International Seminar on Communicating the vitality of Christian experiences

April 17, 2012: Catholic communicators today have the challenge of representing Catholic identity by conveying the richness of the Catholic Church through its people, and not solely through the Church's institutional structure.

This was the theme of the Pontifical University of the Holy Cross' seminar, "Faces, People, Stories," hosted by the university's department of Church communications. Through a series of presentations, the seminar, which began on Monday and concludes on Wednesday, aims to address how Catholic communications offices can transmit the vitality of the Christian experience by exploring the personal history of Catholic Church members.

Among the speakers on Monday was Mark von Riedemann, managing director of the Catholic Radio and Television Network. This network based in Germany, creates documentaries that tell the story of the suffering and persecuted Church around the world. Riedemann is the program host for a weekly TV and radio program titled Where God Weeps. The Where God Weeps documentaries, three of which were featured on Monday's presentation, are produced with the support of Aid to the Church in Need.

In an interview to Zenit, Riedermann said that the objective of these documentaries, which are broadcast in 22 stations worldwide in multiple languages, is two-fold: to inspire solidarity with those in the persecuted Church who are suffering, and to evangelize.
We want to give the suffering people a voice and help them have a voice.

Riedemann spoke also about the need for journalists to maintain high standards of professionalism. Among journalists, he said, "there's a lot of good will, but there's a need for professionalization because viewers and the audiences have become so sophisticated in their tastes – watching the secular media, MTV, the editing levels, the production values – that unless we reach that level as Christian journalists, it's going to be very difficult for us to reach those viewers because they will simply see our message as 'second best.' Professionalization is an important value for Christian and Catholic journalists today. "

"This knowledge, this understanding of journalism as a vocation is very, very important because it is that which allows us to be rooted in the faith and to communicate this faith to those who are seeking it", he added.