"The web culture is a culture of net-like relations. It is a horizontal network of people, increasingly dialoguing with each other". This is one of the reflections that have come to the fore during the yearly meeting of the Executive Committee of the Bishops Commission for the media (Ceem), a specialist commission of the Council of European Bishops Conferences (Ccee). During the meeting which took place from April 25th to 27th in the Vatican City, the participants explored the subject of the next Plenary meeting about "The Internet culture and the Church" due to take place in Rome in March 2009. The subject of the plenary meeting had to be discussed by Nicoletta Vittadini, professor of sociology of education at Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore. While the web "is born from a culture of the economy of the gift", "the web culture is a culture in which the relation with the authority tends not to be recognised a priori. Then, the authorities that existed in the real world have to regain their authority within the web". In 2009, the European Bishops in charge of the Media will try to review the effects of the web culture on and in our society, and on and in the Church; to see how Christians can interact with this culture, and what contribution can be given by the web to ecumenical and inter-religious dialogue. (continued)
