«I seemed to be in a wild region I had never before seen, an immense untilled plain…

 Throngs of men swarmed all over this plain... Their weapons were long spears and slings. …

Then I saw a small band of other missionaries, led by a number of young boys, advance cheerfully toward those savages …

When I looked closely at them, I recognized them as our own Salesians». 

From the first missionary dream, which Don Bosco made in 1872, to the sending of the first missionary expedition only 3 years passed, such was Don Bosco's desire to bring the Gospel and concrete help to every part of the world.

«You will find a great number of children and even adults living in the most deplorable ignorance of reading, writing and every religious principle.

Go, seek out these brothers of ours, whom misery and misfortune brought to a foreign land.»

These were Don Bosco's recommendations to the first 10 Salesians who left Genoa for the Americas on 11 November 1875.

The homily he gave in the Basilica the night before embarkation inflamed the hearts of the departing and the hundreds of people who had come to pray for them.

A new world awaited the missionaries, but also needs identical to those of Italian families of the time, weighed down by the obstacles of language, a very different nature, and peoples with often violent habits.

Today the Salesians of Don Bosco are present in 137 countries, with parishes, schools, universities, and an active presence on every frontier of humanity: 

from the refugee camps in South Sudan to the wall separating Mexico from the United States; from African to European prisons.

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GIVE THANKS

RETHINK

RELAUNCH

GIVE THANKS

The Salesian Mission Day that falls on the 150th anniversary of the 1st Missionary Expedition is a precious gift for the entire Salesian Family!

The response to the missionary vocation has in fact brought and continues to bring precious fruits for which we can give thanks:

Fruits of missionary holiness and fruits of youth holiness in mission lands.

New foundations and new Congregations founded by Salesian missionaries.

And especially fruits of a continuous desire for missionary work on the part of young consecrated and lay people.

RETHINK

ALFRED MARAVILLA
General Councillor for the Missions

« Today we find ourselves in a different context to that of the missionary projects that spread the Congregation in all parts of the world in the first 150 years of the Salesian Missions.

New perspectives, new questions have brought new missiological reflections.

Today a new missiological reflection is urgently needed in the Congregation.

Today, the missions cannot be understood merely in geographical terms. We must also think of the missions in cultural, sociological terms and even in terms of our presence in the digital continent. »

RELAUNCH

The missionary vocation from God does not change over time.

However, the Salesian charism is called to renew the ways of its responses by indulging the imagination of the Holy Spirit in going out to meet the men and women of today.

The difficulties and needs of children and young people, of the poor, the sick and oppressed in every corner of the earth become challenges to which to respond with enthusiasm despite the fear that every new adventure entails.

«Give thanks, Rethink and Relaunch do not mean facile optimism. They are actions rooted in faith in Jesus Christ, who is always with us. »

New geographical and cultural frontiers call the Salesian Family to a personal and communitarian YES; a full and confident YES in God, in Don Bosco and in the many witnesses of the Salesian charism, and in the shared work of those who animate Salesian missionary volunteering.

« We are never alone, even when God seems far away; in the fears in the difficulties, in the worries that arise in proclaiming the Gospel.»

« Seek souls and not money, honours, or dignities; take special care of the sick, the children, the aged, and the poor, and you will gain the blessing of God and the goodwill of people;

Do what you can, God will do what we cannot do. Trust everything in Jesus in the Blessed Sacrament and in Mary Help of Christians, and you will see what miracles are ».

Praised be God our Father,

for the missionary spirit

that you have infused in Don Bosco's heart

as an essential element of his charism.

We thank you for 150 years of Salesian missions,

and for so many Salesian missionaries

who have given their lives

bringing the Gospel and the Salesian charism

to 137 countries worldwide.

Send your Spirit to guide us

in rethinking a renewed vision of the Salesian missions,

with tireless missionary creativity.

Enkindle our hearts with the fire of your love

so that, passionate about Jesus Christ,

we may relaunch ourselves

with missionary zeal and enthusiasm

to proclaim him to all,

especially to poor and abandoned youth.

All Salesian missionary saints,

pray for us!

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GIVE THANKS

RETHINK

RELAUNCH