Evangelization and Communication
The book “Al hilo de un pontificado: El gran ‘sí’ de Dios“ (The Theme of a Pontificate: The Great ‘Yes’ of God) was written on the occasion of the 5th anniversary of the Papacy of Benedict XVI by Fr. Ramiro Pellitero of the University of Navarre. We wish to highlight here the content of Chapter 9 “Evangelization and Communication” where, among other things, Fr. Ramiro speaks of “bringing the faith to cyberspace”.
“I understand that for Benedict XVI, as an intellectual of his time and now supreme Pastor of the Church, communication is a very important value. But it is necessary above all to have very clear the message that is to be communicated. In this case it is no more and no less than the Gospel, with all its richness, force and transforming capacity of man and of history. Perhaps the Pope values the elements of communication in an order and proportion that are different than what some professionals of communication do.
“To evangelize is to give witness as a result of an encounter with Christ. But such witness is given primarily through his active listening, that is to say, his placing himself in the shoes of his neighbor. In addition, Christian witness implies doing one’s work competently as well as an unending and generous service toward one’s fellowmen.”
In another work “The Laity in the Ecclesiology of Vatican II,” Fr. Ramiro explains that the laity have become the principal force behind the new evangelization and transformation of society. “In the present age of technological globalization, Christians and especially the lay faithful have a great missionary task before them…” How are we to carry out this ‘new evangelization’ in this digital time and place? To what does “management of the media” refer?
We recommend a few tips, using the acronym POPE:
Professionalism: (1) Know what your audience needs and wants: The problem with Christians writing for the mass media is that they are expected to both write what they know and be of interest to the market. Barbara Nicolosi suggests that we write to the reader’s humanity, instead of to a particular demographic. (2) Know what journalists think of the content and services offered by Church websites, so that they can be improved, corrected or implemented. “In order to make diocesan websites effective instruments for media relations, Church communicators need to know the expectations and needs of journalists covering religion.” (3) Have recourse to marketing and advertising professionals, if needed. A good example of this is the recent successful Xtantos.es campaign of the Spanish Episcopal Conference.
Optimism: (1) We have always emphasized here that a positive tone and outlook is of utmost importance, especially in all communication about the faith. We are impelled to do this by the very charity of Jesus Christ. (2) We ought to see opportunity where pessimists find weaknesses and threats. “The Internet is always an opportunity and in any case we do not have much choice: since people are there, we must also be present. I would add that it is a double opportunity, because this is a mode of communication in which youth can teach adults. If adults can help young people learn about the Gospel through their experience and study, well the youth, from a digital point of view, are naturals with the internet.” (3) Apart from these, humor is becoming more and more an indispensable and effective earthly weapon for any image battle.
Perseverance: (1) Apart from prayerfulness (and, therefore, holiness), we refer here to faithfulness and orthodoxy, that is to say, a certain adherence to Magisterial authority and teachings that causes us to constantly seek and know the truth, especially about our faith. (2) This evangelical spirit ought to be open and generous, “with an attitude of dialogue, in search of love and justice, participating in cultural and political life, and with special attention to the neediest people.” (3) Part of perseverance is the effort to “constantly speak with people, even if we think that they do not understand us”, as the administrators of this website have been advised.
Effectiveness: (1) Here we refer to a constant assessment of whether goals and aims are being achieved, through the use of evaluation measures and statistics, as for example: number of hits on a particular diocese or institution website, number and quality of comments made on a Catholic blog, etc. This exercise necessarily includes the humility and modesty to admit one’s errors and the effort to correct them. (2) Staying focused is the name of the game…and, in evangelization, the core is the Good News of Jesus Christ.
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These suggestions are very good. Thanks for pointing them out, so we can be more effective in our apostolate.
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