Media - “We will be present wherever the Church calls us, wherever our brothers and sisters need us… willing to take the risks and to accept the sacrifices which evangelization entails” (C 84)

“We will be present wherever the Church calls us, wherever our brothers and sisters need us… willing to take the risks and to accept the sacrifices which evangelization entails” (C 84)

In the context of the pandemic, it is impossible to deny the great importance that Media and Social Communications (SMC) have attained in our lives; they have become an effective method of interaction, contact and relationship, because it is through them that we find a real, valid and timely space to keep communication alive between people, nurture it and enable new ways that open horizons for human communications.

During this time, we have been able to recognize that the SMC has a key role in evangelization; it is not a matter of creating web pages or social networks, but of understanding that these are opportunities where the Word takes on a fundamental role, prioritize truth, voices are heard and life begins to be knitted together from different dimensions. From this perspective, today we are called to ask ourselves in what way we must be present in these new places of mission, since "we will be present wherever the Church calls us and where our brothers and sisters need us.”

The 55^th General Chapter invites us to use Social Means of Communication as platforms for the proclamation of the Gospel. Therefore, we assume this call with the conviction that beyond the dangers that this new space of mission may represent, we have to embrace with hope this new possibility for proclaiming the Gospel, because it is in these spaces where people, especially the youth, are reached in great numbers.  To deprive ourselves of this possibility would be to deny the truth of the social fabric that is created through virtual networks.

It is necessary to look for indications for action that will lead us on the most sensible path, where we are, respecting the cultures and languages that we are discovering in the midst of our brothers and sisters. We need to loose fear of these new technologies because beyond being a threat they offer us an opportunity.

The way of living has changed us, surprisingly sometimes even violently. But with courage, audacity and prudence we will be able to respond with the newness of God that expresses creatively in us, in the new forms of communication. We must be open to these changes and face them with hope, so that we can speak, walk and tell the story. As Pope Francis told us in his message for the 54th World Day of Social Communications: "I believe that, so as not to lose our bearings, we need to make our own the truth contained in good stories. Stories that build up, not tear down; stories that help us rediscover our roots and the strength needed to move forward together. Amid the cacophony of voices and messages that surround us, we need a human story that can speak of ourselves and of the beauty all around us. A narrative that can regard our world and its happenings with a tender gaze. A narrative that can tell us that we are part of a living and interconnected tapestry. A narrative that can reveal the interweaving of the threads which connect us to one another.”

Text: Commission for Media and Social Communications viceprovince of Aconcagua