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Southern Cross, Page 2
Headline Hopscotch
Thursday, May 28, 2020
A man salvages his belongings from the rubble of a damaged shop
in the Indian state of West Bengal May 21, 2020, a day after Cyclone
Amphan made its landfall there and in Bangladesh.
(CNS photo/Rupak De Chowdhuri, Reuters)
There’s a place for film in
catechesis, Catholic filmmakers
declare
WASHINGTON (CNS)
here is a time and a place
for everything, but in
catechesis, there should
be time and a place for film,
argued three top executives of
the Catholic film production
company ODB Films. “It’s one
thing for a man or a woman
to film themselves giving a
letter, giving a teaching,” said
Doug Tooke, vice president
of ministry development at
ODB, an acronym for “Outside
Da Box.” “The power of story
as a means of invitation to
relationships and conversation
is much more difficult. “ Tooke
added, “Shooting narratives for
use with catechesis is harder,”
but worth the effort. He was
joined by ODB president Eric
Groth and lead producer Katie
Reidy, who is co-producer of
a 30-minute documentary
in ODB’s “Restored” series
that was shown during their
May 14 presentation as part
of the National Conference
on Catechetical Leadership’s
online “Witness” conference.
ODB made the feature films
“Full of Grace” and “Paul,
Apostle of Christ.” “We’re all
called to that - to live our
life of holiness, to strive for
sainthood,” Groth said. But
“those saints feel so far off in
the distance, and unattainable.”
Pandemic has changed parish
outreach methods ‘forever,’ says
evangelist
NEW ORLEANS (CNS)
uring two months of
social isolation, the work
of American business
has migrated, ready or not,
into the home. If pajamas have
become the new workplace
attire and the sofa has been
transformed into the new
desktop, where does that
leave a U.S. Catholic Church
yearning to stay connected
with its parishioners through
Zoom liturgies and Facebook
Live spiritual pep talks
pumped into living rooms by
social media? For Scot Landry,
the Boston-based Catholic
evangelist whose vocation as
co-leader of Dynamic Catholic
requires him to think in broad
strokes, the church has a
unique opportunity to step up
to the challenges created by
the coronavirus pandemic. “I
think the Catholic Church and
every parish is going to be
different because of the virus
and how we’ve responded,” said
Landry, qualifying his answer
because of the unknowns
about how long it will take to
find a vaccine or a therapeutic
medicine to combat the virus.
But, “the parishes that have
invested in technology and
robust communication with
their parishioners have done
much better throughout the
last eight weeks.” One of
the major advances, Landry
said, will be in the number of
parishes who move forward
with plans to offer online
giving so that people can more
easily “support the mission.”
‘Some of the parishes who
have immensely struggled
over the last eight weeks are
the ones that relied almost
exclusively on the weekly
Sunday offertory,” Landry
told the Clarion Herald,
New Orleans’ archdiocesan
newspaper. “Liturgically, it’s
a very important part of our
Mass to bring up the gifts,
but it’s far from ‘best’ if our
parishes are going to have
consistent support from their
parishioners.” Livestreamed
Masses are here “forever,”
Landry said.
SIGNIS: Catholic media vital for
accurate news, stories of faith,
hope
WASHINGTON (CNS)
The president of SIGNIS
urged the world’s bishops
as the “chief storyteller” in
their diocese to use all media
at their disposal to “make
known” stories “of faith and
hope” and of local Catholic
heroes who exemplify Christ’s
love to give people courage
in “difficult times,” like this
current pandemic. Catholic
media outlets also can
provide “basic tools” to the
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faithful “to spot” false stories,
such the narratives about
the “Chinese” virus causing
the pandemic and rumors of
“dangerous fake cures,” said
Helen Osman, who heads
SIGNIS, the World Catholic
Association for Communication,
based in Brussels. She
made the comments in a
statement issued ahead of
World Communications Day,
which is May 24. A former
diocesan editor and former
communications secretary for
the U.S. Conference of Catholic
Bishops, Osman is currently
a communications consultant
for the Texas Conference of
Catholic Bishops in Austin.
Pope Francis’ message for this
year’s World Communications
Day is: “That you may tell your
children and grandchildren”
(Ex 10:2): Life becomes history.”
The pope “reminds us of the
importance of the stories we
tell, especially in the midst
of the din of media that leave
us feeling dislocated,” Osman
said. “The narratives that we
live by must reflect the vision
of the interconnectedness of all
human life.”
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