2025 Strenna: Anchored in Hope, Pilgrims with Young People

Strenna 2025 
“Anchored in hope, pilgrims with young people”

(ANS – Rome – July 29, 2024) – At the end of the Salesian general council’s summer plenary session, Cardinal Angel Fernandez Artime, rector major, announced the theme of the strenna for 2025: ”Anchored in hope, pilgrims with young people.”

The theme was chosen in collaboration between the rector major and his vicar, Fr. Stefano Martoglio, who will take over the governance of the Congregation on August  17, until the 29th General Chapter (February 16 - April 12, 2025). As explained by the rector major himself in the document presenting the theme of the strenna, the text written by “two pairs of hands” specifically concerns the choice of the theme and its presentation, while the commentary on the strenna proper will be developed entirely by Fr. Martoglio, acting in the place of the rector major. He will also present it officially to the Daughters of Mary Help of Christians and to the entire Salesian Family – as usual, in the last days of December.

The basics that helped identify the theme are two important anniversaries planned for 2025: the Church’s jubilee year, which Pope Francis announced with his bull Spes Non Confundit (“Hope does not disappoint,” Rom 5:5); and the 150th anniversary of the first Salesian Missionary Expedition, which Don Bosco sent to Argentina.

All this has led us to think that the strenna for 2025 must have “hope” at its core, and the path that we will follow with the young. This justifies the title “Anchored in hope, pilgrims with young people,” the rector major writes.

Presenting the theme of Strenna 2025 – usually provided at this time of the year to allow the planning for new educational and pastoral years in some countries starting as early as September – Card. Fernandez Artime and Fr. Martoglio offer different ideas on how to prepare for next year in Christian and Salesian terms, drawing inspiration for the strenna from the papal bull, as well as from the words of hope (experienced, realized, sometimes wounded) of young people around the world.

To know their thinking in detail, simply download and read the full text of the strenna presentation, available at ANS in Italian, English, Spanish, French, and Portuguese.