Pope Francis sent a message to the parish community of Saint John Bosco in Buenos Aires, which will be inaugurated this Sunday, March 22. It is the first slum parish, located in the Villa Miseria, dedicated to Don Bosco, founder of the Salesian Family.
The Pontiff expressed the hope that this parish “will do good to all” and he pointed out that it bears the name of the Salesian Religious because he “worked a lot with boys and young people,” states the note published by the Salesian Information Agency.
“The parish bears the name of Saint John Bosco, on the second centenary of his birth, simply because Saint John Bosco worked a lot with boys and young people and one of the strongest dimensions of this parish will be the boys and young people. To help them integrate and lead a fitting and happy life, so that they will be happy and have work and are able to form a family,” says the Holy Father in the message.
He also expressed his hope that this parish “will do good to all of you. I pray for you, so that you can bring it forward; I pray for the parish priest, I pray for all those who collaborate in it. I bless you, all of you, the collaborators, everyone, and I ask you, please, to pray for me,” he added. The parish priest, Fr. Jose Maria “Pepe” Di Paola, pointed out to AICA Agency, that it is “the first ‘slum’ parish dedicated to Don Bosco.”
