*We call on Catholic communicators to create digital content-based synodal listening that builds lasting peace.
As we inaugurate our 2022 World Congress at Sogang University in Seoul, South Korea, we are joined by more than 300 media specialists from five continents including a large group from the host country.
To kick off the activities, members of the World Catholic Association for Communications launched an urgent call for peace through digital communication.
We follow Pope Francis’ call, in his warm message to the participants of the second World Congress on Asian soil, noting that SIGNIS communicators play an essential role in the construction of peace through the media, through attentive listening with the ears of the heart: “More than to anyone else, the ‘apostolate of listening’ belongs to you as Catholic communicators. For communication is not just a profession, but a service to dialogue and understanding between individuals and larger communities in the pursuit of a serene and peaceful coexistence.”
This attentive listening, at the center of communication and synodality, was the main topic of the different interventions that marked the inaugural day of the SIGNIS World Congress.
In this regard, SIGNIS President, Helen Osman, noted that “when we communicate deeply, on a spiritual level, when we listen not just to the words, but to the experiences of others, our entire self – mind, body and spirit, becomes engaged in communication. The synodal process creates communion through communication.”
To add an artistic perspective to communications, young Korean artists, Honam-woodo-nongak Pan gut and Vinari show, interpreted an authentic quest to bring the word ‘peace’ to a ‘front-page dance’ using printed newspapers, available at: https://youtu.be/-4JFHjALtpg.
These types of creative searches that build bridges between digital communication and peace will be key to appeal to young audiences and sow hope in the world.
United to the voices of the ecclesial, political and communications authorities of Korea, such as, Archbishop Peter Chung Soon-Taic; the prefect of the Dicastery for Communication, Paolo Ruffini; the President of the Organizing Committee of the SIGNIS Congress, Daniel Hang Seung-soo; and the Deputy Minister of Culture, Sport and Tourism of Korea, Kim Hyun-hwan, we trust that these days of attentive listening, dialogue, and exchanging of ideas, will resolve current and future differences for a lasting peace that focuses on caring for our common home.
SIGNIS communication team
Seoul, South Korea, August 16, 2022
Contact: [email protected]