(ANS – Barcelona) – Pope Leo XIV spent the second and longest stage of his apostolic journey in Spain in Barcelona, a city with deep ties to Don Bosco. The Pope’s messages and pastoral gestures left a profound impression on the faithful gathered there, just as Don Bosco’s visit to the Catalan city more than a century ago bore lasting fruit. With the insight of … Continuar leyendo Pope Leo XIV in Barcelona, “In the Company of Don Bosco”
(ANS – Rome) – Sometimes, when listening to the missionaries’ most adventurous accounts, one is struck by the dangers they faced, from a hostile natural environment and precarious travel conditions to hostility from certain sections of the local population. Don Bosco, through his dreams, imagined what those risks might be. As a newly ordained priest, he himself had considered going to China with the Fathers … Continuar leyendo How Mary Help of Christians Protected the First Missionaries in Patagonia
(ANS – Rome) – Over the weekend of February 27–28, 2026, three significant meetings of the Salesian Historical Institute (ISS) took place at the Pontifical Salesian University (UPS) in Rome: the Executive Council, the Editorial Board of Salesian Historical Research (RSS), and the ISS Assembly. The meetings began with a moment of prayer and the approval of the minutes from the previous sessions (November 14–15, … Continuar leyendo Three Important Events of the Salesian Historical Institute (ISS)
(ANS – Rome) – Correcting without humiliating is one of the most delicate challenges in education. Don Bosco faced it throughout his life, transforming correction into an authentic act of mercy. In his writings and in the recollections of his contemporaries, a constant conviction emerges: correction is not about venting an educator’s irritation, but about helping young people grow. For this reason, he warns: “It is … Continuar leyendo Anecdotes of Mercy: How Don Bosco Corrected Without Humiliating
(ANS – Rome) – To fully understand Don Bosco’s relationship with Providence, one need only look at Valdocco: works that grew without initial capital, churches built in remarkably short periods of time, and hundreds of children to feed, clothe, and educate every day. Faced with these challenges, Don Bosco would calmly repeat that “Providence has never failed us,” and he would immediately add, with his … Continuar leyendo Mary Help of Christians, the True Treasurer of Valdocco
(ANS – Rome) – If the dream of the nine-year-old reveals the “why” of Don Bosco’s life, the kitchen at Valdocco tells the “how.” In nineteenth-century Turin, shaped by rapid industrialization and populated by young people who had come from the countryside as apprentices and workers, Don Bosco encountered a new and often invisible form of poverty: young people without families, without homes, and without … Continuar leyendo “A Home for Those Who Have None”: The Kitchen at Valdocco and the Family Style
(ANS – Rome) – The exhibition “Don Bosco: From Biographies to Comics” opened at the Pontifical Salesian University with a day of study and in-depth reflection aimed at placing the figure of Don Bosco within a broader horizon of historical, cultural, and communicative analysis. From the outset, the initiative was conceived as an opportunity for dialogue between Salesian scholarship and contemporary academic debate, bringing together … Continuar leyendo Don Bosco: Historical Research and Visual Culture — A New Exhibition Opens Dialogue Between Salesian Tradition, Academic Research, and the Languages of Visual Culture
(ANS – Rome) – December 18 is remembered throughout the Salesian world as the “birth certificate” of the Salesian Congregation. On this date in 1859, in the modest room at Valdocco, Don Bosco and a small group of 17 young collaborators freely chose to found the “Pious Society of St Francis de Sales,” giving juridical and spiritual form to a charism already alive in the … Continuar leyendo December 18, 1859: The Humble Beginning of a Global Salesian Mission
(ANS – Rome) – Behind every great saint stands a mentor, and behind Don Bosco stood a woman whose quiet strength, unwavering faith, and maternal genius sculpted not just a son, but an entire movement that would transform millions of lives. Mamma Margaret—Margherita Occhiena—was far more than Don Bosco’s mother. She was his first teacher, spiritual guide, co-architect of his educational vision, and the living embodiment … Continuar leyendo The Heart Behind the Saint: How Mamma Margaret Shaped Don Bosco’s Mission and Holiness
(ANS – Madrid) – Every November 25, the Salesian Family remembers Mamma Margaret, as she was known to hundreds of children when she helped her son, Don Bosco, in the early days of the Valdocco oratory. Declared Venerable by Pope Benedict XVI in 2006, the mother of the founder of the Salesians was, without knowing it, the first cooperator of the educational work of the Salesians, … Continuar leyendo Mamma Margaret and the Ethics of Care
(ANS – Rome) – After the launch on January 31, 2025, and the presentation at the 29th General Chapter, the www.donbosco.info search engine has been further improved and enriched with numerous new documents in various languages, surpassing the threshold of 10,000 searchable files. The interface in Italian and English has been updated and made more intuitive. In view of the large number of documents in Spanish, French … Continuar leyendo New Updates and Features for the www.donbosco.info Search Engine
(ANS – Rome) – In the article in the Salesian Bulletin of May 1886 dedicated to the devotion to the Sacred Heart of Jesus, the inevitable object of reflection could only be the Immaculate Heart of Mary. The exegesis thus unites two central themes of Don Bosco’s spirituality, leading the reader on a journey of deepening and understanding of the few differences and many similarities in the cult and veneration … Continuar leyendo Don Bosco’s Devotion to the Sacred Heart of Jesus: The Heart of Jesus and the Heart of Mary
(ANS – Rome) – Don Bosco’s devotion to the Sacred Heart of Jesus is well-known: the Basilica of the Sacred Heart in Rome, which he built with great effort in the last years of his life, is its most obvious symbol; but he expressed it in many forms. For example, in the publications of the Salesian Bulletin in 1886, he spent a series of 11 articles … Continuar leyendo Don Bosco’s Devotion to the Sacred Heart of Jesus. The SB Articles from 1886
(ANS – Rome) – The Salesian Historical Institute (ISS), through its “Studi” series, has recently published a unique and groundbreaking book: “Salesians in the Holy Land. From Fr. Belloni’s Work to the British Mandate (1863–1920)” — the first in-depth study ever conducted on the early Salesian presence in the Holy Land. “A truly innovative work, both in its perspective and approach, deserving of wide recognition within our Congregation,” said … Continuar leyendo The Origins of the Salesian Presence in the Holy Land: A New Book Sheds Light on the Subject
