The full text of the consultation document on the Church and the media 'The Digital Face of the Lord' has been placed on the Maltese Archdiocese website www.maltachurch.org.mt.
The document aims to provide a framework within which several of the decisions taken by the Diocesan Synod for the media-related sector of pastoral activity will be put into practice. The document reflects the positive spirit one finds in the documents of the diocesan documents as well as the best there is in the Catholic tradition on the subject.
The mission and vision are realistically anchored in the Maltese scenario. But the same mission and vision drinks from the creative spirit that animates Christianity and as a consequence portray a positive image.
The document's first two sections are theoretical and discuss the place and role of the media in Maltese society as well as the vision and mission of the Church. The third section outlines a number of proposals and projects. To mention a few, the document proposes the setting up of a Secretarial for Social Communications as the regulator of the sector. It also proposed that the present press office be replaced by a Communications Office. This office would be proactive, outward-looking and would provide a credible bridge between the Church and the rest of society. The setting up of this office is a most urgent must.
The document tackles the age-old problem of lack of co-ordination between different entities within the church. There is too much disloyal competition and too little co-operation. It also looks at the radio sector, although the situation prevailing is different from when the Diocesan Synod made its own proposals. At that time there was only one national church-related radio station. Now there are two - RTK and Radju Maria. Relationship with TV stations and independent producers are another sector mentioned and discussed.
The document makes interesting reading and should provide a lot of room for discussion. However, considering that this is the launching of a media-related document one would have expected at least some basic PR - a decent explanation and introduction as to the point of the whole exercise.
From previous Curia press releases one presumes that the document has been put up on the website for people to comment upon. However, one basic question comes to mind: Where should those who have comments write to? Is there a postal or e-mail address anywhere where one can address one's opinion? It could be that this is somewhere else on the website but we could not find it, which is not surprising as this particular website is not particularly known for its user-friendliness.
To view the hefty 50-page document, visit the website, click on one-liner 'Church-media document - 16/06/2008...' which refers you to a two-liner icon which leads to the document.