1. Welcome, new Salesian Cooperators of New York! , Eastern Province of the USA.

On the afternoon of Saturday, January 25, St. John Bosco Parish in Port Chester, New York, experienced a very special moment. Jimmy, Karen and Lucas made their promise as Salesian Cooperators, officially joining our Salesian family as part of the local St. John Bosco.
These three new members were trained by Father Joe Vien, SDB, and were joined by the local community, Salesian Family, family and friends during the moving Eucharist presided over by Father Tom Dunne, SDB, provincial delegate of the Salesian Cooperators of the Eastern United States.

2. Promise of 6 Salesian Cooperators in Haiti

On Sunday, February 2, in the chapel of St. John Bosco in Pétion-Ville, Port-au-Prince, 5 aspirants from the Guadaloupé center in Thorlande and 1 aspirant from the Marie Auxiliatrice center in Port-au-Prince made their promise as Salesian Cooperators.
The Eucharist was presided over by Fr. Jean Robin Gédéon, provincial delegate of the Association, who was accompanied by Fr. Jose Roline. It was a very special moment that brought together several members of the Salesian Family, cooperators, aspirants from different centers, as well as family and friends, all united in celebration and support for these newly promised ones.

3. Promises of the Salesian Cooperators – Mexico South Inspection

On Friday, February 7, the chapel of the Progreso Salesian School in Puebla witnessed the promise of two new Salesian Cooperators from the local Juan Pablo II Center. The Eucharist was presided over by Fr. Francisco Abonza.
The promise was received by Omar Espinoza, provincial coordinator of Mexico South, who was accompanied by Agustín Bautista and Lupita López, provincial councilors, along with Sister María Trinidad Trejo Juárez, local delegate, and Sister Adriana Dávila, provincial delegate, Salesian Cooperators, aspirants and other members of the Salesian Family.

4. Annual Retreat and Renewal of Promises of the Salesian Cooperators of Nicaragua, CAM South Province! 🙏
On Sunday, February 16, the Salesian Cooperators of Nicaragua experienced a special day with their annual spiritual retreat. During this day, participants were enriched by two profound sermons, one by Magally Ramos, Formation Counselor of the Don Bosco Center and Provincial Councilor for Communication, the other theme was led by Celin Muñoz, Coordinator of the National Consultation of Nicaragua. In addition, participants watched the video of the conference given by Archbishop Pascual Chávez, Rector Emeritus, during the first training workshop in the Region.
As part of this retreat, 19 Salesian Cooperators renewed their promise, reaffirming their commitment to the Salesian vocation. The Eucharist, presided over by the National Delegate, Father Fóster Cerda SDB, invited everyone to rediscover their vocation. In Nicaragua, the Association is made up of two local centers located in the cities of Masaya and Managua.

5th Youth and Family Pastoral Meeting – CAM Northern Province

On Saturday evening, February 15, the CAM North province held its Youth and Family Pastoral Meeting virtually. This event brought together Salesian Cooperators from Guatemala, Honduras and El Salvador, as well as other brothers from Mexico, Canada, Costa Rica and the Dominican Republic.
The evening began with a warm welcome from Sandra Cáceres, Provincial Coordinator, and Martín Calderón, World Councilor for the Region, who welcomed all participants.
Verónica Rodríguez, Salesian Cooperator of the Dominican Republic, responsible for this area at the regional level, shared key aspects of the animation of Youth and Family Ministry, reflecting on the impact that this new area can have in the provinces. It was highlighted that this council arises from the lines of action of the World Council 2018/2026, where the area of ​​apostolate is transformed into Youth and Family Ministry, thus presenting the functions and objectives of this new council.
The entire event was coordinated by Rey Alvarado, Provincial Councilor for Youth and Family Ministry.

6. Formative meeting of the Salesian Cooperators of the Inter-American Region.

Last Saturday, February 8, the Salesian Cooperators of the Inter-American Region celebrated their first Regional Formative Meeting of 2025 virtually. The event, with the theme “Men and Women of Hope”, was given by Don Pascual Chávez Villanueva, Rector Major Emeritus.

During his speech, Don Pascual highlighted that hope is the impulse to ‘share the journey of life’. Following the legacy of Saint John Bosco, Don Pascual invited those present to inspire hope using the 5 means that Don Bosco used:

courageous criticism of the dominant culture that tended to deny transcendence and exploit religion
he offered his children positive experiences in the present; in this way he made them fall in love with life
he made them dream; That is why he told God’s dreams about life, while opening before their eyes the possible dreams for those times and for that time
he provided them with the language of dreams
he promoted the group experience

Next, the regional councilor, Martín Calderón, greeted the participants, inviting them to walk with hope towards the 150th anniversary of the Association with the same request that we made in our Promise.

More than 200 people participated via Zoom and many more through Facebook, from the 13 countries that make up the region. In addition, Salesian Cooperators from the Iberian, Pacific, South Caribbean and Southern Cone regions joined.

This Meeting was organized by the Regional Secretariat and broadcast live on Facebook and Zoom, with simultaneous translation in English and French. If you missed it, don’t worry! You can watch the full broadcast in Spanish on Facebook Live at SC Interamericana.