(CNS photo/Nancy Wiechec)
From left is Archbishop Richard Smith of Edmonton, Alberta; Archbishop Gregory Aymond of New Orleans; Bishop Ronald P. Herzog of Alexandria, La; and Bishop Thomas G. Doran of Rockford, Ill.
From left is Archbishop Richard Smith of Edmonton, Alberta; Archbishop Gregory Aymond of New Orleans; Bishop Ronald P. Herzog of Alexandria, La; and Bishop Thomas G. Doran of Rockford, Ill.
Vatican, U.S. bishops enlarge dialogue with Catholic Church media
June 9th, 2010
By Rick DelVecchio
“To walk with man, without condemning, without judging...offering what we have in our heart that is Jesus, because we perceive that only in this encounter with Jesus man can find his happiness.”
That is the service that Catholic media can perform for the world today, Archbishop Claudio Maria Celli, the Vatican’s top communications man, told Catholic media professionals.
Catholic media are important in the mission of the Church to evangelize but play a dual role, Archbishop Celli said in a question-and-answer session with a small group of journalists June 3 during the 2010 Catholic Media Convention in New Orleans.
They serve not only to teach but also to be in dialogue with the world, he said.
Such dialogue is more important today than ever, with the Church confronting not only a critical secular press but also the explosion of social media and the resulting disruption of old patterns of sharing knowledge, said Archbishop Celli, who is president of the Pontifical Council for Social Communications in Rome.
Archbishop Celli told a parable about a musician whose guitar was stolen but who responded that “you can’t steal the music in my heart.”
“Here is communication for us: what is the music that you have in your heart and how do you communicate with others?” Archbishop Celli asked. “This is why the Church and its media cannot talk only to the Catholic community, because I think the Church has in its heart a music that can be understood by the mankind of today.
“I think we have something inside the Church that can really respond to the suffering of humanity today,” he said, “and we have to give it. This is communication for me.”
Archbishop Celli confessed that he is in the process of learning how this mission should be adapted for the digital age, where new technologies are bringing about a new culture. He said the Church must press forward with its prophetic role in the development of society, but cautioned that there is great variety in Church needs and means between the U.S. and Africa, for example, and between print and digital forms.
Archbishop Celli noted that a friend, a priest in Madrid, recently told him that more people visit the priest’s website than attend Mass. Yet, in Latin America most Church organizations do not have websites, he said.
He also noted that the balance between the catechetical, the devotional and dialogue in Church communication varies from place to place according to culture and resources.
Archbishop Celli is inviting each episcopal body to send three Church communicators – two from the print side, one from the Internet – to an international conference in Rome in October.
“I think we need to see what is the meaning of the Catholic press today,” he said, adding that the Vatican is looking for points of reference and does not want to impose solutions. “Inside the Church, we must discover what is the meaning of the Internet.”
Archbishop Celli said he is also dwelling on the question of how will meditation, how will prayer, survive in the digital age?
“The new generations are afraid to live in a moment of silence,” he said.
He noted that many directors of seminaries are switching off wireless service for their seminarians – “not only forbidding them to use social networks but teaching them how to use them.”
During the convention in New Orleans, U.S. bishops opened a dialogue with Catholic media professionals about their respective roles. A panel of four bishops candidly addressed press questions about the relationship between bishops and the staffs of Church media organizations. A common theme that emerged was that although bishops and communicators must be partners in evangelization, they have separate roles to play.
The session, the first of its kind, was on the last day of the 2010 Catholic Media Convention, sponsored by the Catholic Press Association and the Catholic Academy for Communication Arts Professionals. Helen Osman, secretary for communications at the bishops’ conference, opened the dialogue.
Those participating in the panel were Archbishop Richard Smith of Edmonton, Alberta; Archbishop Gregory Aymond of New Orleans; Bishop Ronald Herzog of Alexandria, La., and Bishop Thomas Doran of Rockford, Ill.
“There needs to be a distinction between reporting the news, which in some ways can be easier than handing on Church teaching,” Archbishop Aymond said. “In terms of handing on Church teaching, the media has a powerful responsibility to help us in terms of not telling people what to do but in helping them inform their conscience.”
The separate role of bishops and Church media is an important matter but not the crucial one, Archbishop Smith said. “In the context of evangelization, it becomes the question of how do we best collaborate with one another,” he said.
Archbishop Aymond said the U.S. bishops realize they could be better communicators and must do so by responding more quickly to reports in the secular media, and responding with one voice.
“Those are two challenges that we are aware of and that we must face if we can be credible,” he said
But the Church must resist forces that would divide it, Bishop Doran said.
“The problem is that we can’t break up the Church into factions,” he said, “much as some would have us do. We have a constant exhortation in the New Testament, one heart and one mind, and we have to strive for that.”
Auxiliary Bishop Gabino Zavala of Los Angeles gave a talk on the elements of a faithful Catholic media. Catholic media must stand apart from the secular media with their tendency to attack, he said.
“I also do not think that we should go to the other extreme and simply say that faithful Catholic media organizations are those who engage in apologetics to defend bishops at all costs,” he said. “That is too simplistic and does not respect the intelligence of Catholics in North America. They deserve a Catholic media that takes a more nuanced perspective.”
June 9th, 2010
By Rick DelVecchio
“To walk with man, without condemning, without judging...offering what we have in our heart that is Jesus, because we perceive that only in this encounter with Jesus man can find his happiness.”
That is the service that Catholic media can perform for the world today, Archbishop Claudio Maria Celli, the Vatican’s top communications man, told Catholic media professionals.
Catholic media are important in the mission of the Church to evangelize but play a dual role, Archbishop Celli said in a question-and-answer session with a small group of journalists June 3 during the 2010 Catholic Media Convention in New Orleans.
They serve not only to teach but also to be in dialogue with the world, he said.
Such dialogue is more important today than ever, with the Church confronting not only a critical secular press but also the explosion of social media and the resulting disruption of old patterns of sharing knowledge, said Archbishop Celli, who is president of the Pontifical Council for Social Communications in Rome.
Archbishop Celli told a parable about a musician whose guitar was stolen but who responded that “you can’t steal the music in my heart.”
“Here is communication for us: what is the music that you have in your heart and how do you communicate with others?” Archbishop Celli asked. “This is why the Church and its media cannot talk only to the Catholic community, because I think the Church has in its heart a music that can be understood by the mankind of today.
“I think we have something inside the Church that can really respond to the suffering of humanity today,” he said, “and we have to give it. This is communication for me.”
Archbishop Celli confessed that he is in the process of learning how this mission should be adapted for the digital age, where new technologies are bringing about a new culture. He said the Church must press forward with its prophetic role in the development of society, but cautioned that there is great variety in Church needs and means between the U.S. and Africa, for example, and between print and digital forms.
Archbishop Celli noted that a friend, a priest in Madrid, recently told him that more people visit the priest’s website than attend Mass. Yet, in Latin America most Church organizations do not have websites, he said.
He also noted that the balance between the catechetical, the devotional and dialogue in Church communication varies from place to place according to culture and resources.
Archbishop Celli is inviting each episcopal body to send three Church communicators – two from the print side, one from the Internet – to an international conference in Rome in October.
“I think we need to see what is the meaning of the Catholic press today,” he said, adding that the Vatican is looking for points of reference and does not want to impose solutions. “Inside the Church, we must discover what is the meaning of the Internet.”
Archbishop Celli said he is also dwelling on the question of how will meditation, how will prayer, survive in the digital age?
“The new generations are afraid to live in a moment of silence,” he said.
He noted that many directors of seminaries are switching off wireless service for their seminarians – “not only forbidding them to use social networks but teaching them how to use them.”
During the convention in New Orleans, U.S. bishops opened a dialogue with Catholic media professionals about their respective roles. A panel of four bishops candidly addressed press questions about the relationship between bishops and the staffs of Church media organizations. A common theme that emerged was that although bishops and communicators must be partners in evangelization, they have separate roles to play.
The session, the first of its kind, was on the last day of the 2010 Catholic Media Convention, sponsored by the Catholic Press Association and the Catholic Academy for Communication Arts Professionals. Helen Osman, secretary for communications at the bishops’ conference, opened the dialogue.
Those participating in the panel were Archbishop Richard Smith of Edmonton, Alberta; Archbishop Gregory Aymond of New Orleans; Bishop Ronald Herzog of Alexandria, La., and Bishop Thomas Doran of Rockford, Ill.
“There needs to be a distinction between reporting the news, which in some ways can be easier than handing on Church teaching,” Archbishop Aymond said. “In terms of handing on Church teaching, the media has a powerful responsibility to help us in terms of not telling people what to do but in helping them inform their conscience.”
The separate role of bishops and Church media is an important matter but not the crucial one, Archbishop Smith said. “In the context of evangelization, it becomes the question of how do we best collaborate with one another,” he said.
Archbishop Aymond said the U.S. bishops realize they could be better communicators and must do so by responding more quickly to reports in the secular media, and responding with one voice.
“Those are two challenges that we are aware of and that we must face if we can be credible,” he said
But the Church must resist forces that would divide it, Bishop Doran said.
“The problem is that we can’t break up the Church into factions,” he said, “much as some would have us do. We have a constant exhortation in the New Testament, one heart and one mind, and we have to strive for that.”
Auxiliary Bishop Gabino Zavala of Los Angeles gave a talk on the elements of a faithful Catholic media. Catholic media must stand apart from the secular media with their tendency to attack, he said.
“I also do not think that we should go to the other extreme and simply say that faithful Catholic media organizations are those who engage in apologetics to defend bishops at all costs,” he said. “That is too simplistic and does not respect the intelligence of Catholics in North America. They deserve a Catholic media that takes a more nuanced perspective.”
For the full text of Bishop Zavala’s talk and audio clips of remarks by the bishops’ panel and Archbishop Celli, go to catholic-sf.org. [ http://catholic-sf.org/multimedia.php?section=audio&id=76 ]
From June 11, 2010 issue of Catholic San Francisco.
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