(ANS - Fatima)- On 22 May, 8000 students from Salesian schools went on pilgrimage to the Shrine of Fatima. In the words of Fr Tarcísio Morais, National Coordinator of Salesian schools: "When we think of Don Bosco we cannot forget Mary. All our students feel this desire to be with her. In this Year of the Bicentenary it was important to have this big gathering here in Fatima to celebrate Mary Help of Christians."

Speaking to Agência Ecclesia, he said that the pilgrimage was attended by students from eight schools in Portugal and a representative group of seventeen students from the island of Sao Vicente, Cape Verde. It took over 150 buses to bring the students, teachers, school staff and parents of students.

Genoveva Lopes, a student with the Salesians in Estoril, stressed the "good climate" that "helps the students to concentrate and get good grades" and also the religious education that helps them to "meet God." "It offers a good learning experience that will help them later in life," she added.

For her the story of Don Bosco is fantastic. He is "a friend, a guide" who is "always" helping. Marcia Bulo emphasized that the Catholic formation in the Salesian schools is a "model" for other schools. He believes that "those who have religious principles" have another way of being in the world.

According to Fr Morais, the programme of the pilgrimage consisted of different activities, including three separate performances of the musical "Don Bosco" in order "to give the opportunity to as many students as possible to play a part". For the younger ones there were other activities to help them to get to know Don Bosco.

There was obviously a moment of communion and celebration with Mass in the Basilica of the Holy Trinity, followed by the activities that each school had arranged ahead of the pilgrimage. According to Fr Morais, the Salesian students felt the presence of Don Bosco "in their lives" and they have become bearers of his message "to new contexts".

"It is an educational message,” he said, “that gives meaning, helping young people to meet Jesus. It is a message of evangelization and sharing in a large set of values ​​that make them more cohesive, more attentive to the problems of the world, to the needs of other young people and more willing to build a better world."

Published 26/05/2015