Rector Major of the Salesians

Fr. Ángel Fernández Artime

Rector Major of the Salesians

Fr. Ángel Fernández Artime

Ángel Fernández Artime (born August 21, 1960), is a Roman Catholic Priest of the Salesians of Don Bosco, who was elected by the Salesian General Chapter 27 as the Rector Major of the Salesians on May 24, 2014. With his election, he became the 10th successor of Don Bosco and the first Spaniard and third non-Italian to become Rector in Salesian history.

He was also Provincial Superior of León, Spain, Southern Argentina and was preparing to take possession of Sevilla Province when he was elected Rector.

Rector Major

MESSAGE OF RECTOR MAJOR FR. ÁNGEL FERNÁNDEZ ARTIME

     During the audience granted on Thursday 14 March 2024 to Cardinal Marcello Semeraro, Prefect of the Dicastery for the Causes of Saints, the Supreme Pontiff authorized the same Dicastery to promulgate the Decree concerning the miracle attributed to the intercession of Venerable Servant of God Camillo Costa de Beauregard, diocesan priest; born in Chambéry (France) on 17 February 1841 and died there on 25 March 1910 – whose cause is entrusted to the Salesian Postulation.

    The miracle that will lead to the Beatification of the Venerable Camille Costa de Beauregard could be defined as “historic”, with what this entails in terms of the evidence adduced. It is a healing that took place on 28 October 1910 and the beneficiary was little René, from Chambéry, who had suffered an “ocular trauma from the fruit of Burdock with damage to the cornea and wound to the conjunctiva”.

    The healed man was born on 16 October 1899 and at the age of 5, in 1904, he entered the “Orphelinat du Bocage” of Chambéry founded by the Venerable Camille Costa de Beauregard. On 26 September 1910, while he was on the road to Chambéry with his companions, playing at throwing the thorny fruits of the Burdock (genus Arctium ), René was hit in the right eye by one of these – to avoid problems at first the boys say that the blow would have been caused by a pebble raised by a vehicle speeding along the road.

    René will recount that “at the time, I thought I was blind, having not been able to open my eye for a long time because the pain was so bad”. As soon as he returned to the Institute, the little orphan was immediately given an eye wash and iodoform ointment applied.

    The following September 27th it was Dr. Antoine Denarié, Doctor, to examine the eye, approving the care provided the day before by the nurse nun Joséphine Rigaud, of the Daughters of Charity of Saint Vincent de Paul, who provide their service in the orphanage founded by Costa de Beauregard.

    On 1 October 1910, since there was no improvement, Sister Rigaud took René to the ophthalmologist Amédeée Denarié, cousin of the attending physician, who found the situation serious. The ophthalmologist will visit the little orphan again in the following days, recording the persistence of the inflammatory phenomena “with obstinate tenacity”.

    On the following 20 October, as the severity of the injury to the eye remained, in the climate of discouragement recalled by the ophthalmologist, Sister Rigaud began a novena of invocation to the late Canon De Beauregard, founder of the Institute where she and little René resided. The injured boy and the entire community were involved in the novena.

    On October 26, the seventh day of the novena, during a check-up by the nun the eye appeared to have worsened: the following day she applied to the injured eye a piece of cloth that had touched the objects used by the late Abbé De Beauregard, who had died a few months earlier .

    On October 28, the last day of the novena, in the morning, removing the piece of cloth with which he had dressed the injured eye, it was realized that the eye had healed.

    On November 2, 1910 at 9.30 am, the ophthalmologist Denarié noted that “the eye is completely healed: no trace of inflammation on the conjunctiva which had regained its normal white color, the cornea had regained its brilliance and its natural appearance ”.

    On the following November 5, the ophthalmologist Denarié visited the patient again, certifying that “the recovery remained complete”.

  • 1
  • 2

The society of St. Francis de Sales or Salesians of Don Bosco (SDB), is a religious Congregation founded by St. John Bosco in 1859 in Turin, Italy for the purpose of helping, educating and training poor boys. To date, services of the Salesians have spread to 131 countries in the world. In Sri Lanka, the very first Don Bosco Centre was established in 1956 at Negombo. The Salesians of Don Bosco have, to date established 18 centres in different parts of the country. 

CONTACT DETAILS

©2023 Donbosco,  Religious Congregation founded by St. John Bosco – All Right Reserved. Designed and Developed by VHK Systems