(ANS - Quito) – On 7 May, to mark the Year of the Bicentenary of the birth of Don Bosco, the Municipality of Quito has given a Goodwill Agreement to the Salesian Province of Ecuador. In addition, in April, during his visit to the country, the Ecuadorian authorities conferred on the Rector Major two awards for the work done by the Salesians with the most vulnerable young people in the country.

The two prizes awarded to Fr Á.F. Artime were an award of recognition conferred directly by the President of the Republic, Hon. Rafael Correa, and the Medal of Social Merit awarded by the National Assembly of the Republic, for the work of the Salesians during their 120 years in the country.

Similarly, in the Ordinary Session of the Metropolitan Council of Quito on Thursday 7 May, the Salesian Province in Ecuador received the goodwill agreement awarded to recall the visit of the relic of Don Bosco to Quito and in thanks for the commitment of the Salesians to the religious education of vulnerable youth in the city and the country.

Receiving the award from the Mayor, and speaking on behalf of the whole Province, Fr Robert Garcia, Vice-Provincial, expressed thanks for the award and said: "We are united in our commitment to the education of children and young people of the city of Quito. Through our schools, the Salesian Family has been forming the youth of Quito for over a hundred years. We are engaged in primary and secondary education, and also at third-level in the Salesian University, but we work especially with the more than 1,200 children and adolescents of the Salesian Street Children Project (Chicos de la Calle). Our commitment as citizensand as members of this community is to continue fighting for a Quito where there are no street children".

Fr Naun Tapia, Rector of the Salesian community of La Kennedy, gave the mayor a replica of the painting of Mary Help of Christians which Don Bosco gave to the first missionaries as they left for Ecuador, as well as a badge commemorating the bicentenary of the birth of Don Bosco.

Also present were representatives of the Province of the Sacred Heart of Jesus, led by Fr Romulo Sanmartín, Rector of the Provincial House.

Published 13/05/2015