(ANS - Montevideo) - Yesterday 9 September the Uruguayan Senate was told that Don Bosco brought about "an educational revolution, which conceived of education as the best means to remove people from poverty, for their personal development and the development of society." So said Senator Javier García of the National Party at the beginning of a session during which homage was paid to the founder of the Salesians, on the occasion of the bicentenary of his birth.

The Senator, who had received a Salesian education, was the proposer of the tribute to Don Bosco, which received the approval of the representatives of other political groups. Many of them were also educated in Salesian schools (8 senators out of 36). Mr. Garcia also said that the man they were paying tribute to yesterday was the Saint of the Poor, whom he "knew and loved, and to whom he dedicated his life, so that others too might dedicate their lives to them."

The event was attended by, among others, the Minister of Education and Culture of Uruguay, María Julia Muñoz; the Archbishop of Montevideo, Cardinal Daniel Sturla SDB; and the Provincial of the Salesians in Uruguay, Fr Nestor Castell.

The Hon. García thanked the Senate for the opportunity to pay this tribute "to a Catholic saint" in an "institutional and secular environment" and stressed that the history of the Salesians is directly connected to all areas of social life in Uruguay. In this regard he noted that the current President, the Hon. Tabaré Vázquez, who belongs to the Frente Amplio political coalition, had also received a Salesian education.

Other senators, such as Hon. Pablo Mieres of the Independent Party, took the floor to emphasize the importance of the playground in the Salesian educational works. They are the place where educators and students meet freely.

At the end of the event, Cardinal Sturla told the EFE agency that the message of Don Bosco is of ''extraordinary relevance" in Uruguay, because "many young people can be saved through the educational support it offers."

"The big problem in Uruguay is education, and particularly that of adolescents, especially those who live in situations of social vulnerability: it is for them that the Salesian charism was born", the cardinal said.

Referring to the tribute paid to Don Bosco in the parliament he said: "it is not easy for people of different ideologies to agree with such gratitude, about a saint, especially in a secular society like Uruguay. It seems a bit strange but it has happened!”

Published 10/09/2015