(ANS – Mumbai) – Don Bosco Communications South Asia (DBCSA) concluded its General Meeting of 2013 at the Salesian Provincial House of Mumbai on 18th October.

On 16 October, Rev. Fr. Godfrey D’Souza, SDB, Provincial of Mumbai Province, opened the programme with a Eucharistic Celebration. In his homily, Fr. Godfrey invited the assembly to be active players in the virtual playground and challenged the assembly to create a Salesian web portal where youngsters could find an interactive platform to savour the gospel and grow in faith.

The morning sessions were devoted mainly to sharing the communication activities and projects of the 11 Salesian Provinces of India, with reports presented by the Provincial delegates for social communications. These reports made it very evident that all 11 provinces are engaged in a myriad of activities in the field of social communications.

The new Webmaster, Fr. Cleophas Braganza, reported on the www.donboscoindia.org web portal and Fr. John Kennedy, editor of the Salesian Bulletin (English edition) from Chennai, India, presented an overall picture of the Salesian Bulletin which is an offshoot of the original Bolletino Salesiano started by Don Bosco in Italy.

Sr. Hilda Braganza, FMA, National Coordinator for Social Communications, FMA India, shared the initiatives of the Daughters of Mary Help of Christians (FMA) in the Social Communications field.

In the afternoon, the DBCSA delegates visited Don Bosco Centre of Learning (DBLC), Kurla, in the southern part of the city to have an interactive session with a group of 48 young students of the institution, to explore and comprehend the views and experiences of the youth of today with Social Media.

On 17 October, Fr. Filiberto Gonzalez, Councillor General for Social Communication, spoke of the importance of authenticity on the part of the communicators, as well as the importance of being in touch with God through Silence in order to be effective communicators.

The rest of the meeting was dedicated to revision of the Statutes of the DBCSA organization. The Assembly also discussed some projects to be undertaken for the celebration of the bicentenary of Don Bosco's birth in 2015, as well as other programmes, such as the possibility of producing a movie on the success of Don Bosco's pedagogical system in the Indian context.

Published 21/10/2013