Lateran, 21 November 2024

Press Release

Twenty years on from the Directory “Communication and Mission”

On 28 November at the Lateran University, a seminar to reflect on the history and perspectives of the bond between the Church and communication

A study afternoon to reflect, twenty years on from the publication of “Communication and mission: Directory on social communications in the mission of the Church”, and to explore the complex bond between the Church and communicative processes. This is the aim of the seminar organized for this coming 28 November by the Redemptor Hominis Pastoral Institute of the Pontifical Lateran University, in collaboration with the National Office for social communications of the Italian Episcopal Conference, to take place in the Pius XI Hall of the Lateran University. From 15.00, scholars and experts will reflect on the Directory, which was conceived with a dual objective: on the one hand, to foster a genuine ecclesial communicative awareness, from a pastoral perspective; and on the other, to provide working tools to dioceses, able to promote the transmission of the Gospel message.

The initiative, divided into two parts, will begin with institutional greetings from the Rector Magnificent of the Lateran University, Archbishop Alfonso V. Amarante, and the secretary general of the Italian Episcopal Conference, Archbishop Giuseppe Baturi. The event will be introduced by a reflection on the Directory by the general ecclesiastical assistant of the Catholic University of the Sacred Heart, Bishop Giuliodori, who contributed to the drafting of the document. Attention will then turn to the specifics of the Document through a general presentation (Massimiliano Padula, lecturer at the Lateran University and organizer of the seminar) and its implementation (Vincenzo Corrado, director of the National Office for Social Communications of the Italian Episcopal Conference).

The second part will be dedicated to academic research regarding the relationship between the Church and communication, with two interventions: one taking a theological-pastoral approach (Paolo Asolan, dean of the Redemptor Hominis Pastoral Institute), and the other focusing on digital culture (Fabio Pasqualetti, dean of the Faculty of Social Communication Sciences of the Salesian Pontifical University). Mauro Ungaro, president of the Italian Federation of Catholic Weeklies, will conclude, with a reflection on the role played by the communication offices of the local Churches. Daniel Arasa, dean of the Faculty of Institutional Social Communication of the Pontifical University of the Holy Cross, will moderate.

Padula explains, “We believe it is fundamental to analyze this document which not only provides practical tools for ecclesial communication, but also understands that communication processes are fully part of the praxis of the Christian community and, for this reason, need to be investigated both humanly and in the light of Revelation.

“The Directory offers a very interesting perspective with which to look at the relationship between the Church and communication: mission”, adds Corrado. “In the wake of the Council's teaching, this document, which seems unaffected by the passage of time, recalls the intimate communicative nature of the Church. It is not, therefore, an achievement linked to the evolution of times and technologies, but rather a connaturality that identifies its presence in the media and defines its essence”.

ACCREDITATION PROCEDURE

Journalists and media operators who wish to attend must apply, no later than 24 hours before the event, via the Holy See Press Office online accreditation system, at press.vatican.va/accreditamenti.