Death is not the end

In the days in which the annual assembly of media delegates from all over Spain was scheduled, postponed due to the worsening of the pandemic, we received the sad news of the death of the military archbishop and president of the Episcopal Commission for the Media of the Spanish Episcopal Conference.Juan del Río.

The information about his hospital admission due to the coronavirus had reached us a few days before the feast of the patron saint of journalists, St. Francis de Sales, and all of us who share this dual vocation for communication and the Gospel were able to pray for him at the various Eucharistic celebrations organized for this occasion in the different dioceses.

In the great days of ecclesial communication in Spain, one of the greatest in Catholic communication passed away. He dedicated his entire life as a priest, 46 years, to this difficult pastoral mission. Those of us who were first-hand witnesses of his apostolic and journalistic zeal have no doubts: he was passionate about the Gospel and the use of the media to transmit it.

In an interview during the confinement for the program Latest Questions TVE, said that, although in this time of pandemic men and women of communication have to narrate situations of pain and disease, it is necessary that we go out to the public and show the world that we are not alone in our work. "to tell true stories of miracles, of hope, of good news that in the midst of the pandemic are happening."

As I write this, my first article in this new communicative venture that is OmnesI can't stop thinking about this prophetic phrase. Del Rio's death, we have no choice but to rejoice at the good news, full of hope, of the re-launching of a means of communication in which all those daily miracles that also happen around us in times of Covid will be narrated.

In that same interview, the archbishop spoke of the importance of communication in order for society to "continue to grow in freedom and truth because, if not, we will be dominated by a culture of lies".

The fact is that no one can consider himself informed only by what he receives from the media groups. Whatsappwhere rumors and rumors are widespread. fake news. The commitment to professional media committed to the truth is the only way to protect ourselves from the virus of misinformation that damages our relationships so much. That is why this new media is such good news.

Here we will narrate stories of joy and tears, of victories and defeats in the face of the virus, of death and resurrection... The story of God intermingled in the particular life of each and every man and woman. Today death is not the end, as the hymn to the fallen of the Armed Forces sings, but the beginning of history. Thank you, Father Juan, for encouraging us to tell the good news and for having been Good News for everyone.