Communicating where the people are

In a world increasingly dominated by media and communications, the Church is called to join in. If that means meeting her people online, on air, in print, through cellular phones and in messages 140 characters long, then that is where she must be.

“The general function of the Church is religious communication. This applies to the ministry within the Church and to her ministry to the outside world. Communication happens by the means that are available and used by people,” says Bishop Michael Wüstenberg of Aliwal North.

This means, that if the Church wants to relay a message, it must do so through the media of the people. A public address or a sermon, for example, normally does not reach those in hospitals or prisons, and a church bulletin does not reach those who are not in churches. One has to look for other means of communication, the bishop said.

“Websites or pages are a complementary means of presenting the work of a parish or diocese. It gives easy access and facilitates the search for information. A user has the chance to just look around or also to get into contact. This is what we do in our diocese. Links offered on such sites give a further indication about what is important for the owner of the homepage,” the bishop says.

“I think the media plays a very important role in the Church. Media and technology is what young people can relate to, so if we want them to understand our Church and be interested, why not link it to media,” says Nonjabulo Mlotshwa, a youth leader and catechist from St Joseph Howick, KwaZulu-Natal.

Ms Mlotshwa does not limit her message and interaction to the classroom. She is particularly active on the Catholic Youth Dundee Diocese Facebook page where she posts motivational comments and engages in discussions with other group members.

In addition, Ms Mlotshwa says the Catholic Youth SA Facebook page has more than 3500 young members from all over the country. The page is a place “where they communicate, share concerns, ask questions, and that grows our Catholic faith”. These communication hubs are not just the domain of the country’s youth, but are also frequented by priests, religious sisters and Church workers. For many, pastoral work is no longer performed exclusively in person.

However, Bishop Wüstenberg warns that the new technologies must not replace personal contacts or social gatherings, “but it can support them and keep contacts alive”.

The bishop says he hopes ministries in his diocese will make more intensive use of keeping contact via cellphones, adding that even biblical ministry can be done, in some form, through that medium.

This can already be seen in various Church organisations that send out daily reflections to cellphones, newsletters via email or even present the Stations of the Cross on your smart phone, or make available your favourite newspaper on your tablet — the Church is meeting her people where they are, and often it’s on the move.

It’s not only the laity that are on the move, but also Church leaders. Cardinal Wilfrid Napier of Durban, who was interviewed while on his way to Rome, says everyone in the Church should be making use of communication tools around us.

From newspapers, to radio or Internet, “it is not only individual priests or deacons, or for that matter catechists and catechism teachers, who should be using the social media. It is getting clearer by the day that everyone who has had genuine and true experiences of Christ in their lives should be passing on the Good News in every way possible.”

Cardinal Napier says the benefit of using media is that it relays information, but it also reaches far more people than one-on-one communication.

“Catholic media exists to promote the mission of the Church, namely to preach the Gospel, teach what Christ commissioned his Church to say and do in his name, assist his disciples to live the Gospel as truly and effectively and fruitfully as possible,” he says.

For Lehlohonolo Mahogen from St Martin de Porres in Kanana Orkney, Klerksdorp diocese, the Church’s presence in the media is a means of seeing the Church in action.

“I think it’s important that the Church maintain a visible media presence as now people are going visual all over the world. You have a high number of teens, youth and young adults who are not regular churchgoers, but they frequent Facebook and other sites on the net. So what better way to get their attention than the Church going visual or online?”

Howick’s Ms Mlotshwa says that while most dioceses and large organisations have online portals, many more do not. This limits their communication potential. Having an online presence “is convenient and affordable”, she says. While it is not suitable for everyone, Ms Mlotshwa believes the Church should at least be trying.

“[The Internet] is so much easier than any other ways of communication. Imagine if we didn’t have websites and Facebook, how much would the Church be spending in posting the information people need? Now you can just go to the different websites and download the information you need.”

However, not all South Africans have the benefit of the new media.

Bucy Ntsuntswana from Lady Frere parish in Queenstown says many people in her diocese don’t have access to media or the Internet. Despite this she believes that the Church needs to be present in all forms of media because there are many who do have access.

As Education for Life facilitator, Ms Ntsuntswana communicates online and in person—she says she meets the youth where they are, adding that more and more Queenstown youth are getting online.

Similarly, the diocese of Polokwane covers a large rural area where many do not have access to Church media, but the youth are finding ways to communicate — and there is room for the Church to join in, says Fr Bernard Madiba.

“The Internet is very helpful. You just need to look at the youngsters, the majority of whom are computer literate — they use it and so should we.”

Bishop Wüstenberg says increasingly “our youth in the rural areas use cellphones and sites that are accessible”.

He says that when they share photos online, young Catholics especially show that they belong, that they were present at a Church event and are even proud of this. That, the bishop says, is something unique and exciting about social media.

Fr Anthony Cloete, vicar-general of the mostly rural Keimoes-Upington diocese, says many of the priests are active online.

“Our bishop [Edward Risi OMI] is on Facebook and he communicates with many there. Many of our priests and lay leaders are also online,” Fr Cloete says.

Bishop Stanislaw Dziuba of Umzimkulu is the apostolic administrator of Kokstad. As a bishop overseeing two dioceses, he uses online communication to interact with others — especially those with whom he cannot have regular direct contact.

“Wisely used it could become the forum of discussion and sharing on the issues of faith, guidance of young people, as well as to reach those who are ordinarily not coming to the church — those who are searching for the meaning in their life and values on which they could built up their future,” Bishop Dziuba says of the Internet.

This is the space which the Church should be occupying — even when the media can sometimes be daunting, challenging or simply incorrect.

“Some might have reservations about the free flow of personal opinions through social media. Of course they became magnified and globally accessible in this virtual space. But still they remain what they are, as they do in normal conversations,” says Bishop Wüstenberg.

Cardinal Napier says that although the Church has had some negative interactions in both social and traditional media, it is important that it is not “afraid of the media; even after bad experiences, keep coming back”.

“I learned that establishing a relationship of truth and honesty with the media goes a long way towards getting them to work with you rather than against you. Be straight and honest at all times, but say what you want to say,” the cardinal advises.

Bishop Wüstenberg says being interviewed in traditional media is another way of communicating.

“Petrol attendants approach me sometimes when they heard something I said on the radio.” And while newspapers are “rather scarce in our area” and have only a few subscribers, readers “normally share their copy with a number of other people”, meaning the message is spread even where an official circulation is not large.

“We need to be present there to contribute our view on the broader discussion,” Bishop Wüstenberg says.

Either way, from traditional media to social media, the Church must be present. From the farmer listening to Radio Veritas on his portable radio, to the teenager tweeting her priest, to academics discussing the rosary in online forums — the Church is accessible. And where she is not, she must strive to be.