HUA HIN: 10th March 2005 -- General Councillor for Salesian Missions, Fr Francis Alencherry, presented a reasoned plea for inclusion of a clear missionary dimension in the EAO vision and mission statement at Hua Hin today.

    Fr Alencherry argued from several points of view - from the origins of Salesian life and activity stemming from missionary fervour (and ferment) in the Oratory, stirred up by Don Bosco, to the question of relevance today: "If we talk about being more relevant, there is no better way than to rediscover missionary fervour in our provinces", he said.

    The Councillor's comments are made in the light of two important mission seminars, one focused on Asia (at Hua Hin) the other on Oceania (at Port Moresby), and the conclusions arrived at there: the deepening of Salesian mission spirituality in provinces, the opening up of communities to their local area (in mission territories), to the culture, to other religions in a spirit of dialogue, and the strengthening of partnership and networking amongst members of the Salesian Family, all of whom share the same ideal.

    Despite the obvious mission thrust of the entire region, and the prophetic reality that Asia, Oceania are the real future of global missionary endeavour, the missionary dimension is not mentioned as often as it should be amongst us.  And yet, mission is one of the obvious fruits of God-centredness.

    As for the matter of lack of personnel, Fr Alencherry reminded participants that we have Don Bosco's example in sending his best men to Latin America at the time he really needed them most in Italy.

    He concluded his comments with a clear call for mission and communications to be yoked together effectively - "an assiduous and constant use of the media, especially print media, to spread knowledge of the Gospel and the Christian faith", he urged. "In South Asia we have the example of men like Fr Maschio who sent out leaflets for free".  In due course they were able to cover their costs and better. These days we have new challenges to respond to, such as meaninglessness in the lives of so many young people, and we need to explore and use the possibilities of electronic technology - internet, CDs DVDs and the like.  "We spend enough on gadgets but not enough on communications IT"!