Information service of the Pontifical Mission Societies since 1927
Bangalore (Fides Service) – The new Rector of St Peter’s major seminary in the Indian diocese of Bangalore, Rev Sebastian Periannan, plans to give special attention to ‘communications’ in the formation programme of future priests.
A communicator of vast experience, 45 year old Rector, Father Periannan, formerly director of Radio Veritas Tamil Programme, voiced his intention to educate future priests to wise management of the dynamics of communications at all levels: “On this capacity depends the effectiveness of mission” he explained. “We all communicate through gestures and words. We must look at God, who is the greatest Communicator: he communicates the Spirit of Love”.
“For every priest – Father Periannan continues – communications is determinant at every level: pastoral, interpersonal, prophetic and spiritual. Good communications at the pastoral level means that a priest is able to lead a parish with an open, welcoming, proposing style. In the interpersonal field a priest must show friendliness and understanding towards all the people he meets. A priest who is a good communicator is also a prophet, who is not afraid to proclaim and defend Truth and Justice. Communication at the spiritual level is silence, discipline, the ability to contemplate and build a relationship with God”.
Father Periannan said he is confident that the use of modern means of communcation, starting with the Internet “can be very useful for pastoral and missionary work. Of course the net is also pornography, and many more things that we must avoid, but it is here that we see the maturity and discernment of a communicator: the wise use of a means with such a vast potential for good such as Internet”.
The seminarians at St Peter’s have assured the new Rector that they will study Catechesis and Communications together, using radio, cinema and the Internet. Father Periannan believes in the criteria of inter-discipline and contextual theology, which embraces and interprets the social, political, economic and religious scene of a country and a given epoch. PA (Fides Service 6/6/2003 EM lines 31 Words: 339)
