The path to authentic human communication is through the invitation to “come and see,” Pope Francis said in his message for the 2021 World Communications Day.
“The Gospel comes alive in our own day, whenever we accept the compelling witness of people whose lives have been changed by their encounter with Jesus,” the pope said. “For two millennia, a chain of such encounters has communicated the attractiveness of the Christian adventure. The challenge that awaits us, then, is to communicate by encountering people, where they are and as they are.”
Catholic media in the Archdiocese of St. Louis and around the world aim to do just that — further the evangelizing mission of the Church by helping people encounter Jesus through modern communications.
The U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops’ Catholic Communication Campaign works to spread the Gospel through the media in all its forms. Through contributions, the Church is able to share the love of Jesus at home and abroad.
The 2022 collection for the Catholic Communication Campaign will take place in parishes the weekend of May 28-29. Half of the collected funds remain in the Archdiocese of St. Louis, allowing the archdiocesan Office of Communications and others to continue to share the Good News and build up the Church through print, radio, television and digital media.
The faith is vibrant in the Archdiocese of St. Louis, and those of us entrusted with Catholic communications are privileged to be able to tell the stories of the Church alive in so many ways.
The other half of collections supports national and international initiatives to aid the Church in communicating the Gospel message.
The Catholic Communication Campaign distributed more than $3 million in national and international grants in 2021. Around the world, funds helped expand the reach of LOGOS-TV, a media ministry of the Eastern Catholic Church, to those displaced by war in Ukraine; assisted the ongoing development of a mobile app to help seafarers and mariners stay connected to their faith while at sea; and allowed the Missionary Oblates of Mary Immaculate to replace a failing radio transmitter in a remote region of Bolivia.
The Good News is meant to be shared. Supporting Catholic communications is one way to make sure that important work continues.