World Communications Day

“Communicating The Message of Pentecost” by Bishop DiMarzio

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May 20, 2015 – Excerpted from Put Out Into the Deep, Bishop DiMarzio’s column in The Tablet.

My dear brothers and sisters in the Lord,

Each year, DeSales Media Group sponsors a celebration of World Communications Day with a conference inviting members of the Diocese to explore how they can become better communicators of their faith. This year, this day coincides with the celebration of Pentecost where the initial communication of faith was made by the Holy Spirit who set the Apostles forth.

This year, World Communication Day fell on Wednesday, May 13, and its theme was based on Pope Francis’ message for the 49th World Communications Day, “Communicating the Family: A Privileged Place of Encounter with the Gift of Love.”

Our keynote speaker was Dr. Austen Ivereigh, journalist and author of “The Great Reformer: Francis and the Making of a Radical Pope,” which I thoroughly enjoyed reading. This unauthorized biography of our Holy Father traces his development from simple Jesuit to the Office of Supreme Pontiff.

Read the full text of the Bishop’s column on The Tablet website.

Brooklyn Diocese Hosts Media Conference; Prepares For Pope Francis Arrival To U.S.

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Our 2017 World Communications Day Catholic Media Conference is May 17 at the BRIC Arts Media House in Brooklyn. Learn More and Sign Up

On Wednesday, May 13th, the Diocese of Brooklyn will host its 24th Annual World Communications Day Catholic Media Conference at the New York Marriott at the Brooklyn Bridge, 333 Adams Street, Downtown Brooklyn. In preparation for Pope Francis’ first pastoral visit to the United States in September, the conference will focus on how to cover the Holy Father and provide insights on what to expect from his visit.

During the event, the diocese will honor Austen Ivereigh with the St. Francis DeSales Distinguished Communicator Award. He will also be the principal speaker for the occasion.

Austen Ivereigh, Ph.D., is a British writer, journalist, and commentator, and author of the internationally acclaimed biography The Great Reformer: Francis and the Making of a Radical Pope, published in the English-speaking world last Fall. He is also the co-founder and director of the international media project Catholic Voices, a project to train ordinary people to make the case for the Church on contentious issues in the media. His work also includes the books Faithful Citizens: a Practical Guide to Catholic Social Teaching and Community Organising, Catholic Voices: Putting the Case for the Church in the Era of 24-Hour News, and How to Defend the Faith Without Raising Your Voice. Read more »

Highlights From Archbishop Celli’s Keynote Speech at World Communications Day

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Archbishop Claudio Maria Celli received the St. Francis DeSales Distinguished Communicator Award from Bishop Nicholas DiMarzio, left, and Monsignor Kieran Harrington before giving his keynote address on Thursday.
Archbishop Claudio Maria Celli received the St. Francis DeSales Distinguished Communicator Award from Bishop Nicholas DiMarzio, left, and Monsignor Kieran Harrington before giving his keynote address on Thursday.

Archbishop Claudio Maria Celli, the president of the Pontifical Council on Social Communications and one of the originators of the Pope’s Twitter feed, was the keynote speaker at the Diocese of Brooklyn’s World Communications Day Conference on Thursday.

After receiving the St. Francis DeSales Distinguished Communicator Award, Archbishop Celli talked about social media, technology and the importance of embracing digital communication.

Photos of the event are here.

Some highlights from Archbishop Celli’s speech and a video interview with the Archbishop are below:

It’s absolutely necessary that the Church establish a presence in the digital world.

We are always fishing in the aquarium…The majority of fish are outside the aquarium. 

The Church is a community of communities. Its use of social media should reflect that.

The high rate of retweeting of the Pope’s tweets means that the Church is reaching an ever-wider community.

People no longer pay attention–if they ever did–simply because a church leader is speaking.

We don’t want a network of wires, but a network of people. 

Unless we engage digital media, we will wind up talking to ourselves.

Vatican’s Archbishop Celli Delivers Keynote on Faith and Social Media

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Archbishop Celli World Communications DayArchbishop Claudio Maria Celli, the originator of the Pope’s Twitter account, came all the way from the Vatican to speak at the Diocese of Brooklyn’s media conference on World Communications Day.

The archbishop spoke on Thursday at the Brooklyn Bridge Marriott about the intersection of social media and faith in today’s world. He called for embracing modern means of communication, and for engaging believers and nonbelievers alike with straightforward language via social media.

For more on his speech, which was streamed live on netny.tv, see #WCD2014 on Twitter.

Diocese Celebrates World Communications Day

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On Thursday, May 22nd, the Diocese of Brooklyn will host its 23rd Annual World Communications Day Media Conference at the Marriott Hotel at Brooklyn Bridge. This year’s theme chosen by the Holy Father, Pope Francis, is “Communication at the Service of an Authentic Culture of Encounter.”

Initiated in 1992, the conference’s purpose is to bring together, connect and create comradeship among print and digital journalists and executives from both secular and religious fields.

This year the Diocese will honor His Excellency, the Most Reverend Claudio Maria Celli, President of the Pontifical Council for Social Communications, with our St. Francis DeSales Distinguished Communicator Award. He will also be the principal speaker for the occasion. Read more »