Intervention of Mons. Raphaël François MINASSIAN, Patriarchal Exarch of the Armenian
Patriarchate of Cilicia (JERUSALEM)
Communion is not a friendly social relationship, but it is rather the dedication of
oneself for the good of one’s brother. This is the teaching of Jesus. The local
Church of the Holy Land in Jerusalem is aware of the acute problems of a socio-political
nature faced by Christians in the Middle East, and has faith in the imperative importance
of the media that can play a positive role in proposing solutions. The technique
of the mass media consists of the use of sound, image and text as means of communication
that leads us to a “communicative” solution that is based on the unity of the Catholic
Churches in the East. An ideal unity for a Christian testimony that facilitates communion
and collaboration without damaging the identities of the various Christian Catholic
Churches and without eroding their traditional culture. The Catholic Church in
the Middle East has remained faithful to the apostolic tradition that consisted of
preaching, visiting and writing. Collaboration in the field of the mass media is still
weak among the Catholics of the Middle East because of the differences between cultures
and ecclesiastical traditions. Recently the use of the mass media and means of
social communication has become more frequent but at the level and on the initiative
of single individuals. These means, despite the rapid progress in the world of the
media, are still at a primitive level as a result of a lack of economic resources
and therefore of professionalism. The mass media can play an important role and
be one of the most suitable means for creating a real communion between the various
Catholic Churches, starting from an effective collaboration between them in such a
way that the mass media might truly become a place of witness to Jesus and Christian
values.