Dear Fr Provincial,
Province Delegate for SC:

Time is moving on, and Bro. Jesús García, after serving the Congregation as part of the SC Department for the past four years, has now returned to his province of origin (MEG).      We are most grateful for his generous, excellent work and we wish him all the best for his new responsibilities. Replacing him will be Fr. Jaime González (COM), to whom we extend the warmest of welcomes.
   How is your study of SSCS progressing? I feel sure you will have seen the value of this excellent document and that it will have helped you a lot in your work of animation, re-reading it and commenting on it within your team. The fact that many SC Delegates change over time, plus rapid developments in technology have led the World Advisory Council and the Department team to take on a review of SSCS with the help of Provincial SC Delegates and their teams.
   Continuing with the topic I raised in earlier Newsletters I am now inviting you to be part of this review of SSCS; points which in your view should be changed, given the development of new technologies and events around the world, in the Church and in the Congregation.  
     The basic structure and principles of SSCS remain valid. It is rather a case of suggesting words or ideas you think should be dropped out, changed or added in with regard to any of the paragraphs, titles of the document. Take care not to lose sight of the fact that we are talking of a document that is meant to offer guidelines valid for the entire Congregation. 
   I will be grateful for your participation along with your team, and I am sure that both you and your province will be the first to benefit from this study and collaboration. By clicking here you can see one example of some notes already made within the Department team. As soon as you have made some notes of your own, could you please send them to Fr Julian Fox (jbfox@sdb.org) over the course of July and August. I remind you that even if you do not have the printed document, you can download it from SDL in at least one of five languages.
All the best for your work of province SC animation. A greeting and prayer both for my part and that of the SC Department Team.

Affectionately in Don Bosco:

Fr Filiberto González Plasencia sdb
General Councillor for SC

SC General Councillor

The Salesian Digital Library (SDL) now holds a collection called SSCS.
   This particular collection is multilingual, and holds documentation from both the Salesian Congregation and the wider Church. It offers a wide range of search possibilities.
    Should you be aware of, or have other important social communications source documentation in your possession, we ask you to inform us and indeed to send it to us for inclusion.
    SDL has no language limitations and can accept a wide variety of digital formats, including audio and video.  Our only current limitation with regard to video is that we do not have a streaming server, so download would be slower.  

In Chapter 3 of the Ratio, which indicates the fundamentals of Salesian formation, there is an interesting reference to language:      
     "Taking into account the worldwide reach of the Congregation, the composition of the Regions and the groups of Provinces and the present-day tendencies in the world, it is clear how convenient it is today to have among one's cultural accomplishments a reasonable knowledge of one or more languages in addition to one's own, in order to overcome linguistic barriers and create possibilities of greater communication and collaboration".(3.3.4.1). 
     There is a theologically more telling comment a little further on, when it says: 
     "In a world sorely in need of communion, the Salesian's 'living and working together' with confreres of different ages, languages and cultures is a sign that dialogue is always possible, and a prophetic statement that communion can bring differences into harmony: it proclaims with the eloquence of facts the transforming power of the Good News. In this way communion becomes mission and a wellspring of spirituality". (3.2.5). 
    Somewhere between the 'convenience' of the first statement, and the 'communion' of the second, lies the significant challenge of translation! Last month we sent out the SSCS Newsletter in Spanish to Portuguese readers, with an appeal for help.  The response was heart-warming.  The Brazil North East Province (BRE) said 'yes we'll do it' and the problem was solved. Thank you! Our French-speaking confreres from Africa have been just as generous, and we can count on help from that quarter. For now Spanish and English translations look to be covered.  But, would you believe, we desperately need help with Italian!  Could someone offer, please? 
     In fact, in a multicultural, globalised world, the ministry of translation is far more than a mere convenience. It is a real factor in achieving communion. It is a demanding and skilful task which also calls on virtues of generosity and solidarity.  One could write a theological treatise on translation!  But fortunately communication technologies also play their part. In the Open Source world, there are two programs which can help, both of which are free as in no cost, and both of which maintain a translation memory. Both of them also work with (and ONLY with) OpenOffice. One is called OmegaT, the other is a small set of macros added to OpenOffice Writer called Anaphraseus.  These tools work in any language pair known to humankind!  If you would like to know more about them, please contact us.

Caetera Tolle (CT) is an apostolic experience in education linked to producing multimedia material for evangelising the young. The CT group can be found in Santiago, Chile, and operates within the FMA and SDB Provinces in that country. To begin with Caetera Tolle was tied in with music production, but then broadened its area of interest to a range of multimedia possibilities.
    It took its name from one of Don Bosco's best known sayings: “Da mihi animas caetera tolle”, a programme for life which includes being and doing. Caetera Tolle's mission is shaped around the need to be in harmony with the new languages of the young so we can communicate the beauty of the Gospel to them. It is not a proposal made simply for the young but with the young: In fact they are a major part of how Caetera Tolle developed.
   The CT  project aims to accompany, produce and research whatever enables us to meet up with young people in the “new playgrounds” resulting from multimedia. This is achieved by setting up a multimedia production and post production centre which contemplates four areas of development.
Audio: the chance to produce audio CDs and offer support to youth music groups. There is also a professional area for recording and copying material produced by composers and chosen by the SF and others with a view to evangelising through music.
Video: There is a professional audiovisual production and post-production area aimed at fostering and producing local and provincial projects.The group is looking at audiovisual projects to spread the Salesian charism and educative and pastoral heritage found in the provinces as well as ministry and evangelisation material.
Graphics: Graphics for producing comics with an educative and pastoral outlook.
Support for the YM Teams.
Animation of pastoral occasions: Occasions like recitals, concerts, festivals are produced and developed, to enhance the artistic development of young people in Salesian communities in Chile.