Announcing the Good News to the World through the Internet

Bishops attend a school of communication: a formation seminar concerning the use of contemporary media outlets

PARAGUAY. The Church is well aware of the influence that current communications has over contemporary society. It knows how it shapes the thinking of individuals and groups. Many times, through the media, negative cultural and ethical values are being transmitted, and of most concern to the church are those values that that negatively affect the family. For this reason, the church is ever increasing its commitment in this field so that it can contribute positively to the spreading of the Gospel.

The subject of the "means of communication" has not always been a top priority in the Schoenstatt Movement or in the church overall. Gradually, there has been an increasing realization among church members that contemporary media sources can be used as an instrument for evangelization. These new sources of communication can be used as a basic tool for the "New Man" in the third millennium. For example, a recently ordained priest, Father Miguel Rocha, from Chile said that through the media (press, radio, TV) everyone can be reached and he believes that there still much more to do in this field. "We must know how to think and to propose in order to get ahead and to transmit our message with understandable categories that are real and modern, and in this way to be soul of the world."

Exchange and training

A Formation and Support in Communication Workshop was held with this objective in mind on May 16^th to 18^th 2006 in Asuncion, Paraguay. The workshop was specifically directed to the bishops of the southern cone region. The participating countries included Argentina, Brazil, Bolivia, Chile, Paraguay, and Uruguay. The main objective was to provide a place for the exchange of ideas and of training for the bishops and the executive secretaries who reside within the communication areas of the southern cone region. The workshop’s purpose was to provide them with a wider vision of the problems and of the possibilities that communication presents for spreading the evangelical message in the context of the present day media.

Some of the specific objectives were: To exchange knowledge and offer individual experiences in the area of social communication as it has developed in each one of the countries; To carry out a media and cultural analysis where each national church is in action; To analyze the similarities and the differences that are presented in the media in the area of the southern cone; To study the forms of production and of writing the Catholic message, and to write a working proposal to improve the present situation; To determine the challenges in the media and what the response of the southern cone region (as a whole) and that of each specific country should be.

It was a pleasure for the Schoenstatt Family to have this workshop take place near Tuparenda because the Schoenstatt Movement in that area has recently initiated plans that will help to deepen the model of communication that is an inheritance and mission of the Founder. The Tuparenda Schoenstatt Movement is known for its very good relationship with the media.

With material fom Fides