Internet and consciences

“Our Internet sites must be able to re-awaken consciences” and “our evangelization on the web must be like the cross: horizontal in extension and vertical in depth and quality”, remarked Bishop Jean-Michel di Falco Léandri of Cap and d’Embrun and chairman of the Council for Communication of the French Bishops’ Conference. The bishop summed up in this way, in a briefing to Giovanna Pasqualin Traversa for SirEurope, the hoped-for relationship between Internet and mission of the Church which will be the central focus of attention at the Plenary Assembly of the European Episcopal Commission for the Media (EECM), due to be held in the Vatican, in the Old Synodal Hall, from 12 to 15 November. The meeting on “The internet culture and the communication of the Church” is being promoted by the EECM, the specialized media commission of the Council of the Bishops’ Conferences of Europe (CCEE) which is chaired by Mgr. di Falco Léandri, monitors developments in the Church’s media and communications, promotes the work of the Bishops’ Conferences in this field and formulates media policy guidelines on behalf of the CCEE. New grammar and language. “The three events that created a furore in the Church and in the internet world last winter: the Williamson affaire, the affaire of the excommunication of Recife and the affaire of the condom”, revealed, according to Bishop di Falco Léandri, “both the strength and the weakness of the Church’s communication in the context of the triumphant internet culture”. “Let’s not deceive ourselves or bury our heads in the sand – urges the EECM chairman -. Internet is being transformed; it is transforming our society and cannot but transform the Church and our way of being and operating”. “The digital culture – observes the bishop – has its own grammar and a constantly evolving language. If our generation has the tendency to consider as superficial everything that is brief, instantaneous, and emotionally aroused” we need to remember that “the Church has not entrusted the truth merely to voluminous treatises of theology”, but “has been able to express the faith in a synthetic and incisive way and has aroused emotions through the icons, mosaics and frescoes in our churches. This is a capacity and a creativity that need to be adjusted to our time”.The “something more” of Catholics. “We live in a pluralist world – continues the EECM chairman – in which thanks to Internet many can gain access to everything and express their own point of view about everything. The Church cannot fail to take this into account”. That’s why she “cannot communicate as if other conceptions and interpretations of the world did not exist. So, in proclaiming the Word, the Church must also listen to the life of the world of which the Internet is a formidable echo”. According to Bishop di Falco Lèandri, the Pope, in his message for the 44th World Day of Social Communications (23 May 2010), “emphasizes the need both for evangelization through the digital world and of the digital world. So priests need to be surrounded by laypeople who are expert in the creation and management of Catholic websites, at the parish and other levels” of the Church. “In the jungle of free offers and media opportunities, Christians must present themselves as “something more” which is not a gadget, but the leaven that is essential to make the dough rise, the lamp in the home, the beacon shining out in the darkness of the world and of our lives”.Re-awakening consciences. “The Church – warns Mgr. di Falco Lèandri – cannot touch everyone at the same time, with the same contents, or on the same media, nor can she propose a monolithic message. The ways are diverse, the world is segmented; that’s why she must diversify her message. Whom does the Church wish to reach, where, why, and to do what? Before creating a website, the Church must reflect on all this”. “We also need to evaluate with due care the way in which an image or a message might be understood, divulged and interpreted. If we are startled by some reactions, that means we have not properly analyzed the situation before speaking, and consequently have not sufficiently listened”. The assembly in the Vatican will be confronted by such powerful media realities as Facebook, YouTube, Wikipedia and Google, especially used by the young, the so-called web generation. According to Mgr. di Falco Lèandri “it’s not the young who no longer go to church; it’s the Church that has distanced herself from their world. Surfing on the internet we realize the need to communicate, to reach out to others, to engage in genuine dialogue. That’s why we must promote a Christian presence on the web created by professionals, priests included, who are able to master the techniques of communication, and also to provide the necessary spaces for an encounter with truth, for meeting others and for prayer”. What are the characteristics of a Christian website? “It must deal with the real world and avoid being ideological or trying to impose one’s own truth. It must be open to debate but intransigent on fundamental principles. It must be able to re-awaken consciences by simply proposing the truth of Christ in a firm but at the same time friendly way. It must do so with humility, with gentleness, making a defence to any one who calls us to account for the hope that is in us ( cf. 1 Peter 3:15)”.