From photocopies to website” “

The Slovak Bishops’ Conference was born together with the Republic of Slovakia ten years ago, on the partition of Czechoslovakia. This meant that the country has to begin from scratch in all fields, not least in that of social communications. The Press Office (KBS), that now forms an integral part of the general Secretariat of bishops, was founded by two enthusiastic laypeople, Zuzana Glukochova and later Jela Šinajova. The first difficulty was that of convincing the episcopate of the need for a systematic and professional collaboration with the world of the mass media. A big help at the level of motivation and news provision was given by the Austrian Catholic press agency Kathpress in Vienna and its editor in chief Erich Leitenberger. From its first press reviews the agency gradually passed to photocopies of articles sent via fax to episcopal curias, the writing of reports on the Church’s most important activities, and phone contacts with the most varied editorial departments. These first steps became the basis for an efficient press office, especially over the last five years. The episcopate, the clergy and the mass media gradually learnt to appreciate and began to use the individual services provided by the agency. Today, the head of the Press Office is also the spokesman of the Bishops’ Conference. The office has a staff of three. One of these is a parish priest of a mountain parish who runs three websites (www.rcc.sk, www.christ-net.sk, www.tkkbs.sk) linked to the Slovak Church. The enthusiasm with which all this work has been performed is admirable. Some figures are eloquent in this regard: the office prepares and sends various services by e-mail: the press review of the seven most important papers (810 subscribers), the activity of the local church (820 subscribers), the activity of the universal church (800 subscribers) and the service for journalists (240 subscribers). Since last year, the official site of the KBS (www.rcc.sk) has published the pastoral letters of the bishops, the declarations of the commissions of the Bishops’ Conference, and the documents of the Holy Father and of the offices of the Roman Curia in Slovak translations. There have been 858,800 visits to the site, and 499,500 to the press section. Of no less importance is the information on the European Churches, also thanks to the SIR agency. The activity of the Press Office of the Slovak Bishops is increasingly appreciated by the lay mass media, also because it diffuses news on the activities of the Church that were not easily accessible before. An evaluation of the 427 articles on the life of the Church published in the most important papers over the last three months shows that 317 were positive in their reception and only 110 negative or critical. The Office also prepares and distributes 700 copies of the Catholic weekly Život Cirkvi (Life of the Church). In 2003 alone it produced 881 news stories regarding the life of the local Church, and 1208 reports on the universal Church. The press review comprised a total of 2653 articles and 32 statements.