Australia - Teaching the young to interact with media
Salesian Father Ambrose Pereira has gone to Australia from the Solomon Islands to pursue social medi ...
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Australia - Teaching the young to interact with media
 Salesian Father Ambrose Pereira has gone to Australia from the Solomon Islands to pursue social media studies, as part of his mission to encourage the young people. The Australian newspaper “The Catholic Leader” dialogued with him and from the chat emerges the Salesian approach to Social Communication.
Completing a Masters in Communications for Social Change at the University of Queensland, Fr Ambrose’s mission vision is clear. “I want our young people to use social media not merely to look back at pleasant photo memories of themselves (…) but to look beyond selfies and reach out to help others”.
“People in their communities are struggling with all sorts of issues – corruption, abuse, the impact of climate change and so on. How can our youngsters best bring these concerns out into the media and help make a difference for good? Also, how can I help them best share what they are thinking about, whether it be about faith or moral values and ways to reflect on these? What are the most effective ways to use Facebook, Twitter and other communication means such as articles and video clips?” the Salesian missionary asks.
“If I can help these young people to do these things, even in small ways, they will become missionaries to their own people” he concludes.
Fr Pereira has been a missionary in the Solomon Islands since 1998 and was director of Catholic Communications in the Solomon Islands till 2010. He conducted media education courses in various locations across the Solomon Islands.
Regular weekend courses were conducted at the Bosco House of Prayer in Kola Ridge. Students, particularly from Catholic schools, profited from short-term courses, helping them to analyse and appreciate the various fields of mass media. He was also responsible for initiating “Radio BOSCO FM 89.9” at Tetere, training young radio presenters from the villages of North Guadalcanal to produce and broadcast programmes.
Fr Pereira now focuses on his latest mission. “I worked on a photography project on identity and dreams with students. (…) I was very touched by the reflections of one girl who had selected a photo of paramedics with their equipment. She wrote that she had chosen the photo because she wanted to be a paramedic, because her mother had died of cancer and she wanted to help others. It’s experiences such as this which give me great hope for teaching the young to interact with media in positive ways which can help the whole community.”
The full article is available here.
link: catholicleader.com.au/people/think-of-others-before-selfies
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social communication team of the Salesian Province of Portugal
Mogofores, Portugal - March 2015 - On 16 March, members of the social communication team of the Sale ...
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social communication team of the Salesian Province of Portugal
Mogofores, Portugal - March 2015 - On 16 March, members of the social communication team of the Salesian Province of Portugal came together for a training session. The meeting was led by Fr Alberto Rui, National Delegate for Social Communication and director of Edições Salesianas. It focused on the first three chapters of the new edition of the Reference Framework for Youth Ministry.
link: www.infoans.org/6.asp?doc=12318&lingua=2&sez=6&sotSez=13
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Spain - The short film
The short documentary sponsored by the Salesian Mission Office in Madrid, "Yo no soy bruja" (I'm not ...
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Spain - The short film
 The short documentary sponsored by the Salesian Mission Office in Madrid, "Yo no soy bruja" (I'm not a witch), directed by Raúl de la Fuente, is one of twenty-one finalists (out of a total of 234 films) in the International Festival of Ethnographic Documentaries at Sobrarbe, for the Espiello Awards. This is the only national event dedicated to the documentary genre and is a benchmark in the industry, to the point that the number of international applicants has once again exceeded the number from Spain.
The twenty-one finalists include nine Spanish films, three Belgian and two Peruvian, then one each from Paraguay/Bolivia, Argentina, Croatia, United States/Syria/Turkey, United States, Netherlands and India. All of them will be viewed, as finalists in the competition, in the thirteenth festival, from 17 to 25 April next, in the Palacio de Congresos de Boltaña, Huesca, Spain.
Spain submitted the largest number of films, 107, a figure that represents 45% of the total. Next came Belgium, Brazil, Italy, Argentina and the United States. "Compared to previous years, there has been increased participation from European and non-Latino countries," reports the Director of the Festival, Patricia Español. A total of forty-nine countries entered documentaries in the competition. This year’s theme was "life stories".
"We were very strict in choosing ethnographic films, and used a scientific approach in classifying the films from the point of view of anthropology," says the director.
The twenty-one finalists were selected over the past three months by a previously chosen jury. Decisions were reached by unanimous consensus.
Armed conflicts, popular tradition, the okupa movement, real estate speculation, the current situation in various societies and different cultures, the circus and popular festivals are some of the themes of this year’s documentaries.
link: www.infoans.org/1.asp?Lingua=2&sez=1&doc=12178
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Meetings
ROME: UPS / FSC, 17 to 18 April 2015, SDB-FMA. The study of the Pope's Message for the World Day of Social Communication 2015.
ROME: Pisana-Salesianum, 23 to 26 April 2015. Meeting of the Directors of European Salesian Publishers
ITALY: Turin, 14 to 17 May 2015. Meeting of SC Delegates for the Mediterreanian Region
POLAND: Danzig (Gdansk-PLN), 25 to 28 May 2015. Meeting of SC Delegates of Europe Center North
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Letter from Fr Filiberto
Dear friends,
On March 19, 1885 Don Bosco wrote and signed a circular letter about spreading good books. Besides being the precious legacy of a father to his children at the end his life, and a model writing that becomes ever more relevant, if you do a re-reading of the charism and Salesian mission of this time and in the culture of communication.
Don Bosco believed, during his time, that the "spreading of good books is one of the main purposes of our congregation." The Holy priest, our founder, affirms it and wrote that phrase in the Constitutions, who himself was a writer, editor, publisher and a paper mill owner. He was among the few who understood that this was the best way to overcome barriers, to jump over the walls of our institutions, to accompany young people where the Salesian could not reach. He had found in the complex world of social communications, the best way to nurture a Christian culture in a secularized society, thus becoming a leaven that raises the dough from within.
Don Bosco had the ability to get a glimpse of the good that is present in the culture of every age and to put himself into the "game" of the playing field, using the means of his time, always for the greater glory of God and the salvation of youth. For us, based on the formation we received and presence of Social Communication, there is always a great apostolic passion that drives every Salesian to be present in the courtyards of the traditional communication and in the courtyards of the Digital Continent, because precisely the young are there. The world has changed and continues to change. It is useless to want to go back and remain behind, if God awaits us, in front, with the young!
As Don Bosco wrote in his circular, I too now write: "Please and we implore you, therefore, not to neglect this important part of our mission. Begin it not only among the same youngsters that Providence has entrusted to you, but with your message and your example, make them as many other apostles in the spreading good books."
Certainly today there are not many "traditional books" anymore, but already the "new multimedia books" for the "new digital readers" who await new Salesians who write with their lives, using new languages, the witness of the joy of the Gospel.
This 130th anniversary is a good opportunity to re-read and spread this circular letter along with a change of mentality, that draws us closer to Jesus, to Don Bosco and to the young people of today.
All the members of the SC sector greet you. I wish your communities and families, a Happy Easter!
Fr Filiberto
link: www.sdb.org/ENG/epub/DonBosco/DB_libri_en.epub
Information: Italy - The website of the Salesian Family at EXPO2015 is online
The website of the Salesian Family at Expo Milano 2015 at http://www.expodonbosco2015.org/site/en is now online. This makes it possible for everyone to share this experience of the Salesian Family and the motto of Expo: “Educating the young: energy for life.”
The reasons for our participation and our approach to this important international event are included in the section“Why Expo?”.
In the section “Casa Don Bosco” there is a description of the pavilion, showing the materials used and the structure of Casa Don Bosco, and also what it will be used for after Expo. Casa Don Bosco is designed as a gift for the young.
Anyone can now be up to date on events and do a tour of the 130 countries where the Salesian Family work with and for young people in the footsteps of Don Bosco.
In the section “Partecipate” you can find all the information on tickets (available at reduced price), how to become a volunteer at Casa Don Bosco and a subscription form for the newsletter.
link: www.expodonbosco2015.org/site/en
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Production: Italy - Unpublished book on Don Bosco
 A round table presentation of the book "A life that radiates light” was held at Auxilium, the Pontifical Faculty of Educational Sciences. It is a facsimile edition of 'Don Bosco and the Pious Salesian Society’ by Albert Du Boys, edited by Professor Sister Piera Ruffinatto, FMA.
The work of Du Boys (1804-1889), a French writer and magistrate, was found in a single interleaved volume in the Library of the Faculty.
it is the only one of its kind insofar as it allows us to grasp the context in which it was written, to know, not only the intentions of its Author, but to see emerge the figure of the holy educator and his educational method, his rich humanity, and his passion for God and for the young.
It was published in Paris in 1884 with the title, “Don Bosco et la Pieuse Société des Salésiens” and in the same year, was translated into Italian by Giuseppe Novelli. It had a discrete readership and was promoted by Don Bosco himself, who personally corrected the text before publication.
At the Round Table moderated by Professor Elisabetta Straffi, presentations were made by the Principal, Professor Pina Del Core, with a brief greeting, Professor Piera Ruffinato, Sr. Piera Cavaglià, Secretary General of the FMA Institute, and Professor Michal Vojtas, teacher at the Salesian Pontifical University (UPS) in Rome.
The concluding words were given by Mother M. Yvonne Reungoat, Superior General of the FMA and Grand Chancellor of the Faculty. “The more we know Don Bosco, the more we are surprised by what he succeeds to plan and accomplish. From all he lives and suffers for the good of his poor and abandoned young people whom he educates under the inspiration of the Preventive System and in the vision of the da mihi animas cetera tolle...what radiates from Don Bosco is not his work, but the surprising intervention of God and of Mary Help of Christians”.
link: www.infoans.org/1.asp?Lingua=2&sez=1&doc=12235
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Production: Spain -
 The Salesian Institute of San Juan Bosco in Valencia has staged a musical about Don Bosco’s mother. The unpublished work is entitled "200, Mamma Margarita, the musical." It was performed in the school theatre on 27, 28 February and 1, 6, 7 and 8 March, and was intended to mark the bicentenary of Don Bosco. The company that performed the musical was made up of more than 250 people aged five to fifty years: students, pupils, parents, teachers, Salesians, educators, administrative staff and service personnel.
The personality of Mamma Margarita, rooted in deep values, is a model that has fascinated all who have come to know her story. She overcame severe difficulties and lived a very special life. In the musical her character emerges from the past and is projected into the future.
The author of the musical is Fr José Joaquín Gómez, Rector of the Salesian community. He says: "She was a decisive figure in the human and Christian formation of John Bosco as a child and teenager. She accompanied him during his seminary years. She also agreed to act as mother to the boys cared for by Don Bosco at the Oratory."
At the last performance the school principal, Doctor Juan Peris, says that the strength of the musical is the participation of the entire educational community and the excellent quality and professionalism demonstrated by all the participants.
The words of the two actresses who played the part of Mamma Margarita reflect the feeling and love shared by all who took part in the project: "In my opinion, Mamma Margaret was a strong woman of her time, capable of raising her three children. She worked without expecting anything in return. She acted with kindness, always doing good, and taught her children to do the same. Playing the role of Mamma Margaret was a privilege, a pleasure and a great experience,” says Asun Pérez, mother of one of the students.
"For someone like me, who has been involved with this Salesian house since childhood, to participate in a project like this meant something special (...). Mamma Margarita from afar gave us a lesson in solidarity, humanity, respect for others, love and total and absolute dedication to children. What I have experienced cannot be expressed in words," says Mari Carmen Amoros, a teacher in the school.
link: www.infoans.org/1.asp?Lingua=2&sez=1&doc=12242
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Production: Ireland - New Salesian App and renewed Salesian Provincial website
 As a part of the celebrations for the Bicentenary of Don Bosco’s birth, in order to mark it in a special way, the Salesians of Don Bosco Ireland have changed the design of the Salesian Provincial website to make it clearer and more user friendly, and have also developed a brand new Salesian App.
The app is available free on iOS and on Android devices (App store search: 'Salesians Ireland').
There are some new features available on both the website and the App, such as a Sunday reflection – for each Sunday of the Year – a prayer request/card section, where you can send a prayer request for your friend, family, etc. or forward it to someone as an e-card.
A new “Resources area” should be ready soon.
“Try out the new Salesian App and share it with others who might like to use it. It is free and it can bring the Gospel, Prayer experience andSalesianNews closer to all of us, young and old!” says Fr Lukas Nawrat, SDB, Polish Salesian missionary in Ireland.
For more information and to see the first video ad for the Salesian App just visit the renewed website.
link: www.salesiansireland.ie/2015/03/the-new-salesian-app/
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Preservation: Salesian Centre for Historical Documentation and Popular Marian Devotion
Turin, Italy - March 2015 - To mark the bicentenary of the birth of Don Bosco, the Salesian Centre for Historical Documentation and Popular Marian Devotion has set up an exhibition in the crypt of the Basilica of Mary Help. The Exhibition on the life and works of the saint, was inaugurated on 24 January by the Rector Major, Fr Ángel Fernández Artime. It aims to present the figure of Don Bosco through various sources and memorabilia from around the world that trace the stages of his life and his works. The Exhibition will reopen during the Exposition of the Shroud; on 23-24 May, for the Feast of Mary Help of Christians; and from 6 to 16 August, on the occasion of the International Congress of Mary Help of Christians and the World Meeting of SYM. Further information is available at www.accoglienza.valdocco.it/museo-mariano
link: www.accoglienza.valdocco.it/museo-mariano
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