By Felix Anthony

Bangalore, Oct 26, 2022: The Public Relation ministry of the Church is not for creating sensationalism at the expense of accuracy, says Archbishop Peter Machado of Bangalore.

The prelate was speaking at a training program for Church public relations officers, organised by the media apostolate of Conference of Catholic Bishops of India (CCBI) in collaboration with Signis India at Paalana Bhavana in Bengaluru.

The Church is a public body and so its relationship with others is important, said Archbishop Machado. “As a special ministry of the church, it has to be honest, credible, transparent and approachable.”

Addressing the 62 participants from all over the country, the archbishop said, “Our PR ministry has to be in line with the good of society. We should have Bible in one hand and newspapers in the other.”

The participants of the October 25-27 training included Christian media professionals and communication heads from dioceses and religious congregations, vicar generals, priests, women religious and lay persons.

“As the Church PROs, our job is not only to speak but also to listen to the voice of the people so that we can address the issues better,” the archbishop said.

Speaking to the participants, CCBI deputy secretary general Father Stephen Alathara, said, “To be a good relationship officer of the Church, we first need to have a good relationship with Jesus. And in this way the PR ministry of the Church is different and special.”

Intend to hone the public relationship skill of the participants, the resource team included Father Stanley Kozhichira, SIGNIS Asia President, Father Babu Joseph, former public relations officer of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of India, Varghese Joseph, editor of Indian Catholic Matters, Bansi Kalapppa of Indian Express, Advocate Joseph Anil Kumar, Kantharaj, public relations officer of Bangalore archdiocese, Father Cyril Victor, Nolan Pinto and Juby Thomas.

The participants appreciated the content of the training, which included mock press conferences and highlights on useful social media plugins. “It is the first time I am attending such a training and it has opened my eyes to the important role of a PR office,’ Bethany Sister Jyothi Mary, a lawyer working at the legal department of Bangalore archdiocese.

“The training was totally useful and it has made me realise the power of social media,” said Sister Jenova, media coordinator of the Franciscan Sisters of St. Joseph.

The training sessions included topics like present scenario of the PR in the Church, what and why of PR ministry, image building of the Church, crisis management, conducting a press conference, issuing a press release, legal perspective of crisis management, media watch, research and strategy for future PR ministry.

That the training has brought together many PR professionals of the Church from all over the country itself is a big success of the program and listening to different challenges and crisis in Indian Church and how the PR team handled them has given us some fresh insights into how to face the challenges that lie ahead, said Father Joshan Rodrigues, manging editor the Examiner of Bombay Archdiocese.