Vatican's media man in London for World Communications Day

Father Federico Lombardi SJ - the Director of Vatican Radio, the Vatican Press Office and the Vatican Television Centre - has delivered the 2009 World Communications Day lecture in London.  Speaking at Allen Hall Seminary in Chelsea, Fr Lombardi spoke of the challenges and opportunities that the new media landscape presents the Church with - especially the Vatican.  He also spoke candidly about occasions in recent months when various statements made by Pope Benedict have been misinterpreted or criticised.

'It is a mistake to think that we ought to avoid debate,' he told an audience of media professionals and Catholic communications practitioners. 'We must always seek to conduct debate in a way that leads to a better understanding of the Church's position - and we must never get discouraged.'

Father Lombardi traced the development of the Vatican's various media resources and reflected on the new era of instant communication and inter-active media.  He also analysed the way the media had covered controversies like the Pope's Regensburg lecture and the Bishop Williamson and the Holocaust debate.  And he considered something positive had emerged from the widespread reporting of what the Pope said about the use of condoms to stem the spread of HIV/Aids in Africa.

'Once the first wave of criticism had passed ... people were able to do some real hard thinking - and they did.  The subsequent reflections were serious, penetrating and well-argued,' he said. 'It took a while for word of them to make its way through the communications channels and reach the public, but eventually the public did hear about and really benefit from these contributions to the discussion.'

The Italian Jesuit dubbed 'the Pope's spokesman' told the audience in London that all world leaders, not just the Pope, face the same challenges when it comes to communicating their messages clearly and unambiguously: 'In a world such as ours, we would be deluding ourselves if we thought that communication can always be carefully controlled, or that it can always be conducted smoothly and as a matter of course,' he told them. 'We cannot fool ourselves into thinking that a perfect communications strategy could ever make it possible for us to communicate every message the Church has to offer in a way that avoids contradiction and conflict.  Truth be told, success in this sense would be a bad sign - at the very least, it would indicate ambiguity or compromise, rather than authentic communication.'

The Vatican now has its own YouTube presence and this Sunday (24 May) will be launching iPhone and Facebook applications in an effort to help Catholics, especially younger generations, use new technologies to create a culture of dialogue, respect and friendship. 'The impressive development of social networks, of content and information exchange, of the desire to comment on and intervene in every discussion of every topic, tells us that the internet has given rise to an omni-directional flow of transversal and personal communications, the scope of which was unimaginable until very recently,' said Fr Lombardi. 'One of the biggest challenges facing us at present is that of interactivity, and, I would say, of 'positive interactivity'.  How ought we to tackle this challenge at all levels of the Church's life?'

You can read the full text of Fr Federico Lombardi's lecture on the Catholic Communications Network web site - link below.


 Catholic Communications Network

 Vatican Radio