Website on Formation in Communication Launched

NEW DELHI, July 27, 2010, 17:00 Hrs (CBCI News):

Catholic Bishops’ Conference of India (CBCI) Commission for Social Communications, New Delhi, has launched a website on communication for pastoral leadership. The website (www.communicationformation.com) was inaugurated and launched by Chairman of the Commission, Bishop Chacko Thottumarickal SVD at Pastoral Centre, Bhopal, July 22, during a national workshop for formation personnel.

While inaugurating the site and declaring it open Bishop Chacko said the website on formation in social communications is an effective means to reach people who are interested in the important area of forming pastoral personnel in social communication. It is a rich resource where one can find useful and educative materials for training candidates for pastoral ministry in social communications as intended by the church.

The CBCI Commission in collaboration with Don Bosco Communications India had launched earlier this year a three-volume series titled Communication for Pastoral Leadership and a set of teacher resources. The course covering a 9- credit programme is aimed at integrating social communication in the formation of future priests and religious.

Pastoral leaders cannot ignore the importance of communications. Formation institutes and centers need to evolve programmes to train their candidates in the various aspects of social communication for greater efficacy in their future ministry, said Bishop Chacko. The books and other resources prepared by the Commission and the workshops being organised in different parts of the country are to be effectively used by seminaries and formation houses for this task, he added.

The workshop began with a presentation on the formation project by Fr. George Plathottam sdb, Executive Secretary, CBCI Commission for Social Communications, which was attended by 35 participants, including major superiors and other staff members of seminaries and formation houses. He explained the various features of the new website and future plans to make it a more interactive resource portal for church leaders and those in formation.

Later during the day Bishop Chacko took a session on media technologies and how to integrate them in formation. He also dealt with some of the important ethical issues in communications.