The Holy See's communication, between reform and evangelization Two of the Pope's recommendations for the Church mediaThree Roman Pontifical Universities united by their passion for communication are celebrating together the 60th anniversary of one of the first decrees approved by the Second Vatican Council, the "....Inter mirifica"dedicated to the media and published on December 4, 1963.
Putting into practice Pope Francis' invitation to "network" among Universities and Ecclesiastical Faculties to "study the problems that affect humanity today, arriving at proposing adequate and realistic ways of solution" ("Veritatis gaudium"), the Pontifical University of the Holy Cross -through its Faculty of Institutional Communication-, the Pontifical Lateran University -through its Pastoral Institute Redemptor Homnis- and the Pontifical Salesian University -through its Faculty of Social Communication-, organized a three-day reflection on the problems that affect humanity today, the Pontifical Lateran University -through its Pastoral Institute Redemptor Homnis- and the Pontifical Salesian University -through its Faculty of Social Communication-, organized a three-day reflection on the important conciliar text and its historicity and updating.
It was undoubtedly one of the most fruitful seeds of the Vatican Council IIThe book, which had the merit of launching the Church's modern journey into communicative territories, is always cited when speaking of the link between the Church and the mass media. It is always cited when speaking of the link between the Church and the mass media, it is a bibliographical source of research and dissertations, and the focus of seminars and study days such as the one now being organized in Rome.
The first day of the Symposium, entitled 60 Years of Wonders, began on Tuesday, November 7, at the University of the Holy Cross, with a presentation of the historical-institutional perspective, examining the document "Inter mirifica" also in relation to previous documents, the pre-conciliar magisterium on communication, institutional communication itself during the Council and the implications for the Church's communication offices.
The following day's activity took place at the Pontifical Lateran University, focusing on the theoretical and practical dimension of the pastoral care of communication, examining, for example, the models of the theology of communication, the links of the Document with the current media context and the pastoral care of digital communication.
On the last day, it was the Salesian Pontifical University that hosted the Congress, focusing the various interventions on updating the document in the light of the logic of the Networks, and in particular of the digital Church, artificial intelligence, trainers and networked communication tools.
"Reflecting today on 'Inter mirifica' means placing oneself in a perspective of innovative academic research, no longer crystallized in one's own specific identity and formative proposal," said Massimiliano Padula, a sociologist at the Lateran University and one of the promoters of the initiative.
The deans of the three organizing institutions, Daniel Arasa for Holy Cross, Paolo Asolan for the Lateran University and Fabio Pasqualetti for the Salesian University, spoke at the Congress. Other speakers included sociologist Mihaela Gavrila, philosopher Philip Larrey and theologian José Maria La Porte.
An excellent opportunity, in short, to put into practice the other invitation of Pope Francis in "Veritatis gaudium", the apostolic constitution dedicated to Universities and Ecclesiastical Faculties, namely, that of integrating the different intellectual competencies to achieve "the inter- and transdisciplinarity that must be exercised with wisdom and creativity in the light of Revelation".
