In a letter to the nuncio in Turin in May 1598, he lamented: ‘There should be a printer in Annecy. Heretics are publishing very pernicious books all the time, while many Catholic works remain in the hands of their authors because they cannot be sent safely to Lyon and they have no printer at their disposal’.

Art and artists
            In the arts, the triumph of the Renaissance shone through in works inspired by antiquity. Francis de Sales was able to contemplate them during his visits to Italy and France. In Rome, during his trip in 1599, he admired the great dome of St Peter’s, barely finished a few years earlier, and noted that Christian Rome had nothing to envy of pagan Rome:
Tell me, where is the memory of Nero? Everything aid about him now is bad.Oh, what is the memory of the glorious apostle Saint Peter, a poor fisherman, barefoot and simple!Great is the palace, the basilica, the monument of Saint Peter; that of Nero is nothing.
            At the time, classical sculpture was the object of the greatest admiration, so much so, he said, that even ‘the parts of ancient statues are kept as a reminder of antiquity’. He himself mentions several sculptors of antiquity, starting with Phidias: he, who ‘never represented anything so perfectly as the divinities’, ‘made a statue of Minerva, all of ivory, twenty-six cubits high in Athens’, and on his shield ‘he engraved his own face with such art that not a single strand of his image could be removed,’ says Aristotle, ‘without the whole statue collapsing’. Here is Polyclitus, ‘my Polyclitus, who is so dear to me’, he said, whose ‘master hand’ worked on the bronze. Francis de Sales also evoked the Colossus of Rhodes, symbol of divine providence, in whom there is ‘neither change nor a shadow of vicissitude’.
            Now we come to the famous painters mentioned by Pliny and Plutarch: Aurelius, a man who ‘painted all the faces of the images he made in the air and likeness of the women he loved’; the ‘unique Apelles’, Alexander the Great’s favourite painter; Timanthe, who veiled Agamemnon’s head because he despaired of being able to convey the consternation on his face at the death of his daughter Iphigenia; Protogenes, who ‘made an excellent masterpiece of an admirable satyr who enjoyed playing the flageolet’.
            He was especially attracted to religious painting, which was strongly recommended by his former spiritual director Possevin, who sent him his ‘charming work’ De poesi et pictura. He considered himself a painter, because, as he wrote in the preface to his Introduction to the Devout Life, ‘God wants me to paint not only the common virtues, but also his very dear and beloved devotion on people’s hearts’.
            Francis de Sales also loved singing and music. We know that he had hymns sung during catechism classes, but we would like to know what was sung in his cathedral. Once, in a letter, the day after a ceremony where a text from the Song of Songs had been sung, he exclaimed: ‘Ah! how well it was sung yesterday in our church and in my heart! He knew and appreciated the differences between instruments: ‘Among instruments, drums and trumpets make more noise, but lutes and spinet instruments make more melody; the sound of one is louder, and the other more suave and spiritual’.

The Florimontane Academy (1606)
            “The city of Annecy,” wrote his nephew Charles-Auguste de Sales pompously, “was similar to Athens under such a great prelate as Francis de Sales, and under such a great president as Antoine Favre, and was inhabited by a large number of doctors, either theologians or lawyers, or people well versed in humanities.”
            People have wondered how Francis de Sales came up with the idea of founding an academy with his friend Antoine Favre at the end of 1606, which they called ‘Florimontane’, ‘because the Muses flourished in the mountains of Savoy’. Coming into existence in Italy at the end of the 14th century, the academies had spread far and wide across the Alps. It should not be forgotten that the Calvinists in Geneva had their own, and this must have played a major role in the creation of a Catholic rival.
            The Florimontane Academy had its own emblem: an orange tree, admired by Francis de Sales because it was full of flowers and fruit almost all year round (flores fructusque perennes). In fact, explained Francis, ‘in Italy, on the coast of Genova, and even in these countries of France, as in Provence, along the shores you can see it bearing its leaves, flowers and fruit in every season’.
            The Academy was made up of recognised scholars and masters, but public lectures were planned to give it the air of a small people’s university. Indeed, the general assemblies could be attended by ‘all brave masters of the honest arts, such as painters, sculptors, carpenters, architects and the like’.
            We can guess that the aim of the two founders was to bring together the intellectual elite of Savoy and to place literature, the sciences and the arts at the service of faith and piety in accordance with the ideal of Christian humanism. The meetings were held in Antoine Favre’s home, where his children helped to welcome the guests. So there was something of a family atmosphere. In fact, as one article put it, ‘all the academicians will maintain a mutual and fraternal love’.
            The Academy got off to a brilliant and promising start. In 1610, no more than three years after its beginnings, Antoine Favre was appointed President of the Senate of Savoy and left for Chambéry. The bishop, for his part, was unable to maintain the Académie on his own, and it declined and disappeared. But while its existence was short-lived, its influence was enduring. The cultural project that had given rise to it was taken up by the Barnabites, who arrived at Annecy College in 1614. It is sometimes said that the Florimontane Academy inspired Cardinal Richelieu to create the Académie Française.

A Galileo affair in Annecy?
            The Collège d’Annecy was famous for Father Baranzano. This Barnabite from Piedmont, who embraced the new scientific theories, was a brilliant teacher who aroused the admiration and even the enthusiasm of his pupils. In 1617, without the permission of his superiors, his disciples published a summary of his lectures, in which he developed Copernicus’ planetary system and the ideas of Galileo. The book in question immediately caused such a stir that the author was recalled to Milan by his superiors.
            In September 1617, Bishop de Sales wrote a letter to his superior general asking him to return to Annecy, where he was ‘much appreciated’ and ‘very useful’. The bishop’s wish was granted and Father Baranzano returned to Annecy at the end of October that year. In 1618, the religious published a pamphlet to make amends for his mistake, but there is no evidence that he renounced his ideas.
            In 1619, he published Novae opiniones physicae in Lyon, the first volume of the second part of an ambitious Summa philosophica anneciensis. The bishop gave his official approval to ‘this erudite work by an erudite man’, and authorised its printing. It should be noted that Baranzano acquired an international reputation and came into contact with Francis Bacon, the English promoter of the reform of the sciences, with the German astronomer Johannes Kepler, and with Galileo himself. It was a time when Galileo was being recklessly prosecuted in order to safeguard the authority of the Bible, which had been compromised by the new theories on the rotation of the earth around the sun.
            While Cardinal Bellarmine was worried about the dangers of the new theories, for François de Sales there could be no contradiction between reason and faith. And was not the sun the symbol of celestial love around which everything moves, and the centre of devotion?

Religious poetry
            The Renaissance had rehabilitated ancient, pagan poetry, which François had studied at school, and from which the Jesuits had expunged the most disturbing passages for young sensibilities. As a young man, he had been seduced by the biblical poetry of the Song of Songs and the Psalms, which would accompany him throughout his life. He himself wrote a number of religious poems that have come down to us.
            The fact remains that it was not a few rather clumsy verses that ensured his literary reputation, which, during his lifetime, was sufficiently established for writers and poets to seek contact with him. Such was the case with the Provençal magistrate and poet Jean de la Ceppède, one of the great exponents of Baroque religious poetry, who sent him a copy of his Théorèmes sur le sacré mystère de la Rédemption. What delighted him most in this poet’s verses was that he had succeeded in ‘transforming the pagan muses into Christians, to remove them from this old Parnassus and lodge them on the new sacred Calvary’.
            Francis de Sales knew and admired the power of poetry, ‘for it is marvellous how much power discourse compressed into the laws of verse has to penetrate hearts and subdue memory’. In 1616, the Lyonnais poet René Gros de Saint-Joyre sent him his manuscript of La mire de vie à l’amour parfait, a poem in French verse divided into stanzas of eight lines, dedicated to the abbess of the Benedictine monastery of Saint-Pierre de Lyon.
            By the Basque-born poet and humanist Jean de Sponde, he cites not the Sonnets d’amour or the Stances sur la mort, but the Réponse au Traité des marques de l’Église by Théodore de Bèze and the Déclaration sur les motifs de la conversion by this former Calvinist, whom he considered a ‘great mind’. He was also in contact with the Burgundian poet and memoirist Jean de Lacurne, who was considered ‘the delight of Apollo and all the Muses’, and to whom he declared: ‘I make much of your writings’.

Learned culture and theology
            He also asked about the theological books that were appearing. After having ‘seen with extreme pleasure’ a draft of the Somme de théologie, he took the liberty of giving the author some advice. His opinion was that it was necessary to cut out all the ‘methodical’, ‘superfluous’ and ‘importunate’ words, to prevent the Summa from becoming too ‘fat’, to ensure that it was ‘nothing but juice and marrow’, by making it ‘more palatable and pleasant’, and not to be afraid of using the ‘affective style’.
            Later, writing to one of his priests who was engaged in literary and scientific work, he made more or less the same recommendations. It was necessary, according to him, to take into account ‘the mood of the world’, ‘to write to the taste of this poor world’, and ‘to treat pious and holy things in a pleasant, historical way and which charmed a little the curiosity of the spirits of the time’. To write ‘to the taste of this poor world’ meant agreeing to use certain means capable of arousing the interest of the reader of the time:
Sir, we are fishermen, and fishers of men.We must therefore use not only care, work and vigilance in this fishing, but also bait, tricks, lures, yes even, if I dare say, holy tricks.The world is becoming so delicate that from now on we will only dare to touch it with musk gloves, or dress its wounds with civet plasters; but what does it matter, as long as men are healed and saved at last?Our queen, charity, does everything for her children.
            Another fault, especially among theologians, was the lack of clarity, to the point where one felt like writing on the first page of certain works: Fiat lux. His friend, Bishop Camus, recalls this comment by his hero about the work of an illegible author: ‘This man has given several books to the public, but I don’t realise that he has brought any of them to light. It’s a great pity to be so learned and yet not be able to express oneself. It’s like those women who are pregnant with several children and can’t give birth to any of them. He added with conviction: ‘Above all, long live clarity; without it nothing can be pleasant’. According to Camus, the works of Francis de Sales certainly contain difficulties, but obscurity is a flaw that was never found on his pen.

A writer full of projects
            Towards the end of his life, his pen was still busy with numerous projects. Michel Favre has stated that he planned to write a treatise De l’amour du prochain, as well as a Histoire théandrique, in which ‘he wanted to describe the life of Our Lord humanised and suggest ways of easily practising the evangelical maxims’. According to his confidant and future biographer, Dom Jean de Saint-François, the Histoire théandrique was to consist of four books: a ‘clear and vulgar version of the four evangelists united and allied together in a manner of concordance’, a demonstration ‘of the principal points of the creed of the Catholic Church’, an ‘instruction in good morals and the practice of Christian virtues’, and finally a history of the Acts of the Apostles to show ‘what the face of the primitive Church was at its birth, and the order and conduct that the Holy Spirit and the apostles established in it at its first beginning’.
            He also had in mind a Book of the four loves, in which he wanted to teach how we should love God, love ourselves, love our friends and love our enemies; a book of the evangelical maxims, as well as a familiar explanation of the mysteries of our holy faith.
            None of these works will ever see the light of day. I shall die like pregnant women,’ he wrote, ’without producing what I have conceived. His ‘philosophy’ was that ‘you have to take on much more than you know what to do with, and as if you were going to live a long time, but don’t worry about doing more than if you were going to die tomorrow’.

Wise men tell us that to understand an event, one must know what its origin is and what its purpose is.This is also the case with the now widespread phenomenon of Halloween, which rather than a holiday to celebrate is an event to reflect upon.This is to avoid celebrating a culture of death that has nothing to do with Christianity.

Halloween, as it stands today, is a holiday that has its commercial origins in the United States and has spread throughout the world over the past three decades. It is celebrated on the night between 31 October and 1 November and has some symbols of its own:
– The costumes: dressing up in scary clothes to represent fantastic characters or monstrous creatures.
– Carved pumpkins: the tradition of carving pumpkins, inserting a light inside to create jack-o’-lanterns.
– Trick-or-treating: a custom of knocking on doors of houses and asking for sweets in exchange for a promise not to trick-or-treat.

It seems to be one of the commercial festivals cultivated on purpose by some interested parties to increase their revenue. In fact, in 2023 in the US alone, $12.2 billion was spent (according to the National Retail Federation) and in the UK about £700 million (according to market analysts). These figures also explain the widespread media coverage, with real strategies to cultivate the event, turning it into a mass phenomenon and presenting it as just a casual amusement, a collective game.

Origin
If we go looking for the beginnings of Halloween – because every contingent thing has its beginning and its end – we find that it dates back to the polytheistic pagan beliefs of the Celtic world.
The ancient people of the Celts, a nomadic people who spread throughout Europe, were best able to preserve their culture, language and beliefs in the British Isles, moreover in Ireland, in the area where the Roman Empire had never arrived. One of their pagan festivals, called Samhain, was celebrated between the last days of October and early November and was the ‘new year’ that opened the annual cycle. As the length of the day decreased and the length of the night increased at that time, it was believed that the boundary between the world of the living and the world of the dead became thin, allowing the souls of the dead to return to earth (also in the form of animals) and also allowing evil spirits to enter. That is why they used frightening masks to confuse or drive away the spirits, so as not to be touched by their evil influence. The celebration was compulsory for all, began in the evening and consisted of magic rites, ritual fires, animal sacrifices and probably also human sacrifices. On those nights, their Druid priests went to every house to receive something from the people for their sacrifices, under penalty of curses.

The custom of carving a turnip in the shape of a monstrous face, placing a light inside and placing it on the doorstep of houses, in time gave rise to a legend that better explains the meaning. It is the legend of the Irish blacksmith Stingy Jack, a man who tricks the devil several times and, upon his death, is received neither in heaven nor in hell. Being in darkness and forced to look for a place for his eternal rest, he asked for and received from the devil a burning log, which he stuck inside a turnip he had with him, creating a lantern, the Jack-o’-lantern. But he found no rest and continues to wander to this day. Legend wants to symbolise the damned souls that wander the earth and find no rest. This explains the custom of placing an ugly turnip in front of the house, to instil fear and drive away any wandering souls that might approach on that night.

The Roman world also had a similar festival, called Lemuria or Lemuralia, dedicated to keeping the spirits of the dead away from homes; it was celebrated on 9, 11 and 13 May. The spirits were called ‘lemurs’ (the word ‘lemur’ comes from the Latin larva, meaning ‘ghost’ or ‘mask’). These celebrations were thought to be associated with the figure of Romulus, founder of Rome, who is said to have instituted the rites to appease the spirit of his brother Remus, whom he killed; however, it seems that the holiday was instituted in the first century AD.

This type of pagan celebration, also found in other cultures, reflects the awareness that life continues after death, even if this awareness is mixed with many errors and superstitions. The Church did not want to deny this seed of truth that, in one form or another, was in the soul of the pagans, but sought to correct it.

In the Church, the cult of martyrs has been there from the very beginning. Around the 4th century AD, the commemoration of the martyrs was celebrated on the first Sunday after Pentecost. In 609 A.D., Pope Boniface IV moved this commemoration to the feast of All Saints, on 13 May. In 732 A.D. Pope Gregory III again moved the feast of All Saints (in Old English ‘All Hallows’) to 1 November, and the preceding day became known as All Hallows’ Eve, from which the abbreviated form Halloween is derived.
The immediate proximity of the dates suggests that the shift in commemoration by the Church was due to a desire to correct ancestor worship. The last shift indicates that the Celtic pagan festival Samhain had also remained in the Christian world.

Diffusion
This pagan celebration – a primarily religious festival – preserved in the vaults of Irish culture even after the Christianisation of society, reappeared with the massive migration of the Irish to the United States following the great famine that hit the country in 1845-1846.
The immigrants, in order to preserve their cultural identity, began to celebrate various festivals of their own as times of gathering and recreation, including All Hallows. Perhaps more than a religious festival, it was a festival without religious references, linked to celebrating the abundance of harvests.
This encouraged the revival of the ancient Celtic use of the lantern, and people began to use not the turnip but the pumpkin for its larger size and softness that favoured carving.

In the first half of the 20th century, the pragmatic spirit of the Americans – seizing the opportunity to make money – extended this holiday nationwide, and Halloween costumes and apparel began to appear in the markets on an industrial scale: ghosts, skeletons, witches, vampires, zombies, etc.

After 1950, the holiday also began to spread to schools and homes. The custom of children going around knocking on houses asking for treats with the expression: ‘Trick or treat?’ appeared.

Driven by commercial interests, this led to a true national holiday with secular connotations, devoid of religious elements, which would be exported all over the world especially in the last decades.

Reflection
If we look closely, the elements found in the Celtic rites of the pagan festival Samhain have remained. These are clothes, lanterns, threats of curses.
The clothes are monstrous and frightening: ghosts, creepy clowns, witches, zombies, werewolves, vampires, heads pierced by daggers, disfigured corpses, devils.
Hideous pumpkins carved like severed heads with a macabre light inside.
Kids walking around the houses asking ‘Trick or treat?’ reminiscent of the ‘curse or sacrifice’ of Druid priests.
We first ask ourselves whether these elements can be considered worthy of cultivation. Since when have the frightening, the macabre, the dark, the horrific, the hopelessly dead defined human dignity? They are indeed outrageously outrageous.

And we wonder whether all this does not contribute to cultivating an occult, esoteric dimension, given that these are the same elements used by the dark world of witchcraft and Satanism. And whether the dark and gothic fashion, like all the other decorations of macabrely carved pumpkins, cobwebs, bats and skeletons, does not foment an approach to the occult.

Is it by chance that tragic events regularly occur in conjunction with this festival?
Is it by chance that desecrations, grave offences against the Christian religion and even sacrilege occur regularly on these days?
Is it by chance that for Satanists the main holiday, which marks the beginning of the Satanic year, is Halloween?
Does it not produce, especially for young people, a familiarisation with a magical and occult mentality, distant and contrary to Christian faith and culture, especially at this time when Christian praxis is weakened by secularisation and relativism?

Let us look at some testimonies.

An English lady, Doreen Irvine, a former Satanist priestess converted to Christianity, warns in her book From Witchcraft to Christ that the tactic used to approach occultism consists precisely in proposing the occult in attractive forms, with mysteries that incite, passing everything off as a natural, even sympathetic experience.

The founder of the Church of Satan, Anton LaVey, openly declared his joy that the baptised participate in the Halloween festival: ‘I am glad that Christian parents allow their children to worship the devil at least one night a year.Welcome to Halloween’.

Fr Aldo Buonaiuto, of the Anti-cult Service of the Pope John XXIII Community Association, in his paper, Halloween.The devil’s trick, warns us that ‘Satan’s devotees consider the “energies” of all those who, even if only for fun, are evoking the world of darkness in the perverse rites practised in his honour, throughout the month of October and in particular on the night between 31 October and 1 November, to be a gift to him’.

Fr Francesco Bamonte, exorcist and vice-president of the International Association of Exorcists (former president of the same for two consecutive terms), warns:
‘My experience, together with that of other exorcist priests, shows how  Halloween, including the period of time that prepares for it, in fact represents, for many young people, a privileged moment of contact with sectarian realities or in any case linked to the world of occultism, with even serious consequences not only on a spiritual level, but also on that of psychophysical integrity. First of all, it must be said that this feast imprints ugliness at the very least. And by imprinting ugliness on children, the taste for the horrid, the deformed, the monstrous put on the same level as the beautiful, it somehow orients them to evil and despair. In heaven, where only goodness reigns, everything is beautiful. In hell, where only hatred reigns, all is ugly.’ […]
‘On the basis of my ministry as an exorcist, I can state that Halloween is, in the calendar of magicians, occult practitioners and Satan worshippers, one of the most important ‘holidays’; Consequently, for them, it is a source of great satisfaction that the minds and hearts of so many children, adolescents, young people and not a few adults are directed towards the macabre, the demonic, witchcraft, through the representation of coffins, skulls, skeletons, vampires, ghosts, thus adhering to the mocking and sinister vision of the most important and decisive moment of a human being’s existence: the end of his earthly life. ’ […]
‘We exorcists do not tire of warning against this recurrence, which not only through immoral or dangerous conduct, but also through the lightness of entertainment considered harmless (and unfortunately hosted more and more often even in parish spaces) can both prepare the ground for a future disturbing action, even heavy, on the part of the devil, and allow the Evil One to affect and disfigure the souls of the young.’

It is young people in particular who suffer the widespread impact of the Halloween phenomenon. Without serious discernment criteria, they risk being attracted by ugliness and not beauty, by darkness and not light, by wickedness and not goodness.

We need to reflect on whether to continue celebrating the feast of darkness, Halloween, or the feast of light, All Saints…

One Sunday, around noon, a young woman was washing salad in the kitchen, when she was approached by her husband who asked her teasingly:
“Could you tell me what the pastor said in this morning’s sermon?”
“I don’’ remember any more,” the woman confessed.
“Why then do you go to church to hear sermons if you don’t remember them?”
“You see, dear: the water washes my salad and yet it does not remain in the colander; yet my salad is completely washed.

It is not important to take notes. It is important to let oneself be “washed” by the Word of God.

On 4 June 2024, the new rooms of the Salesian General Postulation located at the Zeffirino Namuncurà community in Via della Bufalotta in Rome were opened and blessed by the then Rector Major, Cardinal Ángel Fernández Artime.In the plan to restructure the headquarters, the Rector Major with his Council decided to locate the rooms relating to the Salesian General Postulation in this new Salesian presence in Rome.

            From Don Bosco to the present day we recognise a tradition of holiness that deserves attention, because it is the embodiment of the charism that originated with him and that has been expressed in a plurality of states of life and forms. We are talking about men and women, young people and adults, consecrated and lay people, bishops and missionaries who in different historical, cultural and social contexts in time and space have made the Salesian charism shine with special light, representing a heritage that plays an effective role in the life and community of believers and for people of good will. The Postulation accompanies 64 Causes of Beatification and Canonisation concerning 179 Saints, Blesseds, Venerables, Servants of God. It is worth noting that about half of the Salesian Family groups (15 out of 32) have at least one Cause of Beatification and Canonisation underway.

            The plans for the work were drawn up and supervised by architect Toti Cameroni. Having identified the space for the location of the Postulation rooms, which originally comprised a long and wide corridor and a large hall, it then went on to the study of their distribution based on the requirements. The final solution was thus designed and realised:

The library with full-height bookcases divided into 40×40 cm squares that completely cover the walls. The purpose is to collect and store the various publications on saintly figures, in the knowledge that the lives and writings of the saints have, since ancient times, constituted frequent reading among the faithful, arousing conversion and a desire for a better life: they reflect the splendour of Christ’s goodness, truth and charity. In addition, this space is also well suited for personal research, hosting groups and meetings.

            From here we move on to the reception area, which is intended to be a space for spirituality and meditation, as in the visits to the monasteries of Mount Athos, where the guest was first introduced to the chapel of the relics of the saints: that is where the heart of the monastery was located and from there came the incitement to holiness for the monks. In this space there is a series of small showcases illuminating reliquaries or valuables related to Salesian holiness. The right-hand wall is lined with wooden panelling with replaceable panels depicting some of the Salesian Family’s saints, blessed, venerable and servants of God.
            A door leads into the largest room of the postulation: the archives. A 640 linear metre compactor allows for the archiving of a large number of documents relating to the various processes of Beatification and Canonisation. A long chest of drawers is located under the windows: there are liturgical images and vestments.
            A small corridor from the reception area, where canvases and paintings can be admired on the walls, leads first into two brightly lit offices with furnishings and then into the relics case. Also in this space, furniture fills the walls, cabinets and drawers accommodate the relics and liturgical vestments.

A storage room and a small room used as a rest area complete the postulation rooms.
            The opening and blessing of these rooms reminds us that we are custodians of a precious heritage that deserves to be known and valued. In addition to the liturgical-celebratory aspect, the spiritual, pastoral, ecclesial, educational, cultural, historical, social, missionary… potential of the Causes must be fully valorised. Holiness recognised, or in the process of being recognised, on the one hand is already a realisation of evangelical radicalism and fidelity to Don Bosco’s apostolic project, to be looked to as a spiritual and pastoral resource; on the other hand it is a provocation to live one’s vocation faithfully in order to be available to bear witness to love to the extreme. Our Saints, Blesseds, Venerables and Servants of God are the authentic incarnation of the Salesian charism and the Constitutions or Regulations of our Institutes and Groups in the most diverse times and situations, overcoming that worldliness and spiritual superficiality which undermine our credibility and fruitfulness at the root.
            Experience confirms more and more that the promotion and care of the Causes of Beatification and Canonisation of our Family, the celebration together of events related to holiness, are dynamics of grace that give rise to gospel joy and a sense of charismatic belonging, renewing intentions and commitments of fidelity to the call received and generating apostolic and vocational fruitfulness. The saints are true mystics of the primacy of God in the generous gift of self, prophets of evangelical fraternity, servants of their brothers and sisters with creativity.

            In order to promote the Causes of Beatification and Canonisation of the Salesian Family and to get to know at first hand the heritage of holiness that flourished from Don Bosco, the Postulation is available to welcome people and groups who wish to get to know and visit these environments, also offering the possibility of mini-retirements with itineraries on specific themes and the presentation of documents, relics, significant objects. For information write to postulatore@sdb.org.

Photo gallery – The new rooms of the Salesian General Postulation

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On Sunday 29 September, at 12:30 p.m. (UTC+2),
at the basilica of Mary Help of Christians in Valdocco, 27 Salesians of Don
Bosco and 8 Daughters of Mary Help of Christians will receive the missionary
crucifix, renewing their apostolic generosity in favour of so many young people
throughout the world.

As is the case every year, on the last Sunday of September, Don Bosco’s
missionary heart is renewed through the availability of the Salesians of Don
Bosco and the Daughters of Mary Help of Christians sent as missionaries ad
gentes.
So much time has passed since that 11 November 1875, the day on which a
fundamental step was taken: the first group of Salesian missionaries headed for
Argentina began the transformation of the Salesians into a worldwide
congregation, now spread over 138 countries. Two years later, the FMA also
crossed the ocean, beginning the work of spreading beyond the Italian borders.

As we approach the 150th anniversary of the first missionary expedition, we can
take a closer look at the preparation of the Salesian new missionaries, which is
developed in the ‘Germoglio’ course organised by the Missions Sector
team and coordinated by Fr Reginaldo Cordeiro. The course runs for five weeks,
immediately before the missionary expedition. In prayer, in listening to
testimonies, in sharing experiences, in personal reflection and in joyful
coexistence with the other course participants, the new missionaries are helped
to verify, deepen and, at times, discover the profound reasons for their going
on mission.

Obviously, the discernment of a missionary vocation begins much earlier.
Traditionally, on 18 December, the day of the founding of the Salesian
Congregation, the Rector Major issues a missionary appeal indicating the
missionary priorities to be addressed. In response to the appeal, many Salesians
write their availability, after listening to God’s will, helped by their
spiritual guide and the director of their community, following the guidelines
of the Missions Sector. A profound re-reading of one’s own life and a careful
journey of discernment are required for the missionary vocation ad gentes,
ad exteros, ad vitam to mature. The missionary, in fact,
leaves for a lifelong project, with the prospect of inculturation in a
different country and incardination in a new Province, in a context that will
become ‘home’, despite the many challenges and difficulties.
On the other hand, it is important that there is a well-structured missionary
project in the Provinces, which allows the arriving missionary to be
accompanied, to fit in and to serve in the best possible way.

The Germoglio Course begins in Rome, with an introductory core, which aims to
provide departing missionaries with the basic skills and attitudes necessary
for a successful completion of the course. The motivations for the missionary
choice are addressed, in a gradual journey of awareness and purification. Each
missionary is invited to draw up a personal missionary life project,
highlighting the essential elements and the steps to be taken to respond
adequately to God’s call. Then an introduction to Italian culture and a meeting
on ‘emotional literacy’, fundamental for the experience of living to the full
in a context different from one’s own, and a session on missionary animation
and Salesian missionary voluntary work. All this in a community context, where
informal moments are precious and participation in community moments of prayer
is vital, in a Pentecost style where languages and cultures mix for the
enrichment of all. In these days, a pilgrimage to the places of Christian faith
helps to retrace the roots of one’s own faith, together with the closeness to
the universal Church, also manifested in participation in a papal audience.
This year, on 28 August, the pope showed closeness to missionaries, reminding
them in a brief conversation during a group photo of the figure of St Artemides
Zatti, together with the beauty and importance of the vocation of Salesian
brothers.

The second part of the course moves to Colle Don Bosco, Don Bosco’s birthplace,
where we get to the heart of the experience by going deep into the preparation
from an anthropological, theological/missiological and Salesian charismatic
point of view. Preparing oneself for the inevitable culture shock, being aware
of the importance and effort of getting to know a new culture and a new
language, and being open to intercultural dialogue, knowing that one will have
to face conflicts and misunderstandings, are fundamental elements for living a
true, human and full experience. Some missiological fundamentals help to
understand what the mission is for the Church, and notions on First
Announcement and integral evangelisation complete the perspective of the
missionary. Finally, the typically Salesian characteristics, starting with some
historical notes and then focusing on the present situation, discernment and
Salesian spirituality.
The group of missionaries then has the opportunity to visit Don Bosco’s places,
in a week of spiritual exercises on the move, in which they can face up to the
saint of youth and entrust their missionary dream to him.
The experience continues with a pilgrimage to Mornese, where the missionary
charism in the female version of St Mary Domenica Mazzarello is presented,
together with the Daughters of Mary Help of Christians. The last few days are
spent in Valdocco, where the itinerary around Don Bosco’s places is completed
and preparation for the ‘yes’ to the missionary call is completed. A
conversation with the Rector Major (his Vicar in this case) and the Mother
General closes the programme before Sunday, when the missionary crucifixes are
handed over to the departed during the 12:30 mass.

If we look at who the Salesians of the 155th missionary expedition are, we
immediately notice how the paradigm shift is evident: all Provinces, and all
countries, can be recipients and senders at the same time. The missionaries are
no longer only Italian, as was the case at the beginning, or European, but come
from the five continents, in particular from Asia (11 missionaries, from the
two regions of South Asia and East Asia-Oceania) and Africa (8 missionaries),
while the Mediterranean region will welcome the largest number of missionaries
in this expedition. For some years now, the Missions Sector has been preparing
a map to graphically help visualise the distribution of new missionaries around
the world (you can download it here). This year there are five priests, two
brothers, one deacon and 19 Salesian students. Joining them are a few
missionaries from past expeditions, who were unable to attend the preparation
course.
Below is a detailed list of the new missionaries:

Donatien Martial Balezou, from Central African Rep. (ATE) to Brazil – Belo
Horizonte (BBH);
Guy Roger Mutombo, from Congo Dem. Rep. (ACC) to Italy (IME);
Henri Mufele Ngandwini, from Congo Dem. Rep. (ACC) to Italy (EMI);
Brother Alain Josaphat Mutima Balekage, from the Rep. Dem. of Congo (AFC) to
Uruguay (URU);
Clovis Muhindo Tsongo, from Rep. Dem. of Congo (AFC) to Brazil (BPA);
Confiance Kakule Kataliko, from Congo Dem. Rep. (AFC) to Uruguay (URU);
Fr Ephrem Kisenga Mwangwa, from the Democratic Republic of Congo (AFC) to
Taiwan (CIN);
Ernest Kirunda Menya, from Uganda (AGL) to Romania (INE);
Éric Umurundi Ndayicariye, from Burundi (AGL) to Mongolia (KOR);
Daniel Armando Nuñez, from El Salvador (CAM) to North Africa (CNA);
Marko Dropuljić, from Croatia (CRO) to Mongolia (KOR);
Krešo Maria Gabričević, from Croatia (CRO) to Papua New Guinea – Solomon
Islands (PGS);
Rafael Gašpar, from Croatia (CRO) to Brazil (BBH);
Fr Marijan Zovak, from Croatia (CRO) to the Dominican Republic (ANT);
Fr Enrico Bituin Mercado, from the Philippines (FIN) to Southern Africa (AFM);
Alan Andrew Manuel, from India (INB) to North Africa (CNA);
Fr Joseph Reddy Vanga, from India (INH) to Papua New Guinea – Solomon Islands
(PGS);
Fr Hubard Thyrniang, from India (INS) to North West Africa (AON);
Fr Albert Tron Mawa, from India (INS) to Sri Lanka (LKC);
Eruthaya Valan Arockiaraj, from India (INT) to Congo (ACC);
Herimamponona Dorisse Angelot Rakotonirina, from Madagascar (MDG) to
Albania/Kosovo/Montenegro (AKM);
Brother Mouzinho Domingos Joaquim Mouzinho, from Mozambique (MOZ) to
Albania/Kosovo/Montenegro (AKM);
Nelson Alves Cabral, from East Timor (TLS) to the Democratic Republic of Congo
(AFC);
Elisio Ilidio Guterres Dos Santos, from East Timor (TLS) to Romania (INE);
Francisco Armindo Viana, from East Timor (TLS) to Congo (ACC);
Tuấn Anh Joseph Vũ, from Vietnam (VIE) to Chile (CIL);
Trong Hữu Francis Ɖỗ, from Vietnam (VIE) to Chile (CIL).

These are the SDB members of the 155th Salesian missionary expedition, while
the FMA will have its 147th expedition.

The Daughters of Mary Help of Christians new issionaries are:
Sr Cecilia Gayo, from Uruguay;
Sr Maria Goretti Tran Thi Hong Loan, from Vietnam;
Sr Sagma Beronica, from India, Province of Shillong;
Sr Serah Njeri Ndung’u, from the East Africa Province, sent to South Sudan;
Sr Lai Marie Pham Thi, from Vietnam;
Sr Maria Bosco Tran Thi Huyen, from Vietnam;
Sr Philina Kholar, from India, Shillong Province, sent to Italy (Sicily);
Sr Catherine Ramírez Sánchez, from Chile.
Most of them still do not know their missionary destination, which will be
communicated after the formation course.

This year, a group belonging to the Community of the Mission of Don Bosco
(CMB), a group of the Salesian Family led by Deacon Guido Pedroni, will also
receive the missionary cross together with the Salesians and the Daughters of
Mary Help of Christians.

Let us pray that this varied vocational availability bears fruit throughout the
world!

Marco Fulgaro

An ancient Persian fable tells of a man who had only one thought: to possess gold, all the gold possible.
It was a voracious thought that devoured his brain and heart. He could thus have no other thought, no other desire for anything but gold.
When he walked past the shop windows in his town, he only saw the goldsmiths’ windows. He did not notice so many other wonderful things.
He did not notice the people, did not pay attention to the blue sky or the scent of the flowers.
One day he couldn’t resist: he ran into a jeweller’s shop and started filling his pockets with gold bracelets, rings and brooches.
Of course, on his way out of the shop, he was arrested. The police asked him, “But how did you think you could get away with it? The shop was full of people.”
“Really?” the astonished man said. “I didn’t notice. I only saw the gold.”

“They have eyes and do not see,” the Bible says about false idols. It can be said of so many people today. They are dazzled by the glitter of the things that shine the brightest: those that the daily advertisements slide before our eyes, as if they were a hypnotist’s pendulum.
Once, a teacher made a black speck in the centre of a beautiful white sheet of paper and then showed it to his pupils.
“What do you see?” he asked.
“A black spot!” they replied in chorus.
“You have all seen the black spot that is tiny,” retorted the teacher, “and no one has seen the big white sheet.”

In the Talmud, which brings together the wisdom of the Jewish teachers of the first five centuries, it is written: “In the world to come, each one of us will be called to account for all the beautiful things that God has put on earth and that we have refused to see.”
Life is a series of moments: true success lies in living them all.
Don’t risk losing the big white paper to chase a black speck.

A touching testimony by Raoul Follereau. He was in a leper colony on a Pacific island. A nightmare of horror. Nothing but walking corpses, despair, rage, sores and horrific mutilation.
Yet in the midst of such devastation, one sick old man retained surprisingly bright and smiling eyes. He was suffering in body, like his unhappy companions, but showed attachment to life, not despair, and gentleness in his treatment of others.
Intrigued by that true miracle of life, in the hell of the leper colony, Follereau wanted to seek an explanation: what on earth could have given such strength of life to that old man so stricken by evil?
He followed him, discreetly. He discovered that, invariably, at the crack of dawn, the old man would drag himself to the fence surrounding the leper colony, and reach a specific place.
He would sit and wait.
It was not the rising of the sun that he waited for. Nor the spectacle of the Pacific dawn.
He would wait until, on the other side of the fence, a woman would appear, also elderly, her face covered in fine wrinkles, her eyes full of gentleness.
The woman did not speak. She only sent out a silent and discreet message: a smile. But the man lit up at that smile and responded with another smile.
The silent conversation lasted a few moments, then the old man would get up and toddle back to the barracks. Every morning. A kind of daily communion. The leper, nourished and fortified by that smile, could endure a new day and hold out until the new appointment with the smile of that feminine face.
When Follereau asked him, the leper said, “she is my wife!”
And after a moment of silence: “Before I came here, she looked after me in secret, with everything she could find. A sorcerer had given her an ointment. Every day she smeared my face with it, except for a small part, enough to affix her lips to it for a kiss… But it was all in vain. So they picked me up, brought me here. But she followed me. And when I see her again every day, only from her do I know that I am still alive, only for her do I still enjoy living.”

Surely someone smiled at you this morning, even if you did not realise it. Certainly someone is waiting for your smile today. If you enter a church and open your soul to silence, you will realise that God, first of all, welcomes you with a smile.