CPC at NISCORT Concluded

Media With a Message of Salvation

(Thomas D’Silva)

Vaishali (Ghaziabad), March 31: The primary duty of every Christian is to communicate the message of salvation through Jesus Christ, the ‘Word become flesh’, said Bishop Gerald Mathias of Lucknow at NISCORT, near here today while presiding over the graduation ceremony of Course on Pastoral Communication (CPC). 17 priests and nuns who attended the two-month long course were awarded the certificates.

Summing up the experience, Nina Lopes felt that the course was well-planned and systematically followed by competent team of staff. “We experienced the magic of communication unfolding... and we go out empowered with skills and techniques of modern media”, she said. Sister Esperanza, aged 65, perhaps the oldest ever to pass out of the portals of NISCORT, thanked the institute for enabling them- ‘face the book of life in a crisp and effective manner’.

It was an occasion to showcase to the guests from nearby Christian institutions, the skills and knowledge of the media acquired in the past two months. Three documentaries: a musical titled, ‘Creation in Praise’, one with a social theme named, ‘Lift Me Up’ and a fiction- ‘Take Care’ were presented. The newsletter- ‘New Flames’ recording the CPC events at NISCORT was released by Bother Mani, the national secretary of Catholic Religious in India (CRI). A.J.Philip, the faculty member evaluating the newsletter and the documentaries felt, “Church has been a shy and reluctant player in the field media”. He hoped that this bunch of students would be trendsetters.

Commenting on the Post Synod Exhortation, ‘Verbum Domini’ (The Word of the Lord), Bishop Mathias quoted Pope Benedict  XVI, “In the world of Internet the face of Christ needs to be seen and the voice of Christ needs to be heard. If there is no room for Christ, then there can be no room for man” (No.113). The Bishop further exhorted the students to follow ethics in communication, bridge the gap of ‘digital divide’ and be on guard against the media tendency towards cultural imperialism and presentation of distorted information.

Earlier, Dr. Jude Bothello, the director welcoming the gathering stressed that the media has to be- ‘a voice of the voiceless’. And the priests and nuns being ‘religious people’ should be elevating and inspirational.  “You have the very Good News of Jesus Christ, but it all depends how ably or badly you present it”, he cautioned. Giving an overview of the course, “We create an ambience of hard work and study. The miracles simply happen!”, declared Dr. John Edapilly, the Dean of Studies.

A team of 17 young and zealous, religious men and women is out in the open to proclaim- ‘a message with a difference’! Reema Sharma of Zee News rightly commented on her students, “This group is intent on learning and hell-bent on accomplishing”.