The day began with celebrations that brought students and educators together in the courtyard of the Évora school early in the morning. Here, a fun flash mob took place, ending with the drawing of the number 100, visually symbolising a century of Salesian mission in Évora. The celebration continued with the traditional birthday cake, shared by the entire educational community, in a simple moment of conviviality that expressed the family spirit typical of Don Bosco’s charism.
In the afternoon, the school auditorium hosted a Solemn Session that brought together the Church, the Salesian Family, the Municipality and the local community. Present for the occasion were Archbishop Francisco José Villas-Boas Senra de Faria Coelho, Archbishop of Évora; Fr Tarcízio Morais, Superior of the Salesian Province of Portugal; and Helena Ferro, representing the Mayor of Évora. All of them emphasised the importance of the Salesian presence in the city of Évora and the decisive contribution of the school to the integral formation of children and young people, placing the student at the centre of the educational process.
In his speech, the Archbishop of Évora shared, with emotion, his personal testimony as a Past Pupil of the Dom Bosco school in Lourenço Marques, now Maputo, recognising that Salesian education had left a deep mark on his vocation and his human and Christian journey.
The event also included musical performances by students from the ‘Musicentro’, which highlighted the talent of young people and the educational value of art in Salesian pedagogy. Several key initiatives of the centenary celebration programme were also presented, in particular: the production of eleven videos entitled ‘A Century of Memories’, available on the YouTube channels of the Salesians of Portugal and the Salesians of Évora; the publication of the commemorative magazine ‘100 Years of Memories with a Future’; and the announcement of the launch of a book on a century of Salesian presence in Évora, written by Professor Vítor Fialho, which is scheduled to be presented to the public on 31 January 2027.
In addition to remembering the past, these initiatives aim to help the educational community look to the future with hope, strengthening the mission of forming ‘honest citizens and good Christians’, in the style of Don Bosco, in a school that ‘educates by evangelising and evangelises by educating’.
The celebrations continued in the following days. On 21 and 22 February, the ‘Saltimbanco’ show was presented at the Garcia de Resende Municipal Theatre in Évora, with artistic direction by Matilde Trocado, musical direction by António Andrade Santos and choreography by Margarida Garcez.
This musical, inspired by the main events in Don Bosco’s life, celebrates dreams, youth and the transformative power of a shared journey. It featured 23 young actors from the Theatre Academies of Estoril and Manique, as well as the ‘Musicentro’ of Évora.
