Bishops of the Americas Discuss Successes, Challenges of Communicating the Gospel with Modern Social Media
BALTIMORE, Md.— The annualmeeting of the leadership of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops, the Canadian Conference of Catholic Bishops and the Council of Catholic Bishops’ Conferences of Latin America (Consejo Episcopal Latinoamericano or CELAM), accompanied by four bishops from the fo
BALTIMORE, Md.— The annualmeeting of the leadership of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops, the Canadian Conference of Catholic Bishops and the Council of Catholic Bishops’ Conferences of Latin America (Consejo Episcopal Latinoamericano or CELAM), accompanied by four bishops from the four regions of Latin America and the Caribbean— thepresidents of the Conferences of Bishops of Peru, Chile and Panama, as well as the Secretary General of Brazil — took place in Baltimore, Maryland on February 7 - 9.The purpose of the meeting was to foster collegial bonds among the bishops of Canada, the United States and Latin America.
The theme of this 36th gathering of the Bishops of America was “Communion and Communication”.The dialogue consisted of an exchange of views on how to transmit to the modern world the Gospel message and the image of the Catholic Church made up of the faithful gathered together in Christ Jesus.
From their experiences and perspectives as Catholic bishops from different regions in the whole American continent, the participants discussed successes and challenges in communicating and living the faith as a result of the rapidly changing means of social communications. Together they shared their experiences of how the new media can serve to bring together and to expand the knowledge and personal experience of the message of Christ in a rapid and accessible manner both within the Church and in society at large. They also discussed the challenge of forming, in all members of the Church, a spirit of deepened reflection on the wide ranging contents of newly developed means of social communication, in light of the Gospel message.
The list of participants in the gathering follows:Consejo Episcopal Latinoamericano (CELAM)His Eminence Cardinal Dom Raymundo Damasceno Assis, Archbishop of Aparecida, Brazil; PresidentMost Reverend Baltazar Enrique Porras Cardozo, Archbishop of Mérida, Venezuela; First Vice PresidentMost Reverend Andrés Stanovnik, OFM, Cap., Archbishop of Corrientes, Argentina; Second Vice PresidentMost Reverend José Leopoldo González González, Auxiliary Bishop of Guadalajara, Mexico; General SecretaryFather Sidney Fones Infante, Adjunct General SecretaryPresidents of Episcopal conferences of Latin AmericaMost Reverend Dom Dimas Lara Barbosa, Auxiliary Bishop of Río de Janeiro, BrazilMost Reverend Ricardo Ezzati Andrello, S.D.B., Archbishop of Santiago, ChileMost Reverend Héctor Miguel Cabrejos Vidarte, O.F.M., Archbishop of Trujillo, PerúMost Reverend José Luis Lacunza Maestrojuan, O.A.R., Bishop of David, PanamáCatholic Conference of Canadian Bishops (CCCB)Most Reverend Pierre Morissette, Bishop of Saint-Jérôme, PresidentMost Reverend Richard Smith, Archbishop of Edmonton, Alberta; Vice-PresidentMost Reverend Paul-André Durocher, Bishop of Alexandria-Cornwall; Co-TreasurerMost Reverend Douglas Crosby, Bishop of Hamilton; Co-TreasurerMonsignor Patrick Powers, General SecretaryUnited States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB)Most Reverend Joseph Kurtz, Archbishop of Louisville, Vice PresidentMost Reverend José Gomez, Coadjutor Archbishop of Los Angeles, Chairman, Migration CommitteeMost Reverend George Murry, SJ, Bishop of Youngstown, SecretaryMonsignor David Malloy, General SecretaryMonsignor Ronny Jenkins, General Secretary-elect---
Keywords: Catholic bishops, Latin America, Canada, social media, Gospel, evangelization, Consejo Episcopal Latinoamericano, CELAM, U.S. Catholic bishops, USCCB, Canadian Catholic Bishops
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