Vietnam - A service that is a real ministry
The first meeting of the translators of the East Asia-Oceania Region ended at K'Long, Vietnam, on Fr ...
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Vietnam - A service that is a real ministry
 The first meeting of the translators of the East Asia-Oceania Region ended at K'Long, Vietnam, on Friday 11 October. Twenty-two people from eight different countries participated – fifteen Salesians, three Daughters of Mary Help of Christians and four lay missionaries.. "I ask you, please, to do everything possible to ensure that this service become a splendid success," the Rector Major wrote in a letter to the participants, to motivate them in their efforts on behalf of the entire congregation.
In his letter Fr Ángel Fernández Artime repeated the same message.
“I have already expressed my belief on various occasions concerning the importance that translations have and that translators especially have for the Congregation, keeping in mind the important objective that translation of family and official letters needs to happen in as many languages as possible, so their contents can be communicated in the language that confreres speak.
He went on to say: “I would like to strongly emphasise that this service is much more than just an assignment, much more than a job to do. We are really dealing with a ministry here, a true service of quality, a very important task that means a lot and has many implications for the life of the Congregation. If there should ever be a lack of translators it will be very difficult to communicate and pass on the charism, animation and government of the Congregation in general, along with animation of each of the confreres.”
Looking at work already done, we can report some satisfactory results:
the importance of a spirituality proper to the translator is acknowledged. It is a spirituality of patience, humility, self-emptying, and trust in the Spirit;
the availability in the Salesian Digital Library of many Salesian translations in local languagesis appreciated;
we re-affirm the importance of translating not only historical texts or key documents, but also other contributions from around the Salesian world.
Among the best practices shared at the meeting, mention should be made of Thailand, which provides an official translator appointed by the Provincial; South Korea, where there is a provincial commission for the task; and Vietnam, where all the young Salesians in formation are asked to do short translations from English, with the result that great progress has been made in the translation of texts and the possibility of having a high quality service.
For the future, moreover, guidelines have been drawn up at provincial, regional and Congregational level. The following are especially important:
particular attention should be given to developing a Salesian glossary in every language of the region;
a commitment to offer young Salesians the opportunity of spending time in English-speaking environments;
the importance of sharing at all levels (with Provincials and with the Rector Major and his Council) the results of the meeting in Vietnam and reflections on the same.
All materials of the meeting are available in the Agora> East Asia-Oceania section of the web site sdb.org.
link: www.infoans.org/1.asp?sez=1&sotSez=13&doc=11467&lingua=2
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RMG - World Mission Sunday 2014 and the video for Salesian Mission Day
The 88th World Mission Sunday is celebrated on Sunday, 19 October. To coincide with the occasion th ...
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RMG - World Mission Sunday 2014 and the video for Salesian Mission Day
 The 88th World Mission Sunday is celebrated on Sunday, 19 October. To coincide with the occasion the first of seven videos produced by Don Bosco Missions of Turin to promote Salesian Mission Day 2015 is published on the net.
In his message issued for the occasion on Pentecost Sunday, 8 June, Pope Francis says: "World Mission Day is a special moment in which the faithful of the various continents are invited to offer prayers and concrete gestures of solidarity in support of the young Churches in mission territories. It is a celebration of grace and joy."
The grace and joy of the mission are also the reason for Salesian Mission Day. This year of the Bicentenary of Don Bosco it has as its theme "Lord, send me."
In his letter for Salesian Mission Day 2015 the Rector Major writes: "The best pages of Salesian history are those written by Salesian missionaries and the great missionaries of the Daughters of Mary Help of Christians. They help us to understand, much better than any documents on missionary spirituality, the basic elements that qualify as a missionary any Salesian, Daughter of Mary Help of Christians, committed lay person or volunteer, man or woman guided by the Holy Spirit, and enable them to become preachers of the gospel and of the joy of humanity inspired by the values of the Gospel."
The desire to share and spread the missionary fire is what lies behind all the activities and the social communication materials prepared for Salesian Mission Day 2015, such as, for example, the seven videos produced by Don Bosco Missions of Turin.
The first video, entitled "Prayer", will be launched on Sunday next, which is World Mission Day. The other six will be made available on 6 November in seven languages. The same day a link will be created, from which each of the videos can be downloaded, and the entire DVDs (both PAL and NTSC versions), as well as a dvd-rom containing additional contributions.
link: www.infoans.org/1.asp?sez=1&sotSez=13&doc=11495&lingua=2
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Meetings
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Animation - Letter from Fr Filiberto
Dear friends,
This time I am writing from Nairobi where we are having a meeting of the Delegates for Social Communications for the Africa & Madagascar Region. From the last days of September until early October, we had the meeting of the Delegates of the America Southern Cone and Interamerica Regions together.
During these meetings I was able to offer the principles that will guide our being communicators and also our service during the coming six years. Here are the principles that underlying theme:
1. The Salesian is a communicator of the search and the experience of the love of God (Mystic in Spirit), learned and matured in the community of consecrated persons (Prophets of fraternal communion), brought to the young and shared with them, especially the poorest (servants of the young). It will be our way of living the GC27.
2. The absolute value of the person: the persons are ones who communicate when they have a content to communicate (Identity, study, reflection) and have a communicative attitude (Authenticity, opening, preparation).
3. The relative importance of the "means": the choice of the "means" which are more suited to the message, to the participants, to the historical and cultural moment and suited to the objectives to be achieved.
4. The crucial factor that produces this change: the formation of the Salesian evangelizer, educator, communicator ... having Don Bosco as the model in these three inseparable realities. This is the reason why we are committed to work closely together: the Social Communication and the Formation departments.
5. The common platform to advance the Salesian mission in the Provinces: the synergy of the sectors of Formation, the Youth Ministry, the Social Communications, the Missions, the Economy, the Salesian Family ... all without exception, arises from the same charism and works for the same mission.
We also reflected on some of the issues that have oriented us in the choice of our priorities to be considered in the next six years:
• The best practices and the great challenges in our own provinces in the area of CS.
• The study and reflection on the Concluding Message of CG 27 and the Project of Rector Major from 2014 to 2020 to know the priorities of the Congregation.
• The study and understanding of the areas of the SSCS for the six year period (2014 to 2020).
• The study and choice of priorities of the region: common lines of action for working together as one congregation.
• The choice and implementation of some of the priorities to the reality of their own province. Updating the Provincial Social Communications Plan (PICS in Italian).
• The essential attitudes needed by the SDB communicator in order to carry out the new project.
• The reflection and search for the criteria that the SDB and lay collaborators should practice when using the social media of the internet.
Theses two topics have been of great help to the delegates of the three regions. As there are no more meetings this year for the other regions, I invite all to reflect and update your Provincial Plans (PSCP or PICS) based on those elements mentioned above.
I wish you all the best in your communities, families, and work. The members of the Sector for Social Communications greet you.
Cordially in Don Bosco,
Fr. Filiberto
Information: Kenya - Meeting of Delegates for Social Communication of the Africa-Madagascar Region
From 15 to 20 October, Fr Filiberto González, Councillor General for Social Communication, presided over the meeting of the Delegates for communication of the Provinces, Vice-Provinces and Delegations of the Africa-Madagascar Region. The meeting took place at the "Don Bosco Youth Educational Services" (DBYES) in Nairobi.
The Regional meeting of Social Communication Delegates takes place every three years. It was attended by eleven delegates representing all the Provinces and Vice-Provinces of Africa. Fr Filiberto González opened the meeting by welcoming the participants. During the first session, he spoke on various issues and stated, among other things, that we must not only engage in social communication using TV, radio and other means, but we must be inspired by the great heart and face of Don Bosco. After a presentation of the logo produced in Mexico for the Bicentenary of Don Bosco, Fr Filiberto introduced the work of the groups by asking all the participants to share best practices in Social Communication in the provinces and the challenges they face.
During the meeting various issues were analyzed: reflection on the letter of the Rector Major at the end of GC27, particularly on matters pertaining to social communication in the project of animation and government of the General Council 2014-2020; guidelines for communication in the region over the next six years; the election of a regional coordinator and a regional team, and work on the Salesian Social Communication System for Africa and other issues affecting the region.
After the meeting it will be up to the Conference of the Provinces of Africa-Madagascar to approve and implement the proposals that emerged from the meeting.
link: www.infoans.org/1.asp?sez=1&sotSez=13&doc=11497&lingua=2
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Production: Spain - "The Secret," BoscoVisión’s first feature film
 A group of film lovers in Galicia, made up of university students and other adults, is at present shooting the first feature film to be made at BoscoVisión. The Salesian amateur producer has been making short and medium-length films for the past twenty years and is now making its debut on the big screen.
Sarah, a student of archaeology, discovers a jar in a Celtic fortress near the sea. The jar contains a linen cloth of the first century A.D. The girl decides to do some research and write a thesis on what she has found. In the course of her research she has to visit Oviedo and Turin, but there are other people interested in the discovery. The young woman does not know that what she has discovered can change the history of mankind ...
This is the starting point of "The Secret”. The team working on it is made up of students of the university in Galicia, as well as theatre students, workers and retired people from Spain and Italy. all united by a passion for the cinema and theatre.
Filming was scheduled for the months of September, October, November and January at different locations in Galicia - at Vigo, Ourense and Santiago de Compostela, but also in Asturias and Turin. The leading role is played by a young actress, Nerea Alvarez, who is joined by a cast of a dozen other actors.
"We have very limited resources, but a great passion for the cinema. In our twenty years of experience at BoscoVisión we have made eighty-seven short films and the series 'Los trotamundos' which had forty-six episodes. This is the first time that we have undertaken a feature film,” says Fr Ángel Fernández Prado, director of the film and director of BoscoVisión.
"The secret" will be presented in late March or April 2015, during the Bicentenary Year. "We want to show it first in Vigo and Ourense, and then send it to some festivals," Fr Fernández Prado added.
link: www.infoans.org/1.asp?sez=1&sotSez=13&doc=11466&lingua=2
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Preservation: Italy - Discovery of a parchment signed by Cardinal Svampa and Blessed Michael Rua
 There has been an exceptional find of great historical but especially spiritual value, in the Salesian Institute of the Blessed Virgin of St Luke in Bologna. It is a parchment, signed by Cardinal Svampa and Blessed Michael Rua, the Successor of Don Bosco, during the ceremony of laying the foundation stone of the Institute on 22 February 1897. (This is the date in the archives, but thanks to this discovery we now know it should be March). It was put in a lead cylinder, sealed and placed in the cornerstone of the foundations.
Fr Luca Indraccolo, SDB
The renovation of the building in recent months, to reinforce some parts of the foundation of the Institute, led to this exceptional discovery which was immediately announced by the Rector Fr Gianni Danes. The news was reported on the Facebook page of the Salesian Institution of Bologna and in a tweet from the official account of the Salesians of Lombardy and Emilia.
The text, in Latin, is clearly legible, and says: "DOMINICUS SVAMPA CARD. ARCHIEP. S. R. I. PRINCEPS VIII. cal. mart. a. MDCCCXCVII. lapidem auspicalem Ephebei Salesians rite statuit, Nicolao Socket Episc. Sebasteno vice sacred antistes, Michaele Rua summo Salesianae Sodalitatis magistro, Order populoque DEUM. O. MAX. coram comprecantibus, ut opus eius Bonori, tenuiorum utilitati susceptum, benign numine proveberet, provectum custodivet."
The translation is as follows: "Cardinal Archbishop Domenico Svampa, Prince of the Holy Roman Empire, 7 March 1897 (7th of the calends of March), solemnly laid the foundation stone of the Salesian School for Boys, in the presence of Nicola Zoccoli, (Titular Bishop of Sebaste, Episcopal Vicar of the Diocese of Bologna), Michael Rua, the Rector Major and members of the Salesian order, and the people, united in prayer to God Most High, so that this work will be built and remain in his honour, and for the benefit of young people."
This prayer is renewed today, particularly in this Bicentenary year, that the Salesians may continue tirelessly to form new generations of good Christians and honest citizens, as did St. John Bosco and his sons who gave their lives for the young people who have attended the Institute of the Blessed Virgin of St Luke in Bologna since its foundation.
link: www.infoans.org/1.asp?sez=1&sotSez=13&doc=11463&lingua=2
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