(ANS - Rome) – The Article 43 Movement is an experiment in social communication that involves the four provinces of Poland. Fr Marek Chmielewski, Provincial of Poland-Pila, spoke about it in the Goodnight on Tuesday 1 April.

"This is a phenomenon present in all four provinces but relevant also to other cultural contexts.” That is how Fr Chmielewski began his account of the Article 43 Movement which involves Salesians, the Salesian Family and young people from all over Poland who are committed to evangelization through social communication.

"Article 43 is a movement comprising different groups of Salesians and lay people of the Salesian Family and young people of the Salesian Youth Movement in Poland and elsewhere. Each group retains its identity and achieves its specific objectives in the area of social communication. "
 

It all started in Krakow in 2006 when the Rector Major preached a retreat to the Salesian Rectors. Some young Salesians were discussing how to spread the Salesian charism in Poland. In 2008, after the reorganization of the houses of formation in Poland, the post-novices of the Lad nad Warta community published a bulletin called Lenda, produced a film about the life of the community, started the community website and extended their activities in collaboration with the local oratory.

With the help of the young people of the Salesian Youth Volunteer Movement, Article 43 was exported to Ghana. Then other local groups were started in Poland and the formation activities of the SYM began to spread. This was how Radio Desert started, as well as the SYM newsletters Czas Laski and Kontakt. There were film productions on the life of the Salesian works, websites and a YouTube channel. There is a group linked to Article 43 also in Ratisbonne, Jerusalem.

One of the characteristic features of this experience is a passion for formation, professional training in the field of social communication, and spiritual and theological formation. Formation is at the basis of all their activities that now reach schools, universities, oratories, parishes, digital browsers, television viewers, radio listeners, readers of the bulletins ...

Other specific features are its popularity and simplicity. "Because it is made ​​by young people, [the work of Article 43]is simple and avoids sophisticated formulas. It has the charm of freshness, because it uses the language of young people and recounts the experiences of young people. It is present where young people live," said Fr Chmielewski.

Popularity and simplicity do not mean that they do not produce quality work. They have won awards nationwide. But the priority is to have a wide distribution and to touch the daily lives of young people, interacting and creating a network of relationships especially with young people.

Published 03/04/2014