Seoul, South Korea, 18 August 2022 -- Some Salesian provinces have a regular provincial newsletter service, usually monthly or bi-monthly, and some provinces have no provincial newsletter. Without doubt, this simple and ordinary communication tool contributes or to building up the provincial community. The most consistent history of use of this tool is probably the Australia-Pacific (AUL) 'Provincial circular' (almost 650 monthly issues all told) that brings with it the official provincial announcements but also many news items from the 4 countries that make up the Province. There is also a rich photo-documented THA provincial newsletter printed in Thai and English, while the CIN province newsletter is printed in Chinese etc.
Given today's digital culture, most of the provincial newsletters are also immediately available in soft copy, although many confreres still prefer the hard copy. SDB newsletters are sent to the Salesian Family members (religious sister houses, centers of Salesian Cooperators etc) but also available for download on the internet in some provinces.
Amid this EAO scenario the bi-monthly Korean provincial newsletter launched in 1993 is a little different. Aside from the monthly provincial circular (only for the SDBs) and the bi-monthly 'Salesian Bulletin' (in Korean 'The Salesian Family Magazine') the 'provincial newsletter (July 2022 - n.180) is published with some photos, but never without 'bi-monthly chronicles' from each of the 13 local communities. Each SDB community has 'one correspondent' - sometimes the rector and sometime the youngest of the confreres. Besides the formative parts of the newsletter - two pages by the provincial superior and eventually some special events in the province or in the EAO region - most of the contents are lively storytelling about 'what happened in our community'.
Thanks to the almost 3- year history of the Korean provincial newsletter, there is already a consistent culture of contributing established, including the confreres who are studying or working at the moment out of the province. Among the most attractive articles are the vocation stories of the new aspirants, new novices or confreres who have made their religious profession or are being ordained to priesthood. Looking at the 'small' library of bound versions of the 180 issues it is effectively a 'small provincial history'.
Our hope is that each SDB provincial newsletter contributing to community building, keeps the historic memory of each province and offers each confrere a good opportunity to contribute by telling the story of his house.
Related resources:
EAO and other SDB provincial newsletters online;
- AUL - 'The Links (News from the Salesian province of Australia-Pacific)
- THA - Thailand-Cambodia-Laos provincial newsletter (FB page)
- INB - India-Mumbai provincial newsletter
- SUO - USA West (In Touch Newsletter)
