The Patient Gardener
(Luke 13:1-9)

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Valletta, Malta – In a unique collaboration, Charló Camilleri, in partnership with the Jesuits' Church Foundation, is set to present a theatrical event titled Il-Viżjonijiet ta' Santa Marija Maddalena de Pazzi on 20 March. This production follows the tradition of the monastic sacra rappresentazione, a form of sacred drama deeply rooted in religious history.

The event will feature a public lecture by Fr Charló Camilleri O.Carm., who will explore the performative mysticism of Santa Marija Maddalena de Pazzi. His talk will focus on the three 'ecstasies' of the Passion, offering an in-depth reflection on the saint's visionary experiences.

Renowned actress Sharon Bezzina will take on the challenging role of Santa Marija Maddalena de Pazzi, bringing to life the saint’s spiritual encounters. The production is under the artistic direction of Joseph Galea, ensuring a compelling theatrical experience. Complementing the performance, music director and composer Alexander Vella Gregory will provide an evocative musical score, enhancing the mystical atmosphere of the event.

This unique theatrical and scholarly event promises to be an enlightening experience, blending drama, history, and spirituality in an engaging presentation. The performance will be held at the Jesuits' Church in Valletta on 20 March.

To read more on this event

Directors of Communications for Religious Orders and Bishops’ Conferences Come to Strategize

The Dicastery for Communications invited some 200 directors of communications in the religious orders and congregations as well as directors of communications for the Bishops’ Conference throughout the world to come together January 27-29, 2025. For three days, the group met at the Pontifical Urbaniana University in Rome to reflect on various aspects of the Church’s program of communications.

January 27

To start off the conference, the participants were invited to meet with Pope Francis in the Vatican’s Clementine Hall. He spoke to the group about engaging the world and not remaining in an enclosure in which Catholics talk only among themselves. Genuine power of communication comes in building connections and crafting “narratives of our hope.” He proposed that Christian communication “conveys harmony” and needs to be an alternative to the disorder of modern communication. The pope sees modern communication as “new towers of Babel” where “everyone is talking, and they don’t understand each other.” Each member was able to greet the pope individually.

Among the speakers were Maria Ressa who had spoken on Saturday in the Paul VI Audience Hall. Speaking on Navigating the Contemporary Media Environment, she highlighted the most pressing challenges facing the contemporary media environment, including disinformation, polarization, and radicalization. She invited participants on how the Church’s communications might transform this context into a space of hope.

This was followed by a two person panel focused on “Change of the Communication Paradigm: The Rise of Social Media and Catholic Influencers.”

Fr Paolo Benanti, TOR, made an excellent presentation on artificial intelligence, providing insights into it future development, and explored its impact on the communication of the Church. Benanti teaches at the Pontifical Gregorian University, advises the pope on AI and technology ethics, and has been consulted by the Italian government on AI. This was followed by Eli Pariser, founder of New Public network, speaking about creating online communities that foster connection, facilitate pluralism, and encourage civic engagement.

In the afternoon, Cardinal Luis Tagle who works in the area of evangelization, gave a spiritual reflection on the Christian response in the midst of today’s communication challenges.

January 28

The following day, the third session began with the Irish writer Colum McCann discussing narratives and storytelling that can bridge differences, shatter stereotypes, and building communion among people. A five-person panel followed focused on their initiatives in storytelling. This was followed by another five-person panel with additional concrete examples of engagement with young people and those on the margins, bearing witness in challenging contexts, and standing up to disinformation and crises.

The 4th session in the afternoon, provided four parallel workshops with participants attending any two of them. The workshops were on platformization, best practices in broadcasting liturgy, strategies for communications offices, and, finally, formation.

The group then departed for the St. Peter’s Basilica where the Vatican Secretary of State, Cardinal Pietro Parolin, celebrated Mass at the Altar of the Chair in the Vatican Basilica. The Mass was attended by about 200 communication officers from bishops' conferences and religious families who had been attending the conferences at the Urbaniana University.

Following up on the Gospel of the day, Jesus speaking of the scribes and Pharisees, the cardinal traced the symptoms of some rampant “spiritual diseases” and their respective “medicines.” He said, “I believe that none of us lacks the humble awareness to recognize that our hearts can also be affected by such diseases,” referring to the hypocrisy mentioned by Jesus in the Gospel passage.

Using the various tools of communication— voice, writing, images— “you are called to narrate,” but without ever disregarding “the primary value” of others, making use of a word that is “adequate and never shouted,” ensuring “confidentiality, magnanimity” and “discretion.” For the cardinal, this is responsible communication.

January 29

The final day was spent in small groups, divided according to language. Members were asked to highlight the most important questions that emerged over the previous days. These were then presented to the whole group in a plenary session. The day and conference concluded with the group picture taken by the papal photographer.

19 March Solemnity

Death is a mystery. For a Christian, according to Pope Francis, the good death is an experience of the mercy of God, who comes close to us even in that last moment of our life. According to Catholic tradition Joseph is considered the model of the pious believer who received grace at the moment of death.

During the early months of 2022, Pope Francis reflected on the person of St Joseph during his weekly General Audiences. During his audience on February 9, the pope spoke about this traditional devotion to St Joseph as the patron of a good death and the meaning of death in light of the Resurrection.

Although lacking any historical data, this tradition grew out of the idea that Joseph had died, “in the arms of Jesus and Mary,” before leaving Nazareth. After all, there is no mention of Joseph in Scripture after the Infancy Narratives, particularly the story of finding Jesus in the temple. So conventional wisdom holds that he died. In contrast, some eastern traditions made Joseph out to be 90 years old.

In the motu proprio, Bonum sane [July 1920], Pope Benedict XV wrote that that Joseph “is deservedly considered to be the most effective protector of the dying, having expired in the presence of Jesus and Mary” and then he pushed for pastors to support the pious associations established to implore Joseph on behalf of the dying. Associations at the time were “Of the Good Death,” “Of the Transit of St Joseph,” and “for the Dying.”

Referring to the 95-year-old Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI, Francis quotes him as saying “I am before the obscurity of death, at the dark door of death.” While our culture attempts to remove the reality of death and sanitize its aftermath, our Christian faith helps us to face it. It is through the Resurrection that our deaths take on meaning because “the light that awaits us behind the dark door of death” is Christ Resurrected.

To read more on St. Joseph, Principal Protector of the Order ...

Carmelite Communications Directors Join Jubilee Year Celebration of World Communications

The Vatican’s first celebration of the Jubilee Year, January 24-26, was dedicated to World Communications. The celebration began, appropriately, on the feast of St. Francis de Sales, the patron saint of journalists and writers, with a penitential liturgy at the Basilica of St. John Lateran.

On the following morning, January 25, participating journalists and directors of communications assembled at the end of Via Conciliazione to begin a pilgrimage to the Holy Door. The Vatican offered a small snack and coffee before heading into the Paul VI Audience Hall for an audience with Pope Francis.

The papal audience was preceded by a round table session with two well-known personalities: Maria Ressa, Nobel Peace Prize laureate, advocate for freedom of expression, and CEO of the social communications platform Rappler and Colum McCann, author and co-founder of Narrative 4 – a global non-profit which uses storytelling to better communities.

Ressa spoke of her reason for attending the Jubilee dedicated to communications. She saw the event as an opportunity “to talk to real people in a shared reality with values that we hold dear.” While we live in an ever-increasing technology-driven world, Ressa feels “both social media influencers and media professionals have a role to play in being sources of communication. Journalists should “operate under standards and ethics”; whereas influencers are good at translation or repackaging information for different audiences. 

For McCann, the Jubilee of World Communication is important because telling stories is a tool for bringing people together. “The shortest distance between any people is a story,” McCann explained, “so our ability to tell our story and our ability to listen to somebody else's story is actually paramount to who we are and how we continue.” In his talk, McCann provided concrete examples where the work of Narrative 4 has brought about incredible results. He holds that “the ability to understand somebody else's story” that is “fundamental to notions of democracy and belonging.”

This part of the program concluded with a musical performance by Maestro Uto Ughi, with the orchestra promoted by the Uto Ughi Foundation.

Unfortunately, Pope Francis’ participation was limited. He gave his prepared text to an aide saying he would have the document distributed but only speak briefly because everyone was hungry. Following his remarks, he moved on to greeting the cardinals and bishops as well as those who managed to get a front row seat. His impromptu remarks as well as the prepared remarks were later published and can be found here.

The afternoon of Saturday was spent with the initiative Dialogue with the City: Meetings of a Cultural and Spiritual Nature. The meetings were organized by various institutions to explore the relationship between communication and the Church. A full list of these sessions and their locations can be found here

Sunday morning the Jubilee celebration of World Communications concluded with the Sunday of the Word of God in St. Peter’s Basilica presided over by Pope Francis. During the Mass people from various countries participated in the the Institution of Lectors. The homily of the Holy Father is here.

Transfiguration
(Luke 9:28-36)

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International Communications Commission Meets to Finalize Programs Before the General Chapter

It was ten days of focusing on the Order’s communications programs. The week began with the professional development conferences at the Pontifical University of Santa Croce in Rome, participation in the Jubilee Year celebrations sponsored by the Dicastery for Communications, and concluded with the zoom meeting with the various directors of communications in the provinces. Then it was the turn of the International Communication Commission to meet at St Albert’s International Center (CISA) on January 29 – 31, 2025.

Members present for the 9th meeting of the Commission were: David Hofman, William J. Harry (Director of Communications for the Order), Manuel R. Freitas, Richard Byrne, and Mons. Janvier Marie Gustave Yameogo of the Dicastery for Communications.

Director’s Report

The Director’s Report highlighted the amount of time being spend on the publications part of the communications office, Edizioni Carmelitane, and the lack of time to focus on new initiatives in social media. It is hoped that some cooperation between the various communications offices in the Order could provide some renewed focus in the social media area. However, building cooperation also requires time to take root. Edizioni Carmelitane did publish 16 new titles in 2024 as well as two issues of Carmelus, Analecta, and Carmel in the World. In 2023, Edizioni published 10 new titles and 7 new titles in 2022.

While sales have increased through the webstore, it is still very difficult to get our books into bookstores or museums shops around Rome. At the end of 2024, 380 university libraries and schools of theology were contacted. We also contacted each of the Carmelite monasteries of enclosed nuns.

We continue to offer the more popular style of offerings as eBooks. Sales have been slow.

Review of the Conference and Events of the Previous Week

Members who attended the Conference at Santa Croce presented their reactions. The various offerings at the Santa Croce Conference were seen as engaging and appropriate. Experts in the field of art led several of the conferences, proposing the use of art to engage people in the faith, especially those who are not Catholic or even believers. There were presentations on identity and innovation: being able to innovate with losing one identity, with the 1000 year old monastery of Montserrat used as an example. What other presences on social media can we move into as website have seen a 80% reduction in usage. Stories of conversion and the lives of the saints often lead to a spike in viewership and engagement with the audience.

William J. Harry was invited to participate in a meeting of the directors of the communications office of the Order present in Rome as well as the directors of the Episcopal Conference Communications offices from January 27-29. It emphasised the need for the Church to move into a productive use of Artificial Intelligence. Another focus was the importance of storytelling. The approximately 200 members met with Pope Francis in the Sala Clementina on the first morning of the gathering.

For the on-line meeting with the Order’s communications directors who did not come to Rome, the group moved to the General Curia. There were about ten participants online and eight present in the room. The crossover between those worked in communications and also in youth ministry and vocations was noted. This was the first meeting of this type and was seen as very valuable by the participants. Due to time restraints, two main items on the agenda (sharing resources and the opportunities for networking) were not explored. A follow-up zoom meeting will be held in May in two sessions to better accommodate time differences.

Communications Plan for the Order

The Commission’s work on the Scapular Project continues. It will involved Salpointe Catholic High School in Tucson Arizona. The project will include the story of Isidore Bakanja.

The members also spent a significant amount of time discussing possible changes to the financial model used by Edizioni Carmelitane as well as different models for the distribution of books. These will be presented to the General Council.

Another proposed project is a map of the Carmelite sites in Rome. This will be a joint project with the Discalced Carmelites. It would be something that that could endure for at least ten years and not just for the Jubilee Year.

Meeting at the Dicastery of Communications

The members of the Commission went to the Dicastery for Communications and met with both the Prefect of the Dicastery for Communications, Dottore Paolo Ruffini and with the Director for the Theological-Pastoral Department, Dottoressa Nataša Govekar, to discuss the Order’s program of communications and possible points of cooperation. The visited lasted approximately 90 minutes.

The three days concluded with some visioning for the future. This included brainstorming about the role of the Communications Office in the General Curia, the relationship between communications and evangelization, the job description of the Director of Communications, and the process of identifying people to work in communications in Rome.

The next meeting will be held online on May 19, 2025.

Temptation to Transfiguration
(Luke 4:1-13)

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For six days, communications directors from various parts of the Order met in Rome to participate in three events related to communications. The first was a three day conference at the Pontifical University of Santa Croce entitled Communication and Evangelization: Context, Attitudes and Experiences. One of the university’s focuses is communications. This was the 14th professional seminar for Church communications offices.

The goal of the conference was to explore the Church’s evangelizing. This is something present in each diocese as well as religious order on various levels. The form of dialogue used brings together characteristics such as the primacy of charity, love of truth, respect for the person and his or her freedom, and the promotion of pluralism. In addition, the various dimensions of the Church's communication refer to the horizon of evangelization: internal communication, relations with journalists, creation of media and channels, presence on social networks, listening, dissemination of content, and institutional relations. When put together and used appropriately, these activities make the Church capable of proclaiming Christ, the Good News.

To explore the theme a number of presentations as well as panels of experts from various parts of the world were provided. Presentations were in English, Spanish, and Italian (with simultaneous translations for the large gatherings). The breaks provided the opportunity to connect with fellow workers in this particular vineyard.

The full program can be found at en.pusc.it/csi/ucc2025/progr.

The second part of the Carmelite gathering was to participate in the Jubilee Year of the World of Communications. This was the first of the Jubilee events scheduled throughout 2025. The Vatican estimated that 10,000 journalists, editors, and industry professionals participated from 139 countries. The three days included some input sessions but was mostly am opportunity to celebrate.

On Friday evening, January 24, there was a welcome and penitential celebration organized by the Vicariate of the Diocese of Rome at St. John Lateran Basilica. The following day members had the opportunity to participate in a procession from Piazza Pia with the Jubilee cross to St. Peter’s Basilica. Participants then passed through the Holy Door. After a pause for a simple breakfast and coffee provided by the Vatican outside the Paul VI Audience Hall, participants assembled in the aula for a meeting with Pope Francis. The papal session was preceeded by a round table session, moderated by the former editor of the Italian national newspapers, La Repubblica and La Stampa, on the theme of “Communication and Hope.”

Two speakers participated. The Filippino journalist Maria Ressa, who won the Nobel Peace Prize in 2021 for "efforts to safeguard freedom of expression, which is a precondition for democracy and lasting peace" spoke first. She is also the co-founder and CEO of Rappler, a Filipino online news website. Ms. Ressa gave a powerful talk on the crisis of democracy and her arrests by the Philippine government.

The second presenter was award-winning Irish writer Colum McCann who wrote Apeirogon among several other books. He spoke about the “democracy of storytelling” outlining the power that telling the people’s stories can have in bringing people together.

Following the talks there was a musical interlude. The Pope Francis entered the aula and took his place in center stage. However, after very few minutes he tossed aside his text and began greeting the cardinals and bishops present and then the people seated in the very front rows. It was a rather odd finish to what was billed as a major moment of the three days.

The following morning, on the “Sunday of the Word of God,” participants were invited to Mass inside St. Peter’s basilica presided over by Pope Francis.

The following day, the Carmelite communicators gathered live as well as via zoom to participate in a discussion of the status of the various communications programs in the Order and the provinces. Each participant was asked to share three things they felt everyone should know about their ministry of communications. They were also asked to complete a one-page survey which will be summarized to give a more complete picture of the state of our communications. There was quite a bit of enthusiasm generated during this meeting and future gatherings are being planned.

Concurrent with this meeting, the presidents of episcopal commissions for communications, the directors of national communications offices, as well as some directors of communications for the religious orders were invited to a three-day meeting at the Pontifical University Urbaniana to address some of the most frequent questions that communicators in the Church face today. As director of communications office for the Order, William J. Harry participated in these sessions which began with an audience with the pope.

On January 29-February 1, members of the Order’s International Communications Commission then met at CISA. Members had the opportunity to discuss each of the pieces of the just concluded communications meeting as well as the implications and decisions from each. The group also had the opportunity to walk over the new offices of the Dicastery for Communications in the Vatican Radio building (which now falls within the dicastery). We met with Dr. Paulo Ruffini, the prefect and Nataša Govekar, director of the theological-pastoral department which the Order’s communications efforts would fall directly under.

In the near future, individual releases will contain more detailed information about these meeting.