Interview With President of Pontifical Communications Council

Q: What is the main challenge for the Church in our current digital era?

It is something very strange. The means of social communication are a challenge, because we're no longer dealing with having or not having means of communication....

...it is a challenge, because it presents us with a reality we have to understand and serve, that we have to love. And, therefore, we have to be present...

Q: Is this digital culture new mission territory?

...the means of social communication are a great opportunity to find help in spreading the Gospel. There is a statement from Pius XII, in which the Pope refers to the means of communication of his time, defining them as "a gift of God." Imagine if he lived today. It is undeniable that these means place many possibilities at the disposal of one who wants to be a missionary.

One of the promising indications of a renewal in the Church’s missionary consciousness in recent decades has been the growing desire of many lay men and women, whether single or married, to cooperate generously in the missio ad gentes. As the Council stressed, the work of evangelization is a fundamental duty incumbent upon the whole People of God, and all the baptized are called to "a lively awareness of their personal responsibility for the spreading of the Gospel" ("Ad Gentes," 36).

Fundamental duty?

All the baptized?

A lively awareness?

Personal responsibility?