Celebrating the Jubilee of the world of communication from our Redemptorist charism (1)

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    On the occasion of the celebration of the Jubilee of the World of Communications this January 26th, Scala News has asked some of our confreres to share their experiences and hopes in the field of communication from their missionary life commitments.

    REDEMPTORISTS ARE PRESENT IN: RADIO, TV, EDITORIALS.

    ON THE INTERNET: WEBSITES, YOUTUBE OR WEB TV CHANNELS, VIRTUAL RADIOS, PODCASTS, ETC.

    ALSO ON THE MAIN SOCIAL NETWORKS AROUND THE WORLD.

    Because of its Alphonsian roots and heritage, our congregation has had to use the means of communication appropriate to the place and time in which it lives its Redemptorist mission. We wish to dialogue with people where they are today, especially young people, who live the reality of an ever-more-global, connected world and hold everything in the palm of their hands.

    Because of the pandemic, we have had to learn to communicate in new ways and reach out to our people and the most abandoned in today’s world. We want to accompany them as pilgrims and missionaries of hope in the footsteps of the Redeemer.

    From the world of the written press: with up-to-date means and critical capacity.

    P. Francisco Caballero CSsR, Consultor of the Province of Southern Europe, director of Editorial Perpetuo Socorro in Madrid and of the magazine “Icono” writes to us:

    How would you briefly describe your ministry in the field of communication?

    I would describe it as an exciting service because it involves ‘making known’ our missionary life, our charism in the Church and, above all, the good that is among us. Most of the time it is a hidden or anonymous work or it may seem unrewarding but my personal experience is that it is worth offering a quality service and investing resources to make it so… it is, in short, a precious mission.

    • What are the main characteristics of the media you work with?

    They are, above all, the written press: books, magazines, articles, interviews… The confreres who have preceded us in this service have undoubtedly done a great job and now it is up to us to give value to this work with up-to-date media and with a critical capacity to respond to the concerns and questions of today’s world. Very recently, last December, we celebrated the 125th anniversary of Icono magazine.

    Discernment. A few days ago, we relaunched the website of Icono magazine: www.revistaicono.org. One of the current challenges is the presence in social networks and in the digital world, taking care of the content and the container. The Church’s presence in this world needs criteria of discernment that have an evangelical character: prudence, truthfulness, credibility, clarity… This work is not easy and involves training people and investing resources to carry out a task which is an undeniable part of our Redemptorist mission.

    Evangelisation. These media (publishing house, books, magazines, rrss…) were created and make sense as evangelising platforms and, from there, as Redemptorist missionaries we are called to do quality work, to know what is happening in the world of culture, art, science, the Church in general and the congregation itself. The evangelising impact of the ‘digital parish’ is unpredictable and our contribution must be anointed with hope and professionalism.

    Reflection and dialogue. Our media, in addition to transmitting news, need to bring reflection among ourselves and dialogue with today’s world. This requires holistic and integrative training, experts in the various subjects and leadership to harmonise and decide what message we want to convey. Not everything goes, in such a professionalised world we need to go deeper and go beyond the headline. We need people who, through reflection and the Gospel, provide reasons to live the present time with hope and commitment.

    • What are your hopes for the future of your ministry?

    Co-participation. That there be an awareness of the importance of this world as a means of evangelisation in our institutions and confreres. That it not be seen as a second-class missionary tool.

    Professionalisation. Good intentions are not enough; we need professionals in this medium who have an up-to-date vision of the charism and of what we want to transmit. It is urgent to have a digital aesthetic that avoids an anachronistic, cheesy or disconnected from the world pietism. We must be committed to constant updating so that our presence is credible and of high quality.

    Broadening our vision. Knowing what we want to transmit, how we want to transmit it, who our potential recipients are and the ‘why’. Without answering these questions, it will be difficult for us to succeed in the world of communication. That is why we need to discern, motivate and plan. That is to say, to broaden our view of reality, the congregation and the Church in such a way that our message broadens, widens and makes both senders and receivers grow. To awaken reflection, to broaden awareness, to go into new fields… All of this would result in credibility, timeliness and fidelity to the message received.