Both areas are closely linked in the German Province. “In times of increasing technical and financial challenges, we have to make perfect use of synergies between the areas,” Head of the Editorial Team and Social Communication Delegate Katharina Hennecke made clear when presenting the work of the Editorial Team. She also pointed out how important it is to have a strong, common “Don Bosco” brand in Germany. In view of an increasingly poor image of the Catholic Church in Germany and the great competition in areas such as fundraising and staff recruitment, a strong, common brand presence is indispensable, she made clear.
Head of Communication at “Don Bosco Mission” in Bonn, Ulla Fricke, gave Fr Mendes an insight into the work of the German mission procure. She also pointed out the special challenges in the cooperation with worldwide partners, both for the German side and for the local partners. Fr Mendes praised the very good and important work of the mission procure, which reaches far beyond the borders of Germany.
Together with Fr Alfons Friedrich SDB, the editorial team also presented the structure and orientation of “Don Bosco Magazin”. The German Salesian Bulletin is published four times a year as a printed magazine with a circulation of approximately 52,000 copies. There also is a digital edition, www.donbosco-magazin.eu, in which, in addition to the contents of the magazine, specially created online contents are also published on an ongoing basis. The printed magazine is aimed at parents and people close to Don Bosco, while the digital edition focuses even more on parents as a target group. Fr Mendes congratulated for the Salesian Bulletin as being printed and online “for creating a good networking with the readers, listening to them and presenting them topics that are of their interest”.
The publishing activities of Don Bosco Medien were the subject of a subsequent discussion with Managing Director Stefan Höchstädter. The publishing house has specialized very successfully in publications for educational staff.
The discussions revealed a shared conviction that the challenges can only be met with professionalization and the expansion of a strong network. “The province has a good communication team with clear guidelines working in line with the values and the projects of the province and creating a network where the several sectors work together, like public relations, Salesian Bulletin, fundraising and marketing”, Fr Mendes said.
At the beginning of the visit, Fr Reinhard Gesing had already given Fr Mendes an overview of the situation in the province, the work in the field of communication and the special challenges in Germany.
Christoph Sachs
