SOCIAL COMMUNICATION DEPARTMENT
In order to carry out the aims and tasks of the Social Communication Department (DSC) during the six year period 2008 – 2014, we need to bear in mind and share some of the general principles coming out of the Constitutions, GC 26 and Letters written by recent Rectors Major (370, 390) in reference to Social Communication (SC). Thes principles are indicated briefly. They can be appreciated in greater depth by turning to material written up by the Department over the past six year period. These documents are available from our Web Site, and particularly through the link to SDL.
Passion for God and for the salvation of the young
Social Communication in the Congregation is based on Passion for God and for the salvation of the young. What we want is for God and the One whom he sent, Jesus Christ to be known and loved by the young. SC is no to be seen or understood in a purely technical sense. We are not technical specialists in news and information. We try to be professional in these areas because we are apostles and missionaries who use the media, its languages and spaces offered by the new technologies. We use SC policies to educate and evangelise. This is why for us Salesians SC does not frighten us, we do not view it with suspicion as the cause of evil for the young and society. Less still do we reject it, because that would mean forgetting about the huge number of young people who inhabit that kind of world. We view it realistically and as an excellent opportunity to be amongst the young in view of their evangleisation and education. Growth in and deeper understanding of our charismatic identity and apostolic mission should not diminish the multimedia universe we all live in today, even though often we do not take sufficient account of it. God encounters us there too and that is the place where we can encounter him. That is where, too, he goes to encounter the young and where he desires to reveal himself to them.
SC, the playground where we encounter the young
Passion for God and the salvation of the young in our father Don Bosco was such that he understood and used some of the best means for expanding culture, ideas and education in his time: the Press. He could not be everywhere with young people, however he sought, as much as possible, to broaden his “playground” where he could be present, his classrooms for education and his pulpit for evangelising. This is why he set out intelligently and with conviction in the publishing arena, as it was in his time, so he could multiply the opportunities, through his books read by young people and ordinary folk. This is how he brought the Gospel to culture, his ideas, sentiments and beliefs, and was where the young were. You can read his letter, from this perspective, written about “the spreading of good books” and his “dream on 10 May 1884”. For the Salesian it is essential to be there “in the playground”, in “new playgrounds”, because that's where the kids are and that is where we have to bring and incarnate the Gospel (C 41, GC 26 2, 99). Salesians should not be found stading outside this playground taking refuge in visions of the past, nor can we just sit there thinking about how it has all developed in such giffy fashion. We cannot be critical without getting in there with it all to incarnate the Gospel there. We can be sure that Don Bosco would not only be dismayed if Salesians did not do something in these new playgrounds, but the young who inhabit these places would think, if no religious people are there with them, that they are not important to the Church and that God is somehow far away from real life and maybe doesn't love them.
CS as working for the mission
If the Preventive System recalls Salesian and community presence in the “playground”, amongst the kids, then we need to reflect, and put into practice Salesian and community presence in those expansive playgrounds of today's communication, especially of the convergent and multimedia kind, where the walls are no longer made of concrete, but of radio waves, transmission and energy from satellites. The boundaries have been extended so much that they go well beyond our traditional works. In these new playgrounds a capacity for dialogue is fundamental since the whole world demands the right to respect and be respected for its opinion. Well-guided and accompanied people in these 'playgrounds' are useful and constructive, especially the young, because they can all contribute what they have, what they know and who they are. It is from this perspective that we note that SC cannot just be about media, instruments to make use of, languages for self expression or a dimensions that runs across everything we do. In Salesian terms we see that this is an area where we can educate by evangelising and evangelise by educating. What we are facing, then, is a work of the future for carrying out the mission where it is necessary to form and prepare specialists, invest intelligently and generously with personnel, time and financial resources. Regarding GC 26 it is very clear, and seens as necessary to change mentality and alter structures, moving from “a timid attitude and sporadic presence in the Media to one of responsible use and a more effective educative and evangelising animation” (CG 26 104/5).
The departments for the Mission
The mission entrusted to the Congregation: “to be bearers of God's love for the young, especially the poorest of them”, requires common effort and convergence of views. This is why the Rector Major has brought together Youth Ministry, SC and the Missions under the title of “departments of the/for the Mission”. This unity in mission does not cancel out the proper identity and specific outlook of each department but decalres that the authentic path for each is to be found in the perspective of mission and in communion with the others in function of thisa. We are dealing here with a way of thinking, organising, directing ourselves and acting in each department, in communion with the others, in view of carrying out the one mission. No one department becomes an end in itself nor is seen as being parallel to the others. From the first moment of the process, from reflection, we have set out from the common mission understood from a particular point of view. The organising of each department is guided by the common mission and the various points of interaction needed to carry it out. There will be moments in which the mission, after dialogue, will need reflection, organisation and action together, but at other times each department will reflect, organise itself, and act according to its own particular identity, though always at the service of the mission.
A basic (minimal) province structure
To carry out the mission, besides the communion between departments and delegates, requires a structure and minimal organisation in the province. One cannot develop Sc without it being integrated into the OPP (POI in italian) or without a delegate, Salesian or lay. To integrate SC into the OPP it needs to be clear that it is an integral part of the mission and that it is the province which carries this out. Once a delegate is appointed, hopefully full time, then he carries out the animation and organisation of SC at province level. According to circumstances, in communion with the delegate for formation, youth ministry, mission and economy, he will see to drawing up and carrying forward the Province SC Project, a plan of initial and ongoing formatiion in SC (a priority for this six year period), information both internal and external to the province (ANS, sdb.org, Church, local media, web...), production of materials and business efforts. General principles will only be realised if each province has its structure, organisation and the required and appropriate personnel. And while for sure we may not have these people, we need to think of how we can get hold of them and prepare them. When faced with urgency and need we don't just fold our arms but open our minds and hearts to hope, trust in God and in ourselves, and start by making decisions, then going on to alter certain structures for strategic purposes and thus taking small but sure steps. The department is at your service for all of this.
Fr. Filiberto González Plasencia sdb
General Councillor for SC.
