(ANS - Rome) - Next weekend promises to be a good one for people in Italy want to know what the Salesians are doing and to have some direct experience of the Salesian charism. On 25 and 26 April there will be a Meeting of the Salesian Youth Movement of the Province of Southern Italy in Salerno. Meanwhile, in Turin, at the Museo della Montagna, there will be the inauguration of an exhibition on Fr Alberto De Agostini, the Salesian explorer of Patagonia and Tierra del Fuego.

The beauty of the faith, the relevance of Don Bosco’s educational charism, hospitality and religious integration are among the issues at the SYM Meeting, which is intended as part of the celebrations for the bicentenary of the birth of Don Bosco.

Activities will commence on Friday 24 with a workshop by DB Choir, the Salesian Choir founded for the celebrations of the bicentenary of the birth of Don Bosco. Saturday will see the start of an intergenerational programme focused on the beauty of the Salesian charism. This will be followed by a stage show and a prayer vigil. On Sunday morning there will be an opportunity to say thanks to the Provincial of the Salesians and in particular to Sr. Marinella, Provincial of the Daughters of Mary Help of Christians, who is coming to the end of her term of office. The Eucharist will be celebrated at the Cathedral in Salerno. The Meeting will end in the afternoon with the traditional Salesian goodnight.

During the SYM Festival there will also be time for the testimonies of Pietro aged 57, and Emanuele aged 28, who were forced to leave Iran, their country of origin, because they are converts to Catholicism. Their testimonies will be introduced by the Tg1 journalist, Maria Soave.

Further information is available at www.donboscoalsud.it

On Saturday 25 in Turin, at the Duca degli Abruzzi hall of the Museo Nazionale della Montagna, the opening will take place of the exhibition "In the land of the dreams of Don Bosco. Alberto Maria de Agostini, from Piedmont to Southern America." The exhibition will remain open until 1 November next. It is being organized by the museum of the Don Bosco Missions in Valdocco together with the Region of Piedmont and the Compagnia di San Paolo in collaboration with the City of Turin and the Italian Alpine Club. It will exhibit sixty-four medium sized prints from negatives and originals, belonging to the Museum, on Patagonia, Tierra del Fuego, Piedmont and Valle d'Aosta. A book of the same name will be published in May.

On 23 May, the Rector Major, Fr Ángel Fernández Artime, and other Salesians, will be present for the screening of Terre Magellaniche, the documentary about the Southern regions made in 1933 by Fr De Agostini, the definitive remake of the earlier Tierra del Fuego made in 1928. The film and the book are a homage of the City of Turin and the Museo Nazionale della Montagna to this great Piedmontese Salesian.

Published 23/04/2015