(ANS - Rome) - Tomorrow and Sunday, 28 and 29 November, the Rector Major, Fr Angel Fernandez Artime, will be in Genoa for the first time since his election. It will be a visit to the city where the first Salesian missionaries left for the countries of South America.

"Today, the inhabitants of those same countries are to be found here, with their customs and their joy, and also with differences that we need to grasp and integrate intelligently for our mutual enrichment. This was the challenge of the first missionaries, this is the challenge for us today," say the Salesians in the populous neighbourhood of Sampierdarena.

Meanwhile, in the Salesian parish of San Gaetano and San Giovanni Bosco, everything is ready. The Salesian community and young people are waiting for the arrival of Fr Á.F. Artime at 5.00 p.m. on Saturday. It will be an occasion for celebration and entertainment, but also an opportunity to get to know each other.  The young people will introduce the Rector Major to the Oratory and the work, and they will have a chance to dialogue with him about their initiatives and about current affairs, church matters and youth spirituality.

The Archbishop of the city and president of the Italian Bishops' Conference, Cardinal Angelo Bagnasco, will join the Rector Major for Evening Prayer. Then, later in the evening, Fr Á.F. Artime will meet the large community of Latinos living in Genoa together with the consuls of the various communities represented. This encounter will be led by Fr Daniel Coronel, a Peruvian Salesian missionary in Genoa who is part of Project Europe and ministers to the large community of immigrants.

On Sunday, the Rector Major will celebrate Mass in the morning. Then in the afternoon he will attend the launch of a book by Fr Alberto Rinaldini, SDB, entitled "Genoa and Don Bosco". It describes, among other things, the departure of those first missionaries to evangelize South America. The event will take place at the Palazzo Ducale and will be attended by the local authorities as well as the Auxiliary Bishop of the diocese, the President of the Region, the Mayor and the Prefect of the city.

Published 27/11/2015