.- Thomas More College of Liberal Arts in New Hampshire will host a conference on “Christ & The New Media,” to teach clergy and lay Catholics how they can best reach millions of internet users around the world.
“Pope Benedict XVI has called on the faithful, especially priests, to utilize the new media to serve the Church and spread the Gospel,” said Thomas More College President William Fahey.
“By bringing together a team of professional leaders in this new and developing field, Thomas More College is advancing a valid and effective instrument for authentic evangelization and communion.”
“There exists a tremendous—and largely untapped—opportunity to spread the Gospel through the world of digital communications,” noted Fahey.
The conference will run August 4-7.
New research shows that almost 400 million people, most of them between ages 18 and 44, read at least one blog each day, with 77 percent of regular Internet users visiting blogs and social networking sites frequently.
Speakers and panelists at the conference will include Catholic Culture editor Phil Lawler, Zenit Arabic editor Tony Assaf, John and Ashley Noronha of H2oNews, and Catholic News Agency director Alejandro Bermudez. The workshop aims to help Catholics of all skill levels master and employ audio, visual, and written media to reach a growing audience.
“By attending the 'Christ & the New Media Program,'” Fahey said, “priests and laymen alike will be better able to employ the latest technology to advance the Church’s mission of evangelization and catechesis.”
The conference will take place at the Merrimack, New Hampshire campus of Thomas More College, a four-year undergraduate institution established on the principles of Bl. John Paul II's apostolic constitution “Ex Corde Ecclesiae.”
Information on all of the college's Summer Institute programs is available at http://www.thomasmorecollege.edu/summerprogram/
