Bishop underscores need to evangelize through social communications

MAKATI CITY, March 28, 2014 – Spreading the Gospel need not be confined to churches and pulpits alone.

Evangelization is at the religious and lay people’s fingertips through the utilization of social media, leading to the propagation of the good news on a wider scale.

“I see this new task with you as ministry of forming.  In fact, I feel that I have to be the first one formed in many things about how to better communicate the Gospel in this day and age,” said Pasig Bishop Mylo Hubert Vergara, Chairman of the Episcopal Commission on Social Communications and Mass Media (ECSCMM) of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines (CBCP) during the recent Bi-Annual Assembly of the Philippine Federation of Catholic Broadcasters-Catholic Media Network (PCFB-CMN) held at the San Carlos Seminary.

Vergara reiterated the call to Catholic media practitioners to bring the Gospel closer to the faithful by maximizing the technological advancements present in the modern world.

“In listening and learning, consequently, we go through a process of formation, our minds and hearts are formed to become better persons, perhaps better bearers of the Good News, better evangelizers,” added Vergara.

Social communicators

Echoing the words of Pope Francis, Vergara noted the need for Catholic individuals to be more engaged in evangelizing the good news through social communications.

Vergara mentioned how the Holy Father pointed out that the main challenge in social communications is not “principally technological, but something personal.”

“Even in the context of social communications, the Church is required to bring warmth, to warm hearts…We hold a precious treasure that is to be passed on, a treasure that brings light and hope,” he noted.

“All this, however, requires a careful and thorough formation in this area for priests, for religious men and women, for laity. The great digital continent does not only involve technology, but is made up of real men and women who bring with them what they carry inside, their hopes, their suffering, their concerns, their pursuit of truth, beauty, and good,” Vergara added. (CBCPNews)