(Vatican Radio) Pope Francis has urged members of Vatican media platforms not to be afraid of reform, and to embrace the challenge of change that will enable them to bring the message of the Gospel to all.
Addressing representatives of the Secretariat for Communications (SPC) gathered for its first Plenary Assembly, the Pope said that to “reform is not just to whitewash things; it’s to give them a different form and organization”.
“It’s something, he said to those charged with overhauling the Vatican’s different news and media outlets, to be done with intelligence and what he called a good kind of ‘violence’.”
Headed by the Prefect, msgr. Dario Viganò, the new Dicastery was created by Pope Francis exactly two years ago with the mandate to unify all Vatican communications platforms: the Vatican Television Center, the Vatican Publishing House, The Osservatore Romano newspaper, Vatican Radio, the Holy See Press Office, the Vatican Photographic Service, the Vatican Internet Service, the Vatican Printing Press and the former Pontifical Council for Social Communications.
Describing the issues addressed during the Plenary are “very dear to his heart,” Pope Francis said the work taken on by the SPC aims to “find new criteria and new ways of communicating the Gospel of mercy to all peoples and cultures making use of the new digital culture at our disposal”.
He highlighted the fact that – as specified in his ‘Motu proprio’ which established the new Dicastery – the reform is not about coordinating or merging the various platforms, but sets up something completely new with a single and unified management which will be able to better respond to the needs of the Church’s mission.
Reflecting on the fact that in the past each platform had its own channels and mediums of communication (the written word, images, audio) the Pope said that “all these forms of communication today are transmitted with a single code that uses the binary system.”
Thus, he said, the Vatican newspaper is called to find a new and different way to reach a much higher number of readers that it does through its printed format.
He said that through the years Vatican Radio has become an ensemble of portals and “must be reshaped according to new models so it can conform to modern technologies and to the needs of our contemporaries”.
And regarding the Vatican’s radiophonic service, the Pope had special words of appreciation for the efforts being made in consideration of countries that are not technologically developed – “I think of Africa” he said – praising the “rationalization of Short Wave frequencies that have never been dismantled.
“History undoubtedly represents a precious patrimony of experience to be safeguarded and used as a push towards the future” he said, pointing out that otherwise it would be a mere museum: “interesting and nice to visit, but unable to provide the strength and courage for the continuation of the journey.”
Pope Francis concluded his address encouraging the SPC to courageously bring the reform to completion with an apostolic and missionary spirit, and asked there be a special regard and attention for situations of need, poverty and difficulty within the knowledge that they must be faced with adequate solutions:
“Let us resist the temptation of being attached to a glorious past; let’s all be team players in order to better respond to the new communication challenges posed by culture today without fear and without foreseeing apocalyptic scenarios.”
(from Vatican Radio)…
(Vatican Radio) The Holy See and Myanmar announced on Thursday their intention to establish diplomatic relations. The announcement came in the context of an audience Pope Francis granted the State Counsellor and Union Minister for Foreign Affairs of the Republic of the Union of Myanmar Aung San Suu Kyi.
Below, please find the full text of the statement from the Press Office of the Holy See
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The Holy See and the Republic of the Union of Myanmar, keen to promote bonds of mutual friendship, have jointly agreed to establish diplomatic relations at the level of Apostolic Nunciature, on behalf of the Holy See, and Embassy, on the part of the Republic of the Union of Myanmar.
(from Vatican Radio)…
(Vatican Radio) Pope Francis reflected on last weekend’s Apostolic Voyage to Egypt during his weekly General Audience, recalling the various stages of his trip.
The Holy Father thanked the people of Egypt for their warm welcome, and noted the “extraordinary commitment” of the Egyptian authorities to ensure his visit went off without a hitch.
He spoke of his visit to the Al-Azhar University, which was focused on both “ dialogue between Christians and Muslims” and “the promotion of peace ” in the world. Pope Francis summarized his address at the International Conference for peace, emphasizing Egypt’s history as a “ land of civility ” and a “ land of covenant. ” Egypt, he said, echoing the speech of the Grand Imam, “reminds us that peace is built through education, formation in wisdom, a humanism that includes the religious dimension, the relationship with God, as an integral part.” He continued, saying peace is built on the relationship between God and men, and on the alliance between all men. This, the pope said, is the foundation for a civil and social order in which all are called to participate.
Pope Francis also spoke about the role of Christians, who are called to be a “leaven of fraternity, in Egypt and elsewhere. He said his meeting with his “dear brother” Pope Tawadros II – the Coptic Orthodox Patriarch – and their “Common Statement” were signs of the commitment of Christians to that fraternity. The Pope recalled the prayers for the martyrs of the Coptic Orthodox Church, the victims of very recent violence, whose sacrifice and common witness lent a particular fruitfulness to the work of ecumenism.
The second day of the Pope’s voyage was dedicated to the Catholic faithful. The Mass celebrated by Pope Francis was, he said, a feast of faith and fraternity. He recalled his homily, in which he encouraged Egyptian Catholics to relive the experience of the disciples at Emmaus, when they “encountered the Lord.”
The Holy Father also reflected on the final event of his Voyage, the meeting with priests, religious, and seminarians. He noted in particular the many seminarians in Egypt, which he called a “consolation.”
Concluding his remarks, Pope Francis said Christians in the region, guided by their pastors, should be “salt and light” for the Middle East. He called his voyage to Egypt a sign of hope, refuge, and help.” His voyage, he said, “signifies walking together along the path of hope,” and called Egypt a “sign of hope” for fraternity, not just in the past, but also in the present day.
(from Vatican Radio)…
(Vatican Radio) Pope Francis held his weekly General Audience on Wednesday, during which he spoke of his recently concluded visit to Egypt. Below, please find the official English-language summary of the Holy Father’s prepared remarks …
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Dear Brothers and Sisters: My recent Apostolic Journey to Egypt took place at the invitation of the President of the Republic, the Coptic Orthodox Patriarch, the Grand Imam of Al-Azhar and the Catholic Coptic Patriarch. I thank all those who helped in its planning and organization. My meeting with the Gran Imam, and my message to the International Conference for Peace, recalled that peace is the fruit of an education to wisdom and a humanism that respects the religious dimension of our existence. Our covenant with God, grounded in the commandment of love of God and neighbour, inspires our efforts to build a just and peaceful civil order in which all have a part to play. Egypt’s great cultural and religious heritage gives the nation a special role in this work of peacemaking. In my meeting with the Coptic Orthodox Patriarch, Pope Tawadros II, we reaffirmed our mutual commitment to unity and prayed together for the victims of the recent attacks. At Mass with the Catholic community, and in my meeting with priests, religious and seminarians, I saw the beauty of the Church in Egypt and I encouraged everyone to persevere in the hope of the Gospel. May the Holy Family, who once found refuge in Egypt, bless and protect its people with prosperity, fraternity and peace.
(from Vatican Radio)…
The Pontifical Academy of Social Sciences wrapped up its Plenary Assembly on Tuesday with a call for inclusion of the most marginalized in society.
The five-day Plenary Session focused on the theme “Towards a Participatory Society: New Roads to Social and Cultural Integration”.
A message from Pope Francis provided the guidelines for the Plenary. Recalling the movements and the battles for the rights of workers in the past two centuries, the Pope pointed out that “those battles are far from over” and called for a new world vision that has the value of fraternity at its basis.
Present at this mornings’ press conference in the Vatican was one of the participants of the Plenary, Professor Paulus Zulu who highlighted the fact that in Africa one of the major causes for exclusion is to be found in political systems which prevent the people from accessing even the basic resources of life.
Listen:
Professor Zulu explains that in Africa there is a crisis of representative democracy which leads to major causes of social exclusion. Consequently, he says, there are growing inequalities.
“One of the consequences – migration – often represents a response to these inequalities” he says.
“Some of the excluded populations, he says, try to seek measures of existence – not only just inclusion – measures of existence outside their continent” or country.
Prof. Zulu concludes that that is one of the manifestations which one would refer to as original.
“Part of the solution, or what communities deem as the possible mechanism, is through social movements which are trying to garner mechanisms towards social inclusion, particularly access, where inclusion leads to access of the basic resources of life” he says.
(from Vatican Radio)…