A living language

“Promoting a culture of respect, dialogue and friendship, also by means of the new technologies, as suggested by the Pope, is the objective of the European Bishops’ Conference for the Media (CEEM). This requires a deeper knowledge of media environment in which the Church intends to play an active role since it is a full part of her mission”. Msgr. Jean-Michel di Falco Léandri, bishop of Gap and Embrun, President of the Council for Communication of the French Bishops’ Conference and CEEM President referred to the Message of Benedict XVI for the 43rd World Day of Social Communications, to be held next May 24. “The new media, he explained to Giovanna Pasqualin Traversa who interviewed him for SIR Europe – don’t merely represent an opportunity. They are a need that we can no longer disregard. Remaining at the margins of the technological process would negatively affect the communication of the evangelical message”. What are the challenges that the new media present to the Church? “It would be a serious mistake to economize in the use of these tools, since evangelization passes – not only but also – through the new media channels. The Church ought to invest on these tools, but at the same time it must get to know them well, understand their objectives, methods and structure. It’s important to avoid naïve and disarmed approaches. The media arena – a real and true arena – must be addressed with the appropriate professional skills, or we risk ending like the Christians thrown into the lion’s den”.What should be the features of this formation?“The youth that enter seminaries today grew up with mobile phones in their pockets and laptops on their knees. This generation is very different from mine and from that of most bishops, who were rather “men of handwriting”. They surf the web like fish in the ocean. They technically master these media, but they need to be taught their appropriate use, so they may be helped fulfil their mission of evangelization and proclamation, while at the same time they must become slaves of technology”. What is your opinion on the Catholic media in our continent? “I believe they have reached a good level of development. A number of Bishops’ Conferences even have a television network, many own radio stations, press agencies or dailies, or are present within the ‘secular’ media. It is very important to provide operators, whether religious or secular, with a technical formation that goes hand in hand with a humanistic, theological and/or ecclesial education. However, great attention ought to be devoted to language. It happens at times that I listen to Catholic radio programs that are broadcast with such a sad tone of voice that if I weren’t sure, I’d never consider them Christian stations! A living language must be communicated in order to reach out to contemporary audience. If not, we risk talking only amongst ourselves”. What contributions can these media offer to the construction of Europe? “Firstly there ought to be an increasing number of places devoted to dialogue and confrontation. The Church deeply believes in the European Project and for some time the CCEE (Council fo European Bishops’ Conferences) and COMECE (Commission of the Bishops’ Conferences of the European Community), along with CEEM, have been committed in soliciting public awareness of the Project. However, it ought to be grounded in foundations that are more solid that the economy, whose weakness tragically came to light with the ongoing crisis. It is necessary to step up EU citizens’ faith in the European project that will be ever more credible when EU policies will be consistently rooted in a system of values”. What are the priorities that CEEM commitment has been focusing on in the past months? “We have been working for the organization of the plenary meeting scheduled for next November, during which we would like to address the entire spectrum of problems linked to communication. Themes of the meeting include the Web. This area of interest will be explored by a number of experts whose field of action is widely known by the youth with the creation of Facebook, MySpace o Wikkipedia. I hope these speakers will accept our invitation since we look forward to listening to their contribution and learn more about the reasons that led them to establish these spaces of virtual encounter, and brief us on what they believe to be the possible deviations, along with their expectations and achievements. We wish to learn more about the experience of those who stand at the source of world platforms where individuals – especially the youth – meet and communicate with one another”. Are you in favour of the use of social networks? “I am on Facebook, with information on who I am: a Catholic bishop. This is why I’m surprised by the amount of people, young and old that wish to engage in a dialogue with me. These contacts are source of enrichment. From this viewpoint Facebook can constitute a terrain for proclamation and evangelisation”.