"Este libro ofrece una historia institucional de una de las radios educativas más destacadas en Amércia Latina. Radio Santa María nació 1956 en La Vega, concebida por visionarios de la Compañía de Jesús y laicos entusiastas que querían aprovechar el nuevo medio para acompañar a las comunida
...
des campesinas de la zona. 15 años después, se unió la escuela radiofónica, y ambos componentes definieron la misión y las actividades de la obra, al servicio de los más vulnerables y de la Iglesia." (Cubierta del libro)
more
"In the last two decades, mainstream religious institutions have progressively incorporated ICTs in both their organizational infrastructure and their devotional practices. Stemming from digital religion scholarship, the present article aims at investigating how the official discourse of the Catholi
...
c Church around media has transformed during the long transition from the mass to the digital media era. To this aim, the entire production of papal Encyclicals, Apostolic Exhortations, and World Communication Day addresses from 1967 to 2020 have been analyzed. First, texts were analyzed through a text mining software to identify and quantify the terms under scrutiny. Subsequently, an in-depth study around the evolution of the term “media” was conducted, including the selection and categorization of the term’s correlates and their ethical characterization. Data resulting from this double-layered analysis offer insights on the evolution of the relationship between the Catholic Church and the fast-changing world of media." (Abstract)
more
"On November 8, 2021, a French court sentenced Lebanese priest Mansour Labaky to 15 years in prison in absentia. Labaky’s name has been added to the list of registered sex offenders. The court also announced that the arrest warrant issued against him in 2016 shall remain in force. The priest was c
...
harged with rape and sexual assault of three underage girls during his time running an orphanage, between 1990 and 1998, in the French town of Douvres-la-Délivrande. Back in 2012, he was also convicted by the Vatican’s Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith after he was found guilty of sexually assaulting the three minors. The verdict was upheld on appeal in 2013. [...] This study aims to analyse the media coverage of Labaky’s case, in particular from Monday, November 8, 2021 – date of the court’s verdict – to the end of the same month. It is based on the content of 14 Lebanese media platforms, including television stations, newspapers, and websites, as well as the public’s reaction to their coverage on social media, particularly Twitter. Five TV stations were monitored: LBCI, Al-Manar, Al-Jadeed, MTV, and OTV. Furthermore, three newspapers (An-Nahar, Al-Akhbar, and Nida’ Al-Watan) and six online media outlets (Daraj, Megaphone, Janoubia, Bint Jbeil, Lebanon Debate, and Lebanon Files) were also monitored." (Pages 31-32)
more
"Despite the wide-ranging topics presented in this collection, this volume takes ‘communication’ as the keyword for the various research and reflections on the life and mission of the Catholic Church during the COVID-19 pandemic as well as post-crisis. The reader will readily recognize that what
...
is referred to as ‘communication’ here is an extremely elastic and multi-dimensional category. Within the context of the Church, particularly as discussed in this book, communication refers to words and images that the Church transmits to the faithful and to the world to help the people cope with issues brought about by the crisis. This communication helps contextualize these dramatic events in sound theological principles which need to again and again be creatively restated and reaffirmed with every human happening, both big and small, that takes place. Second, communication also refers to pastoral and evangelizing actions carried out by the Church and its members to sustain the life of the Church amid the grave situation of imposed isolation, pastors and members of the flock succumbing to COVID-19, shuttered church doors, and unlit altar candles. Third, communication refers to the models and strategies by the Church and its leaders to employ technological means to promote ecclesial communion, nourish the faith life of the people, and to dialogue with individuals and groups to create a truly synodal Church. Finally, communication also refers to ways that the Church discerns and engages with the signs of the times in order to transform raw experiences into valuable lessons, human suffering into salvific grace, and pandemic isolation and division into greater post-pandemic interculturality, interdependence, and collaboration." (Introduction, page xx-xxi)
more
"Guided by the relational prayer theory (Baesler, 2002), this paper analyzed how Catholics flipped their homes as church to be saved from COVID-19 uncertainties by attending online masses at the Manila Cathedral (MC). Through Facebook Analytics, the study determined the number of attendees to online
...
masses from March 2020 to March 2021. Implications of mass attendance to spirituality were validated by a survey of 104 MC online mass subscribers through snowball sampling. As triangulate measure, two key informants were interviewed. More than 200,000 tuned in to online masses monthly with an average of 69,863 with the highest frequencies on Sundays. Survey results revealed that one out of three respondents attended the 8:00 AM Sunday mass without fail and who prayed together as a family using smart television. They prayed not to get sick and were thankful for answered prayers and blessings received despite the crisis. As a form of mission and indulgence, they help others and donate to the church or pray fervently to ask for forgiveness. Given the choice, an overwhelming majority wants to physically attend the mass to confess and receive the Holy Communion. It can be surmised that flipping church services from offline to online became a regular Sunday ritual which implies that spirituality can occur anytime, anywhere, especially during a pandemic." (Abstract)
more
"At a time when there has been a technological development and a renewal in the field of communication, the Church has been implementing its Social Doctrine on the media and the digital world. In his official documents, and with the theology of communication as a background, Benedict XVI has explore
...
d ethical implications of new ways of communicating. This study aims to analyse the content in which the German Pope has addressed the media and digital culture. The conclusions of the research show the thought of the Pontiff on the technological progress, the ethics of information, the impact of media today, the promotion of media education, the use of Internet and social media, and the implementation of digital technology as a vehicle for evangelisation." (Abstract)
more
"A momentous occasion during the 500th anniversary of Christianity in the Philippines (2021-2022) was the opening of the doors of churches around the country for the Jubilee. It featured the country’s pilgrimage sites as dynamic sources of Catholicism. However, the pilgrims faced two challenges: t
...
he restrictions brought by the COVID-19 pandemic and the appreciation of the Jubilee despite these limitations. This researcher gathered testimonies from people from selected shrines in the Philippines in connection with challenges and perspectives on how shrine programs are developed. This was channeled through interviews in a weekly podcast on Marian devotions by Faith Watch of Areopagus Communications with the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines Media Office. Here, the researcher created focus group discussions concerning the pastoral situation of the shrines to identify a number of pastoral challenges met by shrines during the pandemic while celebrating the Jubilee." (Abstract)
more
"With the prohibition of religious gatherings by the Philippine government to help curb the spread of the COVID-19, the Catholic Church had to close its doors to the public and instead hold masses and other activities online, primarily utilizing the livestreaming features of Facebook. The study prob
...
ed how select parishes in the province of Bulacan engaged their parishioners online in light of the quarantine restrictions imposed in the area. Specifically, the study explores the concept of social communication as embedded in a new culture that is shaped by digital communication, in the context of the engagement of the Catholic Church and its faithful through Facebook during the COVID-19 pandemic. Guided by ideas regarding social communication by Eilers, participatory culture by Jenkins, and COBRA typology by Muntinga, Moorman, and Smit, as its theoretical lenses, this study utilizes a multi-method approach to achieve its objectives. Qualitative focus interviews were conducted with social media managers of Facebook pages of three parishes, as well as for parishioners who follow the selected parish Facebook pages. Data obtained from the content analysis and Facebook insights of the top performing posts of the parishes selected were also analyzed. Findings show that social media has changed how the Church communicates, and thus has forced the evolution of the concept of social communication. Given the size and scope of the various social media pages, they offered the Church viable fora for its visibility and evangelization. Moreover, although social media cannot totally substitute face-to-face gatherings, especially in-person worship, social media can support the Church’s community in a myriad of ways such as providing information about the parishes’ events, activities and advocacies, and allowing a space for the parishioners to engage in dialogue. Viewing communication as one that leads to communion or unity of its community, the current digital culture reshapes social communication as one that fosters a greater sense of participation in the creation and sharing of information among its members." (Abstract)
more
"This essay establishes the four phenomena that have characterized the pandemic and digital communications. This refers to infodemic, which is the abundance of information and difficulty to manage it; hypersensitivity, indicated in classifying actors as heroes and villains; the development of atypic
...
al cycles, which refers to the alteration of behaviors and habits among the population; and disinformation, understood as the presentation of false events with the purpose of manipulation. This work focuses on Jesus as the Communicator par excellence and empathy. Communicators must be empathetic before posting content, in order to guide digital platform users to find what they are seeking for. Therefore, empathic communication is more than speaking kind words of encouragement, sympathy, and consolation. It requires concrete actions as evidence of solidarity, trust, and support. A comprehensive pastoral communication plan for the digital age reflects this paradigm of communication and is cemented in real actions through empathy as a legacy of truth and loving your neighbor." (Abstract)
more
"A correlative resonance exists between the experience of communication in the new normal forced by the COVID-19 pandemic and each of the Seven Last Words of Christ on the Cross. The words become the new normal way and guiding beacon to how religious communication can be effectuated during the pande
...
mic. They herald hope in God – the first and the last Word of creation. The study begins by defining the global challenge and loss of human lives brought by COVID-19, a new arena of communication that reincarnates the reality of Christ’s Last Words on the cross. These words never die but continue to live inspiring a sevenfold praxis of hope: 1) entreaty, 2) disclosure, 3) relationship, 4) isolation, 5) exigency, 6) fulfillment and 7) entrustment. Each relates with narrative experiences during the COVID-19 pandemic inviting persons not only to approach communication as a process of transmission but as semiotics offering newfound meanings and significance. Here communication never fails as listeners focus on the self-significance of the message. Religious communication enables people to seek what is best for those who receive the message and centers on how they could grow not only in faith but likewise as human beings who bear God’s image and likeness also in the time of the pandemic." (Abstract)
more
"Santa Dulce dos Pobres foi a primeira mulher brasileira a receber esse título pela Igreja Católica, o que reforça a hipótese de que esse episódio, somado à sua trajetória de doação e entrega ao bem comum, associado ao trabalho que continuou com as Obras Sociais Irmã Dulce (OSID), especial
...
mente dos mais necessitados, contribui para o crescimento do engajamento da instituição no Instagram, o que é comprovado a partir dos dados quantitativos obtidos através das métricas (curtidas, visualizações, salvamentos, comentários). Contudo, apesar de validar o impacto do processo de canonização de Santa Dulce dos Pobres no canal digital da OSID, esse estudo não tem o intuito de encerrar a discussão sobre a importância da comunicação para a religião. É fundamental que sejam realizados outros trabalhos de pesquisa que viabilizem mais inferências e apontem para a necessidade de se tratar a comunicação religiosa de forma planejada e articulada, com o objetivo de maximizar os resultados dos esforços dos profissionais que atuam na área. Da mesma forma, ficam aqui sugestões para estudos futuros que possam discutir, por exemplo, se a importância e a grandeza da canonização refletiram-se na mesma intensidade no engajamento nos perfis das redes sociais da OSID." (Considerações Finais, 263)
more
"Este trabalho apresenta uma reflexão inicial sobre o conceito de influenciadores digitais, considerando as perspectivas anteriores dos estudos de celebridades, com objetivo de propor novas dimensões para a análise desse fenômeno circunscrito no ambiente da fé. Buscando apreender os fenômenos
...
socioeclesiais gerados a partirdos processos interacionais em rede, pretende-se discorrer sobre métodos capazes de ajudar a compreender os elementos teológicos e comunicacionais que compõem o campo específico dos influenciadores digitais da fé." (Resumen)
more
"As we share images, words and insights in this coffee table book we likewise rediscover our sense of identity as a Church. From each and every page we will be able to learn how our Catholic faith was formed as a nation, and how it evolved and developed over time. Like when individuals take it upon
...
themselves to dive deep into their family's history, they can understand how their family interacted with larger historical change; so can we appreciate the richness of our faith experience spanning 500 years of existence vis-à-vis the events that shaped who we are as a Church in the Philippines." (Foreword by Rev. Roy M. Bellen)
more
"Thomas Großbölting zeichnet die Geschichte des sexuellen Missbrauchs in der katholischen Kirche nach, für den er - zumal in den ersten Nachkriegsjahrzehnten – ein Ineinandergreifen von binnenkirchlichem Selbst- und Machtverständnis, religiöser Sozialisation und gesellschaftlichen Strukturen
...
erkennt und die Praxis des jahrzehntelangen Vertuschens anprangert. Wer wurde und wird unter welchen Umständen zum Täter? Welche Rollen lassen sich dem Umfeld der Taten und der kirchlichen Hierarchie zuordnen? Wie sind, verglichen etwa mit den USA, wo Gerichte und Medien die Aufklärung sexuellen Missbrauchs in der Kirche vorantreiben oder dem staatlichen Engagement in Irland, die Zurückhaltung der deutschen Politik oder das Agieren der katholischen Kirche zu bewerten? Welche Perspektiven ergeben sich aus den zahlreichen Missbrauchsfällen für Staat, Gesellschaft und die katholische Kirche selbst, besonders aber für die Rechte und Erwartungen Betroffener? Viel zu lange, resümiert Großbölting, sei es um den Schutz der Institution und der Täter gegangen." (Verlagsbeschreibung)
more