Pope Francis Offers 3 Objectives and Gives Bl. Carlo Acutis as an Example "who shows us how important it is to be creative, to be brilliant in the world of digital communication"
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ADDRESS OF THE HOLY FATHER FRANCIS
TO PARTICIPANTS IN THE MEETING PROMOTED BY
COORDINATION OF ASSOCIATIONS FOR COMMUNICATION (COPERCOM)
Hall of the Consistory
Monday, October 31, 2022
___________________________________
Dear brothers and sisters, good morning!
I welcome you and thank the President of the Coordination of Communication Associations for his kind words. I am happy to share this moment of celebration - postponed by two years due to the pandemic - for the twenty-fifth anniversary of the foundation of the Coordination, together with all the associations that are currently part of it. It is an anniversary that invites us to give thanks for the happy intuition of establishing, with the support of the General Secretariat of the Italian Bishops' Conference, an organization that would network various national associations operating in the field of communication. At the same time, it is a good opportunity to reflect on the mission required of a body like yours today: in fact, communication processes change continuously and quickly, and this requires more planning and vision. For this reason, I take this opportunity to reflect with you on some objectives.
The first is, so to speak, institutional: coordination. It is a noble goal to bring together more realities to achieve a very specific goal. Coordinate is a familiar verb. But for whom? For what? These are the questions that help to better define the daily commitment to good communication. Coordinating is not a simple activity, it requires patience, vision, unity of purpose and, above all, the enhancement of individual associative identities, which must be placed at the service of the whole. Talents and skills must be made fruitful for the benefit of all, at the service of the Church in Italy. I encourage you to start from here, and to look to the future with confidence, also ready to take different and innovative paths. The progress made in these twenty-five years already offers you a good wealth of experience in order to further improve the coordination work.
A second goal is change. We have repeatedly observed that "what we are experiencing is not simply an era of change, but a change of era. We are, therefore, in one of those moments in which the changes are no longer linear, but epochal; they constitute choices that quickly transform the way of life, of relating, of communicating and elaborating thought, of relating between human generations and of understanding and living faith and science "(Address to the Roman Curia, 21 December 2019). Therefore, we must not be afraid to allow ourselves to be challenged by the challenges and opportunities that the present time offers. You should be an expert at this: change experts! In fact, by dealing with communication, you know very well how technological innovations are accelerating processes and generational transitions. Change, to be faced and managed in a fruitful way, requires good educational and training skills. I invite you to look, in a particular way, at the new generations and to identify the most suitable paths to establish meaningful contacts with them. And be careful, because changing does not mean following the fashions of the moment, but converting one's way of being and thinking, starting from the attitude of amazement in the face of what does not change yet is always new! Amazement which is the antidote to repetitive habit and self-referentiality. Amazement carries you forward, makes you change, makes you walk. Habit is repetitive, and self-referentiality makes you look at yourself, like this, in the mirror, to look at yourself.
The third objective is a triptych: meeting, listening and speaking. It is a sort of "a-b-c" of the good communicator, because it is the dynamic that is the foundation of all good communication. First of all, the encounter with the other: it means opening your heart, without pretense, to whoever is in front of you. Encounter is the prerequisite for knowledge. If there is no meeting, there is no communication. But sincerity is needed for there to be an encounter. Pretending to meet is not to meet, and that's bad. Then comes listening. Very often we approach others with our beliefs, made up of pre-packaged ideas, and we risk remaining impervious to the reality of those in front of us. Instead, it is a question of learning to be silent, first of all within oneself, and to respect the other: respect him not formally, but actually, listening to him, because each person is a mystery. Listening is the essential ingredient for there to be a true dialogue. Only after listening does the word come. St. John writes: «What we have seen and heard, we also announce to you, so that you too may be in communion with us. And our communion is with the Father and with his Son, Jesus Christ "(1 Jn 1,3). The word, emerging from silence and listening, can become an announcement, and then communication opens up to communion. Meet, listen and then talk. Your work should always be guided by these actions, always paying attention to nouns, that is, people, rather than adjectives that distract. We are in a culture that has fallen into adjectivism, everything is adjective, and when it is adjective, the substantiality of the thing is lost. This same dynamic can also give a turning point for the various conflicts that seem to want to engulf this time.
And finally one last element: the synodal path, which you have all heard about. The Church, also in Italy, is making a journey, a process inserted in that started last year at the universal level, and which will continue until 2024. Beyond the temporal span, walking in a synodal way means living ecclesiality to the full. Just as the Second Vatican Council taught, which sixty years ago was taking its first steps. I therefore urge you to make your specific contribution to this journey of the Church in Italy. As national associations you are places where every day concepts and theories are measured against the fatigue and hope of women and men. This fraternity of life can open an important window in a time of great conflict. May you be witnesses and weavers of communion in your daily commitment.
I entrust you to Saint Francis de Sales, patron saint of journalists and communicators, and to Blessed Carlo Acutis, who shows us how important it is to be creative, to be brilliant in the world of digital communication, not repetitive. I bless you and pray for you. And you, please, pray for me. Thank you!
TO PARTICIPANTS IN THE MEETING PROMOTED BY
COORDINATION OF ASSOCIATIONS FOR COMMUNICATION (COPERCOM)
Hall of the Consistory
Monday, October 31, 2022
___________________________________
Dear brothers and sisters, good morning!
I welcome you and thank the President of the Coordination of Communication Associations for his kind words. I am happy to share this moment of celebration - postponed by two years due to the pandemic - for the twenty-fifth anniversary of the foundation of the Coordination, together with all the associations that are currently part of it. It is an anniversary that invites us to give thanks for the happy intuition of establishing, with the support of the General Secretariat of the Italian Bishops' Conference, an organization that would network various national associations operating in the field of communication. At the same time, it is a good opportunity to reflect on the mission required of a body like yours today: in fact, communication processes change continuously and quickly, and this requires more planning and vision. For this reason, I take this opportunity to reflect with you on some objectives.
The first is, so to speak, institutional: coordination. It is a noble goal to bring together more realities to achieve a very specific goal. Coordinate is a familiar verb. But for whom? For what? These are the questions that help to better define the daily commitment to good communication. Coordinating is not a simple activity, it requires patience, vision, unity of purpose and, above all, the enhancement of individual associative identities, which must be placed at the service of the whole. Talents and skills must be made fruitful for the benefit of all, at the service of the Church in Italy. I encourage you to start from here, and to look to the future with confidence, also ready to take different and innovative paths. The progress made in these twenty-five years already offers you a good wealth of experience in order to further improve the coordination work.
A second goal is change. We have repeatedly observed that "what we are experiencing is not simply an era of change, but a change of era. We are, therefore, in one of those moments in which the changes are no longer linear, but epochal; they constitute choices that quickly transform the way of life, of relating, of communicating and elaborating thought, of relating between human generations and of understanding and living faith and science "(Address to the Roman Curia, 21 December 2019). Therefore, we must not be afraid to allow ourselves to be challenged by the challenges and opportunities that the present time offers. You should be an expert at this: change experts! In fact, by dealing with communication, you know very well how technological innovations are accelerating processes and generational transitions. Change, to be faced and managed in a fruitful way, requires good educational and training skills. I invite you to look, in a particular way, at the new generations and to identify the most suitable paths to establish meaningful contacts with them. And be careful, because changing does not mean following the fashions of the moment, but converting one's way of being and thinking, starting from the attitude of amazement in the face of what does not change yet is always new! Amazement which is the antidote to repetitive habit and self-referentiality. Amazement carries you forward, makes you change, makes you walk. Habit is repetitive, and self-referentiality makes you look at yourself, like this, in the mirror, to look at yourself.
The third objective is a triptych: meeting, listening and speaking. It is a sort of "a-b-c" of the good communicator, because it is the dynamic that is the foundation of all good communication. First of all, the encounter with the other: it means opening your heart, without pretense, to whoever is in front of you. Encounter is the prerequisite for knowledge. If there is no meeting, there is no communication. But sincerity is needed for there to be an encounter. Pretending to meet is not to meet, and that's bad. Then comes listening. Very often we approach others with our beliefs, made up of pre-packaged ideas, and we risk remaining impervious to the reality of those in front of us. Instead, it is a question of learning to be silent, first of all within oneself, and to respect the other: respect him not formally, but actually, listening to him, because each person is a mystery. Listening is the essential ingredient for there to be a true dialogue. Only after listening does the word come. St. John writes: «What we have seen and heard, we also announce to you, so that you too may be in communion with us. And our communion is with the Father and with his Son, Jesus Christ "(1 Jn 1,3). The word, emerging from silence and listening, can become an announcement, and then communication opens up to communion. Meet, listen and then talk. Your work should always be guided by these actions, always paying attention to nouns, that is, people, rather than adjectives that distract. We are in a culture that has fallen into adjectivism, everything is adjective, and when it is adjective, the substantiality of the thing is lost. This same dynamic can also give a turning point for the various conflicts that seem to want to engulf this time.
And finally one last element: the synodal path, which you have all heard about. The Church, also in Italy, is making a journey, a process inserted in that started last year at the universal level, and which will continue until 2024. Beyond the temporal span, walking in a synodal way means living ecclesiality to the full. Just as the Second Vatican Council taught, which sixty years ago was taking its first steps. I therefore urge you to make your specific contribution to this journey of the Church in Italy. As national associations you are places where every day concepts and theories are measured against the fatigue and hope of women and men. This fraternity of life can open an important window in a time of great conflict. May you be witnesses and weavers of communion in your daily commitment.
I entrust you to Saint Francis de Sales, patron saint of journalists and communicators, and to Blessed Carlo Acutis, who shows us how important it is to be creative, to be brilliant in the world of digital communication, not repetitive. I bless you and pray for you. And you, please, pray for me. Thank you!
Source Vatican.va with Image Screenshot Vatican.va
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