Interview With President of Pontifical Communications Council

VATICAN CITY, NOV. 21, 2007 (Zenit.org).- The digital age is a blessing and a challenge for those interested in preaching the Gospel, according to the new president of the Pontifical Council of Social Communications.

Archbishop Claudio Celli, 66, appointed to lead the council last June, said this to ZENIT in an interview on the prelate's participation in the 10th meeting of the Red Informática de la Iglesia en América Latina [Information Network of the Church in Latin America]. The September meeting, held in Tegucigalpa, Honduras, was his first trip abroad as president of the council.

Archbishop Celli comments on the continental meeting of media professionals in Latin America, and on the challenges of evangelizing a digital culture.

Q: Your first mission was to preside over the continental meeting of Latin American Catholic journalists. What was your experience?

Archbishop Celli: For me it was a very positive experience. I am especially bound to Honduras. My first post with the Holy See was related to Honduras. Beginning in 1970, I was a secretary of the apostolic nunciature. Now, providence desired that my first mission as president of the council would be in Honduras, for a Latin American meeting. It was the 10th meeting of the Red Informática de la Iglesia en América Latina [Information Network of the Church in Latin America]. I left very happy with the experience.

I saw an impressive technical competence, but above all, a deep sense of Church. That is to say, I seemed to discover in all the addresses the consciousness of being members of the Church and working in the Church and with the Church, for the good of the people who walk in those lands. And for me this has been positive.

Q: What is the main challenge for the Church in our current digital era?

Archbishop Celli: It is something very strange. The means of social communication are a challenge, because we're no longer dealing with having or not having means of communication. We already live in a digital culture, in the context of a digital culture. In his book, Cardinal Carlo Martini helps us realize that the digital reality is the daily air we breathe.

Therefore, on the one hand, it is a challenge, because it presents us with a reality we have to understand and serve, that we have to love. And, therefore, we have to be present -- the Red Informática de la Iglesia en América Latina [RIIAL] is a response to the problem. That's why in Honduras, I spoke about the "diaconía" of the digital culture.

Q: Is this digital culture new mission territory?

Archbishop Celli: The continental meeting I attended was the first after the 5th general conference of the bishops of Latin America in Aparecida, and the document of Aparecida asked all disciples of Jesus Christ to be missionaries. I translated this missionary dimension with the expression "'diaconía' of the digital culture," which emphasizes the attitude of service. This is the challenge.

It's a challenge we have to confront at the places where man lives in this context. At the same time, the means of social communication are a great opportunity to find help in spreading the Gospel. There is a statement from Pius XII, in which the Pope refers to the means of communication of his time, defining them as "a gift of God." Imagine if he lived today. It is undeniable that these means place many possibilities at the disposal of one who wants to be a missionary.

Therefore, we see they are a gift, a fantastic opportunity, and at the same time a challenge. This is the fact at the base of our problems. In Latin America, I am content because there already exists a living, working reality that does not cover only this or that country. Those present came from countries ranging from Mexico to Brazil. Certainly this is not the case in other continents. But I confess that while I was in Latin America and observed this richness and potential, it made me ask myself about Africa, for example.

Basically, I would like to look to the future. I think the council should dedicate much attention to Africa. Because it is a continent lagging behind. It is true that there are various Africas, because South Africa is one thing and the other countries, where there are serious problems, are another. But there is a difficulty: While the RIIAL in Latin America can act easily, and can carry out its service, because they use two languages -- only Brazil speaks Portuguese -- Africa has three major languages, we can call them international languages -- French, English and Portuguese -- but then there are numerous other languages, and this is undeniably a difficulty for the development of certain services.

Pope John Paul II was very farsighted in defining the title of RIIAL: He spoke of the Information Network of the Church in Latin America as a way of indicating that one day this same information network of the Church ought to be present in other countries. And we are already thinking about this. Therefore, I look with great hope to what we are doing right now in Latin America.

I very much appreciate how RIIAL works in close collaboration with the Pontifical Council for Social Communications and the Latin American episcopate. The president of the committee for the means of communication of the Latin American episcopal council was there, and, in this week of working together, we reached a deep mutual understanding. I think that this understanding will be useful for new possibilities of work. We are only beginning, and such a deep understanding between the two organizations is truly a precursor of abundant future fruits.

Q: Today there is a new challenge for social justice: the marginalization of those without access to new technology. In your discussion in Honduras, you spoke about "info-poverty." Could you comment on this?

Archbishop Celli: It is a reality. The illiteracy of before, which is a tragic consequence of socioeconomic poverty, today shows itself as well with the face of "info-poverty." The council cannot solve everything. But what the council can do together with the Church in Latin America -- and there are RIIAL projects in this regard -- is find contributions to overcome the new barriers arising. Because the more we keep a great number of people isolated, the poorer the world will be. Tomorrow, these people, having been adequately helped and educated in using means of communication, will be able to enrich humanity's path.

Q: What are the future projects for the council?

Archbishop Celli: At present we are still thinking on the short term, that is, in the first six months of next year, among other reasons, because we just have moved offices to Vía de la Conciliación 5, in Rome.

In these months I have spoken with many people. The encounter in Honduras was valuable in this sense; but also here in Rome, I have had the opportunity of meeting with representatives of the episcopates and people committed to these problems. And it seemed important to have a meeting with the faculties of social communication of the Roman ecclesiastical universities. […] We decided to see each other regularly, because on one level I think the pontifical council needs to be accompanied and assisted by a deep academic reflection, since the council desires to work in service, in this "diaconía" of the culture.

I can announce that after Easter, we will try to organize a world congress of the faculties of social communication of Catholic universities, spread throughout the world, because we have to rediscover the meaning of this presence. There are certainties, there are positive achievements, but I think one of the biggest challenges we have to face together is looking at the future, and seeing how the academic world, especially that with a Catholic inspiration, is able to contribute positively. Therefore I think that, after Easter, before summer, we will organize this congress; we are already working on it, consulting those who are already on the playing field.

The second theme, which seems very important to me, is a broad reflection on the theology of communication. Let's speak about this. In Honduras, a suggestion arose of using new technology so that there would be a unified investigation into the proper use of the social means of communication. Therefore, right now we are studying how to do this, but certainly this will be an in-depth subject.

The third theme, on another front, that we will address before summer would be an encounter, always at the international level, with Catholic radio stations of the world -- radio that, as the bishops I met during this period have told me, is offering a great service. But here, also, there is the need of a rediscovery.

Next year, the Synod of Bishops will consider the great subject of the word of God in the life of the Church. And the question we have to ask is how our means of social communication can be put at the service of the Church so this word reaches the largest number of people and can bear fruit. Probably, therefore, we could organize an international meeting of the Catholic radio stations scattered throughout the world.

Another great worry I have that we should explore little by little is the attention to those who walk alone in life, at times with a deep nostalgia for God. I think that our means of social communication, such as magazines, newspapers, radio and television -- in this time of relativism, uncertainty, doubts, but at times of great nostalgia -- can be a help along the way, to be close to those who travel the path of life, and who still struggle to understand it, to know it.

These are in a certain sense the ideas we have at the present time. After, we will update them little by little while we move forward.