From 20 to 22 November 2024, the 17 young Salesians - priests and brothers - in MDG currently in the quinquennium stage took part in a unique formation course at the Provincial House in Ivato, near the capital, Antananarivo. In line with the annual objective of strengthening the skills of the Salesians in this circumscription, the session focused on the use of mobile journalism, (MoJo, in English), to provide participants with techniques and approaches for an innovative approach to the use of smartphones, in order to produce professional and engaging visual content.
Under the expert guidance of Fr Maciej Makula, SDB, and young Aleksandra Stankiewicz, collaborator of the Congregation’s Social Communication Sector, the participants learnt how to use these technological tools to respond to the needs of young people, while remaining faithful to their gospel mission. Smartphones in hand, they explored photography and reporting techniques, discovering how modern tools can become vehicles of faith and outreach.
At a time when young people spend much of their time in the digital world, such an approach fully reveals its relevance and relevance. The objective is clear: to be present in virtual spaces to guide young people towards authentic values - the family, the Church, and, ultimately, Jesus.
A current mission: witnesses of hope
The course also highlighted the importance for the Salesians to adapt to technological developments in order to remain relevant in their role as ‘signs and bearers of God's love to the young’. The rapid evolution of technology, however ambivalent it may be, is a powerful lever for pastoral mission if it is mastered and directed to the good.
This formation initiative was a good reflection of the vision of the Church, which invites its pastoral workers to become ‘witnesses of hope, pilgrims beside the young’, courageously investing in modern tools to carry out their mission of spiritual and human accompaniment.
Mr Sitraka Randrimanampisoa, SDB
https://www.infoans.org/en/sections/news/item/22846-madagascar-digital-salesian-missionaries-apostles-of-the-young-in-the-virtual-world#sigProIdf33305b7e9
