(ANS – St Petersburg: 9 May 2006) - Yesterday 8 May the meeting of the Provincials of the North Europe Region which was held in the house of Mary Help of Christians in St Petersburg. Begun on 5 May the meeting was led by Fr Albert Van Hecke, Councillor for the North Europe Region and Fr Tarcisio Scaramussa, Councillor for Social Communications. The items on the agenda that was given particular attention was Social Communications. Following up the conclusions and the proposals from the meeting of Delegates for Social Communications from the Region held in Warsaw at the end of April, the Provincial highlighted some working guidelines. There was discussion on ways of strengthening collaboration with the ANS Agency, on initiatives to encourage the exchange of information and of various products , and on the criteria for improving the quality of the various internet sites and links between them in the North Europe Region. There emerged from the discussion the need to foster specific training in the field of social communication and to encourage the learnig of Italian and English as the common languages for the different Provinces in the Region. Particular attention was given to the drawing up of a Plan for Social Comunication which will try to arrive at common policies in the Provinces of the Region for the presentation and the communication of the figure of Don Bosco and of the work that is being done at different levels. Other topics dealt with by the Provincials were the preparation for the approaching 26th Generale Chapter and future prospects and shared programmes in the North Europe Region. On Saturday 6 May the Provincial met Mgr. Tadeusz Kondrusiewicz, the Metropolitan Archbishop of the Russian Federation, who spoke to them about the state of the Catholic Church in Russia and had a very informative and interesting discussion with them. On Sunday 7 May the Provincials visited the house in Gatchina where the Salesians have a parish, an oratory, a publishing house, a school of graphic arts and a college. While they were in St Petersburg the Provincials were also able to visit the famous Hermitage Museum.
Poland – Meeting of Provincial Delegates for Communication from North Europe
(ANS – Warsaw: 24 April 2006) - Today the meeting of Delegates for Social Communication from the Salesian Region of North Europe which began in the Warsaw Provincial house on 21 April concludes. Organised by Fr Tarcisio Scaramussa, Councillor for Social Communication, and by members of the Department the meeting was attended by 15 delegates from almost all the provinces in the Salesian North Europe Region. The meeting which forms part of the series planned in the programming of the Social Communication Department for the six year period 2002-2008, had three purposes: to share information about the situation regarding social communication in the North Europe Region; to get to know and learn more about the Salesian System of SC and to gather practical suggestions to improve collaboration between the various province structures. The first working day was spent exchanging ideas and experiences from the provinces which highlighted a varied and very promising situation although one not without its problems. In the Course of the meeting the work undertaken by the SC in recent years was explained, while other topics included the Letter of Fr Pascual Chávez on Social Communication (AGC 390), the training programme for Salesians in Social Communication, the policy regarding the provision of information in the Congregation, the work and development of the ANS and the editorial policies as well as communication enterprises. Talks were given by Fr Scaramussa, Fr Julian Fox, Segretary of the Department and Fr Donato Lacedonio, Director of ANS. Conclusions from the meeting were drawn up by Fr Scaramussa who in the next few days will be meeting the Provincials of the Region in St. Petersburg.
