MEDIA ADVISORY: Salesian missionaries from around the globe travel to US to share stories about helping at-risk youth
Talks will be centered around the mission of the Salesians of Don Bosco, to end the cycle of poverty by providing education and opportunities to at-risk youth in more than 130 countries, in some of the poorest places around the globe.
NEW ROCHELLE, N.Y. (July 3, 2019) — As part of the annual Mission Cooperative Program organized by Salesian Missions, missionaries have traveled to the United States to provide first-hand accounts of their work, challenges and stories of inspiration. This work is made possible by generous donors, many of whom attend the churches where the talks will take place.
The scheduled talks are listed below.
| Speaker: Father Javier Antonio Barrientos, Zambia
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Since 2014, Fr. Barrientos has served as rector of St. James Parish in Mansa—a community particularly affected by poor economic conditions and the challenges of rural living.
In addition to 16 mission centers, the parish operates an elementary and a secondary school, where impoverished children can access desperately needed education. For more information about Salesian programs in Zambia, go to SalesianMissions.org/Zambia
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| Speaker: Father Mark Hyde, S.B.D., U.S.
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Father Mark Hyde, S.B.D., director of Salesian Missions USA (based in New Rochelle) served as a missionary in the Bahamas as a young priest. More recently, after the earthquake in Haiti, he led the global coordination of emergency relief and reconstruction efforts.
During his time as director, he has visited mission programs in Belgium, Cambodia, Canada, Colombia, the Dominican Republic, Ecuador, Germany, Haiti, India, Mexico, Poland, Spain and Sri Lanka. As director of Salesian Missions, Fr. Hyde seeks to support the work of Salesian missionaries in over 130 countries around the globe in their task of proclaiming the Gospel, educating to the faith, and giving young people and families the skills they need to be to be useful and productive members of their communities. For more information about Salesian Missions, go to SalesianMissions.org.
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| Speaker: Father John Santhosam, India
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Together with a dedicated group of volunteers and the Saint Vincent de Paul Society, Fr. Santhosam is able to feed as many as 50 elderly people each day, offer scholarships to St. Dominic’s for area youth, and provide vocational training and career guidance for those who face difficulties in finding employment.
For more information on Salesian programs in India, go to SalesianMissions.org/India. |
| Speaker: Father Joseph Benny, India
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Fr. Benny’s first missionary assignment led him to the rural, impoverished village of Marlapalli, Andhra Pradesh, India—where his primary focus was to empower local youth through education.
Currently, he serves as secretary of St. Joseph’s province in Hyderabad. Here, he devotes considerable time interacting with his fellow missionaries, and the impoverished youth and families they serve, in 32 different communities. For more information on Salesian programs in India, go to SalesianMissions.org/India. |
| Speaker: Father Nesly Leonard, U.S.
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In Belle Glade, Fla.—where more than 30 percent of the population lives below the poverty line, including an alarming 41 percent of those under the age of 18—Fr. Leonard recently served as associate pastor of St. Philip Benzini parish.
Today, he is stationed at the Salesians Retreat Center in Stony Point, N.Y., where, in addition to retreat-related duties, he co-directs the youth center. For more information on Salesian programs in the U.S., go to SalesianMissions.org/United-States |
| Speaker: Father Sean McEwen, South Africa
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For several years, Fr. McEwen directed the Don Bosco Educational project in Johannesburg, which serves children living in destitute, informal settlements around the city.
Recently appointed director of the province’s planning and development office, he now devotes considerable time seeking funding for Salesian-run youth programs in South Africa, Lesotho and the Kingdom of Eswatini (formerly Swaziland). For more information about Salesian programs in countries in Africa, go to SalesianMissions.org/continents/Africa/
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| Speaker: Father Bhaskar (Raj) Chinthamalla, India
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Fr. Chinthamalla is rector and parish priest at the Don Bosco Technical School in Maligaon in the northeastern state of Assam, India. During each two- to three-month session, up to 150 youth receive training in automotive mechanics, electricity, hospitality and tailoring. After completing their coursework, students also get job placement assistance.
Fr. Chinthamalla has served the poor and marginalized people of his home country for the past 13 years. For more information on Salesian programs in the India, go to SalesianMissions.org/India
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| Speaker: Father George Thirumalachalil, India
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Officially stationed in Darjeeling, India, but currently living in West Nepal, Fr. Thirumalachalil brings the Gospel—and much-needed support programs—to members of the indigenous Tharu community living in the remote villages of West Nepal. His work is part of the Apostolic Vicariate of Nepal’s overarching mission to pioneer a Don Bosco presence there.
With a master’s degree in education from North Bengal University, Fr. Thirumalachalil spent the first 24 years of his vocation as a teacher and administrator at various schools and colleges in the eastern and northeastern parts of India. For more information on Salesian programs in India and Nepal, go to SalesianMissions.org/continents/Asia.
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| Speaker: Father Piotr (Peter) Gozdalski, U.S.
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Fr. Gozdalski served in Zambia first as a missionary for seven years and later as a priest for 20 years.
After a one-year assignment to a rural parish in the northern part of the country, Fr. Gozdalski arrived in Chingola to help establish a technical training school that, today, continues to offer courses in carpentry and woodworking, power electrical, general agriculture, automotive mechanics and more. As an administrator and superior, he spent many years ensuring good governance of the school and the Salesian community before heading to Lusaka to serve as treasurer for the province comprising of Zambia, Zimbabwe, Malawi and Namibia. In 2003, Fr. Gozdalski left Zambia for Rome to fulfill the role of economer general for the global Salesian community. Today, he is assistant director at the Salesian Missions office in New Rochelle. For more information about Salesian Missions, go to SalesianMissions.org |
| Speaker: Father Cherukattuparambil (C.J.) Mathew, India
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For 27 years, Fr. Mathew has been teaching philosophy to Salesian seminarians in India, and he has also sought opportunities to make a difference in the lives of impoverished youth.
In 1996, as rector of St. John’s Regional Seminary in Kondadaba, Visakhapatnam, Fr. Mathew secured a grant to cover school expenses for 600 girls and boys from surrounding neighborhoods. Today, as chair of the philosophy department at the Salesian College in Darjeeling, he administers a similar scholarship program for deserving children whose families otherwise would be unable to afford to send them to school. On the weekends, Fr. Mathew joins students and staff from the College to minister to rural youth—walking for hours into the hills of Darjeeling. For more information about Salesian programs in India, go to SalesianMissions.org/India. |
| Speaker: Father Marco César Riveros, S.D.B, U.S.
Where: When: Where: When: 8 a.m. and 1 p.m. (Español) on July 28
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Born in Cúcuta, Colombia, Fr. Riveros first served as the youth minister at the Colegio San Medardo in Neiva, leading student retreats and developing the school’s religious curriculum. Three years later, he assumed the role of provincial delegate for youth ministry for the Bogota province. Between 2009 and 2013, Fr. Riveros served as pastor of the Salesian parish and rector of the Salesian school in Contratación. During the summer of 2016, he engaged in direct ministry to homeless youth in Medellín.
Today, at St. John Bosco Parish in Chicago, Fr. Riveros oversees Caridades de Cristo Resucitado, a social outreach program that feeds and clothes the homeless, and helps families who need supplemental nutrition assistance. For more information on Salesian programs in the U.S., go to SalesianMissions.org/UnitedStates |
| Speaker: Father Shibu (Shib) Davis, S.D.B., India
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Fr. Davis is devoted to educating youth so they may become responsible, financially secure members of society. A mechanical engineer and computer scientist himself, he transitioned from teaching to school administration soon after his ordination in 1999. He is currently and vice principal of the Don Bosco Arts & Sciences College, in Angadikadavu, Kerala, India. Both institutions offer higher education, including undergraduate and graduate degree programs, in diverse disciplines.
For more information on Salesian programs in India, go to SalesianMissions.org/India
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| Speaker: Father Lamberto Valderrama Paradiang, Jr., S.B.D., Philippines
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After declaring his intention to join the order, Fr. Valderrama immediately began serving homeless youth during his assignment at a Salesian-run orphanage. Since then, he has devoted most of his time to abandoned and impoverished boys—first as pastoral animator and rector of that same orphanage and today, as pastor of Santo Nino, an economically disadvantaged parish comprising nearly 50,000 people. In addition to his regular duties as parish priest, Fr. Valderrama oversees a youth center and vocational-technical school. Recently, he launched a rehabilitation program for young substance abusers seeking to turn their lives around—a desperately-needed resource in a country where only a handful of clinics serve hundreds of thousands of people with addictions.
For more information on Salesian programs in the Philippines, go to SalesianMissions.org/Philippines |
| Speaker: Father Steve Ryan, S.D.B., Canada and U.S.
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Currently serving as vice provincial for Canada and the Eastern United States, Fr. Ryan has been a Salesian priest for the past 35 years.
From 2012-2018, Fr. Ryan directed Mary Help of Christians parish in Tampa, Fla. He helped establish Cristo Rey Tampa high school: an institution that provides life-changing educational opportunities for students whose families otherwise could not afford it. In addition to gaining job-ready skills during their internships, students earn wages and assign 100% of their paychecks to their tuition costs. For more information on Salesian programs in North America, go to SalesianMissions.org/continents/NorthAmerica |
More than 30,000 Salesian missionaries are dedicated to caring for poor and at-risk youth in programs around the globe. Salesian programs assist poor and disadvantaged youth through education (academic, trade, agriculture) and workforce development initiatives, emergency relief and humanitarian aid, infrastructure support, clean water initiatives and nutritional and health services.
For more information, visit SalesianMissions.org.
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Contact: Hannah Gregory, [email protected]
Members of the media interested in interviewing any of the visiting missionaries should contact Hannah.