The Internet, especially social networking sites, are powerful means of evangelization

On the third day of the World Congress of the Catholic Press, which takes place in Rome from October 4 to 7, 2010, the participants discussed the possibilities of the Internet which, according to the speakers, both help and threaten the church. “The means of communication will be useful to the church only when the church will be able to assimilate them,” stated participants of the congress. The Ukrainian delegation is taking an active part in the work of the congress. Their ideas of working with the newest means of the Internet, which the representatives of the UGCC’s Information Department presented at a meeting of a working group, were perceived with interest and general approval. Their international colleagues expressed personal interest in spreading the new experiences that the Ukrainian delegation shared with them. The head of the Commission of UGCC on Matters of the Youth took the opportunity to ask for advice through Facebook from the hundreds of participants and experts on the future youth portal of the UGCC, which is being worked on by the commission. Chelenum Osman, press secretary of American Episcopal Conference, suggested having a “good monitoring group that would prevent the site from being abused.”  Another useful piece of advice was given by Khesus Maria Peres, director of the portal RIIAL from Argentina, who advised that the commission “not try to make the site replace Facebook, but cooperate with such networks, spread its messages, while attracting new users.”

Information Department of the UGCC