Launch of the topic and materials of the First International Meeting for Communication in Religious Life

On January 24th, day in which we remember St. Francis de Sales, UISG launched the topic, graphic materials, and the agenda for the events in preparation of the First International Meeting for Communication in Religious Life, which will take place online from November 27th to November 30th, 2023.

More than 700 participants followed the Launch online.

The title we chose for the program is “Communicating Religious Life”, whereas our slogan will be “At Your Word we will cast the nets. We will tell the whole world about You.”

This is what Patrizia Morgante, UISG Communication Officer, says: “As UISG we recognise the increased attention and awareness of its members towards digital communication. At the same time, we see a need for a more adequate professional training to meet the technological and communicative challenges of our complex and rapidly changing societies. Research carried out in Italy by Sr Alice Callegari for her thesis shows that 80% of congregations have presence online, but only half of them have a person in charge of communication".

The Meeting's vision reads:

We communicate the heart of Female Religious Life.

We share our spirituality, charism and mission as well as our commitment to create a more fraternal, just, and peaceful world, working especially with the most vulnerable people.

Our invitation to take part in November's meeting will extend not only to consecrated men and women, but also to lay people who, taking up the congregations' charism, communicate their mission putting their professional skills to good use.

The goals of the International Meeting for Communication in Religious Life are the following:

• Nurturing the culture of communication in the world's congregations, recognizing the essential role it plays in the missions' implementation, in evangelization and in charismatic promotion
• Mapping the reality of communication in religious life, also by gathering quantitative and qualitative data,
• Strenghtening networking and cooperation among communication experts in religious life,
• Fostering communication skills, by means of formation programs.

From January to November, UISG will organize many events, courses and initiatives, to make us train for the International Meeting of November 2023.

The first initiative to be launched is an intensive 3-languages course in Social Media Evangelization, organized in collaboration with IMisión and Católicos en Red.

Sr. Nadia Coppa, asc, President of UISG, states: “We religious people cannot help but consciously and properly using new media. The Church, and UISG particularly, put formation at the center of its paths, to make the best use of communication, aiming at reaching out to people. Nowadays, media are able to reach everyone and they are informational and formational tools.  They support us in leading our congregations and supporting all processes that involve our sisters. Evangelization is also communicated by means of new media.”

During the reflections he offered us, Dr. Paolo Ruffini, Prefect of the Dicastery for Communication, states: “In our current society, which is unfortunately so characterized by conflicts, the hard coexistence of diverging cultures, the abuse of power to the detriment of the weak, and inequalities, religious men and women can benefit the world with an authentic community model, thanks to their way of communicating communion. […] The metaphor of the human body and limbs helps us realize that what we look for elsewhere – in the fields of technology, marketing and special effects – can instead be found within ourselves.”

Sr. Patricia Murray, ibvm, Executive Secretary of UISG, says: “Communicators within religious congregations have skills and capacities to share; experiences and insights to nourish one another. Casting out their nets, using different media – communicators will offer different insights into how the message of Jesus inspires many to work and to pray so that all find a deeper meaning and purpose in life.”

UISG Communication Office:

comunicazione@uisg; whatsapp +39 349 935 87 44 – www.uisg.org

Press Kit: Click here

Presentation of Paolo Ruffini (in Italian only)

Presentation of Sr. Patricia Murray, ibvm (in English only)

Presentation of the First International Meeting of Communication for Religious Life (in Italian)

Photo gallery of the event