"Divine Word Missionary and communication expert Franz-Josef Eilers passed away in Manila on January 13, 2021. He was a prominent SVD communicat
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ion and media expert and had dedicated his life to social communication and the formation of missionaries in the SVD and beyond for an evangelisation in terms of communication. He was a member of the SVD Missiological Institute since 1984 and a diligent and trusted contributor to Verbum SVD." (Page 116)
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"While Pope Benedict XV's "Maximum illud" addresses particularly mission, the encyclical can be read also from a communication and media perspective. Such a reading offers many insights into the communicative engagement. The author further expands on the enyclical's resonances in Roman documents on
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communication throughout the 20th century." (Abstract)
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"Dieser Aufsatz hinterfragt, warum die frühe Münsteraner Interkulturalitätsforschung um Henk Prakke und seine Schüler, insbesondere Franz-Josef Eil
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ers, keine nachhaltige Institutionalisierungschance hatte. Aus einer wissenschaftssoziologischen und fachhistorischen Perspektive werden sowohl Pfadabhängigkeiten innerhalb der deutschen Publizistikwissenschaft als auch die isolierte Lage des neuen Forschungsthemas in der jungen Bundesrepublik Deutschland, deren Wissenschaftslandschaft noch wenig Anschlussmöglichkeiten bot, diskutiert. Ausgehend von Münster entwickelte sich zwar ein interessiertes Forschermilieu über verschiedene akademische Statusgruppen hinweg, das allerdings zu begrenzt war, um sich durchzusetzen und interkulturelle Kommunikationsforschung 20 Jahre nach dem Ende des Zweiten Weltkriegs als Thema etablieren zu können." (Abstract)
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"In all Asian cultures, religion plays an irnportant role. How is this expressed and 'communicated' in word and deed, in rituals, but also in the daily life of peoples and their celebrations? Religious beliefs and practices 'dictate' in many ways behavior and customs. This has been the case over hun
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dreds of years and is still alive in many ways today. Do modern ways and means of communication, especially also the digital developments change, endanger or even promote such practices? If yes, how? It will be further important to see the communication dimensions of religion in general but also the specifics of holy books like the 'Bible, Qur'an, Upanishads, etc. which are in themselves already communication instruments for proclamation and religious practices. What does all this means for people of today being "permanently online, permanently connected" (Vorderer 2018) and part of a digital world? Can religious beliefs and practices also be transmitted or even 'performed' in and with digital means? How are religions presented and treated in the still existing general, big, also in the individual religion-owned and operated media like Christian, Buddhist, Moslem channels? And beyond single 'means': what could and should be the role of communication in interreligious dialogue for countries like Indonesia with a big Moslem population, Christian-majority Philippines or in a Buddhist country like Thailand? All this should be one way or another a special concern for serious social communication research which seems to not yet exist." (Pages 9-10)
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"This edition updates and develops the concerns of the emerging field especially also in view of growing technical developments. The section on Evangelizing communication has been partly re-written to more clearly indicate the communication dimension of the field." (Preface)
"The paper will sketch first some developments and indicate directions in the field of social communication to clarify developments which shape our communication situation in a digital world as the environment wherein evangelization takes place. This will be followed, second, by presenting two missi
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on documents and their communication consequences and show—third—how this is reflected in the Asian church. The paper concludes—fourth—by reflecting on the need for a proper communication spirituality to be based on a mission spirituality as proposed by Pope John Paul II." (Page 103)
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"The book presents all final statements of FABC communication meetings from 1996 to 2007, including the annual meetings of Asian communication bishops (Bishops' Meet), all six BISCOMs (Bishops' Institutes for Social Communication), and special gathering of experts (Roundtables) on Communication Rese
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arch, Communication and Evangelization, and Social Communication in Religious Traditions of Asia. This new approach, backed up by known Theologians is at the center of a respective course in the Pastoral Communication Program of the Pontifical University of Santo Tomas, Manila where the publication serves as a textbook." (Publisher description)
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"The traditional concept of media education as promoted in several Church documents has to be revised and extended. In view of modern development in communication technology anmd behavior where the roles of producer and consumer change, it has to be extended or even substituted with the concept of "
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communication competence". Beyond an original listing by the German Bishops' Conference Communication Commission (2011) of four competencies there are at least seven to be considered. Beside the technical, critical, creative and ethical competence also the cultural, professional and especially the theological competence must be considered." (Abstract)
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"A reference work giving ready access to official Catholic thought on communication. It includes seventeen Vatican documents focusing on media and communication issues, all Pontifical messages for the World Communication Day since its inception in 1967, and communication-related excerpts from ninete
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en other Pontifical documents and five documents from Latin America, Germany, the Philippines and the USA. Especially helpful are the introductions of the editor, which state the origin and importance of the various texts." (CAMECO Update 1-2015)
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"Already during the preparation for the Second Vatican Council a commission on “modern means for the apostolate” was created (November 1959!). The final Communications Commission produced a document with 114 paragraphs, which was discussed in the first session of the Council and approved in the
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plenary on November 27, 1962, with 2.138 ‘Yes’ votes out of a total of 2.160. The assembly stated that communication is a proper and important subject for a council. It was proposed, however, that the text should be shortened to the essentials for pastoral ministry and another, more professional document published later, which was done in 1971 with the Pastoral Instruction Communio et Progressio. The shortened and revised version of Inter Mirifica was approved, in spite of some protests about the minimalistic approach and lack of sufficient theology of this version, and then published together with the liturgy document on December 4,1963. Because Inter Mirifica was one of the first two documents of the Council it could not benefit from later considerations and stayed somewhat at the fringes of the conciliar process. Considering the situation today the document presents some special challenges like developing the concept of Social Communication it introduced to its full meaning; working on a proper Communication Theology (not Theology of Communication!); developing a proper communication disposition (instead of only skills!); developing a proper spirituality-based communication approach which integrates all activities; going from “media” to “means” and thus respond also to the modern challenges of Internet and social networks." (Abstract)
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"On June 3, 1971, a new document on social communication was presented by Gordon G. Cardinal Gray (Edinburgh) to journalists at the Vatican Press Hall. The document was the pastoral instruction for social communication Communio et Progressio, officially dated May 23, 1971. The instruction was demand
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ed by the Vatican II Decree on Social Communication, Inter Mirifica (1963), saying: “The Council expressly directs the Commission of the Holy See to publish a Pastoral Instruction, with the help of experts from various countries to ensure that all principles and rules of the Council on the means of social communication be put into effect” (no. 23). The background to this is the fact that the Council Fathers were originally presented with a document of 114 paragraphs which they felt would go beyond their own knowledge of the field. They, therefore, proposed a document with the essentials – the now Inter Mirifica decree – with only 24 paragraphs to be extended for practical use through a Pastoral Instruction and to be elaborated by the Pontifical Commission for Social Communications with the help of experts. The new document, however, could only be published some seven years after Inter Mirifica. This long interval can be interpreted as an indication of a serious and thorough production process participated in especially by professional Catholic media organizations together with additional experts." (Page 1)
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"This introduction is more of an outline than a detailed description of and for intercultural communication. This book should help to introduce students and anybody interested into the field of intercultural communication. The main approach in the presentation comes from the social communications fi
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eld, but an attempt is also made to incorporate interdisciplinary considerations from fields like anthropology and missiology." (Forweord to the first edition)
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"This publication is a first attempt to collect data and documents on social communication in the history of the Church beginning with the bible as the first book of communication. The collection is based on the understanding of communication as 1. communication theology and 2. social communication
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[...] This book is more a listing and outline of data and considerations on communication in Church history rather than a detailed presentation of historical facts. It includes, however, additional texts which are beyond the presentation of basic documents on social communication." (Preface)
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"Bei Gründung von „Adveniat“ 1961 berief man Kaspar in Personalunion zum ersten Pressechef des neuen Hilfswerks in Essen. Die Erfahrungen aus dieser reizvollen Aufgabe öffneten ihm mehr und mehr die Augen für die wichtige Rolle der Kommunikation im Entwicklungsprozess junger überseeischer Ge
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sellschaften. Mit der ihm eigenen Überzeugungskraft vertrat Kaspar dieses Anliegen vehement in der Weltunion der katholischen Presse (UCIP). Gemeinsam mit seinen Freunden, dem niederländischen Drucker und Verleger Kees Verhaak (Grave) sowie dem Steyler Kommunikationswissenschaftler Franz-Josef Eilers (Rom/Genf) gelang es ihm, in der von Europa, vor allem von Frankreich und Deutschland, dominierten UCIP eine „Entwicklungskommission“ zu gründen, die sich der publizistischen Probleme der so genannten Entwicklungsländer annahm. Eilers wurde erster Sekretär der Kommission und war neben Kaspar die treibende Kraft für eine Initiative mit weltweiten Auswirkungen für die kirchliche Publizistik: Erstmals organisierte die Entwicklungskommission mit Blick auf den UCIP-Weltkongress 1971 in Luxemburg einen Vor-Kongress im nahen Trier für die Teilnehmer aus Lateinamerika, Afrika und Asien. Zum ersten Mal sprachen jetzt die Entwicklungsländer mit einer Stimme auf dem nachfolgenden UCIP-Kongress – dank der Initiative und Weitsicht des Trios Kaspar-Verhaak-Eilers. Aus seinen Erfahrungen bei „Adveniat“ trug sich Kaspar lange mit der Idee, eine Art „Medien-Feuerwehr“ für Entwicklungsländer zu gründen. Darunter verstand er ein Team aus publizistischen Fachleuten aller Medien-Gattungen, die er bei den Missionsorden rekrutieren wollte, um sie immer dort einzusetzen, wo bei neuen Kommunikations-Projekten professionelle Hilfe gefordert war. Das ließ sich nicht realisieren, doch eine Konsequenz daraus war sein weiterer Vorschlag, für die kirchlichen Hilfswerke in Deutschland (Adveniat, Misereor, Missio etc.) sowie international eine gemeinsame Fachstelle zur Beurteilung und Begleitung von Kommunikations-Projekten einzurichten. Wieder erarbeitete das Trio Kaspar-Verhaak-Eilers die gedanklichen und organisatorischen Grundlagen. Gemeinsam mit Bischof Heinrich Tenhumberg, dem damaligen Leiter des Katholischen Büros in Bonn, gelang es Kaspar, 1968 neben Hilfswerken und Medien-Organisationen (UCIP, OCIP, Unda) auch den Päpstlichen Medienrat an einen runden Tisch zu bringen. Im Jahr 1969 erfolgte die Gründung des „Catholic Media Council (Cameco) – Publizistische Medienplanung für Entwicklungsländer e.V“ mit Sitz in Aachen." (Seite 110)
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"This is the latest edition of the textbook especially written for seminary and religious communication formation. It is also published in India and has translations in Italian and Bahasa Indonesia. A Spanish translation is underway. New ideas are infused in a chapter “New media communication.”
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The history of communication is extended to the evolution of digitized media, satellites and Internet. Updated statistics on mass media penetration worldwide also add up to a comprehensive understanding of communication, and its influence on the Church’s essential mission. The book’s strength lies in the theology of communication expounded, and in practical explanation of human communication theories and concepts." (Publisher description)
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"This book serves as a primer on Church teachings and practices concerning communication issues. It is in fact a quite condensed text on nearly every aspect of Church communication. Eilers views communication as a theological principle that "guides
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and directs the way we see, study, and live our Christian faith in a time when communication is central to human society" (Page 23). The first part is a rapid march through "communication spirituality," a comparison of the way the Church and media operate and a discussion of the way they relate to each other; ethical models of communication; the contributions of the Church to communication in society; and citation of numerous papal encyclicals and other Church pronouncements on communication. The book's longest section is its discussion of Pastoral Communication, covering preaching and liturgy as well as communication planning, the specifities of different communication means from interpersonal communication to multimedia, and parish, diocesan and national communication. The final unit deals with evangelizing communication with an emphasis on the importance of understanding its inter-cultural aspects, especially in non-Western cultures. Eilers offers suggestions for using traditional means of communications such as drama, song, pilgrimages for evangelization, and he stresses the importance of inter-religious dialogue." (CAMECO Update 3-2009)
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