Thoughts on How to Creatively Communicate What the Family is

From April 28th to 30th, the Pontifical University of the Holy Cross in Rome hosted its 9^th Professional Seminar for Church Communication Offices.

At this event, the academic and professional worlds met to discuss and analyze the communicative paths taken by the Catholic Church, as well as its new prospects. This year’s theme was Creative Strategies for Cultural Change.

In total, the Conference brought together 400 communication professionals from over 60 countries. One of its central topics was the family. This is more than chance, since it is well known that the family occupies a place of priority in the “agenda” of Pope Francis.

The speech given by Helen Alvaré from George Mason University was particularly powerful. It focused on decoding and defending the basic concepts of human identity, a central issue in many debates over recent years. Here is the full translation of her talk (Link to the full text of the discussion).

Another interesting discussion was offered by Cardinal Philippe Barbarin, Archbishop of Lyon. He spoke about the origins and development of the French popular movement “ Le Manif pour tous” in defense of the family.

Closing the conference, Joaquín Navarro-Valls gave a lucid and heartfelt testimony on the figure of Saint John Paul II, the “Pope of the family” as Pope Francis called him in the ceremony of his canonization, and whose to his intercession he also entrusted the works of the next Synod on the family.