Dear Confreres and friends,

In order to better take advantage of the messages that the Rector Major addresses to the Salesian Family, the two Departments for Social Communications of the SDB and of the FMA have come up with a collaboration project, during its recent joint-semestral meeting held in Pisana, with the purpose of deepening the Strenna 2017.

We arranged to publish, on a monthly basis in our institutional websites, a paragraph taken from the Strenna containing a key word on the subject. This section will be briefly explained and will be accompanied by a banner and an invitation to pray for an intention that each reader will develop personally during the course of the month.
We believe that the theme and the message of this year are of great social importance, and put us firmly on the path traced out by the Church with Pope Francis in his Apostolic Exhortation "Amoris Laetitia." In fact, the Rector Major precisely chose the theme on the Family to help the Salesian Family to journey as Church.

I invite you, therefore, to form a great community on the internet, to foster a unified and a solid group among SDB and FMA by putting this monthly banner with the sections on the deepening and the prayer intention, in all provincial and local websites belonging to the Congregation. Meanwhile, the FMA will also do the same for the websites of their Institute. Being everywhere and always to keep in mind the theme of the Family and to continually make reflections and fervent prayers about it, we will become a leaven capable of a transforming influence on our culture in favor of the family.

You can access each month, starting this March, the websites of www.sdb.org, www.infoans.org and www.cgfmanet.org in order to have the complete material. This collaborative synergy also serves as a preparation for the International Meeting on Youth Ministry and the Family which will be held in Madrid in late November this year.

This time not only the members of the SC Department greet you, but also the sisters of the Communication Department of the FMA.

Affectionately in Don Bosco,
Fr Filiberto González

Escoma) - The Province of Bolivia has long been one of the more active in the world of radio. There was no other choice but to send a message of hope, a gospel message to remote areas through to the airwaves. Transmissions began on 2 February 1992 at Escoma.

In the 90s the rural area of ??La Paz was isolated highland. There was no means of communication and people were totally uninformed. Ramiro Carlo, radio journalist with Sariri explains: "We used to listen only to Peruvian radio, because the province is located on the border with Peru. Therefore, given the need to provide a service to the population, two Salesians, Fr Dino Oselladore and Fr Miguel Ángel Aimar, started what is now called radio Sariri.

Thanks to the Salesians, the province of Escoma progressed greatly. The Salesians founded several institutions, such as the University, the Agro-Pastoral Training Centre, the Educational Unit, the Catechetical Centre and other centres of social importance. And one of the works that made a great impact was the radio. ...
link: www.infoans.org/en/sections/news/item/2724-bolivia-radio-sariri-25-years-a-voice-that-will-not-be-tu

Rome) – In many Salesian communities, schools and parishes the youth and Lay Mission Partners cant understand that they are truly part of one “World - wide community” (SDB Constitutions art. 59). One of the most visible signs of this global Salesian communion is a simple world map with all Salesian provinces around the 132 countries. After two years there is again the chance to print out an updated version, with the more recent statistics of each Salesian Province and Delegations.

“This Salesian World Map is done since 2012 by Bro. Hilario Seo (Korea) and we are very grateful for his wonderful work! Our thanks goes also to the Secretary General Fr. Stefano Vanoli and former Secretary General Fr. Francesco Maraccani who supplied the statistics up to the 31st December 2016 from all 90 Provinces worldwide. Also the collaboration of the General Councilor for the EAO Region!” says Fr. Filiberto González, SDB, General Councilor for Social Communication. Map
link: www.infoans.org/en/sections/news/item/2683-rmg-we-are-one-large-family-new-salesian-map-2017

Vatican City) - Not only "Silence". After the launch of the most recent film by Martin Scorsese, the Vatican decided to tell again the story of the evangelization and martyrdom of the first missionaries in Japan. The opportunity will arise on 6 February next, the liturgical memorial of the Japanese martyrs, with the showing of the film "The 26 Martyrs of Japan," recently discovered in the audio-visual archives of the Salesian Congregation.

The film was produced in 1931 by the Japanese studio Nikkatsu, thanks to the financial support of a leading personality of the Japanese Catholic world, Masaju Hirayama, grandfather of Takaaki Hirayama, who was to become bishop of Oita.

The plot, with long parentheses typical of the silent film, is set in 1597 and portrays the end of the first evangelization of Japan which had been started in 1549 by the Jesuit Francis Xavier. The film opens with the landing in Japan of the Spanish Franciscan Pedro Bautista, sent by the Governor of the Philippines, and closes - after the decision of the imperial government to put an end to conversions and persecute Catholics - with the martyrdom of six Franciscans, three Jesuits and seventeen Franciscan tertiaries, including four children. ...
link: www.infoans.org/en/sections/news/item/2604-vatican-presentation-of-the-film-the-26-martyrs-of-japan