Invitation to the canonisation of salesian brother Artemides Zatti

Dear brothers and sisters of our beautiful Salesian Family, Don Bosco’s Family:

My fraternal and affectionate greeting to you all and wishes for every good in the name of the Lord.

I am writing this letter from Brasilia where I am accompanying the Provincial, confreres, Salesian Family and young people in celebrations for the 75th anniversary of the St John Bosco Province of Belo Horizonte (Brazil).

The Consistory which the Holy Father presided over on 27 August 2022 has determined that the canonisation will take place on Sunday 9 October 2022 in Rome, so the purpose of this letter is to invite all our Salesian Family around the world to the canonisation of our Salesian Coadjutor Brother Artemides Zatti.

The Holy Father Pope Francis has also given us the great gift of granting us a private audience on the eve of the canonisation Saturday 8 October at 12 noon, open to all members of the Congregation and the Salesian Family. We have also been given the possibility of celebrating the Eucharist on the morning of 8 October at 10:00.

With the joy of this news, dear brothers and sisters, I am offering some information for better involvement in the canonisation event:

You are invited to Rome from all around the world, according to possibilities, and naturally those who are closest will have a better opportunity to be there in your own right and in the name of your Group in Don Bosco’s Family.

The Casa Pontificia has granted us 18,000 tickets for taking part in the Canonisation in St Peter’s Square.

Similarly, we have all the space available for October 8 for both the Eucharist and the audience with the Holy Father in the Paul VI Auditorium.

You can imagine that this grace of having another saint in our Salesian Family is a great gift from God, and I invite you to do everything you can to ensure, according to your possibilities (certainly with the presence of members of your groups in Italy or Rome itself), to be there in some way. You have time to think about it and arrange how to do it.

Dear brothers and sisters, after this very important invitation I am asking you to urgently make all the decisions you can, in accordance with your possibilities, in each group of our Family, the Family of our Beloved Father Don Bosco, in order to ensure participation in the event and to give adequate evidence of the event as well in the individual local scene if you see that this is possible. Truly it is a gift and a grace that God is offering us.

With true affection and united in the Lord, in gratitude for the gift of the canonisation, I am Yours sincerely,

Signed letter of the Rector Major to the entire Salesian Family