(ANS - Quito) – On 17-18 April Quito welcomed the Rector Major, Fr Á.F. Artime, on his visit to the Province of Ecuador.  Music, song and dance created a typical Salesian atmosphere of the kind inherited from Don Bosco.

With great excitement and anticipation the Rector Major was welcomed at Mariscal Sucre airport. Sr Beatriz Navarro, Provincial of the Daughters of Mary Help of Christians, gave the official welcome to Quito, while the children and youth of the Proyecto Salesiano - Zona Quito, along with Salesians and members of the Salesian Family, greeted him in song.

At 10.30 local time the Rector Major reached the Kennedy Community where he met the students of the School and the staff of the various Salesian works. Later, he met 2,300 young people from the Salesian schools in the capital and other cities and communities, including Cayambe, Ibarra, Riobamba and the Julio Andrade parish in Carchi, who all paid tribute with gestures of affection.

In the afternoon he met the Salesians of Esmeraldas, Guayco, Zumbahua, Quito, Riobamba and Cayambe. Then in the Library of the Don Bosco-Kennedy he shared a friendly moment with Eng. Jorge Glas Espinel, Vice-President of the Republic, and with Dr Alexis Mera, Legal Secretary of the presidency. He later opened the Abya Yala Library and in the arena of the Salesian Polytechnic University he met faculty and staff of the Salesian centres and of the Proyecto Salesiano of the University, in addition to the Salesians and members of the Salesian Family.

In the evening Fr A. F. Artime celebrated mass at the Provincial House of the Daughters of Mary Help of Christians. The Daughters of the Sacred Hearts of Jesus and Mary and the Volunteers of Don Bosco were present for the Mass.

The Rector Major arrived in Cuenca, on Saturday 18 April. He visited the Salesian works and met the Salesians of the city and the participants in the National Meeting of the Salesian Youth Movement. At the airport they gave him some traditional craft products, while a girl called Johanna Nivecela also asked him for suggestions on how to animate young people today.

The Rector Major’s day in Cuenca continued with a meeting with the Salesian Family and another with employees of the publisher Edibosco.  In the afternoon Fr Á.F. Artime celebrated mass in the Jefferson Perez arena for the 750 participants in the National Meeting of the SYM. This was followed by a cultural evening and the Rector Major’s goodnight to the participants.

Published 20/04/2015