Rome, Italy, Apr 23, 2010 / 16:04 pm
The Italian Bishops' Conference (CEI) inaugurated a three-day conference on "Digital Witnesses" yesterday in Rome. The gathering is aimed at providing a new generation with access to the message of Christ, using a recognizable "language."
The conference has drawn more than 1,300 participants from across Italy, who are attending addresses given by directors and journalists from Italian media outlets, experts on communications and digital technologies and Church leaders.
In his address on the opening day of the conference, CEI's secretary general, Bishop Mariano Crociata, said that while new media channels promoted by the Church community do not replace other means of communication, they do "represent a new opportunity" in response to the demand to "intensify dialogue and collaboration."
It's about reaching a generation which has a different vocabulary, Bishop Crociata explained, describing young people as "digital natives" who have been raised with the speed and pervasiveness of today's "horizontal, decentralized and interactive communication."