3. EXPLOIT COMMUNICATION

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The broadening of involvement and the promoting of shared responsibility demand a capacity and exploitation of communication, both in SDB communities and in the relationships between SDBs and laity; there is a great desire and expectation for the activation of relationships capable of involving the life and experience of individuals, groups and communities.

Exploiting communication means that we have to be aware of the new cultural situation in which we find ourselves; we are witnessing, in fact, a massive invasion of means and messages which create mentalities and condition behaviour.

Communication is indispensable for the mission, and in the Salesian style it calls for presence and apostolic dedication in the educators, the obligation to develop vital relationships with persons and groups who share with us the educative and pastoral mission of Don Bosco.

3.1 Objective

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To exploit communication in all its forms and expressions: communication at interpersonal and group level, the production of messages, critical and educative use of the means of social communication.

3.2 Guidelines

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Communication: interpersonal and between groups

Attention to the quality and growth of communication, within and outside Salesian communities, develops attitudes and the ability to listen, openness, flexibility and empathy for staying with the young as educators and communicators of the faith.

Communication within the CEP, the Salesian Family and with other groups becomes an efficacious opportunity for maturing together in the capacity for rapport and sharing, so as to live the values of the preventive system.

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Evangelizing and educating means communicating

Of its nature the Christian faith is communicative: it means listening and responding to the Word, through the mediation of human language. The inculturation of the Gospel and the evangelization of cultures require an effort to enter into communication with the values of time and place.

Education of its nature implies relationship and communication. The preventive system, with its appeal to the intelligence, the heart, and the desire for God present in every young person, presupposes a capacity for listening, for dialogue and for respect for the young. The active and animating presence (assistance) of the SDBs and lay educators in the midst of the young is an excellent form of educative and evangelizing communication which the youngsters themselves are waiting for.

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Communication, production of messages and educative use of the means of social communication

To become communicators one must attend to two aspects: the maturing of adequate cultural and spiritual attitudes, and the acquiring of critical and technical capacities which make possible an efficacious communication.

In this sector lay people can carry out a specific task. They, in fact, can single out and elaborate messages which better respond to the new culture and to the present needs of youth and of people in general. Often their language is better suited to the ordinary situations of life. In particular, those among them who have a specific professional ability can become valuable collaborators of Don Bosco's mission.

3.3 Practical commitments

At local level

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The SDB community must:

• foster the communication and sharing of the educative and pastoral experiences of the confreres;
• programme moments of formation of SDBs and laity to interpersonal, communal and social communication, and to the languages of youth;
• -live the community day and other encounters as occasions for the concrete practice of growth in interpersonal communication.

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The CEP should:

• cultivate a style of interpersonal communication which is more open and ample, making use of the languages and positive messages of modern culture carried by the mass-media. This requires a physical, affective and cultural presence there where the laity and young people live, through the rediscovery of the significance and practice of Salesian assistance;
• use the means of information which already exist (Salesian Bulletin, ANS, Provincial Newsletter, etc.) and others which may be possible, as instruments fostering communion and sharing between SDBs and laity.

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For the purpose of promoting greater knowledge and communication between the Groups of the Salesian Family, the Rector and those responsible should:

• sensitize the SDB community to the significance and value of the Salesian Family;
• promote meetings in common for all the Groups;
• encourage initiatives which express the unity of the Family in the local Church and area.

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At provincial level

a. The Provincial with his Council should foster and verify the quality of communication within the province and outside it, between confreres, with groups of the Salesian Family, with ecclesial communities and civil and social institutions, between groups of provinces and with the General Council.

b. Without detriment to what is laid down by the GC23 259, the provincial delegate for social communication, in agreement with the Provincial, will collect together a team of SDBs and qualified lay people, for the purpose of exploiting social communication for the education and evangelization of the young and the poor. The team will draw up a provincial plan for animation, formation and consultation in the area of social communications, foreseeing suitable structures and instruments.

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At world level

a. In the course of the next six years, the Rector Major with his Council will study a practical plan for the promotion, coordination and exploitation of Social Communication, as a significant field of action which has a place among the apostolic priorities of the Salesian mission (C 43).

b. In the same period the Councillor General for Social Communication will offer to the provinces practical guidelines for the drawing up of a provincial plan for developing collaboration and shared responsibility between SDBs and laity in the same field.