"In Brazil, the Covid-19 pandemic is triggering tensions in health management that provoke, among others, a political crisis led by the federal government, characterized by negationist postures regarding the seriousness of the disease and lack of focus on public health policies. There is also an inf
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ormation crisis enabled by the political strategy of dissemination of disinformation that disqualifies scientific parameters and the role of the press. In this context, churches and Christian religious leaders who have risen to power in recent years play a fundamental role, which allows them to be analyzed from their performance as a public religion. By decreeing the closure of religious temples, as a preventive measure for the advance of the disease, evangelical pentecostal churches insert into the public debate the defense of the essentiality of religious service as a fundamental dimension for society, conferring support and legitimacy to the action of the government. In this sense, this paper argues that the Brazilian scenario, when compared to other Latin American countries, is an outlier. Based on ethnographic research within online media and the religious media circuit, this paper maintains that, nationally, religion takes the lead in the political and information crisis. At the same time, this study affirms that, approaching other countries of the region, the churches reinvented mediatized religious practices, deriving from the social distancing and isolation, and offered new meanings and religious moralities around the health crisis." (Abstract)
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"Preaching has been central to Muslim communities throughout the centuries. The liturgical Friday sermon is a prime example, although other genres that are less commonly known also serve important functions. This book addresses the ways in which Muslims relate various forms of religious oratory to a
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uthoritative tradition in 21st-century Islamic practice, while striving to adapt to local contexts and the changing circumstances of politics, media and society. This is the first book of its kind to look at homiletics beyond a specific country focus. Taking into consideration the historical developments of Muslim preaching, it offers a collection of thoroughly contextualised case studies of oratory in Turkey, Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Bosnia, Sweden and the USA. The analyses presented here show shared emphasis on struggles for legitimacy, efforts to speak authoritatively, as well as discursive opportunities and constraints." (Publisher description)
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"In The Charismatic Gymnasium Maria José de Abreu examines how Charismatic Catholicism in contemporary Brazil produces a new form of total power through a concatenation of the breathing body, theology, and electronic mass media. De Abreu documents a vast religious respiratory program of revival pop
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ularly branded as “the aerobics of Jesus.” Pneuma—the Greek term for air, breath, and spirit—is central to this aerobic program, whose goal is to labor on the athletic elasticity of spirit. Tracing the rhetoric, gestures, and spaces that together constitute this new theological community, de Abreu exposes the articulating forces among evangelical Christianity, neoliberal logics, and the rise of right-wing politics. By calling attention to how an ethics of pauperism vitally intersects with the neoliberal ethos of flexibility, de Abreu shows how paradoxes do not hinder but expand the Charismatic gymnasium. The result, de Abreu demonstrates, is the production of a fluid form of totalitarianism and Christianity in Brazil and beyond." (Back cover)
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"Bereits in jungen Jahren konnte sich John Mishen für die Medien begeistern und hörte sich gemeinsam mit seinen Großeltern die täglichen Radiosendungen von Radio Veritas Asia an, bis er als Seminarist dann selbst vor dem Mikrofon des großen katholischen Radiosenders in Asien stand. Als Dozent f
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ür soziale und pastorale Kommunikation schult er heute junge Menschen, bringt ihnen die kommunikationswissenschaftlichen Methoden bei. Im Interview berichtet er von seinem Werdegang und zeigt auf, warum die zwischenmenschliche Kommunikation als Geschenk Gottes zu verstehen ist." (Seite 24)
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"Kommunikation und die modernen Medien sind für ihn kein bloßes Instrument, sondern Teil des heutigen Lebensumfelds der Menschen. Seit vielen Jahren schult Fabrizio Colombo katholische Jugendliche, kirchliche Mitarbeiterinnen und Mitarbeiter sowie Priester und Bischöfe in Afrika im Umgang mit dig
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italen Kommunikationsformen und Medien. Dabei kommt es unter anderem auf den richtigen Ton und die richtige Musik an. Colombo zeigt auf, dass sich auch und gerade über die digitalen Medien und sozialen Netzwerke religiöse Geschichten erzählen lassen." (Seite 18)
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"Los distintos capítulos y temas que forman el engranaje de este plan de comunicación tendrán un alcance muy ambicioso y se contempla inicie su aplicación a partir de enero del año 2021 extendiéndose hasta septiembre del 2023, estructurada en tres etapas. El primer capítulo explica la justifi
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cación de nuestro plan de comunicación y se resume de forma concisa y precisa por qué se ha elegido diseñar este necesario plan de comunicación para la CED. En el segundo capítulo el enfoque se dirige a la auditoría inicial realizada, la cual incluye la investigación sobre los antecedentes de la institución, estructura, gestión de la comunicación, análisis de la noticiabilidad de la organización, medios digitales, entre otras informaciones. En el tercer capítulo se establecen los objetivos generales y objetivos específicos, y en el cuatro, se delimitan los públicos internos y externos con los cuales se relaciona la institución. En el quinto capítulo se definen los argumentarios y contraargumentarios, las estrategias de comunicación y las acciones propuestas para llevar a cabo la estrategia. En el sexto capítulo, se detalla la inversión que se requiere para la aplicación del plan, en el séptimo, la calendarización de las acciones, en el octavo, las conclusiones y, finalmente, las futuras líneas de investigación para desarrollar en un próximo plan de comunicación." (Introducción, página 9-10)
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"Desde el comienzo de su pontificado, Francisco ha enfatizado que no hay futuro sin un enraizamiento en la historia vivida. En su mensaje para la Jornada Mundial de las Comunicaciones de este año, resalta aún más la importancia de la herencia de la memoria y la historia también en la comunicaci
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n. El tema elegido por el papa es: “‘Para que puedas contar y grabar en la memoria’ (Ex 10, 2). La vida hace historia”. Relación, narración, memoria e historia son los grandes ejes que conforman el horizonte comunicacional del mensaje papal. “El ser humano es un narrador”, afirma el papa. Él necesita “tejer” historias, “’revestirse’” de historias”, para cuidar y guardar la propia vida. La propia palabra “texto”, de hecho, proviene del latín “textus”, que significa precisamente tejido. Ser es tejer relaciones y sentidos. En los últimos años, gracias a la digitalización, la narración de hechos e historias va ganando importantes avances. Hoy podemos hablar de “narrativas transmedia”, es decir, de una “estrategia narrativa que, además de exandir los mundos ficticios en diferentes medios y plataformas, también da importancia a la participación de los fanáticos en esta expansión”, como afirma Carlos Scolari, investigador en Comunicación y profesor de la Universitat Pompeu Fabra (Barcelona). Para la construcción de estas narrativas, se utilizan varios medios y plataformas socio-digitales, que se articulan para contar una misma historia, pero que, al mismo tiempo, se desarrolla en varias historias paralelas, como libros, películas, juegos, historias en cómics, sitios web, videos, blogs, redes sociales digitales, etc. En otras palabras, la misma idea de narrativa se desvincula cada vez más de una cierta “matriz escritural”, reinventándose en los diferentes lenguajes y potencialidades abiertos por la digitalización y la conectividad." (Página 4)
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"El Papa Francisco, contribuye directamente a señalar tanto las nociones básicas para una experiencia auténticamente comunicativa, describe los ambientes que gestan y nutren esta capacidad, especialmente desde el núcleo de la familia, así como recomienda el rumbo del desempeño profesional de l
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os comunicadores a la par de su comprensión y manejo de los recursos tecnológicos tanto tradicionales como de nueva generación a su alcance. Así, se puede concluir, y a partir de una síntesis conceptual de sus Mensajes dirigidos a la Jornada Mundial de las Comunicaciones Sociales cuatro ejes que pudieran representar su carácter de Pastor y comunicador. Se agrupan así sus constantes sobre la experiencia de la comunicación cuatro dimensiones: 1. Entender la comunicación humana; 2. Comprender el don de la palabra; 3. Comprender los nuevos escenarios de la palabra, y; 4. La comunicación como promesa y anuncio." (Conclusión, página 19)
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"[This publication] is a senior project in Religious Studies that explores the conditions, both historical and clinical, which led to the popularity of the guided meditation app Headspace, and the cultural attitudes that surround mindfulness meditation in America." (Publisher description)
"Issues of verification in the age of mass media, and now social media, have been a long-discussed topic among Islamic media scholars. While Islam might be a common thread in COVID-19 religious misinformation, there is nothing inherently Islamic to the religious tinged elements of misinformation on
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social media, beyond its use for financial or political expediency. Furthermore, religious misinformation can be used by opponents of Islam to further undermine the religion and its adherents, prompting Islamophobia. Religious misinformation comes from various types of actors. On one hand, we saw examples of top-down misinformation from certain religious leaders who benefit from social media platforms to spread false remedies. Incidents of bottom-up misinformation, on the other hand, demonstrate content creators taking advantage of pandemic-induced uncertainty to attract new subscribers and followers. While the content and the actors behind religious misinformation are significant, in McLuhan’s terms, the medium is the real message (McLuhan, 1964). Social media platforms are defining new parameters for religious dynamics and authority. They are the impetus behind why religious misinformation is contributing to this infodemic. Social media platforms have become digital worship spaces for some believers. In recent years, religious leaders were able to share their teachings, while repurposing and remixing Holy scripture to bolster religious participation (Brubaker & Haigh, 2017; Cheong, 2014). Social media have in some instances disrupted and challenged the traditional forms of religious authority structures. Now, anyone can claim religious authority, or assume religious leadership, something ordinarily be out of reach without social media. This form of misinformation finds a home among an online audience eager for peace at a time of crisis. Conspiracy-based content reduces the complexity of reality and simplifies causation in times of uncertainty." (Conclusion)
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"Rights related to freedom of religion or belief (FoRB) and gender equality are often seen to be in contradiction with one another. Underlying this (mis) perception of a normative clash between the two is very often an understanding of FoRB as a right that protects religion – and often conservativ
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e, patriarchal religion. For some, this means that FoRB is seen as an inherent obstacle to achieving gender equality; for others, gender equality is seen as a threat to the protection of religious values and practices. This antagonistic construction of the two human rights norms has consequences. A lack of attention to, or an unwillingness to engage with, the intersections between FoRB and gender equality may result in unnecessary clashes, unsatisfactory handling of factual conflicts, and lost opportunities for synergies, learning, and cooperation among actors engaged in the promotion of respectively FoRB and gender equality [...] Against this background, the present report should be read first and foremost as a basic introduction to the relationship between FoRB and gender equality, providing a snapshot of the examples, experiences and ideas discussed in the workshops and hopefully encouraging further research and analysis." (Introduction, page 6-7)
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"Poland is one of the most Catholic countries in the world. 33 million out of its 38 million people (92.9% of its population) declare themselves to be Roman Catholic. Church initiatives for the needy, whether poor or immigrants, are everywhere. The Church is a robust and influential institution, str
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engthened by the pontificate of the Polish Pope, John Paul II, who is considered not only a saint but also a national hero. In many aspects, Poles could be put as an example for Catholics in other countries. But there is an issue in which the Church is not at the vanguard: the fight against sexual abuse. Recent cases have eroded the solid trust Polish people put in their Church. More recently, the documentary Tell No One, released in two parts in May 2019 and May 2020, was a turning point, and the confidence in the institution visibly plummeted. This case study tells the recent story of the issue of sexual abuse by Catholic clergy in Poland, its lights and its shadows. The paper ends with some suggestions for a trust recovery strategy, as recommendations for both Church authorities and their communication offices." (Abstract)
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