Thursday, October 11, 2012

Communications technology not a threat

Vatican City: 

Communications technology not a threat: Cardinal Gracias

He was speaking at the bishops synod in Rome.


Cardinal Oswald Gracias has said that Asia is experiencing a boom in communications technology which should not be viewed as a threat.

“It is a great gift from God to be used to spread the Good News," he said.

Cardinal Gracias, who is also the president of the Federation of Asian Bishops' Conferences, was speaking at a Synod of the Bishops in Rome, which began on Oct. 7.

He was one of five speakers summarizing the state of evangelization in different regions of the world.

The speakers mentioned the role of the media and insisted on the church's obligation to use social networks to reach new generations of Catholics.

Cardinal Gracias said that the church must help parents, pastors and teachers who can train young people to use the new media and to benefit from them.

The prelate said that Christians make up only 3 per cent of the population in Asia and persecution of the community is not completely uncommon.

"For us in Asia, dialogue is a necessity, not a luxury," he added.

The cardinal said that many Asian cultures have a deep respect for life, including for the life of animals and plants.

He hoped that it should not be difficult, through dialogue, to help people see that respect for life must include the life of the unborn and the life of their neighbors who belong to a different faith.

Speaking on similar lines about the new media, Cardinal Peter Erdo of Esztergom-Budapest told the Synod that the Catholic Church needs to use its media and social networks to spread the faith.

“Much of the news media cover about the church is full of lies," the Hungarian Cardinal said.

Cardinal Erdo is also the president of the Council of European Bishops' Conferences.

Mexican Archbishop Carlos Aguiar Retes of Tlalnepantla told the synod that since the Second Vatican Council, the Latin American bishops have focused on building community, entering into dialogue with the world around them and educating the faithful about their role in transforming society.

Archbishop Carlos, who is the president of the Latin American bishops' council, said the church must "employ new communications technologies to allow the life and mission of the church to be known and for dialogue with the world."

In today's culture, he said, "the social communications media are most influential."
c/o UCAN / India

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