First International Meeting of Communication for Religious Life set to hold in Rome

The first International Meeting of Communication for Religious Life is set for November 27–December 4, according to Vatican News, which cited a press release from the International Union of Superiors General (UISG) in Rome.

Except for the December 4 meeting, which will be both online and in person and will take place at the headquarters of the UISG in Rome, it will be held online and will be animated by three keywords: “Training – Networking – Change.”

More than 600 women religious communicators from around the world are expected to avail of this opportunity for communicators of various congregations across the world to deepen their commitment to the Church’s mission of communication.

The laity who are involved in the field of communication, particularly in digital media, will also participate.

There will be three parts to the week-long program:  Day 1 will center on 13 training workshops, with around 1,000 people already registered. Day 2 will be “totally dedicated to communicators, who would draw up a joint declaration that projects towards a more effective and evangelical communicative future.” 

At the final event, a declaration representing the outcome of the deliberations will be presented. 

 “The choice of themes for all the workshops and round tables, as well as the multimedia materials available through the digital platform “Communicating Religious Life” (https://www.uisg.org/it/communicating-religious-life/),” said the statement.

On December 4, the UISG Communication Office will present “Sisters Communicate," a publication containing research results on communication reality among over 300 female congregations.

According to the research conducted among various congregations that are members of UISG, 86.4% of communication is managed by sisters belonging to the institute; 13.6% of the institutes rely on a layperson and are therefore external to the institute.

Those who do not have a communication team are 29.2% of the institutions that responded to the survey, while 70.8% declare they have one. Those who have no relations with the press are 54.1%, while 45.9% have relations with the press.

Those who do not have a strategic communication plan is 58% of congregations while 42% say they have one.  Those who do not have a part dedicated to institutional and digital communication in the ratio formation are at 65%, which means that digital subjects are not included in initial training.

The study highlighted the central role played by superior and general councillors, lay people and experts who work in the fields of Church communication, universities, associations, business communications, and press bodies.

Established in 2015, the UISG communications office aims to train and empower sisters who believe communication is a mission. They hope to have each congregation have a digital missionary for communion and a virtual community. - (MTV)