Book Review
As finely articulated in the title, the book under review contains the theological perspectives in social communication for the Indian students of Theology and those in their final stages of their formation in consecrated life. George Plathottam, sdb, the author of “Communication for Pastoral Leadership: Theological Perspectives in Social Communication,” (vol 3) is the executive secretary of CBCI (Catholic Bishops Conference of India) commission for social communication, director of Don Bosco communications besides, being a member of the international Catholic Union of Press (UCIP) and of the Indian Catholic Press Association (ICPA). He is one of the founding members of BOSCOM and has authored a few books and articles, precisely on social communication.
This book is the fruit of 2004 CBCI plenary assembly’s recommendation to prepare a course material for the training of the Church personnel in the field of social communication.
Communication governs the globe. We live and move in and through communication. The prime communicator is God Himself who in creation communicated His unfathomable love for His creatures. God’s communication reaches its zenith in the kenosis or self emptying of Jesus. The Church through-out the centuries communicated the message of God revealed in Christ Jesus through the use of various means accessible at different moments of history. In the 21st century, which is rightly called the age of communication, those who are called to consecrated life ought to proclaim the gospel more vibrantly than ever, with the use of mass media in their pastoral ministry. The book is divided into five parts.
The first part of the book contains fourteen topics, each one observably having an indication to the theological dimension of communication. Taking the inspiration from the Bible, and from Jesus, the communicator par excellence, the Church has continued to communicate God’s message of deliverance through its documents and teachings. The first part further explores the communication model of the Church; the relationship between social communication and culture, different religions, evangelization and catechesis. It does discuss the impact of media in globalization, offering Christian stance. It goes on to lay emphasis on the responsibility involved in social communication; the need of the Church to keep hold of public relations by making its acts of justice and charity known to the world. The demand to give significance to homiletics is touched upon at the end of the first part.
The second part, by and large, concerns with the mode of communication in Christianity, presenting the Trinity as the model for an authentic communication. It brings into awareness how the divine love is shown forth in the church through the sacraments, signs, symbols and in liturgy. Language is not a mere construction of words. It is a vehicle to bond oneself with others. The author states that the Church should not only have recourse to major languages of the world. The missionary spirit of the Church should be manifested in proclaiming Jesus in the native languages of different ethnic groups.
In multi-religious and multi-ethnic countries the subaltern groups are not wanting. In India one could evidently perceive the factor of injustice and oppression meted out against the subaltern groups. In this context, the Church’s communication has to be one of protest against the powerful. It is also equally important for the Indian Church to maintain a good sense of relationship between different religions and the different sects of Christianity through dialogue. Various communication means, such as, press, radio, television, folk art and group communication must be geared to minister to Catholics fulfill their call. The approach to media must not be a prejudiced one; rather one must bear in mind that media are the modern prophets of faith, hope and charity. The author, closing the second part of the book, stresses upon the need to prepare a pastoral plan for social communication.
In any religious tradition narration of events, stories, parables and teachings play a crucial role. The author devotes the third part to the narrative dimension of communication. Here again, the icon is Jesus Himself who with His fascinating stories and parables captured the minds and hearts of His listeners. The author is of the estimation that narratives can serve the purpose of educating people in their faith and they could well be used in preaching. It is attention-grabbing indeed to make out how spirituality can be viewed from the point of social communication. Despite everything, those who assume pastoral responsibility are called to decisively evaluate and propose solutions to the threats technology is posing to the humanity. Dignity of human person has to be defended in social communication and the Church has to be the model for it. As one acts in response to the challenges of communication in media, one needs to promote the Christian art. The elucidation of contemporary issues in the light of gospel will suggest new ways of using the masterpieces of human mind for God’s glory.
After having insisted on the need to be communicative, the author in the fourth part of the book offers the different communication skills. These embrace first and foremost how to include communication activities in one’s pastoral plan; the basic journalistic skills; public speaking skills, including how to preach a homily. The procedure to prepare a news letter, the methods of approaching the subaltern groups and the strategy for a fruitful inter-religious dialogue are worth mentioning. Two topics of the same part furnish insights as to how to sensibly draw near media, more than ever, when it lashes out against the Church and its institutions. Questionere is one of the best ways to know the frame of mind of the people and offer that which they stand in need of in faith formation. The method of preparing a questionere is well put in plain words at the end of the fourth part.
The thought of employing mass media in communicating the gospel values is not a novel idea the Church is proposing just at the moment. There were a good number of Church leaders who in their life span carried out the task of communicating through the popular media. The author presents a few charismatic well known leaders of the Church such as the late Pope John Paul II, Mother Teresa, Bp. Fulton J. Sheen and Mother Angelica. Their life of service in proclaiming God’s kingdom should enthuse those who come forward to ascertain God’s kingdom.
The book eventually, ends with the statements of the 26th CBCI general body meeting held at Tiruchur, 2004 that took the stand of training the Church personnel in the field of communication technology. The list of resources and reference materials given is of use to those who feel the need of equipping themselves with the knowledge of social communication to be effective in their pastoral work.
For the most part, the book reflects the intention of the church to dynamically involve its members in the field of social communication without succumbing to the challenges it poses. The book is well written, effortless to understand and all lessons begin with an objective statement and end with a glossary, a few activities and reference of books. The Church documents cited in the book represent the Church’s participation in the field of communication and its commitment to be communicative. Communio et progressio defines communication thus: “Communication is giving of self in love.” It is Jesus who is the communicator par excellence because of He, giving Himself in love. This idea rather the basic conviction of the Church is adequately articulated. The author does deserve the sincere appreciations as he has made the text book relevant and gone into the particulars. In spite of everything, it would have been better if the book were to contain a theme or topic for each part of the book for a swift reference..
- Thomas Arockiasamy, sdb.
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