“Role of Mass Communications in Evangelization”

Archbishop Claudio Celli, president of the Pontifical Council for Social Communications, on the theme of “The Role of Mass Communications in Evangelization.”  I would like to begin my talk this afternoon with two quotations from the recently deceased Cardinal Avery Dulles.

The first quotation sees Dulles grappling with the inner mystery of the Trinity: “The Trinity is communication in absolute, universal perfection, a totally free and complete sharing among equals. In generating the Son as word, the Father totally expresses himself … the Holy Spirit completes the intradivine process of communication” (The Craft of Theology, From Symbol to System. 1992).

The second quote finds Dulles teasing out the implications of his understanding of the Trinity for the life of the Church: “The entire work of creation, redemption, and sanctification is a prolongation of the inner processions within the Trinity. Creation is ascribed to the Father, who thereby fashions finite images and vestiges of his Son. Redemption is attributed to his Son, who communicates himself to human nature in the Incarnation. Sanctification is appropriated to the Holy Spirit who communicates himself to the Church, the communion of saints. The mystery of divine communication, therefore, permeates any area of theology … Because Christianity is the religion of the Triune God, it is pre-eminently a religion of communication” (The Craft of Theology, From Symbol to System. 1992).

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