(ANS – Ostrava) – Confidence in God and in the young has been the basis for the II meeting of the centres of multimedia production in Europe, held between 8 and 11 March at Ostrava, in the Czech Republic. The Councillor for Social Communication, Fr Filiberto Gonzalez, more than once emphasised the value and the importance of people – those who work and those for whom they work  – in the process of personal communication and the production of multimedia material.

The Pastoral Centre of the diocese of Ostrava-Opava and the premises of the TV Noe-Telepace hosted the 21 people taking part representing various organisations of  multimedia production in Europe: Slovakia, Italy, Spain, Czech Republic, Portugal, France and Malta. Those taking part came from a variety of backgrounds being Salesians, Daughters of Mary Help of Christians, laity and young people, all engaged in different ways in communication structures.

The work opened with a short welcoming address from Bishop František V. Lobkowicz of Ostrava-Opava, who took the opportunity to thank the Salesians for all they were doing  in his diocese, especially the service provided by TV Noe-Telepace. Then the Councillor for Communication explained the terms of reference  for the following  4 days work: “As Christians we are aware that the birth and the evolving of Europe, whether one likes it or not, are marked by shared Christian roots. The Church and the Congregation have not failed to respond to the apparent desire to let this be forgotten: the Church has launched the process of a New Evangelisation and the Salesian Congregation has launched the Project for Europe and other initiatives.”

The meeting, following up that held in 2010 in Bratislava, set out to stabilise the synergies already in place among some centres  emphasising the involvement in the one mission of the Congregation, in particular in the Project for Europe and the New  Evangelisation, and to developing initiatives in view of the bicentenary of the birth of  Don Bosco (2015).

Very valuable work was done in the groups in which it was possible to become aware of and compare the Salesian identity of the various centres, the organisational, management and economic  model in place. The need was strongly felt to strengthen networking in the various products produced and the realisation that the  internet is the place to go to meet the young through the various products.

The programme for the  meeting concluded with a visit to the “Landek Park” Mining Museum  in Ostrava and a social evening together.

Published 13/03/2012