7 Papal Points for better Catholic Communication

Posted by Fr. Roderick on Nov 22, 2010 in News | 3 comments

How can the Catholic Church reach young people in today’s rapidly changing world? In a recent address to participants in the Plenary Assembly of the Pontifical Council of Culture on November 13, 2010 (link), Pope Benedict XVI talked about the challenges and opportunities offered by new forms of communication and new technology. In this article, I summarize the highlights of his talk in seven points and add some personal observations.

1. Keep in mind that communication is rooted in God

Communication and media are often perceived by Catholics as very problematic. The press is perceived as biased, sensationalist and ill informed on matters of faith. New media are sometimes dismissed as superficial and even dangerous because of their open, uncontrolled nature. Pope Benedict XVI however, choses a positive starting point for his reflexions:

Discussing communication and language [..] means drawing near to the mystery itself of God who [..] willed to reveal himself and manifest his will to men.

Instead of focussing on the potential problems, the Holy Father stresses that communication is ultimately rooted in God’s love. God communicated his Divine love throughout history, in many different situations and cultures. If we want to reflect upon communication and language, we have to first realize that communication is an essential part of our faith and of our human culture. Before we can say anything about how the Church should communicate, we need to be listening. An essential step that is often forgotten in Catholic communications. Before we formulate an answer, we need to listen to determine what the problem really is.

2. Admit it: the way we communicate doesn’t work very well

“Listening, then, to the voices of the globalized world, we realize that a profound cultural transformation is under way, with new languages and new forms of communication, which favor new and problematic anthropological models.”

Pope Benedict stresses that the emergence of new forms of communication are indicative of a profound cultural transformation. This transformation impacts the way in which we interact with each other, and modify the anthropological models needed to describe this interaction.

So it’s not enough to study the use of new forms of communication: we need to ask ourselves what is going on in our culture, and how the Church can react to these cultural changes. Our missionaries haven’t just learned the language of the people they were sent to; their most important task was to inculturate the Catholic faith in the existing situation.

“Pastors and the faithful notice with concern certain difficulties in the communication of the evangelical message and the transmission of the faith within the ecclesial community itself.”

“The problems seem sometimes to grow when the Church addresses men and women who are distant from or indifferent to an experience of faith, whom the evangelical message reaches in a way that has little effectiveness or attractiveness”.

The Pope addresses one of the biggest problems that the Church faces today, especially in the western world. Secularization is growing fast, and despite the efforts of the Church, the way in which the Gospel is proclaimed is not effective or attractive enough. Note that the Holy Father doesn’t say that the Gospel itself is not effective anymore: he talks about *the way* in which the evangelical message is communicated to people. Even though the Pope doesn’t use the term, we could say that the Church has a ‘communications crisis’.

3. If we fail to communicate well, people will walk away

“The incapacity of language to communicate the profound meaning and beauty of the experience of faith can contribute to the indifference of many, above all young people; it can become a motive for estrangement”.

The consequences of the inability of the Church to communicate the value and beauty of faith are tremendous. Not only will a younger generation stay indifferent; failure to communicate faith effectively can push people away from the Church:

“An inadequate presentation of the message can conceal more than it reveals of the genuine face of God and religion.”

4. We need to dialogue in an open environment

In face of the situation, the Church can’t remain passive. Pope Benedict explores what the Church can do to actively take on the challenge to communicate its message and to contribute to cultural change.

“The Church wants to dialogue with everyone in the pursuit of truth, but in order for that dialogue and communication to be effective and fruitful, it is necessary to be on the same frequency, in friendly and sincere environments.”

We all know examples of situations where friendly and sincere dialogue is missing: online forums where Catholics are ruthlessly attacked, talk shows where Catholic guests meet skepticism and even open hostility; press agencies or newspapers that purposely twist the truth or omit information to present Catholics in a bad way.

True dialogue requires respect and an open atmosphere. Catholics should seek or create these ‘friendly and sincere environments’ where communication can be fruitful.

5. Let’s humanize modern communication

Pope Benedict highlights the irony of today’s world, where new communications technology offers limitless possibilities but where many young people feel increasingly lonely and isolated.

“Today not a few young people, deafened by the infinite possibilities offered by information networks or other technologies, maintain forms of communication that do not contribute to maturation in humanity, but rather threaten to increase the sense of solitude and forlornness.”

The Pope doesn’t give any specific examples, but research in western countries seems to validate this assessment: depression, social isolation and other psychological problems are on the rise among young people.

The Holy Father indicates that some forms of communication might impede human maturation. Modern communication techniques offer tremendous possibilities to mankind, but do not automatically guarantee true personal growth.

It all depends on how we use these possibilities. Constant access to an unlimited stream of information does not necessarily lead to wisdom, said a document about the Church and the Internet that appeared a couple of years ago.

“We can and must respond with creative intelligence, committing ourselves to promoting a communication that is humanizing, and that stimulates the critical sense and the capacity to evaluate and discern.”

5. Take the Gospel as a guide

“In the technological culture of today, the Gospel is the guide and the permanent paradigm of inculturation, purifying, healing and elevating the better elements of the new languages and new forms of communication.”

If the Church is to play its part in the transformation of our ambient communications culture, it should do what it has always done: use the Gospel as its guide.

The Gospel shows us how Jesus, as the ‘Perfect Communicator’ mediates God’s love in our world. The virtues, values and priorities he proposes are just as relevant and applicable today as they were in the past. The way Jesus interacts with the people around him is the model for the Church’s communication today.

“For this difficult and fascinating task, the Church can draw on the extraordinary patrimony of symbols, images, rites and gestures of her tradition. In particular, the rich and dense symbolism of the liturgy must shine forth in all its power as a communicative element, to the point of deeply touching the human conscience, heart and intellect. The Christian tradition has always been closely linked to the liturgy and to the language of art, the beauty of which has its special communicative power.”

The Holy Father highlights liturgy and art as powerful means to communicate and touch the human conscience. History has shown their effectiveness in a wide variety of cultures and times. If liturgy and art very important tools to communicate faith to the world around us, we should pay a lot of attention and care to both of them. Mediocrity in this area jeopardizes the mission of the Church.

6. Tools alone don’t cut it, we need witnesses

At the end of his address, Pope Benedict XVI highlights the best way to communicate faith to future generations: the way we live our lives.

“More incisive still than art and images in the communication of the evangelical message is the beauty of the Christian life. In the end, love alone is worthy of faith and is credible.”

“We need men and women who speak with their lives, who know how to communicate the Gospel, with clarity and courage, with the transparency of their actions, with the passionate joy of charity.”

This emphasis on personal witness is extremely important in our world that is yearning for believability and authenticity. Through lack of understanding, it is possible for people to refute certain positions of the Catholic Church, but it very difficult to refuse a helping hand of someone who really cares for you.

Transparency, passion, joy and charity have always been the basis of evangelization. They are ‘viral’ by nature: the apostles and the saints have demonstrated this throughout history. They will also work in the world of new media and communication.

7. Be hopeful, new Catholic communication is already happening

The Pope, having witnessed first hand “in thousands of persons, young people above all, the convincing power of testimony, of the joy of setting out on a journey toward truth and beauty”, is hopeful that the Church will continue find new ways to effectively communicate the Lord’s voice to the world:

“I hope that many of our contemporaries can say, hearing the Lord’s voice again, like the disciples of Emmaus: “Did our hearts not burn within us as he spoke to us on the way?” (Luke 24:32)

Does the Holy Father have a point? Do you recognize the problems and solutions he outlines? Share your opinion in the comments!