Shajan Valavi
Kochi, Sept. 25, 2021. More than 400 Salesian priests, brothers, sisters and young people spread over 19 regions are attending online the Salesian School of Social Communication (SSSC).
The program was opened on September 24 by Father Gildasio Mendes, the general councilor for social communication/
Eighty-two members of 12 Salesian provinces of South Asia region attended the online training session.
Introducing the vision and objectives of the year-long program, Father Mendes highlighted September 24 as a historically significant day for Salesian congregation. ”We are commencing an important journey keeping in mind the evangelization mission of the Church to be achieved effectively through communication.”
As emphasized by different general chapters of Salesian Congregation, he said, communication is a priority dimension for Salesians.
The Salesian School of Social Communication, an initiative of the Social Communication Department of the Congregation, Rome, envisages training all those involved in the social communication ministry, keeping in mind the priorities of the Church and the congregation.
The project further aims at preparing the participants to communicate from the Salesian perspective.
The topics to be covered during SSSC are Biblical Dimension of Communication, Synodal Dimension of Communication, Salesian Dimension of Communication, Institutional Dimension of Communication and Youth Pastoral Dimension of Communication.
The event began with an opening prayer by Father Earnest Rosario, followed by a video presentation on the journey to Emmaus.
Father Michael Makri and his team from Shillong set the tone for the program with their melodious prayer song.
Father K M Jose, provincial of Chennai and provincial In-charge of BOSCOM, invited everyone to become messengers of hope. He said that God communicated His powerful message of love, and we, in turn, should communicate the most powerful message, that God loves the world.”
“We need to radiate positive energy in the world amidst the explosion of negative energies, he said.
Director of Salesian News Agency Rome, Father Harris Pakkam, introduced the general guidelines for the whole training program.
Father Mendes animated the first session of the training program on ‘Biblical Dimension of Communication: Reading Communication from the Perspective of Emmaus.’
It would have been better if the topics to be covered in the 1 year course curcuium is broader and iclusive .In these challenging tmes the congregation should nt design such an innovative course devoid of the signals and developments in the secular society. The fast changing technology and social changes should be embedded in the curriculum.
INTERESTING. I hope that the first batch of participants will include bishops and parish priests who are notorious for non-communication. If at all they speak it is invariably a monologue. Dialogue is foreign to them.
Small wonder then that Pope Francis is pushing hard for a synodal church.