Priest speaks on mass communication
By Malin Jordan
Written words can last, at least for a little while, Father Raymond J. de Souza told Catholic priests of the archdiocese.
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Father Raymond J. de Souza
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He spoke in the parish hall of St. Patrick's Parish in Vancouver Nov. 10. He was in town to support the new circulation model The B.C. Catholic is taking on.
"Newspapers give us a chance to hang around for awhile," he said during an informal lunch. This is important, he explained, because a Catholic newspaper, even if it just sits on a coffee table, helps foster Catholic identity in the home. That's why he supports this new venture to get The B.C. Catholic on more coffee tables.
He spoke to priests mainly from the Archdiocese of Vancouver, but there was also a priest who had made the trek from Seattle.
Father de Souza also spoke about how broadcast mediums, including the Internet, are transitory endeavours. Nobody orders a DVD copy of a news broadcast, yet people do hold onto newspapers and are able to search their vast archives quite easily.
The priest is a columnist for the National Post and writes for several other print publications. He was in Vancouver specifically to help The B.C. Catholic launch its circulation drive.
Supporting this new community circulation model, Father de Souza spoke about the importance of mass communication in the modern era.
He said all publications do three things: inform, create community, and contribute to the common good. Publications, no matter how small or large, follow this paradigm, from the smallest blog with a few dozen followers, through smaller publications like parish bulletins, to the major mass-communication heavyweights like broadcast television.
The B.C. Catholic, he said, is a very good newspaper, and he thought it was a good idea that it was moving to the community circulation model.
"I always encourage communications thinking in evangelical terms," he said. He noted that The B.C. Catholic fulfils this ideal through its content.
He also said if The B.C. Catholic is going to every home in the archdiocese, it must create Catholic identity there. "The creation of community is going to be a major contribution to practising Catholic culture."
Father de Souza also spoke about how a Catholic newspaper should engage issues of importance to the Church and its members in the public square. "How do I account for my faith when I'm challenged?" he asked. He said a Catholic newspaper has the ability to inform its Catholic readership and give them the tools to account for their faith.
"(The newspaper) is a powerful tool of Catholic formation."
He said all of these factors lead to his third point about any publication; it must contribute to the common good.
"It reminds larger society that the Church is there," Father de Souza said. "It reminds people of the things of God, just as a priest walking down the street (showing his Roman collar) reminds people of God."
Father de Souza is the chaplain for Newman House at Queen's University in Kingston, Ont. He is also the chaplain for the Queen's football team and teaches at the university.
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A couple of days earlier, on Nov. 8, only hours after arriving at the Vancouver Airport, Father de Souza had raced off to speak to members of Catholic Christian Outreach.
The National Post columnist was the guest of honour at a Catholic Christian Outreach benefit dinner at the Vancouver Golf and Country Club.
Also present at the annual Meet the Movement event were Archbishop J. Michael Miller, CSB, of Vancouver and CCO president Jeff Lockert. Over 100 guests heard moving testimonials from college-age CCO members about their journeys of faith and how the campus organization encourages young Catholics to evangelize their fellow students fearlessly.
National Campus Director Brett Powell later told The B.C. Catholic over $55,000 had been raised to continue the CCO mission.
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