The 37 East Asia-Oceania Delegates from the 12 EAO Provinces and 5 Delegations of both commissions spent the whole of 16 November for this joint meeting in the Casa Maria of the Salesian Missionary House in Hong Kong. In fraternal spirit, they discussed the predominant question that the General Chapter 28 posed, reworded it as: “What kind of Salesian communicators for the youth in the digital world?”
Seeking a profile of the Salesian communicator with the four inseparable and complementary aspects: learning to live, to be, to know, and to do, the assembly was divided into six small groups to facilitate arriving at a meaningful attempt at this Salesian profile.
They were guided by the following reading materials:
- The Letter of Don Bosco on spreading good books;
- SDB Constitutions and Regulations article C 6, C 43, R 31-34, R 41;
- The Apostolic Exhortation Christus Vivit;
- The World Communications Day Messages of Pope Benedict and Pope Francis.
The six groups spent the whole morning sharing their personal insights and reflections. In the afternoon, everybody gathered in a plenary session. The six groups reported to the assembly the results of their morning group sessions. With the help of Fr Ambrose Pereira, SDB, the Social Communications Delegate for Papua New Guinea-Solomon Island Province (PGS), the following is the synthesis of this day's joint meeting.
“The richness of the synodal process drove home valuable insights to discover the profile of the Salesian communicator. The Salesian is evangelizer, educator and communicator, immersed in the digital world yet striking a sublime balance of his physical presence, creative animation, transparent and authentic witness. He has at heart the evangelization of the young, while he is open to his own ongoing formation. He is constantly updating himself and learning from the young, while being aware of the dangers and pitfalls of the digital revolution. He strives to communicate with dignity, respect and truth using both the digital and traditional media, conscious of the fact that all content is created timeless and lasts for generations. With the heart of the ‘Good Shepherd,’ and understanding the language, culture and issues facing young people, he journeys with the young, educating them to be critical and creative of the media. They in turn reach out to evangelize the ones who are most vulnerable.”
It was indeed a very fruitful interaction between the two commissions whose members believe that only in working together can they continue to be the Don Boscos to the young people of today.
On the last day of the EAO Social Communication and Formation delegates meeting in Hong Kong (18 November), the newly published “Salesian Dictionary” (210 pages) was launched. The three General Councillors present were the first to receive a hard copy. “We are grateful to all Salesian translators and Lay mission partners who contributed to this precious tool, also with the attractive cover by Fr Jerome Quinto (FIN),” said Fr Klement.
The hard copy of the Salesian Dictionary was published thanks to the care of China province SC Delegate, Fr Pedro Leong, and is being distributed around the EAO region and the whole Congregation through the participants in this EAO Soc.Com. and Formation Delegates meeting.
Source: AustraLasia
