Listening and reporting

SIR Europe, an offspring of SIR, the Religious News Service promoted by the Italian Bishops’ Conference and rooted in the experience of the Italian Federation of Catholic Weeklies, started working on May 22nd 2001 in response to the CCEE’s presidency’s call to contribute to improving information on and from the Catholic Church in Europe. All this, in the attempt to offer a news service that would be capable of giving an insight of the life and thought of an institution, which, with its Christian roots, is still lovingly rooted in the history of Europe.Amidst a Special Assembly and an Apostolic Exhortation. SIR Europe began publishing just after the II Special Assembly for Europe (1-23 October 1999) on “Jesus Christ, Alive in His Church, Source of Hope for Europe” and published the Apostolic Exhortation “Ecclesia in Europa” (28 June 2003).Professional skills and an “ecclesial feeling” are the grounds for an experience of communication which, through the language of the Internet, fits in with the European media scenario, not least through regular contacts with the European institutions.A unique European network with the support of CCEE’s spokesmen. It is mainly through CCEE and the spokesmen of the Bishops’ Conferences that a truly unique network of “sources”, consisting in such spokesmen plus correspondents from each Church, has come into being in the last 10 years. A regular, fruitful cooperation with COMECE has found its place in this scenario since the very beginning.The network is strengthened by permanent professional contacts and internships at SIR Europe in Rome and Brussels.A synergism with seven European catholic agencies. Since 2008 the Service cooperates with seven European Catholic news agencies: Austria – Kathpress, Germany – Kna, Poland – Kai, Hungary – Magyar Courir, Croatia – Ika, Portugal – Ecclesia, Switzerland – Apic/Kipa. Contacts with the media (papers and websites) of many Bishops’ Conferences have grown stronger and become regular. Every day, to the European bishops on a mailing list. From Monday to Friday, SIR Europe (www.agensir.eu) publishes news and short articles in Italian and English and twice a week it posts online updates and more extensive pieces about the European Catholic Church in its national and European expressions, relying on the support of CCEE (with its Commissions) and COMECE. Prominence is given to the activities of the Holy Father and the Holy See.Every day, a selection of news – in Italian and English – is sent to the European Bishops on a mailing list.Rome, Brussels, Bratislava. Some multilingual editors work exclusively for SIR Europe in the central office. Others, in the Brussels office, monitor the activities of the European Institutions, highlighting questions related to “non-negotiable values”.SIR Europe takes position on issues of European relevance – in agreement with the spokesmen of the Bishops’ Conferences – with the opinions of Catholic commentators who are experts in such issues.A team of professionals enables SIR Europe to translate most European languages.A SIR Europe office was set up in March 2011 in Bratislava, covering the activity of the Churches of Slovakia, the Czech Republic, Hungary, Ukraine, Romania. Offices providing the same services are being planned in other areas. In dialogue with Christian Churches and other religions. There is a permanent connection with KEK/CEC, which provides regular ecumenical information. At the third European Ecumenical Assembly of Sibiu (4-9 September 2007) when the CCEE spokesmen and the KEK communication professionals met for the very first time, SIR Europe proposed a reflection on “ecumenism and communication”.We work similarly in the area of inter-religious dialogue, in perfect harmony with the guidelines and reflections of CCEE, COMECE and of each Bishops’ Conference.A pilot workshop. To date, there is no such thing as structured trans-national information on Europe. European news basically consists of EU news items translated in the national languages.Owing to its specific ecclesial adherence, SIR Europa/SIR Europe can act as a model of comprehensive European news. A lot of work still lies ahead. But the achievements of the past ten years constitute a solid basis, a springboard for further goals.