By BIS Correspondent

Mumbai, 6 November 2020 -- A four-day long joint virtual meeting of the Social Communication Delegates, Bulletin Editors, Publishers and Radio Directors of South Asia and East Asia was inaugurated on Nov. 5th 2020 by Rev. Gildasio Mendes, General Councillor for Social Communication.

The meeting which is stretched across around seven time zones is convened and chaired by Rev. Fr. Gildasio Mendes coordinated by the two regional delegates Fr. Ernest Rosario (SA) & Fr. Peter Chinh (EAO). In this historical joint meeting, there were 35 Salesian media personnel from the two regions of SA & EAO. ''We need to walk with the times'', said the general councillor for social communication quoting Don Bosco. In his opening address, he presented his vision for the media ministry of the Salesians of Don Bosco for the next six years and proposed the methodology to realise the same. While briefing about the schedule for the four days program he specially thanked the two regional councillors Fr. Biju Michael (South Asia) and Fr. Joseph Phuoc (East Asia - Oceania) for their support and accompaniment and all the Provincials of these regions for their encouragement and collaboration. He also placed on record his gratitude to his predecessor Fr. Filiberto Gonzalez for his valuable contribution to this sector of Social Communication in the past years.

Fr. Joseph Phuoc, in his address underlined the important role of media and its impact on the young in today's context. He stressed the importance of accompanying them in this new virtual reality.

The main agenda of the day was the presentation of the ''Instrumentum Laboris'' (Salesian Social Communication framework)''. It was well presented by Fr. Ambrose Pereira (PGS), Fr. Peter Chinh (Vietnam), Fr. Bastin Nellissery (INK) & Fr. Francis Xavier (INP). Following the presentation, the participants were divided into four groups to discuss possible additions and enhancements to the document.

On the rest of the days, participants will have the chance to explore topics such as ''Communication Theology - a Salesian Perspective'' by Fr. Peter Gonsalves, Faculty of Social Communication Sciences, UPS, Rome. ''Salesian Sacrament of Presence''and ''Methodology in Communication - based on GC28'' by Fr. Gildasio, General Councillor for Social Communication.

This opportunity for a joint virtual meeting has opened the doors for future collaboration and networking.

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