TMC to Host Workshop for Catholics in the New Media

For Immediate Release

May 6, 2011

Contact: Charlie McKinney

Phone: (603) 880-8308, ext. 21

Mobile: (603) 913-5939

Email: cmckinney@ThomasMoreCollege.edu





Thomas More College to Host Workshop for
Catholics Engaged in the New Media



(Merrimack, New Hampshire)— Throughout his pontificate, Pope Benedict XVI has called on the faithful to utilize the new media to serve the Church and spread the Gospel. Technological advances continue to open new means of communication, and it is often difficult for those engaged in the world of digital communications to stay ahead of the curve.

In response to the Holy Father’s call, the Thomas More College of Liberal Arts announced today that it is hosting an intensive three-day retreat entitled “Christ & The New Media” for those seeking to spread the perennial truths of the Catholic Church through the new media. The Program will be held from August 4 thru 7.

Led by leaders in online journalism, blogging, and digital communications, this program will assist priests and laymen in employing the latest generation of images, videos, animated features, blogs and websites so they can open up broad new vistas for dialogue, evangelization, and catechesis.

Funded by a grant from the Koch Foundation of Gainesville, Florida, the Workshop will be beneficial to both beginners and seasoned professionals as they are taught how to craft their message more effectively, respond productively to those with whom they disagree, fully leverage social networking sites, and more effectively integrate the latest in audio, visual, and text. Moreover, participants will develop life-long friendships with others who are seeking to defend and promote the teachings of the Catholic Church in our age.

The Program will feature lectures and panel discussions by Alejandro Bermudez, editor of the Catholic News Agency; Phil Lawler, Editor of CatholicCulture.org; Tony Assaf, Editor of the Arabic Edition of Zenit News; and John and Ashley Noronha, of H2oNews.org.

“Pope Benedict XVI has called on the faithful, especially priests, to utilize the new media to serve the Church and spread the Gospel,” said Thomas More College President William Fahey. “By bringing together a team of professional leaders in this new and developing field, Thomas More College is advancing a valid and effective instrument for authentic evangelization and communion.”

The new media offers a new and deeper means of communicating the perennial truths of the Catholic Church, especially to young people. More than 350 million people read at least one blog every day, and more than 60% of those readers are between the ages of 18 and 44. In fact, according to one recent study, 77% of active Internet users regularly read blogs, and as many are active in social networking sites.

“There exists a tremendous—and largely untapped—opportunity to spread the Gospel through the world of digital communications,” added Fahey. “By attending the Christ & the New Media Program, priests and laymen alike will be better able to employ the latest technology to advance the Church’s mission of evangelization and catechesis.

More information and a schedule for the Christ & The New Media workshop can be found at http://www.thomasmorecollege.edu/summerprogram.

The Thomas More College of Liberal Arts provides a four-year undergraduate education which develops young people intellectually, ethically, and spiritually in the Catholic tradition and in faithfulness to the Magisterium of the Roman Catholic Church. Thomas More College introduces its students to the central questions of Western Civilization—and to the Church’s response. It teaches students how to reason, engage in academic discourse, and to write. Students from Thomas More College are shaped into becoming faithful leaders who will be able to pursue the individual vocations which God has given each of them.