Media Seminar Explores Challenges Of Church Media In Secular World

ROME, May 03, 2010, 10:20 Hrs (SAR News):

At least 300 media professionals and graduate students of Communications from 30 countries congregated in Rome for a 3-day seminar on “Church Communications – Identity & Dialogue.”. Organized by The School of Church Communications at Rome's Pontifical University of the Holy Cross (PUHC), the participants, including Directors of Church Communications Offices and other media professionals, discussed at length the challenges facing the Church in communicating her message to the secular world.

In his address PUHC Professor Father. Jose Maria La Porte said “For communication to be effective there must first be a clear and well-defined message, which reflects the essence of the institution. This identity, when understood correctly, is not a limit, but a source of strength. Communicators within the Church are constantly faced with the challenge of transmitting it to a wide and varied audience, both inside and outside the Church,”

Inviting the participants to reflect on the challenges of the Church Media, he asked “Is having a clear identity an obstacle to dialogue? Can the rationality and beauty of the Christian faith be communicated in a convincing and positive way? How can the voice of the Church avoid sounding reactive? How can we communicate the faith as a cause of authentic human fulfillment, positive ideas, creativity, and as a source of cultural and social development? How can we transmit ecclesiastical information to a secular audience in an accessible manner that does not dilute the Christian message?”

Among the Media professionals who contributed to the conference were Father Kuriakose Mundadan, a former student of PUHC and current editor of Kerala-Catholic weekly Sathyadeepa (Light of Truth) Dr Mundadan and nine doctoral students in Social Communications from India studying in Rome.

The seminar which included case studies, success stories and an expose on best practices in Church Communications offered participants a mix of 58 sessions (24 half hour sessions each day) including reviews from films and documentaries like; “Fulton Sheen”, BBC Northern Ireland production “Our Man in the Vatican” and “The Catholic Priest Today”, “Catholic Voices”, “Catholics Come Home”, “Never Miss Mass Again”, “Catholic Brand for Web 2.0” “Radio Evangelization” and “Christian Values through Hollywood Movies”.

The seminar included workshops and discussions that dealt with topics related to Church Communications and Controversial Issues; New media and Christian identity; Communications in the World Youth Days; Social Media; Communication, Culture and Faith; and Experiences of Church Communications Offices in handling sexual abuse scandals.

Participants interacted with the director of the Vatican press office Jesuit Father Federico Lombardi in the Sala Stampa Vaticana. Father Lombardi shared his experiences of handling the charges of sexual abuse of minors by priests and answered a volley of questions on the issue. The seminar concluded with words of encouragement from Archbishop Claudio Maria Celli, president of the Pontifical Council for Social Communications.

PUHC has scheduled a week-long seminar between 6th and 12th September 2010 on the topic “The Church Up Close – Covering Catholicism in the Age of Benedict XVI”.