Wednesday August 3rd: Who vex lose
August 3, 2022
Thursday August 4th: Instruments of God’s grace
August 4, 2022
Participants of the 2022 Caribbean School for Catholic Communications (CSCC) were invited to address the “cultural iceberg” that exists.
Vice Principal, CSCC, Sr Angela Ann Zukowski, MHSH, Director of Institute for Pastoral Initiatives, Professor in the Religious Studies department, University of Dayton, frames the cultural iceberg as “what it is we see, what the issues are [that]we don’t see” as she gave the first talk at the opening of the School on August 1.
She referenced Pope Francis’ observation in Fratelli Tutti that, “In this shallow, short-sighted culture that we have created, bereft of a shared vision”.
Connecting the Docs is the theme for the 28th instalment of the School which runs virtually from August 1–6. Attendees came from Antigua, Barbados, Belize, Cuba, Grenada, Jamaica, St Lucia, and T&T.
Sr Angela Ann in her presentation, ‘Setting the Stage for Moving Forward with Pope Francis’ vision and mission’ gave an overview of Pope Francis’ 2020 encyclical Fratelli Tutti, On Fraternity and Social Friendship.
In her overview for the week, she highlighted different points in the encyclical and posed various questions to get participants thinking. She said catechists, liturgists, pastoral and social justice leaders need to ask themselves, “How do we go into the future based upon the vision Pope Francis is offering us? What are the opportunities and what are the challenges that are ahead of us?”
Sr Angela Ann said in his writings, Pope Francis used parables for addressing critical issues. Evident in Fratelli Tutti, she asked participants to think of what “Pope Francis is trying to help us to come to terms with”. As Catholic communicators, they need to find new ways of looking at parables.
She asked that as they looked at Fratelli Tutti this week, they consider the idea of fraternity, community and working together. These were important “for us to move forward in the world in which we live”.
Principal, CSCC, Station Manager Trinity TV, Lisa Bhajan, said the theme indicated the aim to connect the documents of the Church, particularly Fratelli Tutti. “When we really keep in tune with what’s happening with the documents of the Church, it helps us to become grounded and really be in tuned with the vision of the Church and bring this into our production.”
Bhajan said one of the main objectives of CSCC is “to introduce participants to the practical skills of pastoral communication planning and to spark the religious imagination of our parishes, dioceses and local communities”. Social media apps will be used to get their creative justices flowing to be content producers.
Sr Angela Ann’s other talks are: August 2: ‘Mission of Encounter: Practicing the Art of Accompaniment —Inclusion and Diversity’; August 3: ‘Mission of Hope in Challenging Times’ which will reflect on the contextual, cultural challenges the Church is facing; and August 4, ‘From Ecclesial (Church) Culture to Personal Encounter with Jesus’.
Introductory remarks were given by Administrator, CSCC Secretariat, Suzanne Dowdy; prayer/reflection by Rose Jackman, co-foundress, Living Water Community, and music from Anthony and Cheryl Seheult.
