Participants included Fr. Gildasio Mendes, General Councilor for Communications, and members of his Sector Fr. Ricardo Campoli and Fr. Matia Makula; and, from the Formation Sector, Fr. Francisco Santos. A total of 51 people attended, including Regional Coordinators of Communication and Formation and Provincial Delegates of Social Communication, including as many as 14 lay people with roles of responsibility in the area of Communication.
In opening the meeting, Fr. Justo Piccinini, Provincial of the host Province (BSP), welcomed the group. On that occasion, Fr. Mendes also presented the meeting’s objectives, explaining, "We do these meetings based on the programmatic proposal of Rector Major No. 3: 'Living the Salesian Sacrament of Presence,' in harmony with the proposals of the 28th General Chapter, the Regional Councilors and the Delegates of the Provinces."
Fr. Santos, representing the General Councilor for Formation, Fr. Ivo Coelho, welcomed everyone and motivated them to participate, emphasizing that "the objective of the meeting is the coordination of the formation initiatives that we carry out in each of the Regions, as an accompaniment in the planning of the six-year term, at the level of the formation sector and each of the Regions. The Sector program has been going on for three years and this is the first meeting we are able to conduct in presence."
While preserving moments of common celebrations, the two groups worked separately, but the fourth day of the meeting was reserved for the joint work of the two areas.
The Delegates for Social Communication followed a work agenda that touched on the following points: Contributions to the Communication Instrumentum Laboris, the Global Covenant for Education, Communication Planning for the Six-Year Period, Projects for the Bicentennial of the 9-Year Dream (2024), a proposal of themes and methodologies for the International Conference on Communication (UPS 2024), Collaboration with the Salesian iNfo Agency (ANS), and communication projects of the two regions.
The work agenda of the Delegates for Formation covered: the renewal process of the Ratio Fundamentalis, the six-year plan of the regions, the statutes of the curatoria of the formation houses in the region, the Provincial Plan of Formation, the Joint Formation of Salesians and Laity, the qualification plan of Salesians, the formation of formators, the vocation of the Salesian coadjutor and his specific formation, and the phase of the five-year period.
The day of the joint meeting also included a summary of the work done in the Provinces by the Delegates of the two areas, followed by the interventions of the leaders of the two Sectors. Then, during a self-study and in a plenary session, guidelines and formation proposals for the digital world were developed.
As part of the work, the participants also visited the National Shrine of Our Lady of Aparecida and were welcomed for a moment of fraternal agape at the pre-novice house in Lorena.
The meeting concluded in a fraternal and participatory manner and formulated concrete proposals so that the Provinces, through the Delegates for Communication and Formation, can give continuity to the study of the Salesian proposal for formation in the digital world.
Fr. João Carlos Ribeiro, SDB
