Re-Framing Our Communication Ministries
By Frances Forde Plude
[These reflections were shared in 2002 with the convention of UNDA (wave) – a group of Catholic communication professionals.]
Our organization seeks to be re-dedicated in a new form. At the same time the Catholic Church has been wounded by a major scandal involving many hundreds of victims, wounded priests, and a leadership crisis. Our nation is recovering from (and still fearful of) terrorism. And here in the U.S. Los Angeles contains two large icons – a new cathedral and an entertainment industry that rules the world. It is helpful to reflect on how all this is framed or how it comes into focus in our lives and in the media we serve, create, or study.
Here I reflect upon the concept of framing (or re-framing) in four contexts:
a. the remarks of journalist Peter Steinfels
b. the formal integration of cinema into our organizational structure
c. the impact of theology on our work and
d. our own organizational restructuring.
Framing Church Scandals
As communication professionals we play a key role in reporting (and reflecting upon) one of the most significant media stories in 2002: sexual abuse by clergy and the way our church leadership managed – or mismanaged – this problem.
Peter Steinfels, a communicator we all admire, presented a thoughtful perspective at the Los Angeles assembly. He acknowledged that the media have not caused the event; the Catholic Church must accept responsibility for the problem and we, ourselves, must be committed to the cure.
Steinfels argued, however, that the national media story has been framed (and distorted) by the events in the Archdiocese of Boston. Acknowledging that each diocesan story is unique, Steinfels noted that throughout the U.S., local media coverage reflected the fact that reporters could review the Boston Globe internet site. Thus, though each geographic area of the church had unique problems and different individual bishops, many were profiled within the Boston framework.
A Boston Globe religion reporter on the podium with Steinfels responded thoughtfully to him and to audience questions. In a later essay (New York Times, November 9, 2002), Steinfels further urged clarity in our church communication. He pleads for “forthright, clear, pastoral, sometimes even moving language” from church leaders.
Film is Now Clearly Within Our Focus
An all-day workshop within that assembly was entitled “Hollywood and the Moral Imagination.” This rich experience heralded the integration of the Cine&Media group into our re-formed organization, as we all become the U.S. affiliate of SIGNIS World. Peter Malone, the International President of SIGNIS, was present throughout the Assembly. His own film scholarship is acknowledged globally.
Helpful liturgically, for example, is the movie lectionary work of Malone, along with Sister Rose Pacatte. Entitled Lights, Camera, Faith, the volumes reflect on each Sunday’s Gospel readings seen through different movies. This is available from Pauline Books and Media.
During the Workshop Paulist Productions received the Award for Outstanding Achievement from Cine&Media, and two films were honored: Lord of the Rings: Fellowship of the Rings and Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone. Richard A. Blake, S.J., author of After-Image, The Indelible Catholic Imagination of Six American Filmmakers, offered a profound analysis for members. It will be important, as we grow together, for broadcast- and diocesan-director members to support film activities within our association.
Theology as Our Frame or Ground
Some people have been exploring the intersection of theology and communication with theologians on a national and international level. I am also working as an editor with Sheed and Ward on their Communication, Culture and Theology book series. (Sheed and Ward is now part of the Rowman & Littlefield Publishers group.)
Communication Theology, within the Catholic theological perspective as conditioned by Vatican II, is doing theology from a position within today’s culture which is defined by communication emphases; and with a perspective that seeks to understand the divine Presence and action in the varied dimensions of this communication culture.
Last summer I spent a lot of time updating my theology of lay ecclesial ministry. I recommend two books in this connection: Lay Ministry in the Roman Catholic Church, by Kenan B. Osborne, OFM, and Theology of Ministry by Thomas O’Meara, O.P.
My homework was the result of a strong sense that our current church crisis will require energetic lay leadership – with extensive training to ensure the quality of this leadership. I urge attention to the need for a theological framework for all our practical communication activities.
A specific priority of the immediate future should be the theology of lay ecclesial ministry. Diocesan newspapers can explore this theology so a productive partnership can emerge between priests and laity. Diocesan ministerial leadership training programs can be profiled in our media and additional talented laity can be solicited for these programs. Catholic college and universities can host workshops to ground all of this theologically.
Those integrating communication studies into theology urge theologians to think communicatively. For example, to attend to the communication aspects of homilies, or to be open to inserting video experiences into our liturgies.
In addition, however, communicators need to be aware of the theological ground of our own hectic tasks. We need to be current in theological thought. We need to be sensitive to the field of religious studies even as we make our media deadlines.
There are two specific ‘movements’ within contemporary Catholicism I could mention, for example. One is the appearance of ‘orthodoxy’ among young people who never experienced a pre-Vatican II church. Colleen Carroll reports on this in her book The New Faithful. Another specific factor I have discovered in my theological study is the strong growth within the U.S. of small Christian communities (SCCs). This is reported in Bernard J. Lee’s book The Catholic Experience of Small Christian Communities.
A New Framework: Catholic Academy for Communication Arts Professionals
On the practical level, the 2002 assembly saw the birth of our own SIGNIS World affiliate: the Catholic Academy for Communication Arts Professionals. Thoughtfully reconstructed, our Academy now has “affinity groups” allowing various special-interest groups to focus on their own creative specialties. With each group having its own representative on the Academy Board, the organization will be challenged to allow specialists in film, the internet or education, for example, to have a voice along with the largest affinity group – diocesan directors of communication. All this can take our Academy to new places, rather than framing the organization along one model only.
Key to this will be a guaranteed forum in the annual assembly because each affinity group will organize its own piece of the assembly. Critical also will be the fact that specialized websites and discussion groups can focus on topics of interest to these specialized groups. The Education affinity group I belong to, for example, will organize a type of ‘electronic reference library’ at its site, providing readings of interest to our organizational colleagues.
Concluding Thoughts
I have reflected here on the dynamic of re-framing – in our media coverage, in our theology, and in our association. As I thought further, I reflected upon how the Resurrection re-framed the humiliation of the Crucifixion, giving us a whole new dimension of faith and meaning. This historical reality can inspire us as we move forward to meet and serve the communication challenges facing all churches.