VATICAN - Webinar of the Pontifical Mission Societies on Communication and Fundraising: From "fund-raising" to "faith-raising"

Tuesday, 16 March 2021 pontifical mission societies  

Vatican City (Agenzia Fides) - As part of the educational initiatives of the Pontifical Mission Societies (PMS), the Pontifical Missionary Union and the International Center for Missionary Education (CIAM) have organized three online courses on communication and fundraising, mainly aimed at the staff of the National Directions of the Pontifical Mission Societies. A total of 97 people from 18 countries took part in the webinar on "La misión de la Iglesia: la Caridad Misionera y el fundraising", which was held in cooperation with the National Direction of the Pontifical Mission Societies in Spain in February. The webinar "Missione de l'Église: Communications, Charité et Collectes de Fonds" was organized in March in collaboration with the French-speaking National Direction in Canada for a total of 67 participants from 26 countries.
224 participants from 40 countries had registered for the event “Church's Mission: Media Communication, Charity and Fundraising”, which was held from March 8 to 12, 2021 in collaboration with the National Direction of the Pontifical Mission Societies in Australia.
The President of the Pontifical Mission Societies, Archbishop Giampietro Dal Toso, welcomed the course participants and pointed out the importance of the special identity of the Pontifical Mission Societies as a prerequisite for correct communication and a correct vision of the donation collections.
In this context, Archbishop Dal Toso explained the nature and mission of the Pontifical Mission Societies and summarized the special charisma in three key words: faith, mission and universality through prayer, donations and education.
As the main speaker of all three courses, the Rev. Prof. Cristian Mendoza of the Pontifical University of Santa Croce, wished the conceptual leap from "fund-raising" to "faith-raising" in the Catholic world, offering participants a new approach to fundraising, which can be summarized in changing the verb, from “asking” to “giving.” A common element of the three courses was also the contribution on the topic of "Contextualizing the Mission of the Church: Missionary communication and Charity" developed by some National PMS Directions in Colombia, Ivory Coast and India.
With regard to the subject of communication, the contribution of the Dicastery for Communication of the Holy See was of particular importance, in order to illustrate the possibilities of synergies that can be developed between the national directions and the Vatican communication body, which provides its communication platform for this purpose. The contribution by "Radio Maria" explained the style and mission of the radio station and the special fundraising campaign "Mariathon". The participants also received information about the news requirement of Fides Service as the press organ of the Pontifical Mission Societies.
At the end of each course, Father Fabrizio Meroni, General Secretary of the Pontifical Mission Union, spoke about the need to return to the original charism of the Pontifical Mission Societies. (EG) (Agenzia Fides, 16/3/2021)


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