Using modern media to communicate the Gospel

Dec 08, 2023

BANGKOK: Asian Catholic media professionals and Church leaders are looking at ways to use modern media in the Church’s mission to communicate the Gospel.

“What I am understanding these days is that from Asia, from the East, let’s say, we can learn a lesson: that Eastern culture knows how to understand that everything is united, how to see beyond appearances,” Paolo Ruffini, Prefect of the Dicastery for Communication, told 30 bishops, priests and lay people at the annual Federation of Asian Bishops Conferences’ Office of Social Communication (FABC-OSC) meeting that took place in Bangkok, November 20-24.

Ruffini, a professional journalist since 1979 and director of the Italian Bishops’ Conference television station before Pope Francis appointed him as prefect of the Dicastery for communication in 2018, addressed the theme of Communication in the Synodal Church. He highlighted the Holy See’s commitment to fostering collaborative partnerships with local Churches. He emphasised that the essence of the Synodal Church lies in cultivating relationships rather than merely transmitting information. Ruffini also underscored that the Church functions as a community of evangelising disciples, stressing the call for Christians to act as missionaries in the digital age.

Cardinal Sebastian Francis, the Bishop of Penang and FABC-OSC chairman of the FABC’s Office of Social Communication, noted that this was the first FABC-OSC in-person meeting in several years.
“Communication is our way of life, our way of relating with one another,” he said, adding that Asians are “basically storytellers, and we have a story to tell.” Expressing the hope that young digital missionaries will effectively share the Gospel narrative of mercy and joy, Cardinal Francis said, “There are so many young people, in Asia particularly, who are becoming part of this mission and part of this story and who are going forward, going ahead of us even, to evangelise, to share this story of the Gospel with Asia.”

Also, during the meeting, Nataša Govekar, director of the Department of Pastoral Theology in the Vatican’s Dicastery for Communication, joined the FABC-OSC meet for an online session on Faith Communication in the Digital World. This project, run by the Dicastery for Communication, seeks to prepare young people for the communication challenges they will face in their respective vocations. Govekar also presented the dicastery’s 34-page document, Towards Full Presence: A Pastoral Reflection on Engagement with Social Media released last May, inviting Catholics to “live in the digital world as ‘loving neighbours’ who are genuinely present and attentive to each other on our common journey along the ‘digital highways’.”

According to that document, the challenge of fostering peaceful, meaningful, and caring relationships on social media prompts a discussion in academic and professional circles, as well as in ecclesial ones prompts one to ask: What kind of humanity is reflected in our presence in digital environments? How much of our digital relationships is the fruit of deep and truthful communication, and how much is merely shaped by unquestioned opinions and passionate reactions? How much of our faith finds living and refreshing digital expressions? And who is my “neighbour” on social media?

The aim of that document ? the result of a reflection involving experts, teachers, young professionals and leaders, lay persons, clergy, and religious ? is not meant to be precise “guidelines” for pastoral ministry but to promote a common reflection about our digital experiences, encouraging both individuals and communities to take a creative and constructive approach that can foster a culture of neighbourliness.

Today’s forms of communication and information dissemination encompasses a wide range of platforms and technologies used to convey information to a large audience. This includes traditional media such as newspapers, magazines, radio, and television, as well as newer digital media like websites, social media, podcasts, streaming services, and more. It plays a crucial role in shaping public opinion, spreading news and entertainment, and connecting people globally. Modern media ? diverse, dynamic, and constantly changing as new technologies and platforms continue to emerge ? allows for more interactive and personalised content consumption. -- LCI (https://international.la-croix.com/)