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Stimulating, Challenging, Enlightening

The “Think Tank” meeting organized by National CRI in CRI House, New Delhi, on January 28 and 29, 2019, proved to be stimulating, enlightening and challenging.

The members included: Brother T. Amalan FSC (National President, CRI), Sr Rose Celine Fernandes BS (President, Women’s Section), Fr George Panthanmackal MSFS (President, Priests’ Section), Fr Joe Mannath SDB (National Secretary) and the following experienced and competent persons who were called in for their experience, wisdom and familiarity with the issues religious face: Brother Philip Pinto CFC (Former Superior General and involved with several religious orders), Fr Varkey Perekatt SJ (former Provincial of South Asia, and provincial for two terms, who has a 20-year association with CRI), Sr Sujita Mary SND (former General for two terms, who had lived and worked among the poorest people of Bihar and then with the Bihar Government), Brother Paul Raj SG (former Director, CRI Brothers’ Institute, Bangalore, and member of the Montfort General Council), Sr Teresa Attupuram SCJM (Provincial and President, North Region of CRI), Fr Denzil Fernandes SJ (Director, ISI, Delhi, and Head of the Jesuit Think Tank), Sr Anastasia Gill PBVM (Practising lawyer and member of the Delhi Minorities Commission), Bro Laurence Abraham SCSM (Former Provincial and representative of National CRI at NEG-FIRE), Fr Paul Moonjely (Director, Caritas India), Advocate Tehmina Arora (President, Alliance for Defending Freedom)

To set the right tone for our mutual listening and learning, we started with Psalm 139, which assures us that we are never alone; we are always held in the love of a God who knows what we need, and never forgets us for a single instant. Our confidence and serenity in facing reality comes from this awareness.

A Passion, a Vision, a Clear Understanding of Reality

Bro Philip Pinto spoke with deep conviction of the need of a deep spirituality, beyond the mere recitation of prayers, a need to discover the real Jesus and to share God’s concern for His world. “Don’t ask what the world needs,” he challenged us. “Ask what makes you come alive, because what the world needs is people who have come alive.” The church or religious life should not be self-referential (focussed on ourselves). One essential aspect of being true to our call is not to live any lie, to reject untruth in all areas of life. Many of the structural aspects of what we are used to as religious life are dying, and we need to face it. Several new initiatives pushing humankind forward are coming from secular forces, not from religious circles.

Fr Denzil Fernandes SJ addressed us on the “Changing Indian Situation and Our Response to It.” We need to understand what is happening today, and why. Events that seem unconnected are not what they appear to be. We need to understand the polarizations taking place, the difference between Hinduism and Hindutva, the influence of neo-liberal economic policies, the majority-minority issues, the rise in intolerance and curtailing of free expression. We need to network better, have a pluralistic approach, be ecologically sensitive. Religious become irrelevant if our main concern is maintenance, or if we waste too much energy on celebrations. We need to understand the new situation and respond creatively.

Sr Anastasia Gill PBVM reminded us to make use of Government policies, scholarships, etc., and to do our duties as citizens. Many Christian children drop out of school, often unaware of scholarships. The Church needs to respect sisters more and listen to them.

Advocate Tehmina Arora, President of ADF, spoke of the Theory of Significance that may help us understand some of the acts of violence we see today: Poor or unemployed young men can be influenced to commit acts of aggression if it makes them feel significant (important) as part of something greater. She also spoke of the need to document what is happening, and to stand by the victims, whoever they may be, and to take action as needed.

Fr Paul Moonjely, Director of Caritas, spoke of its close association with forty religious orders, and some ways in which CRI and Caritas can collaborate better, especially in times of natural disasters or other calamities.

Sr Sujita SND gave a moving account of her life among the Mussahars of Bihar, and how she found Jesus by living among the poorest. She saw the openness of government officials to her presence in government work, and how her opinion was respected. For us, the mystical and prophetic elements must go together—God-experience and concern for the least.

Bro Paul Raj SG presented ten issues facing religious in India and suggested some approaches in dealing with them. The issues he addressed included: rejection of patriarchy and other forms of oppression; the need to be more involved in the digital world; the issue of multiculturalism; the unnecessary founding of new religious congregations; the need to study religious life in India scientifically.

Sr Teresa Attupuram SCJM, President, North Region CRI, presented the status of the “Peace and Reconciliation Committee” on which the CRI and the Bishops of the region have been discussing for three years. The aim is to settle disputes and other issues amicably. This can be done by setting up a committee of persons acceptable to both the dioceses and the CRI. Such an agreement has already been accepted in Tamilnadu. The North Region hopes to get this finalized soon.

Our hope is to have such agreements in all regions, and at the national level.

Lay Collaboration, Tasks Before Us, Need to Look Ahead

Fr Joe Mannath SDB, National Secretary, presented the results of a short questionnaire which he had prepared and circulated to the members before the meeting. The questions were on: The strengths and weaknesses of religious life today, the helpful and tough aspects of our setting, our main role and tasks as religious, and priorities for the near future, especially for those in leadership.

Many other valid points came up during our exchange—too many for this short report.

One issue religious in India need to face and study seriously (and implement) is collaboration with the laity. India has many competent and well qualified lay women and women. We need to involve them more in our ministries.

FOLLOW UP

As a follow up to this “Think Tank” meeting, we need to do the following things. The decisions have to be taken by the CRI National Executive. Among the ideas that came up for follow up are these:

• Set up “Peace and Reconciliation Committees” in every region.
• Set up “Disaster Management Committees” together with Caritas.
• Study and research on Religious Life in India.
• Make sure all have a voter ID, and do our duty to vote.
• Make inspiring videos on Indian religious.
• Set up a digitalized archive of source material at National CRI.
• Look ahead to the new forms the religious

As I listened to the Think Tank members and felt energized by the sharing, I was reminded of what a senior and very competent Spanish Salesian asked me after spending three months in India and meeting many Salesians: “Spain was like this fifty years ago—with many young religious and young seminarians. My own province used to have thirty or more ordinations a year. This year we may have one. Most of the Catholic schools are led by lay persons. Are you all living in the past, or looking ahead to the future?”

A good question for us, Indian religious, to reflect and act on.

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Man’s Search for Meaning
Dr Viktor E Frankl (1946)

This small book, which has reached, touched and inspired millions of readers, was written in about a week by a man who experienced the indescribable horrors of a Nazi concentration camp, in which most of the prisoners died of starvation and ill-treatment. The first part of the book narrates what happened in the camp. It shows human beings’ inhumanity at its worst—and the human capacity to survive evil. The second part of the book presents what Frankl called “Logotherapy,” a form of treatment which has more to do with finding meaning in life than with analyzing one’s past.

Frankl noticed three stages in the prisoners’ response to the Nazi imprisonment: first, shock during the initial phase, then apathy after becoming accustomed to camp existence, in which survival of oneself and one’s friends is the only concern, and after liberation, reactions of depersonalization, moral deformity, bitterness, and disillusionment. Frankl found that it was not the physically stronger people who survived, but those who gave themselves a reason to live. In his own case, in his hardest moments of cold, hunger and beatings, he would think of his wife, whom he loved dearly. Love, he found, could transform us even in the midst of the worst sufferings. He found this too: Humans can be stripped of everything except “the last of the human freedoms— to choose one’s attitude in any given set of circumstances, to choose one’s own way.” “Spiritual freedom and independence of mind is possible even in the direst of circumstances.”

 “Love” he says “is the ultimate and highest goal to which a man can aspire. When we are no longer able to change a situation, we are challenged to change ourselves.” Love enables one to see the essential traits and features in the beloved person; and that which is potential in him, which is not yet actualized but yet ought to be actualized.

In the Fullness of Time: Christ Centered Wisdom for the Third Millennium
Fulton J Sheen

This is a compilation of the retreats and radio talks of Venerable Fulton J Sheen, one of the most widely acclaimed popular preachers of the last century. “They are for now and the coming age,” says the compiler. Sheen bursts the modern cult of youth expressed in catchphrases like, “Life begins at forty,” retorting “Life begins at birth, and youthfulness is proximity to the source of life.” Since God is the source of all life, “the closer we get to God, the younger we become.” Speaking of the Rosary, he says; “The Rosary is the best therapy for the distraught, unhappy, fearful, and frustrated souls precisely because it involves the simultaneous use of three powers: the physical, the vocal, and the spiritual – in that order.” Speaking of the modern world, he observes: “the dominant note of the modern world is confusion. It has not only lost its way; it has even thrown away the map. It stands bewildered, lost, stunned, afraid to enthuse or even trust, lest its new love prove as unfaithful and as fickle as the others.” In the context of the 1960s, he speaks of the division in the Church into “the Church of evangelization” and” the Church of development” (individual sanctification and that of Social action) as two different entities. He cites the example of the Mount Tabor experience and the life in the valley, as well as the Martha and Mary story to point out that one cannot exclude one for the other. In one of the central chapters he deals with the question “Is religion purely individual?” and answers “No.” Historically God entered into his contract with mankind through a community who were to be his witnesses and bearers to the world of the Messiah,” and the community always held the first place. This insight is acutely relevant in our time, when individualism is asserted through popular assertions such as “religion is a private matter only.”

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Dr Gigy Joseph

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This issue has two cover stories—on a much-needed form of care that any of us may need one day. Read them and be moved by what good people are doing for sick people beyond cure. So many, including some rejected by their families, have a peaceful and pain-free end in a loving setting because of palliative care.

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When teaching English to young Salesians, and later training M.Phil. and Ph.D. students in research methodology, I would explain to them the qualities of good writing.

Good writing is marked by seven C’s. It is correct, clear, concrete, creative, competent, critical and comprehensive.

CORRECT: Good writing should not contain mistakes in spelling, grammar, syntax, content or punctuation. It should be, as far as competent judgement can tell, error-free.

CLEAR: I believe in what a famous professor of economics in Chennai once told his students, “If you know economics, you should be able to explain it to the autorickshaw driver.” What we say or write should be clear, not confusing. And it should be intelligible to the least educated members of our audience.

CONCRETE: “She forgave and hugged the police officer who had killed her son and burnt alive her husband” is a more gripping piece of writing than “Many people forgive those who have done them harm.” Jesus’ parables are concrete and graphic. No wonder they are much better remembered than St. Paul’s Letter to the Romans—or most sermons.

CREATIVE: We can be creative in any human activity—in cooking, cracking jokes, arranging flowers, designing a dress, or in writing. Even the most creative musicians use the same seven notes. The best writers use the same words found in the dictionary—and create masterpieces. Don’t repeat or imitate; be an original!

COMPETENT: Know what you are talking about. If not, consult those who know.

CRITICAL: It means to look at both sides of a controversial issue. Don’t simply repeat an opinion, nor hide behind clichés. Think for yourself.

COMPREHENSIVE: As far as you can do in the time and space available, give a complete picture.

We, at MAGNET, are trying to produce a magazine of quality. We choose competent experts for our columns. Every article, even when written by specialists, is checked by three of us—for content, style, grammar, spelling, punctuation. We avoid technical jargon and use simple language. We look for touching true stories and concrete experiences to illustrate ideas (as in this month’s two cover stories). How creative we are, is for knowledgeable people to judge. For critical assessment, we have a team of International Consultants on every continent who give us expert feedback. We try to be comprehensive within the limits of a forty-page magazine.

For producing a much-appreciated monthly, I have many people to be grateful to, especially our regular columnists, who do this service free, as a loving ministry.

Our hope is that you, readers, find MAGNET attractive, useful and inspiring. Apart from its psycho-social-spiritual contents, communities can hopefully use it to teach younger members creative writing in error-free and idiomatic English, meticulous editing and elegant design. This is what qualified people tell us. We await your feedback—both appreciative and critical. Together, let us make MAGNET something all religious look forward to, and can be proud of. What is worth doing, is worth doing well.

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Fr Joe Mannath SDB
Editor

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Cherylanne, a young member of the Focolare movement, shows us through real life examples how deep mutual love based on Jesus’ life and teachings, can bring unity among people.

My thoughts go to Chiara Lubich, the founder of the Focolare Movement, a woman, a mystic, a spiritual and social reformer who has attracted women and men of all cultures and ages to follow her charism of unity, and I tried to draw out all that could throw light on these three words through our own experiences and I hope that in turn they could be a light to you and to your journey.
Unity is at the heart of Jesus’ message and his life and is also the deep yearning of every human being.

Love in the Midst of Hatred
It was right in the middle of the hate, violence and division of Second World War that Chiara and her first companions discovered their calling to unity and universal brotherhood. Being able to carry only a small book of the Gospel with them every time they had to run to the air raid shelters when the sirens went off, Chiara and her friends started to read the Gospel and live it in their daily lives, putting into practice all aspects of love that the Gospel spoke of. They soon rediscovered the invitation to constant, reciprocal love to meriting the presence of Jesus among them and this experience made their personal lives and their lives as a group take on a qualitative leap ahead. Chiara had no idea of forming any movement, but eventually a new spirituality came to life,

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Cherylanne Menezes

We can learn precious lessons from what this Franciscan Missionary of Mary experienced and learnt by working for HIV-positive children. With this article, we launch a new column, “Moving to the Margins (Peripheries)”, something Pope Francis has been repeatedly asking religious to do. MAGNET welcomes other contributions about ministry among the most disadvantaged—prisoners, street children, trafficked persons, palliative care, …. — Editor

All of us raise this question when we face tough situations in life. This question haunts us when we become a victim to certain VERY HARD SITUATIONS.
I live and work among children affected by AIDS. When I was asked to take up this ministry, a lot of thoughts disturbed my mind… fear of the severity of the disease, fear of social stigma, fear of its contagious nature, etc. With all these disturbing thoughts in my mind, I said ‘Yes.’ Actually, when I looked at this ministry from far, it seemed frightening. Now it has changed my attitude completely.
Living with these children, who contracted AIDS through no fault of their own, taught me much. It has changed me profoundly.
You may wonder about the question: WHY ME?

Yes,  this is the question we need to answer day in and day out to every child living with HIV. We run a home for the HIV-infected girl children and a rural health centre. It is situated twenty-three kilometres from Namakkal in Tamil Nadu.They are school-going children from 3rd std to 12th std, studying in the Government schools. We take the children referred by GOs, NGOs and any infected child in need of our care and support.

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Sr Antony Mary FMM

Here are two true stories that illustrate the condition of India’s millions of migrant workers. They move hundreds of kilometres from their home states to wherever they find—usually to a city, but more and more to the Southern States, especially Tamilnadu and Kerala. With 45.36 crore migrants in India, every third citizen of the country is a migrant. Of these, 69 per cent are women, majority of whom have cited marriage or having migrated with their husbands as the reason for their translocation.
“The socio-economic development of the southern states is considerably higher and that attracts people. Another factor is that because of better education levels and awareness, local residents of these areas get drawn towards better economic opportunities. This vacuum that gets created gets filled up by people from outside. These developed areas face a crisis of manpower, especially for low-skilled jobs, which leads to migration,” says Dr Abdul Shaban. Some other states too have high numbers of migrants. (The Indian Express, Dec. 5, 2016)

Lalita’s Story
Mrs. Lalita, 35, lost her husband in 2016. She has three school-going children. Lalita and family live in Palam, Delhi. She used to work for three or four families. Her husband was a security guard and was given the Guard’s room for their stay. One morning Lalita found her husband lying below the stairs, unconscious. She got him admitted in the hospital in a Government Hospital, since she could not afford a private hospital. He passed away after three days. Lalita had no means to take his body to Bihar, where they came from, but she had to go there for the ceremonies associated with his death. When she came back, she lost her job, and now had no place to stay. Where will she and her three children stay? How will she feed them and clothe them?
This is the story of most of the domestic workers in India. They work far from their native villages.

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Sr Marie Gabrielle Riopel SCSM

The exceptional story of a courageous doctor serving victims of horrendous violence in what is known as the most dangerous country for women.

“It was in 1999 that our first rape victim was brought into the hospital. After being raped, bullets had been fired into her genitals and thighs. I thought that was a barbaric act of war, but the real shock came three months later. Forty-five women came to us with the same story. Other women came to us with burns. They said that after they had been raped, chemicals had been poured on their genitals. I started to ask myself what was going on. These weren’t just violent acts of war, but part of a strategy. You had situations where multiple people were raped at the same time, publicly—a whole village might be raped during the night.”

These are words spoken by Dr Denis Mukwege, one of the two who were awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for 2018. A gynecologist and Pentecostal pastor, Denis Mukwege was born on 1 March 1955 in a country that is said to be the most dangerous country in the world for women – Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). His father was a Pentecostal minister and he studied medicine because, he said, he wanted to heal the sick people for whom his father prayed.

After he got his medical degree from the University of Burundi in 1983, Mukwege worked as a pediatrician in a village hospital. In order to help women patients, he studied gynecology and obstetrics at the University of Angers, France, completed his medical residency in 1989 and returned to the village hospital in Limera, DRC. Describing what happened when a civil war broke out, he said, “Thirty-five patients in my hospital in Lemera in eastern DRC were killed in their beds. I fled to Bukavu, 100 kilometres to the north, and started a hospital made from tents. In 1998, everything was destroyed again. So, I started all over again in 1999.” Helped by Swedish aid agencies, he founded the Panzi Hospital that year.

Mukwege evolved a system of caring for these helpless women, most of whom came with nothing—not even clothes.  So, after the surgery or treatment, his team helps them develop their skills, find a job and find a school for their children. His team includes lawyers who help the rape victims file cases against their assailants.

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Fr M A Joe Antony SJ

4 February: International World Cancer Day

The Celebration raises awareness of cancer and how to prevent, detect or treat it. The primary goal is to significantly reduce illness and death caused by cancer. It is an opportunity to raise our collective voice to end the injustice of preventable suffering from cancer.

Cancer is a leading cause of death around the world, according to the UN World Health Organization (WHO), which estimated that 84 million people would die of cancer between 2005 and 2015 without intervention. Low-income and medium-income countries are harder hit by cancer than the high-resource countries. It is essential to address the world’s growing cancer burden and to work on effective control measures. This calls for a strong alliance between researchers, health-care professionals, patients, governments, industry partners and the media to fight cancer.

New strategies and programmes need to be implemented in India to fight and control this deadly disease. More than 12.7 million are diagnosed with cancer. More than 7 million die of cancer every year. The various types of cancer and death ratios per year are liver cancer (6,10,000), lung cancer (1.3 million), colo-rectal cancer (6,39,000), stomach cancer (8,03,000), breast cancer (5,19,000).

People need to be instructed to check its symptoms, follow its preventive measures, protect oneself from environmental carcinogens and be saved from the risk of this disease. Risk factors causing cancer are use of tobacco and alcohol, overweight, low fruit or vegetable intake, less or no physical activity, sexual transmission of HPV-infection, air pollution in urban areas, indoor smoke, genetical factors, over-exposure to sunlight, etc. People are also made aware about the vaccination method against the human papilloma virus and hepatitis B virus.

There are social myths that cancer is contagious and communicable by touch, so that patients are sometimes ostracized and treated as untouchables, whereas in reality they need a lot of support, care and concern, comfort and understanding.  Patients have equal rights to live like normal persons in society with self-respect and a normal environment in their home and society. Their wishes should be fulfilled by their relatives even if they have less chances of survival. Yet over-sympathy or pity may only increase their pain and fear. A new positive approach that cancer is curable is needed to boost their courage to fight the disease.

14 February: Valentine’s Day

 Valentine’s Day originated as a Western Christian feast day in honour of the Saint, a Roman priest martyred in 270 AD and considered the patron saint of lovers. He was imprisoned for performing weddings for soldiers, who were forbidden to marry and for ministering to persecuted Christians.  Valentine was interrogated by the  Roman Emperor Claudius II in person. Claudius was impressed by Valentine and attempted to get him to convert to Roman paganism in order to save his life. Valentine refused and tried to convert Claudius to Christianity instead. Because of this, he was executed. Before his execution, he is reported to have performed a miracle by healing Julia, the blind daughter of his jailer, Asterius.  He wrote her a letter signed “Your Valentine” as a farewell.

The expression “From your Valentine” was later adopted by modern Valentine letters. According to legend, Julia herself planted a pink-blossomed almond tree near his grave. Today, the almond tree remains a symbol of abiding love and friendship.

Another legend has it that to remind these men of their vows and of God’s love, Saint Valentine is said to have cut hearts from parchment, giving them to these soldiers and persecuted Christians, a possible origin of the widespread use of hearts on St Valentine’s Day.

The celebration of Saint Valentine did not seem to have any romantic connotations until Chaucer’s poetry about “Valentines” in the 14th century.  Marking the beginning of spring, Valentine’s Day has more recently been celebrated as the day of love.

In spite of its obscure origin, this day has become a very popular day dedicated to love and friendship, fidelity to marriage and the family. A day to remember and cherish. It brings out what is most beautiful in human life and relationships.

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Sr Esme Da Cunha FDCC To subscribe to the magazine, click Subscribe

 

For everything that is understood and sensed is nothing else but the appearance of what is nonapparent, the manifestation of the hidden, the affirmation of the negated, the comprehension of the incomprehensible (Periphyseon, Bk.3)

Scotus Eriugena was as his name suggests born in Ireland.  However, he would become famous in France where he found favor with Charles the Bald and would be deeply involved in the theological debates of the day.  When John was made the Master of the Frankish Palace School in 846 he was already a well accomplished person.  His breath of learning was immense and he knew Greek, Latin, medicine, liberal arts and astronomy.  Though he belonged to the Western tradition, he was able to integrate the insights of the Western tradition based upon Augustine and Ambrose along with Eastern writers such as Origen, Gregory of Nyssa, Dionysius and Maximus the Confessor.  A major focus of his writings dealt with the relationship between God and the cosmos wherein he pointed out that though the visible cosmos reveals to us the hidden God, God will always remain the incomprehensible and transcendent mystery.

The initial works of John Scotus were translations of Dionysius and other Eastern classics by Gregory of Nyssa and Maximus.  His major work would be the Periphyseon considered to be his Summa and is in the form of dialogues.  This work was later called De Divisione Naturae and contains two contradictions which are held in tension.  On the one hand there is the ineffability of God – i.e, the mystery of God as being too great to be expressed or described in words.  Affirmations, even affirmations of God’s love can only be made metaphorically or analogically.  This point of view relates to the apophatic tradition – a view that God can only be known through negations.  But on the other hand, John Scotus also underlined the view that God is present (though not identified) in created reality.  God ‘descends’ into created reality so that the visible manifestation or revelation of God takes place.  This point of view relates to the cataphatic tradition – a view that approaches the reality of God through affirmation.  John Scotus is one of the few spiritual writers in the early centuries who is able to speak of God using a language which fuses and transcends both affirmation and negation.

The spirituality of John Scotus responds to two important questions: a) what is the purpose of creation? and b) how does the progressive movement of salvation history take place? The purpose of creation is the manifestation of the Divine where God is simultaneously experienced as illumination (light) and darkness.  Both, light and darkness simultaneously coexist in human experience and find an echo in the human experience of the Divine.  It needs to be recalled that within all created reality, the human person has a special place because of the possibility of participating with the Divine or Creative Wisdom.  Regarding the second question John Scotus affirmed that the death and Resurrection of Christ takes forward the history of salvation.  History is a circular movement where the starting point is oneness and harmony.  Sin has resulted in fragmentation, disharmony, illusion and ignorance and can only be overcome through the Creative Wisdom in the person of Jesus Christ.  The process of reconciliation has begun and all reality is now moving towards a new point of fullness and glory.  The stages of purification, illumination and union are interpreted historically with the cosmos being progressively ‘purged of all ignorance, illuminated by all wisdom and perfected by all deification’ (Commentary on the Celestial Hierarchy, 10).  John Scotus Eriugena draws upon the best wisdom from both the East and West and offers a method of progressive union with the Divine – a union which is already being experienced in the here and now and will be fully accomplished in the time to come.

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Fr Francis Pudhicherry SJ

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In a short span of over a decade, social media has changed the way we communicate today. Facebook was launched in 2004, then came YouTube, Twitter, Orkut, Instagram and other social media platforms. Today, social media plays a significant role and is being used in ways that shape politics, business, education, social issues, world culture, careers and many more.

As per Digital Economic Value Index, 25% Of the world’s economy will be digital by 2020 and the estimated worldwide digital advertising expenditure will be around $335.5 billion.
Internet users spend more time on social media sites than ever before. The more time we spend on something, the greater influence it has on us. As of now, almost one fourth of world population are on facebook and many millions are on whatsapp, twitter, linkedIn, Snapchat, Pinterest, Instagram etc.

Source:  https://dustn.tv/social-media-statistics/

Influence of Social Media

Digital revolution has changed how people gather and consume information. Social media has the potential to shape public conversations and perceptions, opinions, brand awareness,  and to attract customers and potential partners. Gone are the days when people had to rely on companies to tell them what to buy and Church to tell what faith habits they have to wear. Faith related discussions not only happens in the church and  families but also among reliable friends and digital resources. This is where the relevance of social media plays an important role – in making available relevant content to re-evangelize the nominal Catholics.

 Catholic Church and  Social Media

When the reach of social media is among billions of people from various cultures, how can the church ignore its potential to influence the cultures and people.  It is our responsibility as Catholics to bring church’s teachings to this vast population and fulfil the great commission that Jesus had given to each one of us. The Vatican has taken a serious study of this impact and it has a significant presence and influence across major social platforms.

Pope Francis is one of the most followed world leaders on Twitter with almost 18 million followers.  When Pope opened Instagram account, he set a record by gaining more than a million Instagram followers in under 24 hours. Some of the dioceses in the US and Europe have followed the trend and have a digital marketing team to concentrate on social media platforms to bring the communities closer to Jesus. However, the digital marketing initiatives are currently at infancy, in many of the Indian dioceses.

Digital addiction and social media overuse are a cause of worry especially among today’s youth. Though Pope Francis has been making the people aware about the dangers of social media overuse, he himself encourages Catholics to embrace digital media platforms to start a dialogue of faith and promote a culture of respect. “It is not technology which determines whether or not communication is authentic, but rather the human heart and our capacity to use wisely the means at our disposal,” the Pope said. Pope Benedict XVI  also advocated the use of social media to communicate the Gospel message to the tech-savvy younger audience.

Some of the  catholic channels and groups have been making good efforts to keep the audience involved through some relevant and creative content.

Evangelizing young people

If we look at the great evangelizers, we observe that they were in a place where people were and communicated to them in their own language. Today’s younger generation spend a lot of their time on their computers and mobile phones. They are in their own digital space. We need to be there where they are, speak to them in their language about the topics that engage them and provoke them and challenge them.

Opening a social media account/page and posting some pictures and posts is not enough to fulfill the purpose of reaching out to your prospective audience. To be an effective evangelizer on social media, we need to take care of at least the following 10 points.

1. Vision/Direction: Knowing the target audience, their behaviours, where do we wish to lead them.
2. Profiling : A social profiling of the target audience will help to decide on the tone and theme of a channel or a page and its content. For example, if our target audience is only women, the banner, colour of the page, branding of the page, timing of the post etc will change accordingly.
3. Consistency: There should be a consistency in terms of the branding and identity, theme, tone and colour of designs, frequency of each posts etc. In order for an audience to rely on a page or channel, people expect some kind of regularity in terms of the post/content.
4. Content: Without the right content, you won’t be able to communicate the message. A thought provoking, interesting, spiritual and actionable content is necessary for evangelizing through social media. Without quality content, social media has little appeal. It’s important that one understand the type of content they should provide to their audience to achieve the engagement and reach they’re looking for. Type of contents include blog posts, e-books, case studies, templates, infographics, videos, illustrations, podcasts, GIFFs, animated videos etc.
5. Quality : In this digital age there are millions of materials available. People are very choosy about the things they listen to, watch and read. Amongst these, the quality and creativity of the content in terms of design, video and audio quality matters. The attention to these details helps to build one’s audience.
6. Listening and Engagement: Interactivity is the one feature that differentiates social media from traditional media. Answering the comments, queries of the audience on a regular basis are necessary to engage with them. One has to be a good listener to build meaningful connections on social media. Listening helps you succeed in cultivating deeper digital connections. There are several tactics one can employ to bring your relationships with your audience to the next level – asking for reviews and comments, polls, responding to comments in real time, tagging, reference to others’ content, creating facebook or LinkedIn groups etc.
7. Research and Analysis: A regular research on the expected audience and analysis of audience behaviour data will help one to improve on the content and the campaign. Google analytics and channel insights helps in getting those needed data to improve their experience.
8. Creative Social Media Advertising: A regular campaign with very attractive and creative design helps one to reach out to those people whom we never imagine to reach through church, institutions or any social gatherings. Organic reach on social media has significantly decreased. For example, organic reach on Facebook for an average business has decreased dramatically from 26% in 2011 to less than 1 percent in 2017. Unlike traditional advertisements that tend to be interruptive, digital advertisements can be highly engaging, useful, and targeted, while bringing value to the intended audience. Properly implemented digital advertisements can help deliver the right content to the preferred audience according their behaviour and age, making spending on advertising much more effective.
9. Not go after numbers: Numbers excites you and give you the needed boost but we shouldn’t lose the purpose and vision of the campaign by concentrating only on improving the number of followers and likes.
10. Prayer: Whatever forum or platform we use, if our purpose is to evangelize through social media, we need to be attuned to Him.  We can give only what we have and realize the fact that we are in a spiritual warfare.

The world of social media offers great potential for those planning to spread the Gospel message. Social media, through its vast potential and interactive nature has to become a tool for modern discipleship. The church has to encourage and motivate for more digital disciples to reach to the unreached; encourage the discouraged; motivate the disillusioned and give hope for the hopeless.

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Antony A J

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