Sponsor Courses in Catholic Media Work for Priests, Religious and Seminarians in India
Friday, November 20, 2009

Project Code: 317-00-79

The media makes up a large part of our lives today. Newspapers, magazines, television, radio and more and more the Internet – all these are now part of our everyday life and condition the way we look at the world. As a result, it is vital for the Catholic Church to be present in this area, too. A Catholic media presence, whether it involves publications, Internet sites, television or radio stations, is becoming increasingly important as a means of conveying the Good News of the Gospel throughout the world. In this way the life of the Church can be brought directly into the lives of people who, sometimes consciously but often simply by chance, begin to show an interest in her Gospel message or want to deepen their relationship with her.

In order to gain a hearing for the Gospel in the modern media, the Church needs trained specialists who on the one hand understand the teachings and the priorities of the Catholic Church and on the other have the technical know-how to convey this. This makes it vitally important for Church personnel to gain the necessary specialist knowledge.

In India, not far from New Delhi, in the town of Vaishali in the district of Ghaziabad, the Catholic Church runs an institute in which young religious, priests and seminarians can obtain a supplementary training in various areas of journalism. The NISCORT Institute (National Institute of Social Communications, Research and Training) works closely together with a number of different universities and offers fully accredited study courses – for example, a Masters in Print Journalism and similarly in Radio Journalism, a diploma in Journalism and Mass Communications, and others. The institute also gives seminars on various subjects, such as modern methods of communicating like blogging, web chat, podcasts, video conferencing using Skype, and much else besides – all with the goal of spreading the Gospel as widely as possible.

Other areas are also tackled, including how to deal with topics like religious fanaticism, fundamentalism and terrorism – all issues which, given the brutal attacks against Christians that have repeatedly occurred in the very recent past in India, are no longer matters of purely theoretical interest but rather involve events upon which human lives may depend. Church leaders in India are agreed that in many cases the media have only exacerbated the tensions by the way they have reported events. Journalists can contribute to greater understanding among people, but at the same time they can also create a particular climate of opinion – and this is where there is a need for great care and sensitivity.

In his address to this year’s World Day Of Social Communications, the Holy Father spoke about the “extraordinary potential of the new technologies, if they are used to promote human understanding and solidarity,” adding that “these technologies are truly a gift to humanity … It falls, in particular, to young people … to take on the responsibility for the evangelization of this ‘digital continent.’ Be sure to announce the Gospel to your contemporaries with enthusiasm.”

We have promised a grant of $7,400 to support the NISCORT Institute in Vaishali. Will you now give so that this year, too, young priests and religious in India can be trained to evangelize this “digital continent?”

Progress: 1% Raised: $ 50     Goal: $ 7400

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