The next meeting of the spokespersons and press officers of the Episcopal Conferences of Europe will be held in Athens from 24 to 27 June. Many issues are on the agenda. One session will be entirely dedicated to the Internet, to the opportunities for evangelization on the web, and to the ethical limits and potential of the medium. Msgr. Renato Boccardo, secretary of the Pontifical Council for Social Communications, will present a report. Some particular experiences of transmission on the Internet will also be presented (Belgium), the sites of the various Episcopal Conferences will be reviewed, and some practical suggestions made for cooperation in this field (Holland). Mass media and the family will be another question on the agenda. “2004 says a press release is the international Year of the Family and all Episcopal Conferences will be dedicating projects, events and activities in this field, without forgetting that the message of the Pontifical Council for the World Day of Communications is also focusing on this theme”. John Coughlan, of the Commission of the Episcopates of the European Union (COMECE), will describe to the participants the COMECE document “A strategy for the family in the European Union”. Sessions will also be dedicated to communication/information and ethics and to an update on preparations for the World Youth Day in Cologne in 2005. The closing session of the meeting on Saturday afternoon, 26 June will be dedicated to the “operational” dimension; the main upcoming European events will be reviewed and concrete proposals for collaboration discussed. The conclusions of the meeting will be drawn by the Hungarian and Maltese representatives.
