A wonderful first day featured Fr Gildasio Mendes, General Councilor for Social Communications, who recalled that one of the meeting's objectives is to build together the vision of the future of Salesian communication over the next six years. This vision will be based on the experiences, the history of each Province, the challenges and opportunities of the new times, he underlined.
Fr Hugo Orozco, Regional Councilor for Interamerica, and Fr Gabriel Romero, Regional Councilor for America South Cone, also intervened in the initial part of the meeting. They thanked all the participants for their communication work in the context of Covid-19: to be bearers of good news for the people, especially for young people, and for the teamwork carried out, which constitutes bearing an evangelizing witness.
Subsequently, the representatives of the 24 Provinces illustrated the good practices developed in recent months. Through videos and digital presentations, they shared the various initiatives carried out in different areas: training courses and workshops, celebrations broadcast live, development of communication manuals, radio programs, solidarity campaigns such as the one called "Por el pan de cada día" (For daily bread), complete with testimonies from families who have benefited from it ...
In each of the presentations, the common purpose was clear: to accompany people in this new reality and to exploit the new communication platforms to reach more people.
The agenda of the first work day concluded with the presentation of the working document on Salesian Social Communication. On the basis of this information, today, Thursday 10 September, the participants work in groups to reflect on the contents of the document and offer their contributions, having as their horizon the construction of Salesian communication in the future. Likewise, experiences related to the Salesian Communication Plan (PICS) of each Province are shared.
The meeting will end tomorrow, Friday 11, with the sharing of the agreements of each group and the presentation of the conclusions produced by this meeting, which for the first time takes place online.
