(ANS – Caracas) – Yesterday, 13 May, many members of the Association of the “Damas Salesianas” (ADS) and many friends of the founder, Fr Miguel González García, gathered in Caracas for a Mass of Thanksgiving for the 45th anniversary of the Association.

Cardinal Jorge Urosa Savino, Archbishop of Caracas, presided and many Salesians priests concelebrated. At the beginning of the Mass a message of congratulations from the Rector Major, Fr Pascual Chávez, was read. Music for the solemn ceremony was provided by the Choir of the Empresas Polar Foundation, conducted by Maria Guinand.

At the 5th General International Assembly of the ADS in July 2011, it was recommended that the Damas Salesianas should renew their promises on the date of the anniversary of its foundation. Accordingly,  several members of the ADS from the various centres in Caracas made their promises to the Lord: to carry out their option for the poor by bringing hope and evangelizing, with the spirituality and charism of the ADS as their source of inspiration and their path of sanctity.

After the Mass, at the Don Bosco Theatre the Council of the Commune of Chacao – the commune in which the Temple, the Mother House and the Headquarters of the ADS are located – conferred on Fr González García its highest award: the First Class Ribbon of the Order of Don José Solano y Bote, in recognition for his 50 years’ work in the city.  

González García was born on 28 April 1927 at Urdiales del Páramo, León, in Spain. He did his novitiate at Mohernando and took his first vows on 16 August 1945. He was ordained priest on 14 November 1954 at San Salvador and went that same year as a missionary to Camaguey, Cuba, where he remained until September 1956. He founded the ADS in Caracas on 13 May 1968.

Meanwhile, the Association has gone beyond the borders of Venezuela and is now present in 23 countries. There are centres in Spain, the Philippines, the United States, and the countries of Central America and the Caribbean. At the end of 2012, there were more than 96 centres and 3588 members, dedicated principally to evangelization and providing quality education and health services to the weakest members of society. The ADS was officially recognised in the Archdiocese of Caracas in 1988 and in January 1989 the Rector Major and his Council admitted them among the groups of the Salesian Family.

Published 14/05/2013