Communicating hope – a challenge for the Churches in the world

The Jubilee of the World of Communication – the first event of the Holy Year, scheduled for 24-26 January – is a precious opportunity to reflect on the many and complex aspects of communication and to promote a shared commitment, a networked effort, with a particular and continuing focus on relationships, people and communities, to accompany and promote.
It is precisely along these lines that the Church is moving, not only in Europe but on all continents, not least in the face of the challenges brought about by new technologies.
“It is a voice of hope for many countries in Latin America and the Caribbean that are facing a difficult situation”, said Bishop Daniel Francisco Blanco, Auxiliary Bishop of San José de Costa Rica, underlining the important role of the Ecclesiastical Network of Communicators of Latin America and the Caribbean – RECLAC, created in July 2024 to integrate the common work of CELAM, the Episcopal Conferences of Latin America and other ecclesial organisations of the continent in the field of communication. The project offers new opportunities in terms of effectiveness of communication, promoting synergies in a synodal perspective.
The aim of the meeting held in Lagos, Nigeria, in November 2023, on the occasion of the 50th anniversary of the Pan-African Episcopal Committee for Social Communication (CEPACS), likewise focused on mapping out synergetic actions to bolster the area of social communication for the future. Bishops and media professionals gathered in the Nigerian capital for a three-day meeting to explore ways to update the Church’s presence in the digital and multimedia world. “Our Church can truly be a Church of hope”, remarked Cardinal Fridolin Ambongo – Archbishop of Kinshasa and President of SECAM – “thanks to this synergy, including in the area of communication. The Church in Africa is a living Church that can help to revive and give new impetus to the universal Church.”
The conference “Illuminaire 2024: Nurturing Digital Stewardship”, a national conference for Catholic communicators from across the country, was held in Bangalore, India in November 2024. The event was organised by the Salesians of Don Bosco in collaboration with the Holy See’s Dicastery for Communication, the Social Communications Department of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of India (CBCI), the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of India (CBCI), the Federation of Asian Bishops’ Conferences (FABC) and the Catholic Religious of India. Workshops were also held on topics such as digital discernment, social media opportunities, digital wellness and the use of artificial intelligence.
The pathways, modalities and experiences vary according to the context, but for the Church there is an ever greater desire and need to participate in and better master the field of communication in all its facets, in order to be heard by the greatest number of people. The radio always had great potential as a popular means of communication for social and human promotion. It offers the means for everyone’s voice to be heard, even in the remotest corners of the world, in order to raise public awareness, to encourage informed participation and also to remind institutions of their responsibilities.
It was with this in mind that Radio Huaya was founded in Mexico in 1965, a community radio station, the oldest in Mexico, created to serve peasants living in poverty and marginalisation. Since 1973, the Jesuits have expanded the educational plan, broadcasting from Huayacocotla, at an altitude of 2,200 metres, in four languages: Spanish, Nahuatl, Otomi and Tepehuas. “Many problems seemed unsolvable before the arrival of the radio,” said one village leader. But then the radio became our voice and allowed us to achieve concrete results, improving the lives of our families and communities. Most importantly, we realised that the voice of the people is extremely powerful when it can be heard.”
In this way, the indigenous communities, thousands of people from more than 1,300 villages and 140 communities, could remain united with a tool to be heard, even leading to the restitution of 5,000 hectares of land that had been confiscated from farmers.
“Radio Santo Tomas”, a small diocesan community radio station in a rural area of the Andes, was set up to serve the local community in the diocese of Sicuani in Peru. The local inhabitants are mostly farmers and shepherds, living in isolated hamlets. It is a very useful and stimulating source of information and education. Programmes are broadcast in the local Quechua language and in Spanish. These programmes proved invaluable during the Covid pandemic, as Internet access is scarce: 90 per cent of the local population has no access or the Internet signal is very slow. Communication experts, mostly young people, were trained to organise and produce the various programmes. A special programme on socio-environmental issues – particularly climate change, sustainable use of resources and renewable energy – inspired by the themes of Laudato Si’ is gaining popularity.
The key words of the Radialistas Apasionadas y Apasionados are sustainable development, rights, citizenship, dignity and diversity. “It’s not a broadcasting station”, explains its coordinator, José Ignacio Lopez Vigil. ‘It’s a production centre for radio programmes with a social and educational content, distributed for free throughout Latin America.
This non-profit organisation was founded in Quito in 2001. In 2016 it released “Laudato si’. Sobre el cuidado de nuestra Casa común’” by Red Eclesial Panamazónica (REPAM) to highlight the urgency of radical change. It consists of 20 episodes, each 10 minutes long, in which Saint Francis of Assisi, back on Earth, in dialogue with the elements of creation, travels to different countries and witnesses the continuing damage to our common home and the threats to the future of humanity.
The same idea of serial storytelling inspired the production of a radio-TV programme called Bridsoukou (‘Suddenly’) in the Archdiocese of Port-au-Prince, Haiti. Designed to encourage civic engagement among the population, the programme was broadcast on Radio Soleil, the historic diocesan radio station. Under the slogan ‘One is not born, one becomes a citizen’, and with the participation of 18 actors, 75 episodes were produced, focusing on messages of hope, reconciliation and solidarity. It was primarily intended for a young audience at a particularly difficult time, marked by rampant crime and widespread insecurity. “We are facing an extremely difficult situation,” says the project coordinator, Father Hubert Mésidor. “Armed gangs are everywhere… we are under constant stress… I myself was kidnapped by these criminals, who fortunately have since released me. Taking advantage of the desperation, the gangs offer money to impoverished young people, who are attracted to them. That is why today, more than ever, it is necessary to swim against the tide, to spread alternative models, to make young people understand that there are other options and that, despite the wounds left by violence, it is possible to rebuild a future.”
These are just some of the many expressions of a form of communication that fosters peace and hope, linked to community projects, that the Church is constantly spreading throughout the world, thanks also to the commitment of many media professionals. They give concrete expression to the Pope’s exhortation for the 59th World Day of Social Communications, the theme of which is “Share with gentleness the hope that is in your hearts” (cf. 1Pt 3:15-16).” It is a hope that we are called to communicate with words and deeds, with the ability to observe and, in spite of everything, to make room “for the many small and great stories of goodness.”
With this aim in mind, since 1991 the Italian Church has financed 1,616 communication projects in 72 countries with 178 million Euros, thanks to voluntary contributions from taxpayers under Italy’s “8×1000” law.
(Fonte: AgenSIR – News archiviata in #TeleradioNews ♥ il tuo sito web © Diritti riservati all’autore)