The rapid pick-up of new social media applications by Catholic youth is playing a major part in the coordination, planning and delivery of the next Australian Catholic Youth Festival (ACYF) to be held in Adelaide in December.
“Over the last five years social media has become an essential part of communicating any event, particularly to young people,” said Gabrielle Sinclair, project manager for the Australian Catholic Bishops Conference (ACBC) Office for Youth. Continue reading
www.cievents.com.au/events/ACMC2012
Recently, a friend sent through a message to me on Facebook with the picture just below, which shows Jesus talking to a young man. Indeed, Jesus is asking us to follow him, and although we all misread the signs at times – Christ desires all of us to be with him. So, we have a 2,000 year old message which is timeless, it doesn’t age, although perhaps the mediums we use to communicate the message could do with a little work. This message of course is that of love, hope, mercy, faith and salvation. These are not easy messages to put into one line “tweet” or a pithy “facebook” status. We don’t exactly update our relationship status to “In a relationship with Jesus Christ” and consider ourselves “Facebook official” the moment we realise how much we have been gifted by God in our lives.. The hope of Christ in the world gives life to all, and yet so many haven’t been touched in this way. 
Next year, the second Australian Catholic Media Congress will be held at the Menzies Hotel in Sydney with the theme “Communicating the Word: Timeless messages, new media.” Our international guest for this Congress is Monsignor Paul Tighe, Secretary to the Pontifical Council for Social Communications.
The Congress is open to anyone who wishes to attend, particularly those with an interest in Church media. The congress aims to address some of the challenges of spreading a message in a sometimes hostile world; it aims to show new ways of engaging with technology to more effectively proclaim those messages. Over three days, from the 30th of April to the 2nd of May, the bishops have invited you, the people of Australia to attend the Australian Catholic Media Congress and discuss your hopes and vision for Church media.
So we hope that you will join us. www.cievents.com.au/events/ACMC2012
By Bishop Peter Ingham
I was born in 1941, in the midst of the Second World War…. a time of intense change followed the war.
We welcomed migrants and refugees seeking asylum who have since truly enriched our country.
Life has changed more than somewhat from when I entered the Seminary in 1956 in Sydney to today. We wrote letters, where you simply waited the postman’s whistle hoping you got mail!
The 60’s, 70’s and 80’s were a time of great social change, the fastest change in the past decade and a half has been what’s made possible by the internet. Suddenly, a new language of blogs and tweets and MySpace and Facebook and XT3.
As the Bishops’ delegate for the media, I am on a sharp learning curve. As I chair the Australian Catholic Media Council, I am kept up to speed on what is happening, aware I am a digital immigrant.
Mostly, with the help of my staff my email and Facebook are attended to. However, the Church must engage with new media. The last two annual Papal messages for World Communications Day have highlighted the opportunities and pitfalls of using the net.
The Church, and people of faith must not remain silent or remove themselves from the realm of public policy and debate, our opinions and contribution should be eagerly sought.
The weight of evidence would suggest that from our long and rich tradition of Catholic faith and culture we might just have more than a little bit of accumulated wisdom to contribute to public debate. It is for this reason, as much as any other, that upholding and securing religious freedom is so vital for society as a whole, not just for believers.
So, it is with this, I welcome you to the newest addition to the Media engagement of the Australian Catholic Bishops Conference – The ACBC Media Blog