150th Anniversary of Salesian Missionary Activity

Give Thanks, Rethink, Relaunch

Toward the 150th anniversary of the 1st Salesian missionary expedition

(ANS – Rome – November 11, 2024) – On November 11 we remember 1875, so many years ago, when the first missionary expedition set out!  The commemoration of this important event opens the celebrations for the 150th anniversary in 2025. The slogan chosen for the occasion helps us enter this anniversary: Give thanks, Rethink, Relaunch.

Give Thanks: We give thanks to God for the gift of missionary vocation which enables the sons of Don Bosco today to reach out to poor and abandoned youths in 137 countries.

Rethink: This is an opportune occasion to rethink and develop a renewed vision on the Salesian missions in the light of new challenges and new perspectives which lead to new missiological reflections.

Relaunch: We have not only a glorious history to remember and be grateful for, but also a great history still to be accomplished! We look to the future with missionary zeal and enthusiasm so that we may reach out to even more poor and abandoned youths.

Celebrations for 150th anniversary will be mainly at the province level: each province is invited to undertake a concrete missionary initiative internally or to strengthen existing initiatives significantly so that they become permanent signs of this celebration.

At the congregational level, the new Rector Major will preside over the missionary send-off on November 11, 2025, in the basilica of Mary Help of Christians in Valdocco. It is a celebration with which the Congregation renews its missionary commitment in front of Mary Help of Christians.

“All the celebrations at different levels have a single goal,” explains Fr. Alfred Maravilla, general councilor for missions, “to keep the missionary spirit and enthusiasm alive in the Congregation, in order to promote greater missionary zeal and generosity among the Salesians and the entire educational-pastoral community. It’s the missionary spirit of the Salesians that revitalizes the Congregation, keeping it vibrant and attractive to new vocations,” he pointed out.

The logo that sums up the theme was produced by Martina Monceková from the Czech Republic. It shows the world globe washed by waves, which symbolize both courage and new challenges, as well as dynamism and recklessness. It’s a growing dynamic which tends more and more toward new missionary horizons. Three red figures refer to the Salesian logo and to the fire of a renewed missionary enthusiasm. In the middle is a ship, a symbol of the first missionary expedition (1875). The picture shows us that the missionary spirit is not an individual fact, but a charismatic element left by Don Bosco to the Congregation and the entire Salesian Family. The shape of the wheel means unity and mutual connection. The logo is complemented by the three key words and the highlighted anniversary number “150.”

The logo may be used, but only in its official version without any alterations. To receive the logo in different languages and formats write to us at: cagliero11@sdb.org