By Fr Joshan Rodrigues –
A deeply engaging seminar for Church Communication professionals has just concluded in Rome at the Pontifical University of the Holy Cross, in the historic heart of the eternal city. This professional seminar is held every two years and brings together church communicators from diocesan offices, Episcopal conferences, Catholic news organisations, Catholic and secular media from all over the world. The 11th edition of this seminar held from April 17 to 19, 2018, focused on the theme of ‘Dialogue, Respect and Freedom of Expression in the Public Arena’.
A number of recent phenomenon provided the context for the seminar – rising intolerance in public debate, the growing spread of fake news, censorship, data breach on social media platforms like Facebook – to name a few. All of these pose challenges for the Church as she forges ahead with her mission of taking the Good News to the ends of the earth.
In some countries, the Christian message itself has also been subject to severe limitations, ranging from subtle censorship, through manipulated debates, to open persecution. The three key concepts that made up the theme, are therefore essential values that church communicators must integrate both in their own work and reinforce in public debate.
As Prof. Rev. Fr. Jordi Pujol, Professor of Media Ethics and Law, emphasized: dialogue, respect for those with differing opinions, and freedom of expression are not opposed to each other; in fact they are essential to the democratic process and civil discourse.
As technology rapidly evolves, there are a growing number of ethical and legal questions that need to be addressed. And the Church finds itself in the unique position to help humanity comprehend these concerns with its immense moral wisdom through the centuries. The Church embraces technology but insists that it must be used for the betterment of humanity and respecting the dignity of each and every human being.
Here are some takeaways from the Conference for those engaged in the field of Catholic communications:
1. This is not the first time that humanity finds itself in a post-truth era. Falsehoods and confusion can only be combated by positive and truthful reporting. Communicators must build their credibility on the basis of their good reputation and forge trust and relationships with those they are conversing with.
2. Church communicators must always be balanced, accurate and objective in reporting the life of the Church. An ethical approach must ensure that mistakes and errors are corrected quickly. The humorist Mark Twain once said that a ‘Lie’ has already travelled half way around the world, while ‘Truth’ is still putting on its shoes.
3. The best way to communicate is by telling stories, by putting a human face on the Good News, by building relationships of trust. Communication should build ‘communion’, it should reduce distances, it should explore new pathways.
4. The immense amount of information available today is one of the root causes of confusion and relativism. As the radius of knowledge increases, the circumference of ignorance also widens. Church communicators must be able to help their audiences make sense of the information they receive, simplify it and contextualise it.
5. Political correctness is quite often inimical to dialogue because it leads to eventual conformism rather than true freedom of expression. Dialogue entails listening to the other with respect and looking for new pathways.
6. Rather than playing an eternal ‘catch-up’ with the development of technology, it is essential that we give our children and youth the tools to discern their proper use. Media and technology ethics has to be an indispensable part of education curriculum today in schools, universities and in parishes.
7. Use different media platforms for different audiences. Communicating well doesn’t mean having the best technology. Rather it means understanding your public well and using the best means based on their context and circumstances.
Fr Joshan Rodrigues is from the Archdiocese of Bombay, India. He is currently studying Institutional and Church Communications at the Pontifical Holy Cross University in Rome. Travelling, reading and social media are his passions. His drive is to make Church teaching more accessible to younger audiences and he holds G.K. Chesterton, Bishop Robert Barron and the Venerable Fulton Sheen among his role models for this task. He analyses different aspects of daily Christian life and culture through catholic lenses in his blog, Musings in Catholic Land.