(ANS - Genoa) - "Today is a day of celebration and grace for the Salesian Family and for the Diocese: in our cathedral we have the relic of St. John Bosco whom the Church calls 'father and teacher of youth.'"  With these words Cardinal Angelo Bagnasco, Archbishop of Genoa and President of the Italian Episcopal Conference (CEI ), greeted the arrival of Don Bosco at the cathedral in Genoa.

The relic of Don Bosco arrived in Genoa after several stops in other significant centres of Salesian history, including Vallecrosia, Alassio and Varazze. In Genoa, the relic arrived in the afternoon of 16 October and was transported to the Salesian House of Sampierdarena where it was venerated by the local community.  It was then taken to the parish of St. John Bosco and St. Cajetan for an all-night vigil.

Festivities continued the following day, Thursday 17 October, with masses for the Salesian school students and students of other schools in the city, public veneration and, above all, a solemn Mass in the Cathedral of St Lawrence, presided over by Cardinal Bagnasco.

"The story of Don Bosco is simply amazing,” the archbishop said in his homily.“The Lord sent him at a time of special social and cultural challenges. (...) Today, the circumstances are different, but, like Don Bosco we also know that the human soul - and especially that of young people - is restless, always looking for something great and noble to follow and to live for."

The Cardinal went on to point out that the decade in which we live has been dedicated by the CEI to the so-called "educational challenge" and, referring to a typically Salesian value, he said that between evangelization and education there is no separation, as both have in Jesus the source of an authentic and total humanism.

He then publicly thanked the Salesians of Genoa where they have several works and activities. He invited everyone, especially educators and pastoral workers, to follow the example of Don Bosco in their own lives, being steadfast in the pursuit of holiness, persevering in accompanying young people, showing young people how to live in humility and respect, and to let them feel loved.
The relic of Don Bosco left for La Spezia in the early hours of Friday morning.

Published on 22/10/2013