The Emergence of SIGNIS - signis world congress 2013

In 1998 at the Montreal assemblies of Unda, the World Catholic Organisation
for Radio and Television, and OCIC, the International Catholic Organisation for
Cinema, the two associations agreed to merge. The merger was achieved in just
over three years. This book gives an account of the merger process using reports
written at the time and minutes of meetings.
With the vote for SIGNIS in Rome in November 2001, the new World Catholic
Association for Communication was inaugurated. This book gives a history of the
Organisation for its first two terms as we celebrate 80 years of its predecessors
OCIC and Unda.
THE EMERGENCE
OF SIGNIS
MALONE Peter - Melbourne, Australia
Fr Peter Malone, Missionary of the Sacred Heart, born in Sydney, Australia in 1939, obtained an Arts degree
at the Australian National University and his Licentiate in Theology at the Pontifical Gregorian University
in Rome. He was ordained in 1965. After his studies he became a lecturer in theology and scripture in
Canberra and, since 1972, at the Yarra Theological Union, a member of the Melbourne College of Divinity.
He started that year working with the OCIC representative Fr Fred Chamberlin, who was responsible for
the Catholic Film Office of the Australian Bishops Conference. He succeeded Fr Chamberlin in 1992. Peter
Malone became president of OCIC Pacific (1989-1998), OCIC World (1998-2001) and SIGNIS (2001-2005).
In the mid-1960s he began writing on cinema and has been reviewing films regularly since 1968. He became
a film critic for several publications including The Universe (UK), SIGNIS Media (Belgium), and websites in
the UK, Hong Kong and the SIGNIS website. He is a well known writer of books on film as The Film, Films and
Values, Movie Christs and Antichrists, Worth Watching - 30 Film Reviewers on Review, In Black and White and
Colour - Aborigines in Australian Films, Myths and Meaning - Australian Film Directors in their own Words.
Furthermore he conducts seminars on film and spirituality with publications including the Lights Camera Faith
Series and the Film and Faith series. From 1993 Fr Malone has served as a juror at film festivals throughout
the world. Since 2005 he has been member of the cinema desk of SIGNIS. From 2002 to the present he has
published for SIGNIS official statements on films like Amen, Requiem, The Golden Compass, Doubt, Angels
and Demons, Antichrist. He organized several meetings on film criticism and reviewing and the international
jury work of SIGNIS through the Face for the Faceless seminars (Leuven, Lyon, Buenos Aires, Rome). In 2008
the Melbourne College of Divinity conferred him the Degree of Doctor of Sacred Theology (Honoris Causa)
for his “outstanding contribution to theological learning” and education in Australia and especially for “his
significant contribution to bringing a critical Christian perspective to the study, interpretation and enjoyment
of the visual media”.
Celebrating 80 years of Catholic presence
in the Media with Unda, OCIC and SIGNIS
Edited by
Peter Malone
Peter Malone
Special contributions come from the last President of Unda, Angela Ann Zukowski
MHSH, Robert Molhant, past Secretary General of OCIC and SIGNIS, Peter Thomas,
past Vice President of Unda and present Vice President of SIGNIS, Bernardo Suate,
director of the Rome Services, Guido Convents, Cinema Desk, SIGNIS, and Jim
McDonnell, SIGNIS UK and Advocacy Desk, SIGNIS.
THE EMERGENCE OF SIGNIS
Peter Malone MSC, from Australia, was the last world president of OCIC and the
first president of SIGNIS.
SIGNIS
The World Catholic Association for Communication
THE EMERGENCE OF SIGNIS
Celebrating 80 years of Catholic presence in the Media
with Unda, OCIC and SIGNIS
Edited by
Peter Malone, msc
SIGNIS
The World Catholic Association for Communication
©
SIGNIS, 2009
Rue Royale, 310
1210 Brussels
Belgium
D/2009/3375/1
All rights reserved
Lay-out & Cover : Pascale Heyrbaut
Printed in Chang Mai, Thailand
A Preamble
‘... I recall the activities of Catholics, individually and in a
myriad of institutions and organisations, in this field. In particular,
I mention the three great Catholic Media Organisations: the
International Catholic Film Office for Film and Cinema (OCIC), The
International Catholic Press Union (UCIP) and the International
Catholic Association for Radio and Television (Unda). It is to them,
in particular, and to the vast resources of professional knowledge,
skill and zeal among their extensive international membership
that the Church, hopefully and confidently, turns as she seeks to
proclaim Christ’s message in a form adapted to the instruments now
at her disposal and in language intelligible to the world-wide mediaconditioned culture to which it must be addressed.’
John Paul II,
Message for World Communications Day, 1992.
CONTENTS
Foreword.................................................................................................................. 7
Introduction............................................................................................................ 9
A HISTORICAL PROLOGUE ......................................................................................11
PART 1 - THE MERGER AND A NEW BEGINNING................................................... 17
The Montreal Assemblies........................................................................................21
Towards the New Association.................................................................................37
Activity Report.........................................................................................................63
President’s Report, 2003.........................................................................................74
President’s Letter ...................................................................................................92
PART 2 - ACTIVITIES: 1998-2008............................................................................ 101
The Changing Media Landscape .........................................................................103
Cinema and the Changing Media Landscape ......................................................107
The SIGNIS Television Producer and the Church.................................................109
A SIGNIS programme for Catholic television stations and producers................... 115
Radio.....................................................................................................................121
The Cinema Tradition............................................................................................126
The Work of Signis Juries in Film and Television Festivals................................132
Speaking up for Justice - the role of Advocacy in SIGNIS....................................140
Media Education...................................................................................................148
SIGNIS Services in Rome.....................................................................................154
AFTERWORDS.......................................................................................................... 161
Unda: Treasured Memories...................................................................................163
Perspectives..........................................................................................................173
APPENDIX................................................................................................................. 183
Appendix 1 - The Assembly in Rome, November 2001........................................185
Appendix 2 - Members and Staff...........................................................................186
Appendix 3 - Presidents and Secretaries general of OCIC and Unda .................191
Appendix 4 - Deceased Presidents and Secretaries General...............................193
Appendix 5 - SIGNIS Jury Regulations ...............................................................196
Index........................................................................................................................203
5
Foreword
80 years is a healthy age in any language. But what happened during those eighty years
makes far more fascinating reading than the number 80. Reading the history of OCIC/
Unda/SIGNIS is like being on a boat minus the seasickness. It is a thrilling voyage.
I have always known Fr. Peter Malone, the last President of OCIC and the first
President of SIGNIS, to be a film buff and a film critic in every sense of the word. Now
you can add writer and historian to his long list of credentials.
80 years is not just from historical documents but based on an insider’s experience
of more than 30 years - thus making it that much more authentic and lively. It covers a
whole range of topics from our understanding of Church Communications, our mission,
our special relationship to the Vatican and our network partners, CAMECO,UCIP and
CRTN. Peter has included excellent contributions from former Unda President Angela
Ann Zukowski and OCIC and SIGNIS Secretary General Robert Molhant.
This is also a book of revelations. I did not know that when OCIC and Unda started in 1928
it was only confined to Belgium, France, Germany, Luxemburg and The Netherlands. In
the beginning both these organizations did not have anything in common. They began
because the Church was alarmed that if, left to its own devices, the media would soon
empty the Churches. Only after the War did expansion and collaboration take place.
In tracing the history of our organization we are given an exciting insight on the
behind the scenes drama as the two organizations moved towards merger. Peter takes
us swiftly through the 60’s, 70’s and then 80’s, showing the world wide growth of both
organizations and outlining the areas of collaboration and challenges.
It is interesting to read to see how OCIC and Unda bickered when Video technology
broke on the world stage. The argument was: where does it get attached to, OCIC or
UNDA? The resolutions are equally interesting.
What to do with Group Media? Some wanted to set up a new International Catholic
Communication Organisation? They felt that with the coming of the video revolution
Radio, Cinema and TV would wither. How did that pan out?
Where did Lumen 2000 come from? They too wanted to form a new Organisation.
What was the result? This is why this book is such a revelation.
Peter’s prodigious memory comes into play when he details the steps taken from
1998 to 2001 leading to the merger. He outlines the meetings and decisions taken at
Luxemburg, Rolduc, Munich and Aachen. It was in Aachen that the name SIGNIS was
chosen for the new organisation. It was such an accident. That in itself makes interesting
reading.
Peter gives credit to Angela Ann, Henk Hoekstra, Victor Sunderaj, Robert Molhant
and Pierre Bélanger, Presidents and Secretaries General of Unda and OCIC for
accelerating the process towards merger. It is clear that without their total committment
the merger would not have taken place when it did.
7
Peter’s dry wit is also apparent with his little snippets and that includes our ill fated
relationship with Futur Talent and its consequences. More hilarious is the story of the
‘Full Monty’ in Montreal that raised the ire of Cardinal Foley and how it ended amicably.
All done very nicely.
I see this book is a chronological history of two Catholic Communication
organizations that started with living separately and then moved on to a love-hate
relationship and finally ended with ‘voluntary self-destruction’ to give birth to Signis in
2001 as the new World Catholic Association for Communication. How this came about
is really the content of this fascinating book.
Peter concludes with challenges for the future. How do we handle the challenges
thrown up by the digital revolution? How do we communicate with the new generation
who are digital natives when many of us are digital migrants? There is much food for
thought here.
This is a must read book for all of us members of the SIGNIS family and all those
involved as professional communicators.
We are grateful to Peter for this wonderful gift to SIGNIS even as we move to
celebrate our 81st. anniversary and the World Congress in Chiangmai, Thailand in
October of 2009.
A back to the future book. A book to build on.
Augustine Loorthusamy
President SIGNIS World
October 2009.
8
Introduction
Beware brain waves! Or beware mentioning brainwaves to anybody – the result is that
you have to go into action yourself. While looking again at Leo Bonneville’s history of
OCIC, launched at the Unda and OCIC Assemblies of 1998 in Montreal and remembering
that he had written his book for the seventieth anniversary of OCIC, it seemed a good
idea to have some kind of celebration of the 80th anniversary of both OCIC and Unda,
especially now that they have merged into SIGNIS.
The other realisation was that the votes for the merger were taken in Montreal in
1998, so the decade between the 70th and 80th anniversaries has been a momentous
one in terms of the church and its worldwide audiovisual media organisations. Not only
is there a great deal to celebrate, there is a great deal of history and development during
this decade to remember.
The response to the brainwave: why don’t you do it?
Being part of the merger process and, in fact, presiding over it with Angela Ann
Zukowski, president of Unda, meant that there were both documents and memories
which could be used as resources. Being part of SIGNIS during its first term, so to
speak, meant that there even more documents and memories were to hand. So why
not?
The book is in two sections.
The first: an overview of the build-up to the vote for merger, some detail of the
process itself and what was happening, especially at the international level of Unda and
OCIC during those years, 1998-2001. The processes and events of the first phase of
the existence of SIGNIS, 2002-2005, are also presented. The 80th anniversary occurs
during the second term of SIGNIS which has its own special challenges as well as
looking towards a changing future.
The second: after the look at the history of the merger and the early years of SIGNIS,
it is important to consider how the heritage from the two organisations developed in the
first decade of the 21st century. The first is the Unda heritage and its developments
in its last years as well as how the several important fields of Unda activity, radio and
television and production, found their place in the new association. The second is the
the developments in the last years of OCIC as such as well as how cinema found its
place in the overall life of SIGNIS. The best thing to do was to ask those who had been
leaders in these fields to contribute their memories and insights to the book. This is
also true of the renewed focus on Media Education, on Advocacy and on SIGNIS and
Information Technology. The OCIC Missionary Service in Rome made a transition to the
Rome SIGNIS Service. I am very appreciative of the contributions of those who have
taken some responsibility for these fields of action.
Leo Bonneville based his book on documents. This book also relies on documents
but also on memories, recollections of events, of conversations, of the life that showed
the vitality of the two organisations and their merger – and their new life.
9
A HISTORICAL PROLOGUE
Unda and OCIC, Separate Journies and a Journey Together
Robert Molhant
In the Beginning, there was Nothing in Common
When, towards the end of the 1920’s, the three international Catholic media organizations,
UCIP (press), Unda (radio) and OCIC (cinema), came into being, they each belonged to
different «worlds». At the time there was no link between radio and cinema, which had
just moved from the silent era to talking movies. The printed press and radio also had
nothing in common. There was even some tension as the Marconi invention threatened
the existence of the printed media. Why should the public be interested in reading, in the
newspapers, news they could have heard the night before on the radio?
In Catholic circles radio posed other difficulties. Would broadcasts of the Mass on
radio release Christians of their Sunday obligation? Would radio empty the churches?
Cinema had already been considered a great danger. Projections were taking place on
Sundays! For a time the Church tried to stop these projections, then, so as to control
this media, which drew in the masses, parish halls multiplied in some countries, counting
up to eight thousand in Italy. A very good film, Cinema Paridiso colorfully recounts this
page of history.
Thus, at the end of the 1920’s the existence of three distinct Catholic organizations
was justified. Collaboration also existed. OCIC had for a long time hoped that the
moral ratings established by the film selection commissions be printed in the press. This
was often for mutual support. The Catholic press was reluctant. In general Catholic
newspapers announced the religious radio programs.
Is Television linked to radio or to Cinema?
Television was not widespread amongst the general public until the 1960’s. This
development was to raise a question. What predominates television? Sound or Image?
If it is was sound, then it should be Unda’s responsibility. On the other hand if it was
image, then OCIC, with its long tradition of cinema analysis, would be better suited. In
France, form the 1950’s, ‘le Jour du Seigneur’ embarked on its series of televised Masses.
It quickly became evident that the Church’s first use of television, seen as exclusively
a public service in many countries, would be of the same sort as radio broadcast, the
re-transmission of religious services. Other programs were added but for the main part
television was essentially the vehicle of re-transmitting religious services. It was thus
Unda that broadened its scope to become the International Catholic Association for
Radio and Television.
This decision was not taken in a totally serene climate. Prophets of doom announced
that television would kill cinema. A little while later the neighborhood cinema halls
began to close. It was the same for many parish halls. Projection techniques improved,
11
multiplex cinema halls were created. But not everyone could adapt. At OCIC the fear
was growing that cinema would disappear or at least slide more and more towards the
small screen. Shouldn’t OCIC get involved with film on television? But would that not
mean intruding on Unda’s territory?
If the leaders of the two organizations met to discuss this, they could not avoid being
influenced by the tensions that already existed between television and cinema within
the professional world itself. At the end of the 1960’s OCIC experienced some difficult
moments, following controversial prizes awarded by its juries in Venice (Teorema, by
Pasolini) and Berlin (John Schlesinger’s Midnight Cowboy). In these circumstances the
climate for collaboration was far from favorable.
Liberation Theology and The New Information Order
In the 1970’s two currents were to influence relations between OCIC and Unda. The
first was strictly ecclesial. Liberation theology in Latin America extolled the notion of a
Church constructed from basic Christian communities. To develop, these communities
made use of simple media: slides, posters, billboards, drawings, sound recordings, local
‘community’ radios, in short a series of media qualified as ‘Group Media’. The Church
favored these group media to train pastoral agents in their use and assist centers to
produce them. The idea of creating a new international catholic association consecrated
to the development of these media was raised. In Rome, this usage of simple media at
the service of religious education was noticed to the point that the Pontifical Commission
(it was not yet called a ‘Council’) for Social Communications asked OCIC to organize a
global meeting on the subject. This took place in 1977, in Munich and in collaboration
with Unda, with the theme ‘Evangelization and Media’. The meeting gave birth to a joint
Unda-OCIC service MG-EV (Group Media and Evangelization).
A short time later UNESCO appointed Nobel and Lenin Prize laureate Sean McBride
as president of a commission charged with studying the question of global information
and communication. The commission’s report entitled ‘One World, Multiple Voices’ came
out in 1979. Public opinion retained mainly two elements, that mass media was either in
the hands of economic powers or governments, and the need to build a new world order
of information and communication that would permit the re-establishment of a global
equilibrium in the flow of information and create a more just world in these spheres.
This critical judgment of mass media re-enforced the current that, in Church
organizations, favored group media. Some even advocated the abandonment of the
presence of the Church in the mass media and championed its presence only in group
media which were now designated as ‘Alternative Media’, counter cultural to mass
media. Protestant organizations (such as Interfilm and WACC) shared the same point
of view.
1980, a Joint Congress in Manila
In 1980, OCIC and Unda held a joint congress in Manila, Philippines. It was mainly the
location that was common. The program however included a follow-up of the Munich
meeting. Thus ‘Group media’ became the point of convergence for the two organizations,
12
although all did not appreciate this point of intersection. There remained some advocates
for the creation of a new association. They felt that Unda and OCIC were too involved
with the mass media and would not give sufficient support to this new domain, which
was considered essential for the Church and the democratization of societies.
At the Manila Assembly it was decided that a joint meeting of the boards of Unda
and OCIC would be held in Washington in 1982 to study mutual relations. There was
already talk of three possibilities, a status quo, that is two organizations, the creation of
a federation and merger pure and simple.
In 1983, indicative of the continued impact of the UNESCO commission’s analysis,
it was Sean McBride himself who is invited as the principle speaker during joint UndaOCIC study days in Nairobi. The supporters of the creation of an international association
for Group Media continued to voice their dissatisfaction. However the Assemblies
maintained the joint Group Media service, which up to that point had been based in
Rome, but was now to join the two secretariats in Brussels.
Video an Unda or OCIC Responsibility?
In the following decade, UNESCO entered a crisis. The work of the McBride Commission
and the proposition of a New World Order for Communication and Information drew
crtisism. The management of its Director Mahtar M’Bow was also strongly criticized.
The United States withdrew from the organization. Voices emerged providing the stance
on mass media. Within Christian organization some recalled the indispensable need to
retain a presence in this media.
An then, voila, a new technology appears: video! Not only did it permit a new
circulation of films, it also made audiovisual programs much more accessible. At
least that’s what it proclaimed. Posters and slides… were good, but wouldn’t video
now replace them? This raises a new problem in the relations between Unda and
OCIC. Is video part of the television world? On the other hand if videocassettes, used
principally as a support for catechetical programs, circulate in groups, in parishes and
associations… wouldn’t they be much more the responsibility of OCIC, which had in
recent years displayed a greater interest in Group Media?
Merger Rejection in Quito
The question was posed at the time of the congress in Quito, in 1987, which had to
decide on the future of relations between Unda and OCIC. It had to decide on the
basis of a report written by a commission set up in 1982 at the Washington meeting.
The commission, lead by the American John Geaney, had concluded that the two
organizations should merge. This proposal was not accepted. The participants went
away expressing the desire that collaboration between the two organizations intensify,
but that they remain separate.
The decision of the Quito General Assembly was made all the more paradoxical by
the fact that a few days earlier the Latin American branches of the three organizations
(Uclap, OCIC-AL, Unda-AL) decided to create a joint secretariat and formulate a program
of activities that covered all the media, but the rest of the World did not follow them…
13
The video question was to strain relations for a while. It was to be surmounted
in idiosyncratic way. A joint executive committee came to the conclusion that the
productions of videos created initially for television were to the domain of Unda. Those
that were circulated mainly amongst groups, and thus not destined for broadcast, were
then the domains of OCIC. This decision, that was difficult to come by, did not satisfy
many people. In practice Unda was to take on mainly the support of program production
projects and OCIC was to develop activities in favor of the distribution of programs (such
as organizing a number of international gatherings called «Educational and religious
Video Forums»)
And we find ourselves in the 1990’s. While Unda and OCIC found themselves
confronted, on many occasions, with issues regarding mutual relations, sometimes in
conflict, other times serene, and still others in harmony, collaboration with UCIP did not
go much beyond meetings between the Presidents and Secretaries General. Of course
there were mutual invitations to congresses, but there were few activities in common.
The Lumen 2000 Satellite
The nineties were marked by another phenomenon, an initiative undertaken by the
wealthy Dutchman Piet Derksen, who under the name of a charismatic association,
Lumen 2000, thought of various ways of entering the world of the media. He first
imagined a satellite that would permit a global diffusion of programs whose influence
would allow for the Christianization of the entire planet by the year 2000 (where from the
association drew its name). In the mean time he looked for partners amongst Catholic
media institutions with the aim of publishing magazines and producing programs that he
would finance and which he would offer to his partners on condition that they distribute
these in their countries.
The actions of Lumen 200 quickly became controversial. Piet Derksen sought Rome’s
endorsement and he was advised to join one of the existing associations. Lumen 2000
asked for member to OCIC and Unda at the Bangkok congress in 1990. It was accepted
in Unda under a climate of immense tension, to the point that the subject of relations
between Unda and OCIC could no longer be tackled at that congress. More time was
needed.
The Idea of Merger Predominates
In 1994 OCIC and Unda held their joint congress in Prague. On the eve of the Assembly
the OCIC Directors Committee made its position known. OCIC was in favor of Merger.
The idea is addressed during the joint Assembly, but only as an exchange of opinions
and with no precise decision taken. The discussions did however reveal the fact that
the idea of merger was still alive and that this question, which had lingered for so long,
needed to be tackled. During the first meeting of the Presidents and Secretaries General
after the congress, the decision was taken to put the question of merger on the agenda
of the next congress, to be held in 1998 in Montreal. It would no longer be a commission
that would study the question, rather the boards of the two organizations will be asked
14
to make a decision and present to the Assembly which of the three options, they felt was
best: status quo, federation or merger.
In 1997, at a meeting in Brussels, the joint boards of Unda and OCIC decided to
submit a joint proposal to their respective Assemblies, to proceed with the merger of the
two organizations in the three years following the Congress in Montreal.
The two Assemblies in Montreal accepted the proposal almost unanimously in
August 1998.
15
PART 1
THE MERGER AND A NEW BEGINNING
Setting the scene
Montreal. 1998. Summer. August. Not the Montreal of snow ploughs and the frozen
St Lawrence river – that would come in another four months – but now a rather hot
and sunny city. The two Catholic audiovisual media organisations were holding their
international assemblies, assemblies that were to take a vote that would bring them to
some closure after seventy years of activity for each of them and move them to a new
phase of their life and work: together, as one organisation.
Both Unda and OCIC came into existence in 1928, part of the vitality of Catholic
Action in western Europe at the time. While centred in Brussels, the organisations
combined the energies of Belgium, France, The Netherlands, Luxemburg and Germany
and, during the 1930s, would extend their influence further through Europe. They were
organisations which welcomed the new 20th century technologies and their continuing
outreach. They also welcomed the communication experiences that the technology
offered, of listening and watching, of sense excitement and emotional response, the
stimulation for the mind. The content was challenging, a response to storytelling in
new media, to a wealth of information more rapidly disseminated, to the possibilities for
church mission and a reaching out to an ever wider audience.
As regards the 1930s, that was what might have been.
Despite the consolidation of OCIC and Unda, the outbreak of World War II put a halt
to developments. The OCIC headquarters in Brussels were occupied by the Nazis and
the secretary general, Fr Jean Bernard of Luxemburg was interned in Dachau. Volker
Schloendorff’s film, Die Neunte Tage (The Ninth Day) released in 2004, was based on
his memoir.
The histories of the two organisations have been written using the available archives
and documentation. On the occasion of the 70th anniversary of OCIC in Montreal in 1998,
Leo Bonneville presented his Histoire. Former Vice President of OCIC, Gaye Ortiz,
wrote a thesis which included aspects of the history and policies of the organisation,
2004. The history of Unda was covered extensively in the work of Kevin Kersten S.J.
From 1945 to 1980, the two organisations developed their particular mission
and service in the Church, Unda focusing on radio, then incorporating television and
production, OCIC on cinema. The 1970s saw an interest in small media, media at the
grassroots, like street theatre, and this offered new challenges to the organisations.
The 1970s and early 1980s also saw the development of video production and the wide
distribution of programs, movies and educational, on cassettes. In Munich in 1977, it
was decided that there be a division of labour, so to speak, with Unda concentrating
on production and OCIC on distribution. This reflected something of how the two
organisations were coming closer as well as an indication that many of the media workers
in the church were operating in both Unda and OCIC fields.This was recognised in 1980
19
with the two organisations holding their assemblies together in Manila. This pattern
continued for the next twenty years in Nairobi (1983), Quito (1987), Bangkok (1990),
Prague (1994) and Montreal (1998). Many members frequently asked the question:
should the two organisations become one? There were persuasive arguments on both
sides. Each, for instance, had their particular focus and their particular media, a sense
of identity which could be lost. On the other hand, with the technological developments
of the latter part of the 20th century, more and more members of each organisation found
themselves working in multimedia, or cross-media communications. These changes
meant new communications identities for most who worked in the media.
To employ a useful cliché, moods in both OCIC and Unda blew hot and cold
concerning a merger. At times, as in the early 1980s, it seemed a good ideal to pursue.
By the late 1980s, there was less enthusiasm. Again, as the 1990s went on, there were
new moves for a merger. In fact, the executives of both organisations met in Rome at
the time of the annual Pontifical Council assembly in February 1994 to prepare for the
Prague Assembly later that year. They looked at what was particularly characteristic of
their organisations and what that would mean for the future. The decision was made
to present these ideas to members in Prague and to hold a straw vote concerning a
merger. When the discussion was held in Prague and the vote taken, it was a straw poll
against a merger.
The move towards one organisation was at a standstill.
Some of those in favour of a merger felt that there was more to life than spending time
at endless meetings, toing and froing about the issue, and thought that the discussion
should be put on hold for a time. Some of the reasons for this hesitation are found in the
thesis by Gaye Ortiz, pp 94-95 quoting a paper by the present author which emphasised
the then lack of meeting of minds and the need for OCIC to maintain its identity and
tradition.
However, it was the force of the two secretary generals which moved matters ahead.
Robert Molhant, secretary general of OCIC since 1979, was strongly in favour of a
merger. The new secretary general of Unda, Victor Sunderaj, assessed the realities of
the situation, the cross media work, the financial situations and the interest of funding
organisations in streamlining their grants through having one organisation. Surprisingly
to many, each Board voted in favour of moving towards a merger at the meetings in
Brussels in November 1997. The decision was to put the matter to the vote to each
Assembly in Montreal in 1998 with the members of the Board speaking in favour.
During 1998, the executives of the two organisations, Angela Ann Zukowski
(President) and Victor Sunderaj (Secretary General) for Unda and Henk Hoekstra
(President) and Robert Molhant (Secretary General) for OCIC, consulted the members
and prepared some documentation to present in Montreal. They held a special meeting
in (wind and rainswept) Malta, producing a Malta document.
The stage was set for a merger.
20
The Montreal Assemblies
Study days: Creativity in the Mediasphere: a Spiritual Opportunity
Preparations for the 1998 assemblies were not easy and, at one stage, it was thought
that the meetings would have to be held in Rome. However, the efforts of Pierre
Bélanger and Jacques Paquette, representing Unda and OCIC respectively, enabled
the assemblies to be held in the first week of August as planned. The venue was the
University St. Paul of Montreal.
A tradition had grown up of both organisations sharing study days prior to the actual
days of each assembly. The following overview of these days was written in what was
to be the first of joint statements in Unda-OCIC Info over the next three years, published
under the signatures of the presidents, Angela Ann Zukowski, the re-elected president of
Unda, and Peter Malone, newly elected president of OCIC. These reports will be used
as central documents to chart the progress of the merger.
“The process in planning and designing our Unda-OCIC World Congress Study
Days is no small task. A quick reflection on the past three World Congresses indicates
that our members’ attitudes, needs and wants regar­ding the direction of the Study
Days conti­nually shift from one perspective to another. Such is the rich diversity of our
membership. In reality, the World Congress Study Days have been an attempt to focus
in on a single theme and discover how our members are addressing this theme within
their continent and ministry.
In August 1998 we had the opportunity to see the complexity and rich diversity of our
members’ insights and interpretations on the theme, ‘Creativity in the Mediasphere : A
Spiritual Opportunity’. We navigated through a stimulating mix of serious speeches and
with song and humour, with impressive words and with arresting sounds and images.
The presentations triggered our awareness about one another’s issues and concerns in
the new mediasphere.
The three hour presentations from each conti­nent required much attention to both
the broad picture and the fine details and/or nuances that were communicated by our
col­leagues. As each continent ascended the stage, a new perspective and experience
awai­ted us. While we did not experience a speci­fic uniformity in approaching the theme
in content, methodology or process, our mem­bers did find themselves responding on
both the intellectual and emotional level to the messages being communicated. No one
was untouched by the unfolding events and expe­riences.
Our World Congress Study Days created a paradox and a challenge for us. How
can we present experiences and infor­mation that trigger a global sense of connec­
tedness among our members as a world asso­ciation? How can we present themes and
experiences that have a longer life span than two or three days? How can we keep the
conversations going so we can continue to reflect on the meaning of ‘Creativity in the
Mediasphere: A Spiritual Opportunity!’.
The reality is that the dialogue has only begun for us. In this rapidly evolving new
media world, we are challenged to find new ways to address the issues of social justice,
21
human dignity, spirituality, faith, evangelization, catechesis, discipleship and ministry.
We cannot be content with our current media or its content.
The message that emerged from our World Congress Study Days called us to
transcend our own cultural boundaries and perceptions to embrace the global scenario.
We were challenged to be sentinels and advocates for equality and accessibility for all
women and men to the opportunities of the new media age.
As we were immersed in the cultural diversi­ty of our members’ communication of
their issues and concerns through story, image, song and philosophical, technological
and theological insights, we experienced the kaleidoscopic image of who Unda and
OCIC are, as well as, striving to become.” (OCIC-Unda Info, December 1998. Text:
Angela Ann Zukowski)
The two Secretaries General also began to work together and to write jointly in the
editions which combined OCIC Info and Unda News. Their first comment was also
on the study days and how this was setting a perspective for the merger. This is not
the first time that the Secretaries General of OCIC and Unda have sat down to work
together. Nevertheless the appearance of this joint issue of Unda News and OCIC Info
is indicative of the direction in which our two international organizations are moving
together. The time was right. For some time, OCIC and Unda have been organizing
study days together in different locations. This tra­dition was continued and even more
in evi­dence in Montreal because the Study Days’ activities were conceived for the public
com­mon to both organizations. No activities or workshops related to the theme of the
Study Days took place during the General Assembly or the joint statutory meetings.
It was uplift­ing for the delegates to be offered the possibi­lity to participate in all the
activities - a sort of express route to common reflection and sha­ring.
Each continent was responsible for analyzing one aspect of the theme which was
‘Creativity in the Mediasphere: a Spiritual Opportunity’. It was the first time that the
leadership of these Study Days was distributed in this way; it was also the first time that
the reports from the continents were incorporated into the body of the Study Days. It was
much appreciated that the time devoted to the presentation of reports was shortened.
The rest of the time, we were treated to a panoramic voyage, each image different from
the one before.
Something else confirms the impression of a journey in tandem during these Study
Days: the material presented and the reactions which it evoked were not at all marked
by preoccupations with cliques or closed circles. The people from the “Place Lumiere” as
well as from the “Catholic Avenue” and the “Internet Highway” managed to find a com­mon
language and generally didn’t stay loc­ked in their own ghetto. When one or another of
the speakers seemed to venture into the obscure or to depart from the subject at hand,
there was always someone to ask the right question to bring us back to the purpose
of our journey : to encourage the search for mea­ning among our contemporaries with
human, spiritual and evangelical enlightenment that the world of media can offer.
The bulletin which you have in your hands is a witness to the experience of these
Study Days, rich with images, testimonies, and dis­coveries. It marks a step towards
the creation of a new Catholic communications organiza­tion, which we have chosen
22
together as our common destination. This is further noted by the move of Unda to the rue
du Saphir, to the same building which houses OCIC. The bul­letins of Unda and OCIC are
not yet one, but we are learning to do more and more in colla­boration. The years ahead
will be marked by “premieres”. Let us hope that 1999 will be rich with the grace of unity,
fraternity, and collaboration that are the fuel for our project for the future; let us hope that
Jesus Christ to whom this year is dedicated, will be our com­panion on the journey at the
dawn of the new millennium.” (December 1998)
These December 1998 editions of OCIC Info and Unda News contain helpful
excerpts of a Study Days Report compiled by Ferdinand Poswick and Clotilde Lee
concentrating on New Technologies and the consequences for the changing media
landscape. There are also overviews of the presentations from each of the continents.
Some paragraphs of more personal comment reminded participants that Bernard
Canaberal of the Philippines put on a very entertaining show impersonating callers with
personal and moral questions to radio stations and the tricky nature of responses. He
also effectively added sound effects. Bill Falekaono from the Pacific shared a traditional
Tongan drink showing how communication comes through all the senses. Achille
Kouawo of Niger used a journalistic interview to illuminate the problems of the African
continent in the media world. Latin America used video material and North America
emphasised Al Gore’s hope that every child would be linked by the web to the National
Library of Congress - in the audience were representatives of small Pacific countries,
like Sister Tessarua from Kiribas who had experienced going up in a lift only once in Fiji
before testing them out in Montreal!
One episode that probably stays in the mind of many participants is from the European
presentation. Maggie Roux from the UK was speaking of ‘epiphanies’. In her words:
The final part of our exploration into the power of the Image is very personal. Despite
the problematics which we have been exploring, there is a point at which each individual
stands before an image and makes meaning for themselves. This meaning grows out
of their own personal history and context. This is particularly so when out of the artist’s
expression of imaginative trans­formation the image speaks to our deepest selves. This
is what many of us experience as an Epiphany.
‘The Full Monty’ is a British movie (we have to end on a British movie!) made on a
small budget, set in a small city in the North of England. This film has done incredible
repeat business - many people have gone two and three times to see it in quick
succession. It has (in England at least) spawned imitators in pubs and clubs. Full Monty
Nights where the men dance and remove their clothes in front of their family audiences
are extremely popular (who says the English are reserved?).
But how might such a film express Epiphany? There are no wonderful scenes of
nature pointing to the glory of God or the majesty of the created universe. The director
has not painted a canvas full of colour and light. There is no intention to explore spiritual
yearnings or moments of wonder when the transcendent breaks through.
But what The Full Monty does is explore everyday human concerns. Beneath the
light hearted comedy is a powerful story of broken dreams and broken lives. And it is
a story about a loving way of living. Through the love of family, friends and community
23
the characters finally live life as a celebration… It was in that triumphant naked dance
that epiphany was expressed. We are not broken people on the scrapheap of life. We
are God’s creation, and like David in the Old Testament, we can dance in joy before the
Lord.” When Maggie screened the last five minutes of The Full Monty, not everybody
was looking directly at the screen for their epiphany! And Archbishop Foley, head of the
Pontifical Council for Social Communications, did mention in the OCIC Assembly proper
that juries (and The Full Monty had received an OCIC award in San Sebastian in 1997)
needed to be aware of vulgarity.
The Assemblies
While the assemblies attended to ordinary business and reports, there were elections.
Angela Ann Zukowski was re-elected president of Unda, with Washington Uranga
(Argentina) and Peter Thomas (Australia) re-elected as Vice Presidents. Pierre Bélanger
succeeded Victor Sunderaj as Secretary General of Unda. Peter Malone (Australia) was
elected president of OCIC with Augie Loorthusamy (Malaysia) and Gaye Ortiz (UK) as
Vice Presidents. Robert Molhant continued as Secretary General of OCIC.
The significant votes for the merger: Unda ****, OCIC: 95 in favour, 1 against,
1 abstention.
The Day After
The morning after the end of the Assemblies saw the first meeting of combined Executives
and the first official discussion about the merger (and the French word ‘fusion’). It was
decided that the first meeting would be held in Luxemburg in December 1998 – and, with
a basis in the Malta Document, everyone would go home and think seriously about how
the merger could actually be effected.
A process
It is useful to offer an overview of the process towards the merger and then add the
statements and information that indicate how the process actually went in practice.
When the presidents, vice presidents and secretary generals, along with some
seconded members, met in December 1998 in the seminary in wintry Luxemburg under
the auspices of Archbishop Franck, a friend of OCIC and Unda from the years where
he administered funds at Propaganda Fidei, even the intended date for the merger was
not yet established.
The assembly opinions were that it should be achieved within four years. In fact,
it was accomplished in three. This is in no small part due to Angela Ann Zukowski’s
practical American know-how in establishing a timeline for the process and the detail for
each stage of the timeline. And the timeline was followed exactly for the three years.
The basic chronology for each year consisted of:
•
an end of year meeting of the Executive which would establish the parameters
of the goals to be reached over the 12 month period, the specific details of what
24
was to be achieved, the ways in which the Executive, the Boards and the total
membership could be involved in every stage of the process.
•
A Joint Boards meeting in the European spring to discuss the proposals of
the Executive which each member was to receive in sufficient time before the
Boards’ meeting; the Boards’ reworking of the material would be sent to all the
members around the world.
•
A meeting within two or three months of the presidents and secretaries general
to fine tune the material of the Board to be sent out to all members.
•
Regional meetings of the continents in the second half of the year with feedback
in time for the next Executive meeting, so that the consensus of the world
membership would ratify what had been achieved during the year and the
process could start for the following year.
•
Approval of the documents by the Joint Boards’ meeting of the following year.
This timetable was followed, not without difficulty, especially in such demanding areas
as legal wording for statutes. It was the responsibility of the two presidents to chair the
meetings, which they did, though delegating the vice presidents and other members with
a flair for chairing meetings to preside at particular sessions.
The meetings
The first Luxemburg meeting opened up the realities of the structure of the new
organisation. One of the key questions was whether the geographical model be retained
or a model be considered which looked at the different fields of media and the range of
networks they could develop. The structures of UCIP, the Catholic Union of the Press,
and WACC, The World Association of Christian Communication, with its ‘desks’ for the
different media, were studied. Ultimately, the geographical model prevailed, though the
networking idea was incorporated into what ultimately came to be called ‘priorities’ and
‘fields of action’.
In November 1999, Alvito de Souza (Kenya) from Vatican Radio was appointed as
the secretary for the merger, preparing the documents and co-ordinating responses. He
continued this work during the succeeding two years.
A sense of the process and progress can be gained by looking at the joint presidents’
statements, especially the reports of the Joint Boards meetings of 1999 (in Rolduc, The
Netherlands, near the borders of Belgium and Germany), 2000 and 2001 in Munich
(where 2000 saw the boards having a couple of hours off on Shrove Tuesday and
being amazed at the instant meticulous clean up of central Munich after the Mardi Gras
celebrations and where 2001 saw many Board members not leaving the building for five
days!).
Regarding the mid-year Core Committee (presidents and secretaries general)
meetings, in 1999 it was in Brussels; in 2000 Angela Ann Zukowski hosted a meeting on
her campus at the University of Dayton; in 2001 the meeting was at the Cenacle Retreat
Centre in Chicago. Another 2001 meeting was held in October in Madrid to put the
finishing touches to the documents for the assembly which would vote on the merger.
This was held in Rome in November 2001.
25
In order to ensure that the process was open to all and that the executive were
attentive to the views from around the world, the presidents and secretaries general
were present at as many of the regional meetings as possible in order to listen at first
hand to opinions and difficulties.
1999
The Rolduc Joint Boards’ meeting was a big challenge to everyone there – at least
50 people. The members of each board numbered twenty or more. There were
also non-voting participants, including Fr Pat Casserly (who died in 2002), the liaison
between Unda and the Pontifical Council for Social Communications and Monsignor
Enrico Planas who held a similar position for OCIC. Fr Tom Connolly (who died in
October 2000) was Unda’s spiritual adviser. There was Jean-Paul Guillet, director of the
OCIC Missionary Service in Rome and the two treasurers, Caz Goosens for Unda and
former OCIC president Lucien Labelle for OCIC. Members of the Brussels staff for each
organisation were also present as were some translators. Many of the members did not
know each other very well. The process was unfamiliar but most members soon moved
into a rhythm (with expected and unexpected hiccups) for the next three years. Small
group work was essential.
The presidents’ statement on Rolduc reads:
“The recent Board Meetings of OCIC and Unda at Kerkrade, The Netherlands, and the
Joint Board Meetings held there indicate how, step by step, the decision made in Montreal,
August 1998, to merge the two organisations is progressing.
Going back to the Board and Joint Board Meetings in Brussels in 1997, there is a fine
sense of collaboration within the two organisations. These meetings prepared well for
the discussion in Montreal, starting to imagine how a new Catholic organisation for media
could be developed. Prior to the Montreal Congress, a core committee of the Presidents
and General Secretaries met in May in Malta and came up with what was presented at
Montreal, ‘The Malta Document’.
This document and the discussions in Montreal formed the basis for a special committee
of Presidents, Secretaries General and members of the respective executives which met
in November last in Luxemburg. The result of the deliberations was ‘The Luxemburg
Document’. A key element in this was the establishing of a timeline for work so that the
union might be voted on in November 2001. (The timeline was published in Unda News.)
The main elements discussed in Luxemburg were the Nature of the new organisation
(incorporating the vision), the Aims and Objectives (the elements of a Mission Statement),
the range of membership and the consequent structures needed. With feedback from the
members of each Board, these issues were discussed with vigour in Kerkrade. Now this
material is being prepared to be sent to all the members for their responses.
At Kerkrade there were also initial discussions on the financial issues for the new
organisation.” (OCIC Info, January-March 1999. Text: Peter Malone)
The two Secretaries General were eager to ‘consciousness-raise’ in their editorial,
suggesting ideas as to why the merger was necessary:
26
“You’ve got it: the second joint issue of the newsletter produced by the Secretariat
teams of OCIC and Unda. We want it to be a concrete token of the evolu­tion of our two
organizations towards their union within a new association to be created in 2001.
A number of dreams erupt within the imagination of our officers and members.
Everyone wishes that OCIC’s and Unda’s rich experience, gathered over 70 years of
existence, be preserved, but at the same time that we would not inherit the limitations of
our organizations (which organization would not have any weakness?).
Participation in festivals seems to be one of the strengths to be preserved. It is one
of the essential functions of an international Catholic organization for audio-visual media
to be a meeting place for profes­sionals, to develop a dialogue with those who ‘make’
television, radio and films to be aired or projected all over the world. This is the kind of
challenge we are facing when we are told, sometimes bluntly: ‘Create a new organization
that will play a role in the public forum and will not confine itself to the sacristy’.
It is a perpetual challenge to ‘go beyond the border, over to the professional world’.
This world, indeed, is in fear of interventions from Churches that would try to impose
moral values that are less and less univer­sally agreed upon or censorship that no one
accepts anymore. A long companionship with the professional milieu is necessary to
base our credibility as repre­sentatives of Catholic media. At first, you feel suspi­cion.
You must be a priest or a religious. If you are a lay person, the question you hear is ‘is it
possible, at the same time, to be professional and to work within a Catholic institution?
Leave the sacristy and come out to the public square!’. These are the preconcep­tions of
the audio-visual media environment, at least in many countries.
There is, then, a strong challenge for the new organization to face: to cross over
- better than OCIC and Unda have been able to do it - the border of the professional
world. But, paradoxically enough, OCIC and Unda have also been kept at the border of
yet another world: the world of the Church. Sure, this statement would deserve some
nuances. Both organizations have an official status within the Catholic Church. But if we
can write that they have been kept at the border, it is because they have not succeeded
in making present the whole dimension of social communication at the very heart of
the Church, of her theology and pastoral ministry. Indications of this are numerous.
For instance, the responsibility of ‘bishop for the media’ is not one bishops are usually
fighting to get within episcopal conferences. Media education continues to be gene­
rally absent from formation curriculums for Church leaders. In a time during which our
societies are more and more immersed in a civilisation of images, most of our Churches
keep persistently anchored in the printing universe, thus separating themselves from the
most lively sources of our contemporary culture.
The new organization will then face in this another strong challenge: to work on
introducing communications at the very heart of the Church of the next mil­lennium.
To accept the challenge, new means have to be invented because, within their
lifetime, our two o orga­nizations have really got a planetary dimension. It is impossible
to develop modern audiovisual media for the whole world with annual budgets (half a
million dollars) that would not be sufficient to produce a single short film. It might be in
27
the capacity to mobili­ze the necessary means that can be found the real key for the
future of the new association.
But on this topic, as you will read it in the ‘Rolduc Document’ that is being presented
in these pages, we are still swimming in a sea of mystery. The most optimistic will say
that, this way, we are keeping our freedom to dream!” (OCIC-Unda Info, May-June,
1999)
Progress had been made. The Rolduc document has a great deal of substance
and the dynamic of the timeline is clear – although, if one looks at the final documents
of 2001, it will be clear where the responses led to modification of this draft document
(OCIC-Unda Info, May-June 1999):
ROLDUC DOCUMENT
Let’s remember the timeline of our vast project:
here are the different steps this Document is going through:
Definition of Nature, Aims, Membership profile, Structure, Joint Board draft: March
1999
Core Committee draft: May 1999
Distribution to members: June 1999
Executive Committee, final draft: November 1999
Final approval by the Joint Boards: March 2000
It means that, between June and November, all gatherings and meetings of members
on national or continental levels should study the Rolduc Document and send back their
reactions to Brussels before November 1. The material will then be processed to the
final rewriting during the Joint Executive Committee meeting, at the end of that month.
The Nature of The New Association
The following is the material sent to members:
‘X’ [Name yet to be chosen] is a Catholic world association of dedicated and
professional media communicators (who work in fields such as video and television
and cinema, information technology and other emerging (or future) forms of mediated
communication).
It respects all cultures, and builds community through the service and promotion
of human, social, cultural and Christian values. (‘Christian’ specifically articulates a
preferential option for the poor in a way that ‘spiritual’ does not. We include other faith
perspectives in the phrase, ‘it respects all cultures’.) It is a ‘gathering place’ (a ‘virtual’ or
metaphorical (ie, not literal) term which connotes the ethos of the association as open,
welcom­ing and supportive of commu­nicators working within the media industry as well
as those who work within the Church) for communica­tors to feel at home and to inspire
each other through dialogue and the sharing of experiences (through education and
28
train­ing initiatives as well as through networking in world assemblies, film festivals, video
markets, etc.).
The association aims to promote the development of women and men of all cultures
through commu­nications in order to respond to the issues and concerns of society. This
is realized through research, education, productions, service and pro­tection of human
rights.
1. To promote and coordinate the work of the association in communications,
education, research and productions by means of com­munication technologies.
2. To offer professional formation opportunities, particularly promoting education
for commu­nications that will develop critical and active minds and contribute to
healthy public opin­ion.
3. To program activities motivating and encourag­ing participation in a continuing
dialogue of the transformation of the communications culture.
4. To facilitate inter-religious and ecumenical collaboration in communications
activities.
5. To contribute to the pastoral care of communi­cation professionals.
6. To position the Church to be an active voice in the world of communications.
7. To encourage the members of the association to be living witnesses to the
Gospel values.
8. To protect human rights and justice in address­ing communications issues and
concerns.
9. To represent its members at the international level.
At the same time as our members are being asked to make their comments on the nature,
aim and objectives, membership profile and structure of the future association, they are
being offered the opportunity to contribute to the preparation of the next chapters of our
‘unified future’. It has to do with:
what should be at the heart of the Catholic asso­ciation for communication; these
services and programs are expected to be structured through a new flexible and open
system of forums and desks.
Forum: A forum is a specialized area of interest (e.g.: cyberspace, festivals, radio,
influence of new technology on video production) which organizes and networks the
expertise of its members. While members could meet, participation is primarily maintained
through electronic means. The forum is monitored and ‘animated’ by a facilitator under
the responsibility of a ‘desk’.
Desk: A desk is the name for a person or group of persons who coordinate an
interest area or a series of projects or forums. Every four years, the focus of the desks
will be reviewed and deter­mined by the Board. Many desks can exist at the same time
and be located anywhere in the world because of the possibilities offered by electronic
communication.
29
QUESTION 1: What are the kinds of issues, concerns and focuses these forums
and desks will have to deal with in order to address the emerging needs of Catholic
communicators and, more specifically, of our members in the new media milieu?
[Please think in terms of flexibility, innovation and new ini­tiatives.]
QUESTION 2: Which forum(s) would you feel interested and comfortable to
participate in?
QUESTION 3: What other (kinds of) services should the future association offer to
its members? The professio­nal communication world? The Catholic Church? Now
is the time to start to invent the formula to insure a sound financial basis for the
world asso­ciation. The answers to question 4 will be chan­nelled to the newly formed
Finance Committee.
QUESTION 4: What suggestions would you make on the financial ways to help the
future association to play its roles and to offer the kinds of services and programs
you would be expecting? [Please be as precise and explicit as possible; examples
are welcomed.]
The quest for a NAME: And, why not bring in your suggestions for the name of the
association? For this, the Core Committee is asking first of all to identify the crite­ria you
think should be considered in choosing the name. Then a concrete suggestion can be
made... with lots of rationale to prove it’s the best possible idea!
Let’s continue, then, to be creative in the design of our future so that the upcoming
world Catholic association for communication be a fruitful instru­ment to serve the needs
of our members, of cour­se, but also of our Church and of all men and women of good will
who believe that communica­tion is a path towards peace and a more humane planet.”
There was plenty of material there for members to think about so that they could
move on to the wavelength of discussing the merger. The Core Committee then met to
get this material ready for the members worldwide.
The presidents’ message tried to find the balance between forming the new
organisation and preserving the core of the traditions of both Unda and OCIC.
“… the Core Committee consisting of the two Presidents and the two Secretaries
General met for two days in Brussels to finalise the Rolduc document for sending out
to mem­bers of the two organisations worldwide for review and critique (and affirmation
where possible!).
One of the main things that has struck us in this work, as well as in the thinking
that led up to the vote for unification in Montreal, is that there are two processes going
on. Both of them are necessary. The first is the dynamic of thinking new and thinking
creatively. It is of little value simply taking the concerns of Unda and the concerns of
OCIC and adding one to the other. That would not be a ‘new’ asso­ciation for the next
century, just an amalgam of the two old organisations. If the mentality of simply mer­ging
the two organisations is still part of our thinking, then we have to move on. After all,
we speak of multimedia. We also speak of our individual involvements in our work as
being ‘cross-media’. The desire to merge was to acknowledge this cross media reality,
to acknowledge the ever-changing and quickly-changing technologies and to be at
30
the forefront of these developments as Church. This would mean that the Church was
credible on the level of international and of changing and challenging media.
But, the second dynamic is equally important and could sometimes be in danger
of being overlooked. It is this: the specialist areas that have been developed in each
organisation for over 70 years must not be downgraded or lost. While attending the
30th anniversary of Cameco in Aachen, we heard speakers at the seminar reiterate
the importance of radio in their countries (in Africa and the Pacific, for example). The
new technologies are coming, but they often facilitate the practical use of what are
now becoming ‘tradi­tional’ media. From the OCIC perspective, we will need, in the new
association, to continue the focus on cinema culture, liaison with the industry and the
presence and awards at film festivals.
This means that the coming two and a half years of discussion will be both a looking
ahead as well as a looking back, trying to incorporate the best of both worlds.” (OCICUnda Info, May-June 1999. Text: Peter Malone)
Futur Talent
During the meeting of the Core Committee in Brussels in 1999, Brother Ferdinand
Poswick of Maredsous Abbey, a member of the OCIC Board, came to lunch. He had
just conducted a pastoral review of the diocese of Namur. It appeared that the Bishop
was about to sell his media interests and equipment and had been advised that some of
the income should form a foundation with some of its interest being made available for
worldwide church media programs. The suggestion was that OCIC be the channel for
this money and, as the merger developed, the new combined association.
There was some optimism and some scepticism. Both were fulfilled, though the
optimism turned out to be temporary. There were many discussions, especially during
the ensuing executive meetings and the Joint Boards’ meetings. At one stage, lengthy
statutes were drawn up and a name emerged, ‘Futur Talent’. Matters progressed during
2000 and after the Executive Meeting in Aachen, November 2000, Futur Talent funded an
international symposium on church and media in Namur itself. Many members of OCIC
and Unda were able to attend, along with Belgian media experts and some international
guests including the directors, Gaston Kabore and Krzysztof Zanussi.
A press conference followed, with the bishop and several of his advisors present
and the plans for Futur Talent were announced – to mixed reactions from the Belgian
Catholic press, many of whom wondered why the money should go out of the diocese.
After several years, this point of view prevailed.
However, during the brief Futur Talent years, a number of events were held and
awards made. They included a special symposium on cinema critique and a special jury
for La Semaine de la Critique in Cannes, 2001, awards to up and coming directors at
San Sebastian, grants for workshops in the Democratic Republic of Congo, a seminar
for French-speaking reviewers in Namur, a seminar, also in Namur, on Women and
Cinema and, the final event, a film festival in Namur. The bishop then announced the
end of the program and a small (a kind of severance grant) amount of money was given
to SIGNIS. In most associations there are many such ‘might have beens’.
31
The Latin American Post-Production Awards
This is probably the best place to note a more successful and longer lasting program, the
Latin American Post-Production Competition. Towards the end of 1998, $100,000 dollars
were made available from the funding agency, Porticus, through OCIC in collaboration
with OCLAC (the office in Quito for the combined association of OCIC, Unda and UCIP
in Latin America).
A jury in Latin America and Brussels would select three films of feature length (fiction
or documentary) for grants of $30,000 and a short film for a grant of $10,000, to be used in
post-production work. OCIC (and later SIGNIS) were to have some rights for screenings
and distribution. There were some difficulties in the following years (sometimes due to
earthquakes in Ecuador and problems with post) but the competition has continued, has
its own prestige and has been the occasion for professional awareness of the role of
SIGNIS as well as the church, giving some edge to its credibility in the world of media.
1999-2000
For the rest of 1999, regions discussed the proposals.
The presidents’ words were a touch exhortatory (or inspirational!):
“We are now half way toward reaching our Unda-OCIC goal for a New World
Catholic association for communications. It continues to be a bold, courageous and
visionary step we embraced in Montreal in 1998. Then as now our members understood
that the communications and religious world is changing. Whether directly or indirectly,
it is rapidly changing.
A significant part of our vision is that our new association will be a ‘voice’ worth
recognizing and embracing by others within the winds of cultural and religious change.
We are in a position to make a difference. ‘Many people with one voice will always speak
louder than many people with many voices’ (anonymous).
As Unda-OCIC names those cultural and religious issues, we must speak out
with one voice, we are challenged to intensify our ability to listen to the diverse winds
of change which swirl around us. I am not speaking about individual listening. I am
speaking of organizational listening which respects our diversities and uniqueness and
enables us to participate in the symphony of our common vision.
The ability to authentically listen to the winds of change calls for nimbleness.
Nimbleness enables us to continually identify and implement critical changes more quickly
and efficiently. Nimbleness is fitness to change. So we find ourselves asking: What is it
we are called to change within our organization that enables our new association to make
the ‘difference’ when we speak within the Church and/or our culture(s)? Nimbleness
requires that we can be resilient in ongoing times of change. Resilient organizations
effectively identify opportunities in turbulent environments, have a clear vision of what
they want to achieve, draw on wide range of resources, engage action in the face of
uncertainty, taking calibrated risks rather than seeking comfort. As you and I strive to
be nimble and resilient as the winds of change swirl around us, reflect for a moment on
the words of R. F. Kennedy: ‘Few will have the greatness to bend history itself; but each
of us can work to change a small portion of events, and in the total of all those acts will
32
be written in the history of this generation’.” (OCIC-Unda Info, November 1999. Text:
Angela Ann Zukowski)
For the beginning of the second year of the process, Alvito de Souza began his work
in synthesising all the responses while keeping an eye on the detailed suggestions for
consideration or change.
It was winter again in Luxemburg, December 1999.
The Executive committee was able to work through the responses and prepare the
documentation on the first key issues for the vote at the 2000 Joint Boards’ meeting in
Munich as well as raise issues of the finance for the new organisation as well as the
range of forthcoming services and programs.
2000
The secretary prepared an overview of these discussions and how they were presented
at the annual Joint Boards’ meeting in Munich, March 2000 – and began a process of
urging members to use the website for accessing documents.
The joint Boards of management of OCIC and Unda met in Munich, Germany, from
March 3-8, 2000. Composed of some 40 delegates from all over the world, the joint
Boards had to vote on the nature, objectives, membership profile and voting structure
of the new association merging OCIC and Unda. It was the structure of the new
association that was the centre of discussion. What type of members will make up the
new association? It was clear that national media institutions, recognized by Church
authorities, will maintain their important place in the new association, at the same time
the need was felt to open up the new association to institutions and individuals who
share the objec­tives of OCIC and Unda.
The new World Assembly will be composed of six delegates nominated by each
continental assem­bly (Africa, Asia, Europe. Latin America. North America, Pacific.), and
six delegates representing the international members (Institutions and indivi­duals). The
international associations’ board of management will be made up of two delegates from
each of the regions, plus two delegates from the international members along with the
President and two vice presidents... a total of 17 persons.
Services, Programs and Finances
The joint boards also reflected on the services the new association must ensure towards
its mem­bers, and within the professional world and socie­ty at large. They took steps
towards assuring the new associations financial health, opening new conduits towards
international organizations, (European Union and others), and private spon­sorship
(companies linked to communications and the media.).
The Munich Document
A special ‘core’ committee, consisting of the actual Presidents and Secretaries General
of OCIC and Unda, met in Dayton (USA) from April 6-10, 2000, to bring the joint Boards
33
of management’s suggestions together in a document, ‘the Munich Document’, which
will be sent out to our members for their reactions and comment.
Ready for November 2001
The assemblies of both OCIC and Unda decided, in 1998 in Montreal, that the merger
of the two organizations will take place at a congress to be held in Rome in November
2001. Many diverse aspects and concerns need to be debated and cla­rified to allow the
creation of a new association. Board of management delegates will consult members in
each region of the world to debate aspects of the merger which related to the coun­tries
and continents. You may access the merger documents on our web site: www.ocic.org.”
(OCIC-Unda Info, March-April, 2000) It was the move from aims, objectives, membership
and structures to the active side of the new organisation that the presidents’ word wanted
to stress: “Our buzz words for the year 2000 are ‘programs’ and ‘services’.
According to our time-line for preparation for the General Assembly next year to
bring the new Catholic media organisation into being, we are now concentrating on
programs and services. At the joint Board meetings of OCIC and Unda in Munich in early
March, we were able to come up with the formulation of nature and objectives of the new
association as well as describe membership and structure. This was the culmination of
a process of almost a year and a half with meetings of the Executive Committee, the
joint Boards, consultation with the members worldwide, then Executive again and the
joint Boards again. It has meant that everyone has had the opportunity for input. There
will not be exact agreement by all on every detail, but we have a document now that
reflected the process and a consensus of mem­bers and which can be presented to a
lawyer who can frame these points in statute language. A lawyer will begin to do this
work shortly. We are now doing the same for programs and services.
One of the main considerations as been the question of what do we maintain from the
two organisa­tions that is essential as well as how do we respond to new challenges
and be creative. In your area you might want to follow the same process that we went
through. We took the objectives that we had approved and groups took two each of
these objectives and asked how we can maintain and how we can be creative. This led
to statements that will be incorporated into the Munich document to be sent out to all
members. An example would be the objective concerning justice issues and joining in
forums around the world for justice. We see significant openings for the new organisation
here.
We have used the language of ‘desk’ and ‘forum’ and ‘allied agency’ to indicate some
of the means by which we can achieve our objectives in all parts of the world and not
simply from Brussels. Feedback on how ‘desks’ might work, about forums and networks
and who are the agencies with which we might be allied to achieve our objectives will
be most welcome.
But we also looked at what is still required of the General Secretariat in Brussels, the
continuing work of publications, festivals and so on at world level. We also speculated on
the criteria for the choosing of the first President and the Vice-Presidents.
34
Another challenge is that in the increasing sophistication of technology for
communication which will certainly be a focus for the new organisation, we also have to
ask what aspects of the specialties of OCIC and Unda (cinema, radio, television) have
to be continued. For instance, with cinema, it is part of overall media education as well
as of distribution and promotion. However, cinema culture, movie reviewing and specific
liaison with the cinema industry are unique and have to be fostered. That is ano­ther
challenge when we consider programs and services. As you will see from the Munich
document when it reaches you, our newly established Finance Committee has been at
work exploring ways of fund-raising.
But one of the elements that still eludes us is the name of the new organisation. We
considered all the names submitted, some receiving approval, others not. We also found
that what sounds good in one language does not necessarily sound good in another.
Members of the Board were keen that there be even greater consultation about the
name (and a corresponding logo). We realise that there are many students of graphic
art around the world who might be interested in turning their hands and imagina­tions to
suggesting and making designs. Is that possible in your part of the world?” (OCIC-Unda
Info, March-April 2000. Text: Peter Malone)
So far, so good, but it was now only a year and a half to the Assembly in Rome. The
important issue of the Statutes for the new organisation still had to be raised. The Unda
statutes (with Unda constituted in Switzerland), were to be used as a basis for the new
statutes. This material was put in the hands of a Belgian lawyer, M. Masquelin, who
would prepare a draft with an eye to the requirements of Belgian law.
This confidence was seen in the next message from the presidents, written after the
Core Committee met in Dayton, Ohio, and did some work and lecturing for Angela Ann’s
courses and a public lecture (earning one’s keep, so to speak).
The heading was quite optimistic: ‘On Our Way and on Schedule’. It also offered
a little revision for those who might not be up to scratch on the different meetings and
committees.
“Last month, the members of OCIC and Unda received The Munich Document, on
the road to the future unified world Catholic association for the media, it is not the first
‘document’ to come out regarding this exciting creation we are collectively involved with
and it might not be the last one... but we are getting closer to the end of the process.
This last step represents the work of the Executive Committee which met in
Luxemburg, in November 1999, and of the combined boards meeting of OCIC and Unda
that took place in Munich in March 2000.
A year before, The Rolduc Document had asked for our members’ consideration. The
document focused particularly on the issues of Nature, Aims, Objectives, Membership
and Structure of the new association. The door was also opened to make suggestions
for the name of the future association.
A synthesis of the members’ comments and suggestions facilitated the work of
the joint Executive Committees in Luxemburg and a proposal on ‘Nature, Aims and
Objectives, Membership and Structure’ was brought for approval at the Boards of
35
Management Munich meeting, after amendments and re-writing that was made possible
thanks to the members’ responses. This process allowed for more clarity, for instance in
omitting the section titled ‘Aims’ since the aims were covered in ‘nature and objectives’.
It was also an opportunity to simplify the statement of objectives and be able to offer
descriptions of the different kinds of membership and, therefore, rework the structure
accordingly.
This material has now gone to a lawyer in Belgium who will draw up the Statutes,
according to the requirements of the local law. We then moved to the second phase on
the Timeline. This means consideration of Programs and Services, something that is
closer to our members’ daily life; something that is also closer to the role the association
is aiming to play within the media environment of tomorrow. In working on this chapter,
the board members considered the objectives and determined what had to be maintained
from the 70 years tradition of Unda and OCIC as well as how the objectives challenged
us to new thinking.
Part of the discussion was to list what services still needed to be provided considering
the members’ needs and list the services that emerged from the needs in the light of the
agreed objectives. Discussing the roles of the President and the Vice-Presidents as well
as of the General Secretariat was also part of this reflection.
So, the OCIC and Unda Board members are now expecting feedback from the
membership on these central elements of the life of the future association: programs and
services. The other major area for consideration at this second phase is ‘finances’. The
Finance Committee that has been set up in view of helping the establishment of sound
financial bases for the new association has made some suggestions and here again the
members’ reactions and proposals will be important. And, yes, although the range of
possible names for the unified association has been reduced, we cannot yet announce
what will be the new name; we hope that by the end of this year we will have come to an
agreement on this major element of the public image of our future.
We are on schedule, but there is no time to waste: in the coming months, regional or
national assemblies will create opportunities for consideration and feedback. It will also
be the right time for many of the present members to see more clearly how, on the
national and regional levels, they can be prepared to enter the new association as a
unified ‘OCIC-Unda’ body. This also is quite a challenge! (OCIC-Unda Info, May-June,
2000. Text: Peter Malone)
The secretariat summed up the work of the previous year and a half (half the time
available to prepare for the merger):
36
Towards the New Association
There is no need to present in great detail the last procedure to create the future
unified international Catholic association. The representatives of member countries
and international members have received the necessary material to participate in the
present stage of current consultations. It is up to them to spread out the material and
include as many people as possible, in their country or surroundings, that are involved
in communications or social communications. In fact, one must reach those who
work directly in the ecclesiastical media, but also and especially perhaps the Catholic
communicators who are professionals in communication, what is called the ‘secular’
media.
Briefly, we can underline that the Munich Document shows in its first part the results
of thought and consultations that have been taking place for the last year and a half in
all corners of the world on the future association’s nature, objectives, membership, and
structure. The second part is very short and is simply aimed at encouraging regions and
national associations to proceed to adapt their structures to the future changes that will
take place at world level.
Answering future needs
The third part requires a much wider consultation; it focuses on the programmes and
services that the future world association should or could bring. It then regards questions
on subscriptions for members, the general secretariat, the President and Vice-presidents’
profile and the names to be chosen for the future OCIC-Unda association.
Last year, the joint Boards of Management decided that the future Catholic
association would have its secretariat in Brussels. A Belgian lawyer is already dealing
with the information given to him to prepare the basis for the statutes which will meet the
objectives of the Belgian legislation. The general secretariat’s role will be of course to
coordinate; it has already been agreed upon that all activities would not necessarily have
to be dealt with from Brussels. A flexibility in the organisation, thanks to the possibilities
electronic communications offer today, is part of the orga­nisational landscape.
The secretariat, therefore, will offer a number of permanent services fundamentally
linked to activities already pursued at this present time by OCIC and Unda. These are
services which help members to achieve the association’s goals. The simplest example
to give is that of ‘technical services’, such as those offered at the moment by OCIC’s
missionary service in Rome. The secretariat will also coordinate a great number of
departments, which may well vary according to the priorities identified by the world
Assembly. Some departments will be permanent, such as the ‘training department’ for
example; others could be linked to a specific situation (for example, the coordination of
a project with UNESCO).
A new approach is seen in the establishment of forums that will bring together
members who share a common interest according to their professional profile. A
facilitator will coordinate this activity about sharing and mutual support. This will allow
the new association to offer members a level and a scope of service never really given in
37
present associations, for example a theology and communication forum allowing to bring
together university graduates and researchers from all continents.
The departments (provisionally called ‘desks’) and the forums will be responsible for
programmes made of specific activities and projects. To complete this structure, the Munich
Documents state the possibility for the future association to conclude partnership deals
with so-called ‘affiliated agencies’. These would be chosen because of their recognized
expertise in a determined area (for example, a university research department in the
case of an survey to be carried out in a given time). As for international congresses, they
would still take place, but they will no longer be linked to the association’s management
structure. They will clearly look like professional congresses to which every member will
be invited (these congresses will take place every four years and be held during world
assemblies; each participant will cover his or her expenses).
Finances
For more than a year, a special Finance committee has been created to help organise
strong financial basis for the future association. The committee has made various
propositions that have been discussed - some of which have even been voted - by
the joint Boards of Management. The members are told about the propositions in the
Munich Document, but they are more specifically asked to give their opinion on the
principles guiding the determination of the membership fees in the future association. A
small exercise is suggested, perhaps the opportunity for awareness. The future will be
more assured as long as various means of financing are found; however a significant
participation by the members towards their association is always considered as essential
by external sponsors, may it be foundations or ecclesiastical financing agencies.
Other questions
The consultation is then extended: the present members are asked to comment on
global description of the general secretariat in Brussels. Then they have to think about
what they expect from the association’s President and Vice-Presidents. The aim is
to establish a presiding team which unites professionals from the secular world of
communication and Church communication. Varied experiences, probably in the area
of traditional media, but also in the wide area of new technologies, could be an asset.
Both men and women should be represented in the team. Even if we are not electing
candidates yet (this will take place after the joint Boards meeting in March 2001), it is
high time to start suggesting candidates for these positions. Members are approached
on all these questions.
A very special challenge
When preparing the Munich Document for members and during conversations the
Secretaries General had with members from different countries at regional meetings
or study sessions, the Brussels’ Secretariat team became aware of the importance of
the challenge that the transition from the two associations’ present situation to a new
unified association could represent in some countries. The members’ situation varies
38
greatly from one country to another. Some national associations are already involved
in the OCIC-Unda unified way of thinking; some even have unified associations which
bring together all social communications activities. In these cases, the adaptation could
be easier, although it will be necessary to broaden the existing associations in order
to reach out, as much as possible, to all the actors of communication that quiver to
evangelistic values, communicators who share the future Catholic association’s aims. In
fact, the future association will only accept as national members associations that bring
together the country’s Catholic communicators. This cannot be a single person, even if
this person is designated by an episcopal committee.
In other countries, associations that deal with cinema and those that work with radio
and television are completely separated. How can the creation of a unique national
structure be possible by November 2001, a creation which would normally be recognized
by the future unified OCIC-Unda?
To help present members to situate themselves and evaluate the distance to travel
before the World assembly in Rome (November 2001), a short form was sent to them
together with the Munich Document. The questionnaire asks in particular how one sees,
at a national level, structural adaptations necessary to enter fully the spirit and plans of
the future Catholic world association. The future is there, ahead of us: we must build it
together!” (OCIC-Unda Info, May-June 2000)
Readers will have noticed that there was still no name for the organisation. In fact, the
name was not finally voted on by the Joint Boards meeting until March 2001. In the
meantime, many suggestions had been made – and rejected. This was a perennial item
on the agenda and a great deal of time was spent in the discussion and quick time in the
rejections. With the languages of the organisations being Spanish, French and English
and nouns and adjectives not appearing in the same order in each language, acronyms
seemed to be impossible. Eastern Europeans understandably were reluctant to have
a name with ‘Com’ in it no matter how much they believed in Communication. The
suggestion, Communicom, was therefore shot down. There were translation ambiguities
in other suggestions. It seems that Signum is like the Thai word for breast. And having
Spanish and French speakers saying Cathcom meant that it sounded too much like
‘caca’ to be acceptable.
Since there had been jokes about OCIC and Unda for decades, it would seem
that it should not matter too much – ‘members of O-sick’! and were members wearing
their ‘Undapants’! Even SIGNIS did not eventually escape since someone suggested
‘sickness’!
For the rest of 2000, regional assemblies had the chance to make suggestions
about programs and services. For some reason, members can become reticent about
finances and contributions!
The flavour of this period can be found in the documents coming from the Secretaries
General with an emphasis on the collaboration of the regions:
39
A Key Role for the Regions
Among the most rewarding aspects of the Secretaries Generals’ responsibilities in
our international Catholic associations, there is the time spent with our members in
regional and continental meetings. We feel energized by the mutual support between
the international, regio­nal and national levels, by the quality of sharing in view of a better
service of the Christian com­munities and the civil society, by the interest shown in new
technologies and in the adaptation of our communicational activities to the new contexts
of our world. We feel good to the point of forgetting the inconvenience of jetlag and of
two many Saturdays and Sundays spent on the road.
For one year now and in the context of the consultations related to the setting up of
the futu­re unified Catholic association that we are creat­ing together, we, the Secretaries
General, have given high priority to our participation in regional meetings. In Suva for
the Pacific, in Mauritius for the Indian Ocean sub-region and in Beirut for the Middle-East
sub-region, in Vilnius for Europe - underlying the special attention we would like to give
to Eastern Europe - in Abidjan for Africa, in Orlando for North America, in Seoul for Asia
and soon in Curitiba (Brazil) for Latin America, we have the opportunity to listen to our
members, to be the privileged witnesses of their initiatives and projects. We also carry
a message: OCIC and Unda are meeting at an important crossroad of their history: you
are all invited to contribute to this moment of creativity.
For all these meetings, we have encouraged the regional officers to adopt a
perspective of servi­ce for the membership, organizing activities with a professional
character. Indeed, we would all want the future OCIC-Unda to be not mainly an
international super-structure but rather a net­work of communication professionals
inspired by the Gospel spirit who give each other the ser­vices they need to better realize
their mission at both the human and Christian levels. It is with this in mind that, for
instance, we have supported the organization of continental gatherings that would not
be defined as ‘meetings’ or ‘assemblies’ but rather as opportunities for training, forums
or even markets. If we stress and multi­ply the activities that have a professional dimen­
sion, the members of the future world Catholic association will better see the advantages
of belonging to our broad network... and they will be more inclined to play their role,
including by paying their annual membership fees.
Over the last two years during which we have worked to prepare our future, one
priority that is emerging is precisely the important role that the regional level will
have to play. The new possibi­lities of electronic communications will encoura­ge more
sharing within each region; Catholic communicators will have more opportunities to
know each other; the large majority of members of the General Assembly and of the
Board of Administration will be chosen at the regional level. More participation, more
responsibilities, more initiatives at the regional level: this is our members’ wish. It is a
sign of maturity and a direction that will be fully supported by the future international
secretariat.
Strong regions, bringing together different kinds of members who will all be inspired
by the ideal of professional quality: this is the way to define a promising future for the upcoming world asso­ciation; a promising future, most of all, for the communication of the
Gospel and of the Gospel values!” (OCIC-Unda Info, September-October 2000.)
40
Soon after he finished his service as President of OCIC for eight years (1990-1998),
Henk Hoekstra became unwell. He was unable to accept an invitation to come to Rolduc
for the Joint Boards’ meeting. He was in an out of hospital during 1999 but, fortunately
for so many who knew him, he was able to come to Munich in 2000. It was the last time
that most would see him. He died on September 12th 2000. It was also at this time that
a pervading sense of justice increased amongst members. It was expressed in the aims
and objectives and was to permeate programs. The final English word that was adopted
for this social justice emphasis was ‘Advocacy’.
Winter again, this time in Germany, at a Jesuit centre in Aachen.
This was the final executive meeting before the merger. Consolidating the work of
the previous two years was the agenda as well as the detailed (and sometimes tedious
for those not legally-inclined) work on the statutes. The more intuitive types were grateful
(if sometimes exasperated) to the more sense and detail-inclined for their ability to work
patiently on legal minutiae. Somebody has to do it!
It was in Aachen that we found the name SIGNIS. Not exactly what people
were expecting. Peter Malone sent a ‘brief’ on the name and the reasons for it to all
members:
“In the attempts to find a name for the new association, many acronyms were
suggested. However, the order of nouns and adjectives in French and Spanish is different
from that of English and it was difficult to find one that suited each language. A number
of Latin names were suggested. Combinations of parts of words were also invented.
However, some of these evoked objectionable sounds in some languages or, as with some
formerly Communist countries, ‘com’ was too much of a reminder. The Joint Boards of
OCIC and Unda, meeting in March 2000, left it to the combined Executive Committee,
meeting in November 2000, to make the decision about the name. In several discussions,
biblical themes (with the Latin, Greek or Hebrew words) were considered along with further
attempts to find acronyms that worked.
One theme that seemed powerful was that of ‘fire’ (with its evocation of light and energy
and the Spirit). ‘Ignis’ is the Latin word for fire. At the beginning of the session on the name,
Robert Molhant wrote the prospective names on the white board, but slipped when writing
ignis and, in fact, wrote ‘signis’. When the executive looked at this, SIGNIS found favour
and was voted in unanimously.
Some of the reasons for Signis:
- it is not a word as such but becomes a word for the new association
- it avoids the problems with acronyms
- it is not a Latin word (although it was pointed out that it is the dative and ablative
plural of signum which was the most favoured Latin word in the Joint Board meeting.
It can mean ‘to’ or ‘for’ the signs).
- it sounds well in each language with its two strong syllables
41
- it evokes in each language the images of sign and symbol and, therefore, of
communication and illumination
- it is close to ‘ignis’ and so is a reminder of the images of fire, light and energy and
of Spirit.
- these images will contribute to the logo as will design of the first and final ‘S’ and
the symmetry of the word with si..is.
The ‘sub-title’ of Signis in English is ‘The World Catholic Association for Communication’
In discussions about the website, net was preferred to org as we are a ‘network’ assocation.
We have registered signis.net for our website. For regional and national sites, it is possible
to use, for example, signis-Asia.net or signis-Zimbabwe.net
At last!
2001
2000, the Jubilee year was over. Peter Malone, Robert Molhant and Pierre Bélanger had
attended what was the final celebration for the Jubilee year, the December Celebration
of Entertainment. This consisted of a number of liturgies in different Roman churches. A
planned procession to the church of San Ignazio failed to materialise but a presentation
of circus acts at the film studios on Via Tiburtina was very entertaining. Pope John Paul
found this to be the case when some of them, including an extremely dextrous young
boy juggler, performed for him during the offertory procession. While Pierre and Peter
were among the concelebrants, Robert proclaimed one of the readings in French in St
Peter’s Square.
We were beginning the year of the actual merger and the date was set for the
assemblies to meet and vote.
The Secretaries General were enthusing the members:
“Will you be in Rome, in November 2001?
Yes! Will you be in Rome in November 2001? In less than one year’s time - from 1927 November, 2001, to be precise- the joint Unda-OCIC World Congress, in Rome, will
see the creation of SIGNIS, the new World Catholic Association for Communication.
SIGNIS is the name chosen by the Joint Unda-OCIC Executive Committees, at their
meeting in Aachen, for the future association born of the merger of Unda and OCIC.
You perhaps think that November 2001 is still a long time away. That is not the
feeling we have at the General Secretariats (we could by now almost speak of ‘the
General Secretariat’ in singular, given the spirit of unity that reigns here!). Very soon
you will receive an invitation leaflet to the complete activities of the Unda-OCIC World
Congress. Of course there will be the joint assemblies, but there will also be a Multimedia
Forum that will give a profession­al flavor to our meetings. In fact our gather­ing in Rome
will carry the important statutory elements which, in creating the new associa­tion, will
orient our future. For example, in Rome, we will open up new avenues for a more active
participation of individual mem­bers; propose a broadening of national asso­ciations to all
42
institutions and persons, and in particular to professionals who share the objectives of our
association; we will recog­nize for the fist time, in our statutes, the exis­tence of regional
groupings and their impor­tance; we will center the services of the new association for
members within a dynamic framework, around ‘desks’ and ‘forums’; we will invigorate
our communication and action with the increased and interactive use of the internet and
the possibilities it offers, while maintaining lines of communication with those who do not
have easy access to these new technologies.
The Rome meeting will, at the same time, offer a Multimedia Forum, open to the
public, to professionals, and to all who are interest­ed. This Forum will take place on
23, 24 and 25 November. It will include a religious and educational media market of the
already familiar model (Vilnius, Cologne, Driebergen), but this market will be widened to
include diverse products and tools of the world of multimedia and the internet. As such,
the Forum will invite the webmasters of Catholic sites to meet, to share and deepen the
basis of their collaboration. An international gath­ering of media professionals, this Forum
will be open to producers, exhibiters and users, to the artisans of the web and to a large
pub­lic from the universities, educational and reli­gious centers in Rome.
Rome is also a favorable setting in other aspects: an audience with the Pope and a
stroll into the culture and vibrancy of the Eternal City.
SIGNIS is in early life. You certainly want to be present on the day of its birth. We
look for­ward to welcoming you.” (OCIC-Unda Info, November-December 2000)
The presidents’ message was doing the same but also, at the end of the year, providing
a little revision on the steps so far: “We have survived the year 2000. We have made the
millennial transition. We have celebrated the Jubilee year. We may not be going to have
a space odyssey in 2001, but 2001 is almost upon us and it is a highly significant year
for us with the immediate preparations for our new Catholic communication association
and, of course, our meeting in November in Rome and the Assemblies for establishing
the association as well as the Multimedia Forum that will take place during that week.
The year will end in celebration - but there is a lot of homework for us all to do before
November.
During 2000 five of the regions held their annual assemblies and took the opportunity
to be briefed by the General Secretaries about the progress in the formation of the
association and to offer feedback on several issues. Latin America meets in January,
2001. Nature, Objectives, Membership and Structure have finished their two year
journey to readiness. We have now discussed the shape of desks, forums and services
as well as their ‘content’. Further steps will soon take us towards the writing of the
Statutes and their examination by the Vatican offices (Pontifical Council for Social
Communications, Pontifical Council for the Laity, Secretariat of State). Progress has
been made on finances. The Joint Boards of Unda and OCIC meet in March to finalise
as much as needs to be done before November.
Each region and each country will have received, by the time you read this, some
surveys about the structure of the national associations and how this affects their
membership of the new association so that all of us are ready in November. The regional
43
offices are being surveyed about specific desks and services that have been proposed.
It is also time for nominations for the roles of President and Vice-Presidents (and a
reminder that if you nominate someone you will need to check first with the person
whether they accept nomination or not).
If that is good news, here is some better news: the decision about the name of the
new association. [The material on the name SIGNIS was included here.]
We hope that this news about the name of the new association is good news and
an encouragement for us to do whatever work needs to be done before we meet in
Rome for our new beginning.” (OCIC-Unda Info, November-December 2000. Text:
Peter Malone)
The last of the Joint Boards meetings was to be held in Munich in March 2001. The bulk
of documentation had to be approved by the Boards. And the statutes!
The presidents’ message after Munich – it began with something of a lighter-hearted
tone:
“Statutes. How many of you have participated in that most gruelling of occupations:
writing statutes? For some it is an exhilarating experience, making sure that every i is
dotted and t crossed and, of course, more importantly, that meanings are clear and
formulations are as exact as possible. For others who don’t have a legal mind, it can
be protracted agony. Well, after thorough discussions, our joint Unda OCIC Boards
have voted favourably on a framework for our SIGNIS statutes as well as satisfactory
expressions that can go to our lawyers for the legal precision that is necessary for the
final version. They then travel to Rome for Vatican approval, a threefold approval, from
the Pontifical Council for Social Communications, from the Pontifical Council for the
Laity and from the Secretariat of State. Fr Pat Casserly, the official liaison between Unda
and the Pontifical Council for Social Communications, was helpful with advice about
procedu­res and suggestions about the text.
So, that is what we were doing in Munich from March 6th to 11th. In many ways it was
the final step along the timeline we set ourselves two and a half years ago to be ready
with all the planning and document wri­ting necessary for approval by our members. The
approval of the Statutes in Rome in November will mean the bringing of SIGNIS into life.
Just in case you were wondering at this stage about by-laws, the internal regulations for
the functioning of SIGNIS and interpreting the Statutes, yes, we were able to formulate
the basis of those as well.
And, we must add, your response will be important as well. When we get the Statutes
and by-laws from the lawyer, they will be sent to members all around the world. Because
Statutes need to have the precision mentioned earlier, we are asking for your comments
in writing and in the form of amendments. In this way they can be considered by our
lawyers to see if and how they fit into the Statutes. Amendments need to be sent in by
the end of August to give the lawyers time for their work. This means that that will end
the time for submitting amendments. So, things are getting close.
44
We are happy that each of the continents has been able to have its pre-Assembly
regional conferences, an opportunity for each region to consider the material prepared
on our nature, objectives, membership and operational structures.
The Pontifical Council for Social Communications held its annual meeting in Rome in
mid-March. Since there was no meeting during the Jubilee Year, it was two years since
we last met. Pierre and Robert were able to give very lively reports on the activities of
Unda and OCIC. We two presidents were asked to explain the process towards SIGNIS.
Our style was a bit reminiscent of those television news programs where there are two
talking heads, very cheery talking heads, who cue each other to take turns in offering
the pre­sentation. We used an English version of Robert’s powerpoint presentation
which many of you have seen. We must have been extraordinarily clear and persuasive
because, apart from Cardinal Vlk asking about aspects of the name SIGNIS, there was
not a questions asked! (We had the opportunity to do it all again the next day - at
about three times the length - as the Bamberger Lecture for members of the Multimedia
Association of Religious Congregations.).” (OCIC-Unda Info, March-April 2001. Text:
Peter Malone)
After this meeting, the mood was encouragement, especially from the Secretaries
General!
“A Time for Exceptional Decisions
When, in August 1998 in Montreal, the members of Unda and OCIC decided to bring
their respective organizations together and create a new association... they made an
‘important decision’. They wanted to change the course of a long history that spanned
70 years.
In November this year, in Rome, they will accomplish a decisive step in creating
a new World Catholic Association for Communication, which will be called SIGNIS.
Over the past three years, since the Montreal Congress, certain lines of emphasis have
emerged from a vast process of consultation with the members.
The first of these was a vastly manifested desire to seize the opportunity offered by
the creation of SIGNIS to unite in one dynamic association all the Catholic audio­visual
media institutions presently active in each country.
This will not always be easily realized as in some cases profound traditions separate the
various institutions. It should be noted that SIGNIS does not intend to impose a specific
‘model’ of a national association on each country, but rather simply favors collaboration
that would help put in place a ‘pastoral plan of all media’ as proposed by Aetatis Novae,
while at the same time respecting the specific context of each.
Another line of emphasis that has con­stantly been raised by members over the past
three years is the deep desire to open SIGNIS, at all levels, not only to Catholic media
institutions but also to Catholic professionals active in the secular media. It has been
noted that this too will not be easy. In certain countries professionals in the secular
media do not want to feel ‘confined’ by an organization that they feel is too ‘clerical’.
45
Still another emphasis was that we should envisage a new form of international organ­
ization, open to great diversity of members with access to many services, while at the
same time creating a light, flexible and inexpensive structure. Freeing a maximum of
resources to ensure quality services and also be able to quickly adapt to a media world
in constant evolution.
During the joint Boards meeting in Munich last March, your elected representatives
tried to translate these lines of emphasis into the Statutes and By-Laws of SIGNIS. This
stage, stipulated by legal language, which has its own particularities (SIGNIS will be
established in Swiss Law), should not overshadow the essential stakes that we have
tried to recall here. These Statutes and By-Laws will be sent out to you very soon for
your amendments. They will be submitted to you for approval in November 2001.
The past three years of ‘incubation’ of the new association have been marked by
study, engagement, creativity and enthusiasm. The time has come to make important
decisions and, together, create SIGNIS -next November.” (The Secretaries General,
OCIC-Unda Info, March-April, 2001).
The two Secretaries General wanted to set a frame of mind as the merger drew
closer. A number of practical issues were referred to: The Rome Missionary Service,
budgets, publications and websites.
Last Unda Board of Management meeting before the creation of SIGNIS, Munich, March
6-11, 2001.
Is it the end of the Unda era? No! But yes... This year’s Board of Management
was the last one in our history. As most of the read­ers of this newsletter know by now,
our association will be reborn next November into the new (unified) World Catholic
Association for Communication: SIGNIS. This will be the end of a journey that was in
some ways officially called for by the vote of both Unda and OCIC General Assemblies
in Montreal in 1998. But the journey had its roots in a search for better ways of collabo­
ration between our two international Catholic organizations that many believe started in
the 60s.
So, our Board of Management, during its annu­al meeting for 2001, had to take
its usual responsibilities of looking at the activities of our association in the different
parts of the world, of checking the health situation of our finances, of making sure our
international secretariat was working well to answer our members’ needs. But the Board
also had to see how Unda mem­bers would walk together towards the Rome assembly
and the new future this world meeting will announce.
Some highlights from the Munich meeting, in just a few words - and without using the
excerpts of the report that is not written in a journalistic style but is always available to our
members. The BOM members could realize that Unda was going to enter the SIGNIS
age in very good shape. We don’t talk much about finances usually, in our bulletin, but
the BOM meeting is the right opportunity to do so. We can say that financially speaking
our associa­tion is showing a balanced and well managed situation. The international
secretariat is now functioning with a staff that, combined with the OCIC team for more
and more of the tasks that are common to both associations, can follow the essential
46
files to serve the members, to insure the Catholic Church’s presence and interest in
the professional world of radio and television, to supply information in several ways,
to continue to promote media education and to sensibilize Church leaders to the vital
importance of com­munications in today’s world.
The annual budget of our secretariat is of some 230 000 USD and we have been
able to bal­ance the budget between revenues and expenses over the past few years.
There is still a problem with the fact that several members do not pay the - rather small annual fees; of course we believe that many countries will com­ply with this fundamental
obligation before the Rome congress so that they might be entitled to vote during
the assembly. It must be noted that, apart from the regular budget, the international
secretariat does manage a number of accounts that are related to specific projects,
conducted sometimes at the international level, but most often by our members at the
regional level. The Board meeting was a good opportunity for the Unda administrators
to express their grateful­ness to the agencies that support the communi­cation work of
the Church at the world level, first of all the Pontifical Society for the Propagation of the
Faith.
The members of the Board gave the responsi­bility to both Unda Vice-Presidents,
Washington Uranga and Peter Thomas, to make the neces­sary steps of preparation for
the last Unda General Assembly that will take place in Rome on November 20, 2001.
That day, it will be quite a challenge to do what we have to do in just a couple of hours.
But with everybody’s collabo­ration - and the Lord’s assistance - we believe that Unda, as
a whole, will be ready to transform - smoothly and successfully - into SIGNIS.” (Pierre
Bélanger, OCIC-Unda Info, March-April 2001)
OClC Director’s Committee Prepares the Transition to SIGNIS.
In March 2001, during the joint Unda-OCIC Boards of Management meeting in
Munich, some time was given for separate meetings in order to treat activities specific
to each organization.
What will happen to the OCIC awards?
It was the moment to address OCIC’s annual pres­ence in some twenty international
film festivals where ecumenical and OCIC juries attribute awards. This activity will
certainly continue with the new association SIGNIS. The question was if the ‘OCIC
Award’ established in the professional world since 1947, would change its name to
the ‘SIGNIS Award’, or whether the old name should be main­tained over a period of
time. The question was not definitively finalized, but it would seem that we are moving
towards the notion of a ‘SIGNIS Award’. There is evidently no difficulty in maintaining the
name ‘Ecumenical Award’ where juries are consti­tuted in collaboration with Interfilm, the
international Protestant organization for cinema.
47
The Missionary Service becomes a joint service
Established towards the end of the fifties the OCIC Missionary Service, situated at Piazza
San Calisto within Vatican territory in Rome, was first of all at the service of mission
countries, to help develop the use of audiovisual in catechetical and evangel­ical works.
The ‘OCIC-MS’ as we became accus­tomed to calling it, distributed educational and reli­
gious films, 16 mm projectors, at one time ‘Super 8’ projectors and films and then slides
before mo­ving into the era of videos. However under the guid­ance of Fr. Jean-Paul
Guillet, this service has diversified and expanded enormously. Video cam­eras, radio
studios, satellite phones, network com­puters and internet servers have now appeared a
the Rome premises, which have since multiplied. An extension of this service was even
opened in Paris last year. Within the context of the merger of Unda and OCIC it became
clear that this service needed to become a combined service. All the more since Unda
had to close its technical service which was based in London. When you call the ‘MS’ in
Rome today you will be greeted by ‘Unda-OCIC’ ... where you were once greeted with
‘OCIC Missionary Service’. Next year this service will move on to the name ‘SIGNIS’.
The Future of the publications
During their short meeting in Munich members of the OCIC Directors Committee examined
the future of the publications. ‘OCIC lnfo’ has already combined with Unda News. In 2002,
it will of course take on the name SIGNIS. But what will happen to Cine&Media. The
final decision will of course belong the association’s Board of Management. However,
the OCIC Directors Committee recommended that this publication be continued. The
magazine has at present a reader­ship in the professional domain, within the frame­work
of the film festivals and amongst members.
The development of email and the internet will evidently lead to the question of which
of the publications will continue to be printed and which of them should be distributed by
email. The present OCIC site is regularly updated and which seems to be appreciated
by our members, also receives visits from surfers who, in discovering the organisation
will obviously be open to a SIGNIS site. On the other hand the general point of view of
the Director’s Committee was that the printed publications should be continued as email
and internet access is not universal. The cost of internet access is also still unaffordable
across a vast number of countries countries on this earth.
To celebrate our successes in Rome
The Munich meeting was one of the last meetings of the OCIC Directors Committee. The
last meet­ing will take place in Rome on the eve of the World Congress. These ‘historic
moments’ moved members of the Director s Committee to weigh a past of more than
70 years. They thus felt that the traditional reports of activities that will be the order
of the day at the Rome assembly, should not be too administrative in character but
could rather be the occasion to celebrate best moments (the success stories) that have
marked the history of the organi­zation. The regional officers thus decided to pre­pare
their reports with this in mind and present them, if possible, in an audiovisual format.”
(Robert Molhant, OCIC-Unda Info, March April 2001)
48
One of the final messages of the presidents was a reminder of the developments in
media and technology that SIGNIS would be part of:
“In the newest best-selling book E-volve! Succeeding in the Digital Culture of
Tomorrow, Rosabeth Moss Kanter, a renowned professor of business administration
at Harvard Business School, believes that the most important lessons to learn from
the Internet revolution are cultural, not technical. This idea has lead us to reflect on
what guidance Kanter can offer us as we launch SIGNIS. We face new adventures and
challenges. We must be bold and proactive in our visioning process. We must think
beyond our current reality and ‘our indi­vidual selves’ toward a bigger picture of our
future. There is no doubt that embracing the Internet or e-culture in a prophetic way is
an important challenge for SIGNIS.
SIGNIS needs to listen beyond her own boarders to experts in the field. She needs to
learn from them as we search new pathways to the future. She must embrace the reality
that she is a new com­munity of learners in a new media age which requires authentic
dialogue if SIGNIS is to make a difference in the Church and world.
SIGNIS faces ‘change’ as a fundamental reality of the new media age. Kanter
indicates that change moves faster, and so do the reactions to change -thus, SIGNIS
needs to be constantly alert and flex­ible to change. She indicates that more people, at
more levels in more organizations, must learn to master change and lead it. How can
SIGNIS do this? Kanter points out seven classic skills that are involved in innovation
and change. This is based on years of research focused on organizations that have
effectively renewed or re-invented them­selves around the new e-culture. We believe
that Kanter’s checklist offers SIGNIS members an opportunity to prepare the ground for
a life-giving, dynamic organization that can be able to deal with the various degrees of
change yet to be addressed.
* Tuning into the Environment: We need to moni­tor external reality. SIGNIS needs
to create listen­ing posts (forums) that aid us in being in tune with new developments
and shifts in our media culture. Effective change results from being mindful to what
is happening around us. What are we mindful about today?
* Kaleidoscope Thinking: There are many solu­tions to any single problem.
Kaleidoscope thinking is a way of constructing new patterns from the fragments of
data available-patterns that no one else has yet imagined because they challenge
con­ventional assumptions about how things are done. How can advance SIGNIS’s
Kaleidoscope think­ing?
* Communicating Inspiring Vision: SIGNIS needs to shape ideas into a compelling
case for pursuing new ideas and directions. Leaders of SIGNIS must wake people
out of inertia or traditional ways of doing things. They must get people excited about
something they’ve never seen before, something that does not even yet exist among
Catholic com­munications today. What might it be for SIGNIS?
* Enlisting Backers and Supports: It is not enough to have a great idea, says
Kanter, we need to have stakeholders who support our idea. SIGNIS needs to find
49
new ways to animate not only those who supported us in the past but new ‘part­ners’
on the horizon. Who might they be?
* Nurturing a Working Team: Each member of SIGNIS must see themselves as a
member of a ‘team’, with ownership of the goals and a team identify that motivates
performance. A ‘working team member’ does not need a ‘title’ to participate and
make SIGNIS happen - their commitment is to the ‘communio’ of members and the
vision. What kind of a ‘team player’ am I?
* Persisting and Persevering: This is the differ­ence between success and failure.
SIGNIS needs to be persistent in working around problems and keeping her eyes
on the vision - doing what may appear impossible to others. How persistent and
persevering am I able to be for SIGNIS’s future?
* Making Everyone a Hero - recognition is imper­ative for organizational success.
Change is possi­ble when people feel appreciated to be part of the vision and the
team. Each and every person who dedicated time and talent to call SIGNIS forth
is a hero. Each person eager to contribute to SIGNIS’s impact at every level of the
organization is a poten­tial hero! How can we help one another to be heroes?
Maybe each one of us needs to reflect on these seven skills and ask ourselves: How can
I develop these skills in my life for both my ministry and the future of SIGNIS? Without a
doubt the new communications technolo­gies have opened new doors and pathways for
communicating the Gospel. SIGNIS stands on the threshold of making a new difference
for Catholic Communications. The choice is ours today! How we prepare ourselves to
be ‘proactive and team players’ for the future is the key to SIGNIS’s success.” (OCICUnda Info, May-June 2001. Text: Angela Ann Zukowski)
Almost there!
“We are almost ready for our November Congress in Rome. You will have received the
brochures for the Assemblies as well as the program for the Multimedia Forum.
However, while our focus over the last three years in preparation for SIGNIS has
been on the inter-relationships of the various media and of the developing technologies,
we still need to reflect on the international aspects of our new association. The subheading for SIGNIS is The World Catholic Association for Communication.
Day by day, we are absorbed by our work at home. It is at the local level that we
are busy and which draws on most of our energy. What an international organisation
makes us realise is that, no matter how local our media ministry has to be, we are part
of a national media and communication ministry; we are part of a region; we are part of
a worldwide Church that is at the service of all its members and is engaged in dialogue
with the world. This dialogue has its perspectives of evangelisation. This dialogue has
its perspectives of professional excellence.
It is jolting when some people say that they can see no (or very little) need for
an international Catholic communication association. If a local or national organisation
is self-sufficient and at the service of its local members, this is excellent. But, in an
era of instant communication, in an era of globalisation, this seems to be a particularly
blinkered approach. It certainly does not reflect the attitude of Jesus in saying it is more
50
blessed to give than to receive. Perhaps some countries are tired of being forever asked
for assistance, especially financial, and feel that now they are being imposed on - which
may be true in some instances. But, to limit vision to the immediate local horizon seems
a narrow policy. To give up on creative activity that makes links with like-minded media
people around the world means a deadening of service.
It is only human nature, so it is said, to ask what benefits we can receive from
SIGNIS. We hope that the statement of nature and objectives, of membership and
services give indications of benefits that members can receive. But, one hopes that the
spirit of a Gospel-inspired association leads members to ask what benefits we can give
to others, what benefits we can share with others, especially those still struggling to
establish media and communications in their own area.
Networking is one of the key elements in SIGNIS. We use the new computer
technology for instant, email, to share ideas, to boost morale, to make requests, to give
information, to organise communication. I don’t think any of us is so completely selfsufficient that we don’t benefit by this communication.
With the increasing number of Websites, links are ever more important. For film
classification and review, for example, those logging on to the OCIC site in Brussels
can be linked to sites with reviews in French, Spanish, German, Chinese and English.
Websites of the international film festivals are also linked. Databanks of cinema
information and reviews are available.
One of the important services of SIGNIS will be a more streamlined and global video
distribution office. Only recently Vision Video in the United States, a non-Catholic
company which has an extensively used Catholic Catalogue, has been in negotiations
with Katholisches Filmwerk, a German Catholic production company for its videos on
the history of the Church and with Albert Street Productions in Australia. CRTN, based in
Königstein, has been distributing material to Eastern Europe for over a decade and has
extended to Africa (while productions from Africa have the opportunity to receive some
distribution in Europe).
Media awareness and education programs (and, as OCIC and Unda Asia are now
saying), ‘Beyond Media Education’ programs, have always benefited by the international
nature of our organisations, not only in centres like Crec Avex or the Gregorian, but in
regional seminars and meetings, especial­ly in Latin America (with the advantage of most
nations speaking Spanish), Asia and the Pacific (with the advantage of most nations
speaking English). International thinking is evident in such programs as the recently
established Women in Media in Asia.
We have been exploring the benefits of 21st century communication in our title. We
need to develop our awareness of possibilities in our international, ‘world’ title.” (OCICUnda Info July-August. Text: Peter Malone)
Two months before the Congress and Assembly in Rome, the American tragedy
of September 11th 2001 scarred the consciousness of people around the world. In the
immediate aftermath many were afraid to travel and fly. However, by the time of the
Congress, most delegates decided that they would come.
51
The presidents’ message acknowledged the events and the death and suffering,
written with heartfelt American emotion by Angela Ann Zukowski: “What we originally set
out to communicate to you in this last Unda-OCIC newsletter has been overshadowed
by the events of September 11, 2001. The domino effect of the tragedy is unveiled each
day. We wonder if it will ever end. We wonder what position, tactics or strategies are best
for humanity. We find we cannot escape the flood of information that penetrates the mass
media. We discover ourselves face to face trying to understand the moral consciousness
of peoples and nations. Yet, it is not simply a matter of looking around us we must
look within us. We ourselves must be rooted and live from a moral consciousness that
respects the rights and dignities of all women and men.
In 1962 Thomas Merton wrote: ‘The moral duty of the Christian is by no means simple.
It is far from being a neat matter of ethical principle, clear-cut, well-defined, and backed
by a lucid authoritative decision of the Church. To make the issue seem too simple is
actually to do a great disservice to truth, to morality and to man. And yet now more than
ever we crave the simple and the clear solution’. He goes on to say ‘Our duty is to help
emphasize with all the force at our disposal that the church earnestly seeks the abolition
of war; we must underscore decla­rations like those of Pope John XXIII pleading with
world leaders to renounce force in the settlement of interna­tional disputes and confine
themselves to negotiations’.
Merton believed that frequently the mass media amplified the moral problems
humanity faces versus finding ways to resolve them. Perhaps the opportunity or
challenge SIGNIS faces in the coming years is to work for inspiring a profound moral
consciousness in and through the media. SIGNIS’s members circle the globe and could
ani­mate a network of dialogue that bridges communication, leadership and culture toward
the good of all humanity. A focus on dialogue - in and through all media - internet, radio,
film, television, press, alternative group media and communities of dialogue is a fantastic
opportunity for SIGNIS. SIGNIS can contribute to the transformation or strengthening of
the moral consciousness of all who engage in the dialogue process.
Where does SIGNIS begin? SIGNIS could be the fountain for strengthening the
dialogic skills of her members. Dialogue helps us pay continuous attention to the ways
in which we work with others. It safeguards the glue that binds us together in not only
getting our work done but also raising the moral consciousness of humanity. SIGNIS has
the potential to create ‘dialogic leadership’ which is a way of leading that consistently
uncovers, through conversation, the hidden creative potential in any situation (Isaacs).
What do ‘dialogic leaders’ bring to the cur­rent world situation we find ourselves? ‘Dialogic
leaders’ cultivate four dimensions the ability to listen, suspend judgment, respect others
and courageous speech - within themselves and in the conversations they have with
others. Thus, we broaden our view of how we perceive problems or a situation and open
our eyes to see alter­natives that might serve everyone.
Cardinal Avery Dulles, S.J. in an address entitled Dialogue, Truth and Communion,
given at the Catholic Common Ground Initiative, yeasted key ideas concerning dialogue
in Church Documents. In referring to The Declaration on Religious Freedom he
pointed out that dialogue should permit people to explain to each other the truth they
52
had discovered and to assist each other in their search for truth so that, when it is
discovered, they might embra­ce it with personal assent. Dulles points out clearly that in
the writings of Pope John Paul II we discover that the church, in order to engage credibly
in ecumenical and interreligious dialogue, she must maintain a per­manent and renewed
dialogue within herself.
As we attempt to read the signs of the times, we see that SIGNIS can play a
critical role in preparing her mem­bers to be yeast for dialogue releasing the prophetic
imagination for addressing peace, justice and truth within their cultures and the world.
We cannot think ‘too small’ what SIGNIS’ role can be. SIGNIS’s future is limited only by
her lack of creative imagination.
So, as we stand on the threshold of the dawning of a new era for Catholic
Communications, let us not be oppressed by the events stemming from September 11,
2001. Let us call upon the Holy Spirit to show us the way to contribute to nurturing the
moral consciousness through the application of all media for effective dialogue within
the communities we serve.” (OCIC-Unda Info, October-December 2001. Text: Angela
Ann Zukowski)
Congress and Assemblies, Rome November 2001
Despite world apprehensiveness after the events of September 11th and despite the fact
that the process of merger had been in action for what seemed three rather rapid years,
the delegates and a number of observers arrived in Rome in November 2001.
With several hundred people present, participants stayed at Domus Mariae where
the plenary sessions were held, others at the Fratelli Cristiani close by. However, prior
to the assemblies, there was a Congress which focused on the range of media and
technologies. It was ambitious but not an unmitigated success. With the involvement
in the merger process, there was not enough time and energy available to ensure that
the Congress ran smoothly and met the needs of those who attended. And some
Italian bureaucratic tangles meant that all the space promised was not available. The
venue was the Fabbrica di San Michele a Ripa, an old 18th century children’s prison –
renovated! – near the Tiber in Trastavere.
The Congress had small rooms, former cells, for screening of video productions,
especially those selected for competition. Another room had fifty computers for a
Cybercafe. In the large conference room, there were presentations of websites (and
competition) as well as several symposia. The workshop on the internet and the
website competition drew substantial numbers. A nearby cinema provided venue for film
screenings of some films which had won OCIC awards.
What turned out to be the most important feature of the Congress were the five
workshops on Media Education, Theology of Communication, Promotion and distribution
of religious programs, Professional training, Film review and critique. The minuted
reports of these workshops formed the basis in the first SIGNIS assembly for defining
and clarifying the priorities of the new association.
One of the highlights of the time was to be a group audience with Pope John Paul
II. It was to be on Thursday 22nd November (the American celebration of Thanksgiving),
53
scheduled for the day after the vote for the merger. However, just prior to the participants’
arrival, it was announced that the Pope could not meet the Unda and OCIC members
because on November 22nd he was to promulgate the document from the Pacific Synod
of 1998, making a click on a computer that would send his address all over the world
immediately. This was a touch dampening to spirits! A Vatican official suggested we
simply join the general audience on Wednesday 21st.
However, Archbishop Foley worked behind the scenes and the Pope dispensed
with his custom of not having audiences on Tuesdays and received the delegates in
audience, making an address (the text of which follows) and coming to sit in the front
row with those present for a photo opportunity. He was heard to clarify with Archbishop
Foley that there was Unda and there was OCIC and now there is SIGNIS. In one of
the frescoes at the front of the Sala Clementina where the audience was held was
an inscription which contained the Latin word ‘insignis’, which means ‘outstanding’.
Archbishop Foley brought this to the pope’s attention. The two presidents were given a
minute each to introduce the delegates to the pope and to tell him (so to speak) what the
Church’s policy was on cinema and on radio and television!
Pope John Paul’s address:
Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ,
It gives me great pleasure to greet you, the members of Unda, the International Catholic
Association for Radio and Television, and OCIC, the International Catholic Organization
for Cinema and Audiovisuals, as you prepare in just a few days to merge your two
organizations and form SIGNIS, the new international Catholic organization for all
audiovisual media. It is my hope, and yours too I am sure, that SIGNIS will expand and
make ever more effective the work which your two organizations have undertaken for
the past seventy years, the work of evangelizing in and through the communications
media, proclaiming the Lord’s saving Gospel in the world of cinema, radio, television
and, most recently, internet.
The formation of this Organization at the beginning of the new millennium seems
particularly appropriate. Indeed, with the great advances in communications technology
and the continuing process of globalization, the Church’s mission of making Christ known
and loved by all people finds itself with ever new opportunities, and ever new challenges
as well. The past years have seen remarkable growth in Catholic radio broadcasts in
various countries of Africa and Europe, and there has also been great development
in Catholic television, due especially to satellite transmission and cable distribution.
SIGNIS must continue to create new audiences for Catholic programming and work with
other involved bodies to ensure that positive religious and spiritual content is not lacking
in the various media productions.
People spend enormous amounts of time absorbed in media consumption,
particularly children and adolescents. An important part of your work, therefore, is to
teach wise and responsible media use. This means setting high standards not for the
general public alone but also for the leaders of the communications industry. It means
54
bringing people to a keen awareness of the great influence that the media has in their
lives. It means monitoring the quality of content and promoting constructive dialogue
between media producers and consumers.
Dear Friends, these are some of the tasks that lie before you, tasks that demand
courage and commitment, tasks that you willingly take up as part of your Christian
vocation. The Lord Jesus himself is with you to support you and strengthen you: as he
told the Apostles when giving them his final mandate to make disciples of all nations,
“I am with you always, to the close of the age” (Mt 28:20). May the soon-to-be-founded
SIGNIS organization be an ever effective instrument of the Lord’s enduring presence in
our world and of his abiding love for all men and women.
To all of you I cordially impart my Apostolic Blessing.
Peter Malone was able to express what the vision of OCIC ministry was:
Holy Father, I would like to preset to you the international members of the Catholic
Organisation for Cinema in my role as president, Peter Malone, an Australian Missionary
of the Sacred Heart. In our 73 years history we have tried to be a bridge between the
Church and the professional world of cinema and, within the Church, a bridge to all
people for education, critique and the promotion of human and spiritual values.
Angela Ann Zukowski presented the Unda vision:
Holy Father, I would like to introduce to you the World Catholic Association for Radio
and Television, Unda. I am Angela Ann Zukowski, world president of Unda, a Mission
Helper of the Sacred Heart, a professor at the University of Dayton, a Catholic Marianist
university. For over 73 years, our members of Unda creatively and courageously have
engaged in the media to promote a culture of life through the support of human dignity
and the sacredness of life. We strive to be sentinels amidst the rapidly evolving media
culture. We realise our moral responsibility to speak out in the media and have accepted
this challenge. Now, in the spirit of Your Holiness’s new millennial letter, Unda and OCIC
put out into the deep. We are merging to form a new world Catholic media association
reflecting the challenges and opportunitiesof the new media age. We ask your guidance
and blessing on our new journey together as we call forth SIGNIS into being these
days.
The actual sessions for the vote were preceded by the final discussions on the draft of
the Statutes. By one of those strokes of fate (or providence), a press conference hosted
by Vatican Radio had been postponed to the day of the vote and Pierre Bélanger and
Peter Malone had been committed to attend. By the time they returned to the Assembly,
the vote had been taken. They missed it!
On the Sunday after the congress, regional meetings were held to ratify the assembly
delegates with the president and vice president of each region being the members on
the new board. This was important for the International members grouping who met and
held elections.
55
That evening there was a special celebration for thirty years of ministry for Crec Avex.
Its founder and director, Pierre Babin, was present as a Board member. The students
enrolled for 2001-2002 came to Rome for the Congress and for this celebration.
In preparation for the leadership elections for the first office holders for SIGNIS, the
candidates presented themselves and their vision. Although two of the candidates for
president, Bob Bonnot and Jim McDonnell, had withdrawn their nominations, they were
invited to speak about SIGNIS and its future. President of Unda USA, Frank Morock,
also spoke but later withdrew. This left Peter Malone as the remaining candidate and
he was elected President.
The candidates for Vice President also spoke: Ambrose Assorow from Ghana,
Gaye Ortiz from the UK and Augy Loorthusamy from Malaysia. Augy was elected on
the first ballot and Gaye on the second. (There had been much discussion at Joint
Board meetings about the presence of women in significant positions in SIGNIS and
there was satisfaction that Gaye had been elected.) After the election, presided over
by Angela Ann Zukowski, Archbishop Foley presented the retiring presidents of Unda
and OCIC with the medals Pro Ecclesia et Pontifice. Robert Molhant became the first
Secretary General of SIGNIS and Pierre Bélanger was to return to his Jesuit province
of Montreal.
The first assembly of SIGNIS followed, a much smaller assembly than delegates had
been used to:
Six delegates for each region plus president and the two vice presidents. The
session began with prayer, an official prayer and missioning of the new assembly by
the delegates and visitors who were present as observers. While ordinary matters of
business, like the budget, were attended to, the main discussion concerned the priorities
of SIGNIS and the reports from the interest areas workshops during the Congress.
As an acknowledgement of past commitment and service, a list of Honorary Members
was drawn up and a motion was tabled to the effect that the board recommend to the
SIGNIS Assembly of Delegates the former living Presidents and Secretary Generals of
Unda and of OCIC be invited to be Honorary Members of SIGNIS.
Former Presidents:
Fr. Anthony SCANNELL OFM Cap.
Chainarong MONTHIENVICHIENCHAI
Sr. Angela Ann ZUKOWSKI MSSH
Fr. Lucien LABELLE
Fr. Ambros EICHENBERGER OP (who died in 2006 in Switzerland)
Former Secretaries General:
Fr. Jean DESAUTELS SJ (who died on August 1st 2002 in the Philippines)
Fr. Colm MURPHY
Fr. Victor SUNDERAJ
Fr. Pierre BELANGER SJ
56
The first SIGNIS Board meeting was held the next day, again an experience of fewer
numbers after the years of Joint Boards meetings. This time, as with the Assembly,
there was the Secretary General, the liaison with the Pontifical Council, the director of
the Rome Service and Fr Gabriel Nissim who had been the spiritual adviser in 2001 to
Unda. The Voting members were now 17, two delegates per region with the president
and the two vice presidents.
Something of this early spirit is found in the first message from the president:
“A warm welcome to the first edition of SIGNIS Info. It brings home to us that we are now
living in a new reality, an association which is concerned with the variety of media in the
world today - and tomorrow. As I write this editorial, it is two months to the day since we
had the first SIGNIS Assembly. In many ways it seems a long time ago. In other ways it
seems only yesterday. I would like to take the opportunity to thank all those who came to
Rome for the Congress, who made it a world Church event. So many people came for
the Multimedia Forum. But it is to those who came to the OCIC and Unda Assemblies
to vote on the new statutes for SIGNIS or who came to wit­ness these votes that our
gratitude is due. While it was a momentous day, that Wednesday November 21st, with
the vote on the statutes, I still feel some­what deprived. Those of you in the hall might
remember that Pierre Bélanger and I had to go to a Vatican Radio press conference and
so missed out on being present for the crucial votes!
For those who were not able to attend the Congress, I hope that you have heard
reports of the proceedings in Rome. We were especially blessed that we were able
to have our own Papal Audience. It had been programmed for Thursday, November
22nd, after the celebration of the Eucharist for American Thanksgiving in St Peter’s
Basilica. However, the proclamation of the document from the Synod for Oceania was
then scheduled for that morning and we had to move out. (You may remember that
this proclamation was the occasion for the Pope to press an Enter or Send key on his
computer to send the document and his message simultaneously throughout the Pacific.)
It seemed that we would have to be part of the general audience on the Wednesday.
Through the good offices of Archbishop Foley, we were able to have our audience on
the Tuesday, a day that the Pope does not usually see groups. The Pope’s words were
an encouragement to us to continue the work of our organisations over the last 70 years
and to look ahead in our multi­media world.”
The Secretariat published a report of the Congress which was also presented at the
Pontifical Council meeting of 2002. In succeeding years, the annual report was compiled,
text, diagrams and photos, for the Board meetings and the Pontifical Councils.
Three and a half years after the Montreal votes and just under three years since the
first Executive meeting in Luxemburg, SIGNIS was a reality.
57
2002
2002 was a year for SIGNIS to find its feet. The first task at international level was
to effectively merge the two secretariats in rue du Saphir, especially since OCIC had
worked on the second floor and Unda on the third. It meant a re-allotting of offices
to emphasise the unity as well as for efficiency. The general secretariat produced,
at the end of the year, a printed report for presentation to the Pontifical Council for
Social Communications of which the president is a member and the secretary general
a consultor.
There was a Board meeting in March in Belgium (in rather Spartan conditions in
Mechelen) for members of the Board to see the Secretariat, to consolidate what had
been summarised in Rome and to develop the priorities and the fields of SIGNIS action.
It also meant renewing the links between the Brussels secretariat and the regions.
The Asian regional assembly took place in Manila in October with the veteran James
Reuter S.J. acting as host and ensuring that the visitors experienced the life of the
church of the Philippines, even dinner with president Gloria Arroyo and the mayor of
Manila – but, unfortunately, Cardinal Sin was too ill to come down for the dinner at
his residence. Quite a show! The European members met in Rome. The Canadian
affiliate ARCCC, Association of Canadian Catholic Communicators, met in Winnipeg
in June and, significantly, the Americans met to establish The Catholic Academy of
Communications Arts Professionals, the US affiliate of SIGNIS International. This took
place in Los Angeles in October with new statutes and a different structuring of the
Board which had previously consisted principally of diocesan communications directors
but which was now structured according to fields of activities, ‘Affinity Groups’. The
president was able to be present in Winnipeg and Los Angeles and the secretary general
in Los Angeles.
At this time, Fr. Jean Paul Guillet decided to retire from the SIGNIS Rome Service.
Missionary of Africa, Fr Jean Francois Galtier, worked with him during 2002. Fr Bernardo
Suate from Mozambique, who had headed the IMBISA communications office in Harare
for several years, became the director in 2003.
The Brussels publication had become SIGNIS Info. The first president’s message
took stock of what had happened:
“During 2002, one of the major chal­lenges to all SIGNIS members, a chal­lenge to
the members of the Board, is to think and act creatively concerning our programs and
services. Already at the Congress, steps were taken to develop our video distribution
service, especially with the help of Mark Reidemann at CRTN in Königstein and Peter
Thomas at Albert Street Productions in Melbourne. Both can draw on their experience
and expertise to find ways of helping members to circulate their programs more widely.
In the past this has led to work in co-production. Another, more modest but no less
effective, direction is that of Internet Forums on particular issues of concern.
Another challenge is the way in which we can, at local, regional and interna­tional
levels, find our SIGNIS justice voice, so that we are not silent in the face of injustice and
oppression, espe­cially in the areas of communication, in our part of the world. We have
to find ways to share our justice voice.
58
The other creative challenge is in the area of membership. In forming SIG­NIS, we
wanted to broaden our mem­bership and invite communications peo­ple to be associated
with us. At a national level, this is most important. Of course, all of us are busy with our
day-to-day work and responsibilities, so that it is often difficult for us to find ways of
taking initiatives to invite people to join us. But, this is an area of growth and life.
In this first editorial, I would like to pay tribute to all those members of Unda and
OCIC who worked so hard over the last three years to develop SIGNIS. I would like
to acknowledge the work done by the Joint Boards of Unda and OCIC, the executive
committees who had extra meetings and thanks to Angela Ann, Pierre, Robert and Alvito
for guiding us to completion. And, gen­erally, behind the scenes were the staff at Rue du
Saphir working hard to main­tain our work and to contribute to the formation of SIGNIS.”
(SIGNIS Info, 2002/1)
Within four months of the Assembly, the new Board met again, this time in Mechelen
so that members of the board who had never visited the Secretariat would have the
opportunity to do so. Once again, the reports in SIGNIS Info give an indication of
what the Board had to consider: The SIGNIS Board of Management met in Mechelen
(Belgium) from 18 to 22 April. Its main aim was to develop activity programmes that will
cover various fields. The Board members shared the respon­sibility of leading each of
these pro­grammes.
Therefore, Jim McDonnell, and Jude Botelho, in collaboration with Alvito de Souza,
will co-ordinate the training pro­gramme, that will also be able to rely on FuturTalent.
The web site (www.signis.net) should become the main tool for communication,
information and promotion of SIGNIS.
Peter Thomas and Reinhold Jacobi, in collaboration with Robert Molhant and with the
support of CRTN, and Mark Riedemann, will be responsible for pro­gramme production.
Augy Loorthusamy and Jude Botelho, with Nadine Jourde at the international
secretariat, will develop a programme on media education.
Siriwan, Gaye Ortiz, with the support of Magdalena Urbano (general secretariat) will
be in charge of a programme dedica­ted to women in media.
The theme of theology and communica­tion will be followed by Bernardo Suate,
Gaye Ortiz and Gabriel Nissim.
Finally, television and film reviews will remain the concern of Peter Malone and
Guido Convents.
An evaluation committee for the projects submitted to FuturTalent has been desi­
gnated. Jude Botelho, Jim McDonnell, Robert Molhant and Alvito de Souza are part of
the committee.
The SIGNIS representatives within inter­governmental organisations will have a
meeting in June, in order to establish a more precise representation strategy.
The Board of Management also took into consideration the requests for affiliation by
individual as well as institutional asso­ciates.” (Robert Molhant, SIGNIS Info, 2002/2)
59
The Board also extended the mandate of Robert Molhant as Secretary General until
the Assembly of election at the end of 2005.
Robert’s long experience and his commitment to the merger meant that he could
look at the church media landscape and comment:
“Against the current... Let’s face it, we can only be ‘going against’ the dominant
media flow.
We must not be under any illusion. Television is a business. In Munich, where I
participated in Prix Jeunesse, that was celebrating its 20th anniversary, I was part of
the 300 people convinced that children and young people, who are tomorrow’s society,
deserve better programmes. Unfortunately, even if UNICEF, UNESCO, African and Asian
television stations were present, sharing the same concern, the budget for children and
youth programmes within govern­mental and commercial stations all over the world, is
one of the lowest.
The former director of the San Sebastian Festival, Diego Galan, whom I met in
Cannes, and to whom I said that the fact of showing an Israeli and Palestinian film
opened perspectives to dialogue, provoked me by saying: ‘Film festivals have nothing
cultural; it’s business, money, and politics!’
And yet, one must continue going ‘against the trend’.
At the last Pontifical Council assembly for media, at the Vatican, last March, the Cardinals
and the members heard the reports, complete and precise, on the initiatives taken by the
Church in the field of media. It is quite unbelievable the number of audiovisual production
centres, radio stations, television pro­grammes, and today Internet websites born from
the initiatives of Catholics, there are. But, according to the reports themselves, these
programmes have a small audience, and remain marginal in the audiovisual landscape
dominating our time. All the same, more and more voices are being heard, in the context
of violen­ce and terrorism today, to remind media professionals as well as the public,
about their responsibility in the creation of a more humane society, respectful through its
media, of essential values and each person’s dignity.
If the Catholic media are - and stay - marginal in most of the countries in the world,
they have a true contribution to bring, a support to those, whatever their faith, believers or
non-believers, who fight for a media universe, whose funda­mental beliefs is not money,
or profit, but culture, education, understanding between people who must live together
an enriching adventure on a planet which has become closer and more unified.
For this - and it is the aim of SIGNIS - Catholic media must, where they are too
confined around the institution or ‘in the sacristy’, dare to be open to the world, to
dialogue, to rush far in the sea, where of course, it is not peaceful-ness awaiting but a
storm! Duc in altum !” (SIGNIS Info 2002/3)
The reflections and reports at the end of 2002 indicate the kind of work that had
to be done during the first year of SIGNIS, some of it high profile, much of it mundane
detail. One of the major tasks was the reorganising of the office in rue du Saphir for one
organisation rather than two.
60
One year later.
The Secretary General wrote: In this issue’s editorial, the World President, Peter Malone,
indicates how many national and continental assem­blies have taken place to create
SIGNIS locally and regionally… This process is ongoing and will take a little while lon­
ger. However, one can see how much the need for change, expressed at the Rome
Congress, is confirmed through the initiatives taken in each of the coun­tries.
The International Secretariat was busy at the beginning of the year with many legal
and administrative procedures lin­ked to the merger. The changes in the name and
statutes had to be presented to the governmental authorities, as well as the institutions
we were in relation with, such as UNESCO, the Council of Europe, or the United Nations.
These steps, necessary at a world level, also had an impact in the regions that are often
only recognized legally through the international organisation itself.
Last April, the Board of Management met in Mechelen, Belgium, and elabora­ted a
programme of six priority points: media training, the place of women in communication,
access to new techno­logies, strategies for production and distribution of radio and
television programmes, being present at film and television festivals, research in
theology and communication.
The SIGNIS website should be an inter­active tool allowing a greater participation
of members to the accomplishment of such a programme. This renewal of the website
mobilised the efforts the International Secretariat during the months of July, August
and September. The renewed (but still in construction) website is now on-line: www.
signis.net. It includes in three languages (French, English, Spanish) information on
the organisation, but it also comprises a magazine as well as a section reserved for
members, a forum, and documents. It should also include, in the next few weeks, a
secure space. Links will also be established with the websites of members and partner
associations. Therefore, in one year, many things have changed. That was the wish
expressed by the members at the Rome Congress. SIGNIS is today a growing reality!
(Robert Molhant, SIGNIS Info, 2002/4-5)
2003
2003 was a busy year. The new statutes asked for a world assembly at the end of the
year, not an assembly of election, but one that would review the previous two years
and consolidate planning for the coming two years. At this time, SIGNIS adopted the
slogan, ‘Media for a Culture of Peace’. Thinking on this theme pervaded the work of
SIGNIS, aided especially by SIGNIS taking on what had been an Unda-WACC think
tank on media and social issues, which had produced a number of papers and were now
commissioned to work on the theme of media and peace. This was to bear fruit during
2005, culminating with the declaration of a charter for peace at the Assembly in Lyon.
The decision was made to hold a Board meeting in Latin America for the association
to appreciate better the life of the church and of the media in that continent. Lima was
the chosen venue and the president of SIGNIS Latin America, Pedro Sanchez, worked
with his team to make the meeting a local experience. Not only did the delegates meet
with the official media representatives of the Church in Peru, there were visits to Catholic
61
television stations and a visit to a new diocese on the edge of Lima, Chosica and to see
its seminary and training facilities, its distance learning programs and its community
radio. In June, Robert Molhant and Peter Malone went to Cape Town to prepare the
assembly for November and received support from Archbishop Laurence Henry and Fr
Peter John Pearson, the official church liaison with the South African government. Plans
were in place for a radio seminar for English-speaking Africans to be held in Cape Town
prior to the assembly. In discussions with the director of the Sithengi film festival and
market, Michael Auret, the possibilities for having a producers’ meeting also opened up.
Both of these workshops took place.
An important factor for the assembly was the opportunity for delegates, many of
whom had never visited Africa before, to learn something of the country, its history and,
especially, the recent experience of apartheid. The initial plan read: “we will celebrate
an opening Mass on the morning of Sunday November 16th along with the radio and
producer conference members. We will also have a morning session. (In fact, the Mass
was presided over by Archbishop Buti Tlhigale OMI of Johannesburg who had attended the
radio seminar and the morning session was a Q and A with the archbishop and Fr Peter
John Pearson.) After lunch, we will all go for a visit to Robben Island. This will give us an
orientation to the city, its bay and the overlook of Table Mountain. The important thing is that
it will give us an orientation to South Africa itself, especially its history of apartheid and the
transition to freedom during the 1990s. Political prisoners were housed at Robben Island.
Nelson Mandela spent 18 years there. Visiting the prison, listening to the guides (who are
former prisoners) will help us understand the significance of our meeting in Cape Town and
give us a greater sense of urgency, especially in our concerns for Advocacy.” This visit
happened and had a profound effect.
Two overviews best indicate what happened in 2003.
The first is the detailed report from the General Secretariat on work and activities with
details of the restructured office and the personnel. The second is the more personalised
report of the president indicating events, visits and meetings that he participated in and
indicate the range of activities that was opening up.
The report from Brussels.
62
Activity Report
General Secretariat
Assembly of Delegates, Cape Town, November 2003
Introduction:
The scope of this report
1. The present report covers the time from November 2001 to November 2003.
However, as the General Secretariat has already published an annual report for 2002, the
following text is a summary of the activities for 2002. For more details, you have to consult
the document titled “Annual Report - SIGNIS 2002”. The present document is a detailed
account of activities for 2003.
2. Though the report is about the activities at the General Secretariat in Brussels,
reference is made to activities that have taken place with the participation of other offices
such as the Missionary Service in Rome.
The main theme of this period:
The passage from Unda and OCIC to SIGNIS
3. 2002 and 2003 are to be considered as stages in the organization of the new
association SIGNIS following its foundation in November 2001. If the adoption of the
statutes and the first SIGNIS assembly were key moments in the constitution of the new
association at a world level, it was also necessary to undertake many administrative steps,
intensive work in public relations, and the transformation of member institutions in many
countries, at least where they were constituted in a distinct way, as former members of
Unda or OCIC.
4. Administrative steps: they have been many and surprisingly complex. An association
under Belgian law had to be created (ESCODEV) to maintain those personnel in the service
of SIGNIS whose salaries, at Unda and OCIC, were covered by subsidy from the Belgian
government. It was necessary to transfer bank accounts, insurance contracts, reorganize
the accounting, etc. All this took time which was difficult to measure - some files being still
in progress at the end of 2003!
It was important to arrange the recognition of SIGNIS as the successor body to Unda
and OCIC in order to retain consultative status at UNESCO and the Council of Europe. In
both cases, it has been done. For the United Nations (ECOSOC in Geneva and New York)
steps have not yet been taken since we do not have permanent representatives there. This
still needs to be done.
5. The reorganisation of the General Secretariat: the merger has led to the necessary
reorganisation of the General Secretariat, combining databases, sharing out tasks, the
departure of some employees, the arrival of others, the need to harmonise salaries and
establish new contracts (the employer no longer being Unda or OCIC).
63
Here is the list of the personnel and each person’s main tasks:
ANTHONIS **, Henriette, part time, festivals files, juries, institutional and individual
associates, mailing, subscriptions, reminders, database of prize-winning films, address
labels for the mailing publications
BOURGOIS **, Marc, full time, address database, researching websites of members
and associates, Christian radio, translations into French, proofreading texts in French,
solving computer network problems (with Pietro LICATA, CTV contract), maintenance of
simultaneous translation equipment
CONVENTS **, Guido, full time, secretariat for festivals (nomination of juries, liaising
with festivals), SIGNIS Media sub-editor, historian and archivist of OCIC, Unda and
SIGNIS, going through publications and documentation received, liaison with the African
film industry, understanding texts in German, Portuguese, and Flemish, etc.
DESEAU **, Fabienne, full time, printing (all documents are published by our own
press), binding, stamping and sending the post (liaising with the post office), encoding
archive documents, filing publications
DE SOUZA, Alvito, full time, assistant to Secretary General, organisation of statutory
meetings (Board of Management and Assembly), liaising with members and activities in
Africa for particular projects, database for national and international members, proofreading
texts in English, liaising with Prix Italia, administrator of FileMaker Pro and Access
databases
GONZALO **, Florentina, part time, accounting, personnel management, contacts with
banks, insurance, suppliers
HEYRBAUT, Pascale, part time, lay-out of all our publications, creates covers, scans
illustrations, develops negatives for printing, helps with their mailing
MOLHANT, Robert, full time, Secretary General, coordinates activities, represents the
organisation to the members, professional circles and Church institutions, looking for funds
needed to balance the association’s budget, writes articles, reports, brochures, proofreads
texts to be published, projects for Propaganda Fide
OTAZU **, Natacha, full time, secretarial work, filing all documents and dossiers, mail,
“sg” e-mails
PIETERS **, Lawrence, full time, journalist, webmaster, sub-editor of SIGNIS Info, the
Web News and the Web magazine, proofreading texts in French, organises the circulation
of the Web News and press releases
RAPHEL, Beatrice, full time, translation into English, proofreading texts in English,
secretarial work, Propaganda Fide projects, personnel management, ordering and liaising
with suppliers
URBANO, Magdalena, full time, translation into Spanish, Propaganda Fide projects
and liaising with the people in charge of the projects, proofreading texts in Spanish
VAN ESPEN, Daniel, full time, liaises with intergovernmental institutions (in Paris and
Geneva), the Conference for International Catholic Organizations, CICT (International
Council for Cinema and Television). Is responsible for managing the website of the
64
Conference for ICO, as well as the building at 15 rue du Saphir and therefore liaises with
organizations renting premises
WEYERGANS, Anne, part time, cleaning lady 4 hrs / week
Yañez, Ricardo, full time, liaises with Latin America and other Spanish-speaking
countries, post-production competition, address database (with Marc Bourgois),
subscriptions and membership, fields of youth, music, and advertising
(** = indicates that we benefit from government aid for this person: 95% of salary)
6. The Missionary Service in Rome: 2002 and 2003 also saw the arrival of JeanFrançois Galtier, a French White Father, at the Missionary Service in Rome as an assistant
to the director, Father Jean-Paul Guillet. The intention was that Father Galtier would
gradually take over the service. In Mechelen, in April 2002, Father Galtier was presented
to the members of the Board of Management. At the end of 2002, however, it was mutually
agreed that Father Galtier would not take over from Father Guillet. We therefore started to
look for a new successor. Father Bernardo Suate, from Mozambique, joined the service
in Rome in April 2003, having obtained his transfer from his bishop. He was introduced
at the Board of Management in Lima. On 5 and 6 August, Robert Molhant went to Rome
when Bernardo Suate officially took up his new position as director, Jean-Paul Guillet being
honorary director, but remaining at the disposal of the new director until the end of 2003.
7. The transition from Unda and OCIC to SIGNIS in various countries: the General
Secretariat team has followed the creation of SIGNIS in many countries (practically all of
Asia, the Pacific, various countries in Latin America, the United States having become “The
Catholic Academy of Audiovisual Arts Professionals, the US affiliated to SIGNIS”, several
European countries, Poland, Belarus, Spain, Italy).The movement will certainly go on for
the next two years. SIGNIS-Asia has given itself statutes. It seems to be the only region in
the world to have constituted itself in a legal way.
8. In order to understand better the situation of the members in various countries,
the President, the Secretary General or other senior staff at SIGNIS made visits. Robert
Molhant on various occasions met a number of people in France, the bishop for media, the
spokesperson for the episcopate, the committee for bishops in charge of media, the new
Jour du Seigneur producer in the hope that France will arrange to participate in SIGNIS.
Peter Malone and Robert Molhant went to Hilversum, to visit KRO, the Catholic public
broadcaster in The Netherlands. In October, on the occasion of the meeting in the United
States, they visited EWTN, Birmingham (Alabama). Their visit had been prepared by Mr.
Scott Hults. Ricardo Yañez went to Madrid for a meeting with those in charge of the media
in that country. The President visited members in many countries. He and Jim McDonnell,
President of Europe, also went to various countries in Eastern Europe, Romania, Belarus,
Poland. The President and the Secretary General have participated each year in the meeting
with the members in the United States (Los Angeles, in October 2002, St Louis, in October
2003). Robert Molhant participated in August 2003, in Colombo, in the meeting with the six
delegates from Asia. Alvito De Souza participated, in October 2002, in the meeting with the
delegates from Africa, in Harare. Finally, members of the Board of Management had the
occasion to discover the situation of the media in Peru, during the meeting held in Lima. In
June 2003, Peter Malone and Robert Molhant went to Cape Town, in view of organizing the
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Assembly of Delegates, the workshop for radio and the seminar for TV producers. The visit
was prepared by Alvito De Souza.
9. In the field of relations with other institutions, it is important to see the annual
participation of the President and the Secretary General at the Plenary Assembly of the
Pontifical Council for Social Communications. Various members of SIGNIS are also present
(Jim McDonnell, Reinhold Jacobi, Fr. Borgomeo, Chainarong Monthienvichienchai) Robert
Molhant represents SIGNIS within the Board of Management and the General Assembly
of CAMECO; he is also President of Crec-Avex. Jim McDonnell represents SIGNIS at
meetings of the World Summit for the Information Society (see his report). Daniel Van Espen
participated in many activities of the Conference of the International Catholic Organizations
including a seminar in March 2003 on “New Technologies Today: What are the Stakes
for Education?” In April he organized a training session in pastoral communication and
the new techologies with Crec-Avex in Lyon. In May he was at Geneva, for a working
group on «international events», then in September he prepared for the ICO a round-table
on the World Summit on the Information Society. He is also a member of the Executive
Committee of the CICT at UNESCO. In June, as vice-president he took part in the meeting
of the CICT office in Paris following a meeting with UNESCO representatives. In October
he was President of the “Prix Jeunesse” jury at the 20th “Rencontres Internationales de
l’Audiovisuel Scientifique, Image & Science”. Gabriel Nissim is the official representative of
SIGNIS at the Council of Europe. Alvito De Souza and Robert Molhant have represented
SIGNIS at the FuturTalent Board of Management (Diocese of Namur). In April 2003, Robert
Molhant went to Monterrey (Mexico) for the Church and IT meeting in Latin America. Various
SIGNIS members participated in it, including Bertrand Ouellet (Canada), Frank Morock
(USA), Hugo Ara (Bolivia), José Tavares de Barros (Brazil), Marcello Mejia (Ecuador) and,
of course, Mgr. Planas, who was one of the organizers.
On 30 and 31 October, a SIGNIS delegation (P. Malone, J. McDonnell, R. Molhant,
D. Van Espen) went to the Council of Europe, in Strasbourg. The meeting had carefully
been prepared by Gabriel Nissim.
10. The financing of the organization and its members’ activities also required a series
of steps. In December 2002, the Secretary General went to Rome to meet Mgr. Ranjith
of Propaganda Fide to give him all the requests from dioceses in Asia, Africa, the Middle
East, the Pacific, East European countries, and apostolic vicariates from Latin America.
Propaganda Fide having fewer and fewer resources, it was to be feared that the total
amount for the projects, nearly 2.7 million US dollars, could not be granted. An appeal was
launched to the members to help directors of OPM (Pontifical Missionary Works) to rely
more on media for their campaigns to raise funds. Finally, all the projects were reduced
by 10%, and projects from East Europe were not kept. In a letter, Mgr. Ranjith announced
that only projects from apostolic vicariates from Latin America would still be considered, not
those from dioceses. During the second semester of 2003, Mgr. Ranjith left his duties at
Propaganda Fide.
11. Other steps to obtain funds have been taken. The Secretary General visited
Misereor, Missio (Aachen) and Fastenopfer (Swiss Lenten Fund) (Luzern). With Peter
Malone, he went to Königstein, to Aid to the Church in Need. This visit also allowed them to
meet Mark Riedemann and his team at CRTN. Finally, a request has also been submitted
to the Pius XII Foundation. The funds attributed by the Secretariat of State seem to indicate
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that, even if the SIGNIS statutes have not been approved yet by the Vatican, the Vatican
appreciates the association’s work.
Evolution in the programme
12. The Assembly in Rome, in November 2001, identified eight priorities:
⋅
presence in television and film festivals, critical media analysis
⋅
rights and freedom in communication (Advocacy)
⋅
media education
⋅
women and media
⋅
theology and communication
⋅
formation and future talents
⋅
new technologies, Internet via satellite
⋅
production and distribution of programmes
13. The Board of Management considered that besides these eight priorities, an effort
also had to be made in the field of the organization’s public relations. It was important in fact
that the existence of a new organization, born from the merger between Unda and OCIC be
known as widely as possible.
14. On 19th June 2002, a meeting was organized at the General Secretariat, in
view of reformulating the policy of SIGNIS’ presence at international institutions such as
UNESCO, the Council of Europe and ECOSOC (United Nations). Jim McDonnell was given
responsibility for the programme, “Advocacy” which included all the questions regarding the
presence of SIGNIS in intergovernmental organizations.
15. On 2nd May 2003, Robert Molhant participated in the Nissim Group (Media, Culture
and Society, SIGNIS-WACC ecumenical group) meeting held in Mechelen (Belgium). The
group committed to develop its reflections in the service of SIGNIS, in particular regarding
the issue of media and peace.
16. Following these two meetings, the study of UNESCO and Council of Europe
documents and programmes, the participation also in preliminary meetings of the World
Summit for the Information Society, meetings with people in charge at funding agencies, the
idea came to redefine priorities in terms that are used in important debates today regarding
communication and culture. Please find below the activity report put together according to
the headings referring to today’s important debates.
17. Developing cultural diversity: “Maximizing cultural diversity is the key to making
culture a renewable resource in the effort to make development sustainable. Religious
diversity is a key dimension of cultural diversity. Encouraging linguistic diversity. Encouraging
the production, safeguarding and dissemination of diversified contents in the media and
global information networks.” UNESCO
18. Through the presence of our juries at important television and film festivals in the
world, awarding films expressing values from every cultural standpoint.
In 2002 and 2003, SIGNIS had juries in nearly thirty festivals (24 in 2002). From
February 2002, a prize was awarded in Teheran, at the Fajr festival. This was again the case
in February 2003, with the presence of a Muslim-Christian jury. In 2003, the SIGNIS juries,
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in collaboration with Interfilm for the ecumenical juries, were present in Teheran, Berlin,
Ouagadougou, Mar del Plata, Fribourg, Milan, Alba, Turnhout, Buenos Aires, Oberhausen,
Niepokalanow, Cannes, Troia/Setubal, Monte-Carlo (TV), Karlovy Vary, Locarno, Venice,
Montreal, Prix Italia (TV), San Sebastian, Leipzig, Cottbus, Amiens, Mannheim, Bratislava
and Havana. Also for the first time, a SIGNIS jury was present at the Zanzibar festival.
SIGNIS was also present (Ricardo Yañez and Pablo Ramos) at Prix Jeunesse, in Santiago
de Chile.
19. Made up more and more often on an ecumenical or inter-religious basis, these
juries are the opportunity for a real dialogue between professionals from different religious
traditions. Let us add that on 20th May 2003, in the framework of the Cannes festival,
SIGNIS and Interfilm organized a press conference on the theme: “Cinema: confrontation
between or respect for beliefs?” Two renowned writers participated in the press conference:
M. Jacques Duquesne, a French journalist, once at L’Express and still an important reporter
for various newspapers; he is the author of many books, including Jésus, St Eloi, Et
pourtant nous étions heureux, and Gabriel Ringlet, pro-rector at the Catholic University in
Louvain-la-Neuve, a Belgian priest, author of Ma part de gravité. The contribution of the two
speakers will be published in 2004, as a brochure.
20. A special issue of SIGNIS Media, published in December 2002, presented the
complete list of award-winning films and programmes during the year. An issue of SIGNIS
Media (to be published in December 2003), dedicated to cultural diversity, will give the
complete list of award-winning films in 2003.
Apart from our festival juries, staff members of the General Secretariat have many
contacts with professional events. Guido Convents gave the opening address at the Afrika
film Festival in Leuven where he presented also his new publication on colonial culture in
cinema (Afrique? Quel Image!). He was invited to the Troia festival where he introduced
Catherine Wong (SIGNIS Hong Kong), also at the Festival of Karlovy Vary where he
developed relations with FIPRESCI. In September 2003, he was at the Bahia Film festival
specialised on Brazilian cinema on the occasion of its 30th anniversary. As a historian
of cinema, he took part in a round-table on African cinema in Namur, then in October at
the Sacile festival in Italy on silent cinema, and at Blois, on colonial culture in media and
missionary cinema.
21. In the area of preservation of film, many meetings have taken place with Marcel
Bauer about preserving the extraordinary treasury of images and films coming from
missionaries and making this material available to television around the world. A first
programme of this kind has already been broadcast by ZDF in Germany, then by Arte and
KTO in France. He published on this theme the book Abenteuer Gottes. Eine Geschichte
der Mission.
22. Through the support of film-makers in Latin America. For four years, annual prizes
to a total amount of 100,000 US Dollars were made to film-makers in Latin America,
through a post-production competition organized in close collaboration with OCCLAC,
the Latin American branch of SIGNIS. In 2002, the prizes for this competition were
announced during a press conference at the Mar del Plata Festival (Argentina). Following
this competition, SIGNIS brought its collaboration to the section “Cinema in construction”
at the Toulouse festival and “Cine en Construcción” at the San Sebastian festival. This
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collaboration was provided in 2002 and 2003, with the presence of Guido Convents
(San Sebastian 2002,Toulouse 2003), Ricardo Yañez (San Sebastian 2003) and Robert
Molhant (San Sebastian 2002 and 2003). Each time, SIGNIS published the catalogue for
this part of the festival and contributed (in 2002) to the expenses of Latin-American filmmakers participating in the festival. The steps continued throughout 2003 with a view of
obtaining again the 100,000 US Dollars to relaunch the post-production competition in Latin
America.
23. Through multilingual publications: in spite of the huge effort requested for the
translation and adaptation of texts, the publications SIGNIS Media, SIGNIS Info, the
website, the web magazine and the electronic bulletin, as well as the official documents
(statutes and reports) are produced in three languages: French, English and Spanish.
The financial support given by SIGNIS to CRTN allowed for the English version of the
website to be translated into Spanish. (www.crtn.org)
24. Through the development of a network of programme exchanges, support for
production and broadcasting, in collaboration with CRTN. A meeting in Hong Kong, in
January 2003, allowed the people in charge (Mark Riedemann, Jerry Martinson, Dominic
Yung, Peter Thomas absent) to establish the first elements of a strategy in that field. A
detailed report will be presented by Mark Riedemann of CRTN.
It is important to add that the seminar for TV producers, that will be held from 12 to 17
November, in Cape Town, in the context of Sithengi, is an important stage in the creation
of this network.
25. By the organization of seminars such as that held at Iasi (Romania, 2 - 5 October)
on the theme of “Narratives and Signs of Hope in the Cinema”. This seminar was organized
by WACC, Interfilm, SIGNIS, and the John Templeton Foundation.
26. Media at the service of a culture of Peace: Because wars are born in the human
mind, it is in the human mind that the defence of peace must be developed. The media can
heighten public awareness in this domain, promote human rights and contribute effectively
to international understanding.
27. Through the reflections and research of the ecumenical group lead by Gabriel
Nissim. The group holds two annual meetings. In 2003, one of them took place in May,
the other will take place in December. The documents the group have produced until now
are being republished. During the meeting in May 2003, the group debated on the way the
media had related the events of the war in Iraq. This debate was at the origin of the dossier
published in SIGNIS Media under the title “The Truth at Stake”. The reflections of the group
leads us to suggest that “promoting a culture of peacethrough media” can be a theme that
can be an important issue for members in 2004-2005.
28. In September 2003, the FuturTalent jury at the San Sebastian festival awarded
its prize of 4,000 euros to the film Zaman, l’homme aux roseaux, the first Iraqi film made
in fifteen years. The film fits well within the perspective to promote a culture of peace
through media. Robert Kalman, secretary of CICT (the International Council for Cinema
and Television at UNESCO), during a visit in Brussels, suggested the idea that SIGNIS
present a film at UNESCO, in Paris. The project to present the Iraqi film at UNESCO, on 18
December, during the Conference of NGOs is being undertaken. The idea is also to hold
69
a screening at the Council of Europe (Strasbourg) on the occasion of the Conference of
NGOs, during the April 2004 session.
29. In view of allowing those participating in the radio workshop and the seminar for
producers, as well as all the SIGNIS delegates, to experience the battle against apartheid
in South Africa and building a society of mutual understanding and peace, the Cape Town
programme includes a visit to where Nelson Mandela was imprisoned on Robben Island.
30. Reducing the technological gap: “Countering the digital divide, in close cooperation
in relevant United Nations system organizations, by fostering access by the developing
countries to the new technologies, by helping them to master information technologies
and by facilitating the digital dissemination of endogenous cultural products and access
by those countries to the educational, cultural and scientific digital resources available
worldwide.” UNESCO
It is mainly through the activities of the Missionary Service, established in Rome,
that SIGNIS has contributed to reducing the technological gap. For more details, see the
Missionary Service’s report. It is important to note:
31. The network including more than six hundred satellite telephones managed from
Rome using contracts with the IMMARSAT satellite, France Telecom and Telecom Italia.
32. The development of an quick access service to Internet via satellite by the American
company Hughes, enabling the coverage of the sub-Saharan area by KU band 24 hours
a day, 7 days a week. This link also allows phone calls, through VoIP (Voice over Internet
Protocol), and the exchange of radio programmes.
33. The installation of many radio stations in Africa: studios and transmitters.
34. Let us add that an important number of projects submitted to Propaganda Fide
concern the purchase of equipment: computers for video editing, cameras, sound mixers,
studio equipment, video projectors, etc.
35. Promoting media education: A detailed report on the activities in this field will be
presented by the vice-president Augy Loorthusamy. Let us note the following elements:
36. The publication of the book “Pathways to Critical Media Education and Beyond”
by Cahayasuara Communications, in Malaysia. SIGNIS supported the distribution of this
book.
37. The publication of a special dossier on the theme found in the November 2003
issue of SIGNIS Media.
38. Tn the framework of collaboration with UCIP, a meeting will take place in Rome
during the month of November (at the same time as the assembly in Cape Town). Joe
Borg, from Malta, has been chosen to represent SIGNIS. The objective of the discussions
with UCIP is to further collaboration also within the fields of education and teaching with
OIEC, the International Organization for Catholic Education, and FIUC, the International
Federation for Catholic Universities.
39. In April 2004, Rio de Janeiro will welcome a world summit on media education (4e
Cumbre Mundial de los Medios para Niños y Adolescentes). Ricardo Yañez has already
contacted the organizers in view of partnership and obtaining special conditions for a
SIGNIS delegation at this summit.
70
40. At the service of community radio. Over the past few years the development
of community radio stations in Africa has been one of the main activities of the SIGNIS
Missionary Service. The details of these efforts are found below:
41. A workshop for Christian radio stations is being organized in close collaboration
with CAMECO immediately before the Assembly of Delegates in Cape Town. Its aim is to
support these stations and consider how they can best offer each other mutual support and
exchange services and programmes.
42. In 2002 a radio script writing competition was organized in Africa. The prizes will be
awarded during the meeting in Cape Town.
43. A number of important projects submitted to Propaganda Fide are for training those
in charge of community radio stations.
44. In 2002, SIGNIS, with financial support from Stem Van Africa, was able to give
training bursaries to two people from Cameroon and financially support a Pan-African
session in Nairobi. This financial aid, in 2003, contributed to the financing of the radio
workshop in Cape Town.
45. Ethics and Media
The Vice President, Gaye Ortiz, has taken responsibility for activities in the area of
Theology and Communication. A programme of education using the Internet has been
developed by St Paul University in Ottawa. Information on this programme has been made
available through different SIGNIS publications.
46. Women and Media
The Vice President, Gaye Ortiz, organized a colloquium on Screening Women, in
Namur in March 2002. Siriwan Santisakultarm (President of SIGNIS-Asia) coordinated a
production seminar of programmes made by women over three weeks in Bangkok. Some
of these programmes were shown at the SIGNIS Asia Assembly in Manila in 2002.
47. Training and FuturTalent
The FuturTalent Association was set up to develop the creativity of young talents. Its
funding came from the Diocese of Namur. Alvito De Souza and Robert Molhant represent
SIGNIS, the President is Fr. Ernest Henau (a member of SIGNIS) and the Executive Director
is Br. Ferdinand Poswick (also a member of SIGNIS). The Diocese has two representatives
(Canon Huet et Mme Dewil).
48. In 2002, a whole series of activities were financed: a Prize in Crec-Avex (3500$),
a prize in Milia (new technologies market: 4000$), assistance to Medi@ction, Kinshasa
(3000$), partial financing of a co-worker in Burkina (800$), the festival Screening Women,
in Namur (8800$), the FuturTalent prize and the seminar Cinema in Construction at San
Sebastian (20,000$), the Latin-American seminar Imagenes Cristianas (8000$), prizes
for African radio script writing (8000$), a workshop on script writing by CCAC (1000$),
assistance with the production of the play “Mémoires des passeurs” by Anca Berlogea
(8000$). For the FuturTalent website and its management, the director was given two
amounts of 15.000$.
49. In 2003, the diocese announced that it had no more money available. It could
only give the FuturTalent prize in San Sebastian (4000$) drawing on the existing reserves.
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Negotiation with the Bishop finally made it possible to agree a new promise of a fixed
amount of 12,000$ per annum, for three years. But it had to be agreed that activities should
be organized in liaison with the diocese, so that FuturTalent would be more visible there.
50. Publications
During 2002 and 2003:
51. Six yearly issues of the multilingual magazine SIGNIS Media have been published,
on the themes of on-screen violence, Catholic television, media in Latin America, the truth
in information (in relation to information about the war in Iraq), media education, cultural
diversity, etc. Guido Convents is sub-editor of the magazine, the translations were done by
Beatrice Raphel, Magdalena Urbano, Marc Bourgois, with proofreading by Peter Malone,
Jim McDonnell, Alvito De Souza, Daniel Van Espen, Ricardo Yañez, Lawrence Pieters
and Robert Molhant; the layout was done by Pascale Heyrbaut, and printing by Fabienne
Deseau.
52. Six yearly issues of an information bulletin, SIGNIS Info, edited in three languages
(French, English and Spanish) were sent to our members and those involved with SIGNIS.
The sub-editor is Lawrence Pieters. Translations, proofreading, layout and printing by all
the team mentioned above for SIGNIS Media.
53. An electronic bulletin, the Web News, was first sent every week, then every fifteen
days to the members and correspondents who have an e-mail address. This electronic
bulletin contains brief reports and invites you to read the articles in full published on the
pages of the website. Sent to more than 800 addresses, it reaches some countries via other
lists (6.000 addresses in the United States, for example). Lawrence Pieters is in charge of
editing the Web News, with the help of the secretariat’s translation team.
54. The Unda and OCIC websites have become one SIGNISwebsite: www.signis.net.
This website has been completely restructured and redesigned. It includes other than the
information pages on the organization (“Network” button), presence at festivals (“Festivals”
button), services offered by the Missionary Service (“Equipment” button), links with the
FuturTalent website (“Formation” button) and with the CRTN website (“Programmes”
button). The website’s structure was modified in November 2003, to make it easier to
search for information. A “web magazine”, where news is updated a few times a week, is
also part of the website. It is in three languages and involves the participation of an editing
team all around the world. A “forum” is also open for the contributions of those who wish to
take part. One part of the site is reserved for members, who need a password to access
it. Finally, the website includes a secure section (guaranteed by Ogone/VeriSign,) which
allows on-line payments of membership fees, subscriptions and the purchase of books.
Lawrence Pieters is the webmaster.
55. Information strategy: the information that reaches the general secretariat is published
in the web magazine (accessible via the website), a part of this information is found every
fifteen days in the Web News (electronic bulletin sent to members and sympathisers).
Every two months, a selection of this information is published in the SIGNIS Info bulletin
particularly for those who do not have access to the Internet.
56. Press releases are sent to selected groups (members, film or television professionals,
people working with Churches). They give information on prizes awarded at festivals or
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are linked to a particular event (attack on the Bolivian Catholic radio). According to the
circumstances, various members of the secretariat write these press releases. Lawrence
Pieters sends the releases.
57. Administrative documents have also been published during 2002 and 2003: the
SIGNIS statutes, the Activities Report for 2002, the Report of the 2001 Rome Assembly.
These documents were sent to the members by post. They were also used for public
relations, meetings with financing agencies and in relations with intergovernmental
organisations. They are available on the website.
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President’s Report, 2003
Peter Malone
During the last two years, I have tried to keep delegates abreast of what is happening
worldwide by sending letters by email several times a year. I have the advantage of being
available for SIGNIS full-time in these years of transition from Unda-OCIC. (This, however,
should not be seen as a precedent for the next president.)
The last two years have offered a powerful learning experience, especially, as was
often said during the joint board meetings of Unda and OCIC between 1998 and 2001, that
the organisation is concerned with all audiovisual ministries and has moved from having
two presidents to one, four vice-presidents to two and two secretary generals to one. As
was anticipated, this means wider demands, more time and concentration, learning how to
cope with the range of media.
This has meant that I have had to make decisions as to what meetings I attended,
trying to be present to the association at large, juggling priorities and giving proportionate
attention, activity and involvement to each medium as well as continuing with my own
specialisation. This continues to be the challenge for the next two years.
Required activities
The president works with the General Secretariat in the preparations for the annual
board meetings and the biennial assembly (the Secretariat doing 99.9% of the work). The
president has to chair these meetings with the collaboration of the Vice Presidents and
other members of the Board. This has its own time demands.
The President, as a Member of the Pontifical Council for Social Communications, joins
the Secretary General who is a Consultor, for the week long annual assembly of the Council
in the Vatican.
There are annual meetings with UCIP during the Pontifical Council, an annual meeting
with Interfilm (the Protestant Organisation for Film Juries).
Members around the world expect some representation from the leadership at the
regional or sub-regional assemblies. During 2002, I was able to be present at the Asian,
European, US, English-speaking Canada assemblies. At the Asian meeting, regional
statutes were approved and a plan made for meeting in three sub-regions in alternate years.
At the US meeting, the Catholic Academy for Communications Arts Professionals, the US
affiliate of SIGNIS International, was established with new statutes and a restructured
board which allowed for different media representations within the board. Robert has also
been able to attend these regional assemblies. Augy has been able to represent SIGNIS
International at Pacific meetings. Gaye is a member of the Catholic Academy Board.
The other activity that I need to mention is responding to emails. While not receiving
nearly as many as the secretariat, I do receive a number for opinions, advice, consultation
and requests for help. This seems to me an important part of the service of the president.
74
Invitations from Members
I have tried to respond to invitations from members to visit their region or a particular
country. It is physically impossible to accept every invitation. This is a reminder that the
president needs to have good health, an ability to travel often and on long haul flights
without too much difficulty and be able to listen to different languages (while speaking one
or other is even better).
I have made one of the criteria for accepting invitations a particular celebration of
SIGNIS and/or Catholic Communications in the country. Anniversaries that I have attended
include those in Hong Kong in 2002, Beirut in 2003. There is also the establishing of
SIGNIS in a country and this has included visits to Dubai and Belarus in 2003. I visited
Cyprus for the annual assembly of the ecumenical television service for the Middle East
and the Mediterranean, SAT 7 (which is an institutional associate of SIGNIS).
I have tried to combine a number of visits with travel that is required: during a visit to
Brussels going to KRO in Amsterdam, KFL in Brussels, CRTN and Aid to the Church in
Need in Königstein, Libisma in Brussels, the Council of Europe (in a delegation organised
by Gabriel Nissim) in Strasbourg, the Church Leadership in Cape Town, Radio Ecclesia
in Windhoek, Namibia, Imbisa Communications Office in Harare, Tele-Lumiere and
the Catholic radio station in Beirut, CINEMA of the Bishops’ Conference in Manila, The
Communications Centre in Macao, EWTN in Birmingham, Alabama.
During visits to the United States (sometimes in connection with promoting the series,
A Movie Lectionary, with Sr Rose Pacatte), I have been able to speak of SIGNIS in cities as
diverse as Boston, New York, Chicago, Tampa and Honolulu.
While on holidays in Australia, I meet with Peter Thomas and Richard Leonard. While
in England, I can do classes at Trinity and All Saints, an association institution of SIGNIS
(which recently staged the Templeton lecture and screening) and collaborate with Jim
McDonnell on some activities. I have participated in some television and radio programs of
the BBC. I have also taught at Crec Avex for a week each year.
Initiatives
Since our assembly in Rome in 2001, my focus has turned towards the Middle East.
Archbishop Foley responded to an invitation from an Iranian delegation to the Vatican in
November 2001 to attend the Fajr Festival in Tehran by suggesting that I go. I had met
several of the people involved at festivals and so was able to suggest quickly the possibility
of a collaboration between Muslims and Catholics by setting up an Interfaith award for
Iranian films (many of which receive our prizes). The Iranians were enthusiastic and we had
our first jury this year, two Muslims, two Catholics. The awards were made in the National
Theatre at the end of the Festival and with the annual Iranian awards. I presented on stage
and the event was televised nationally and with newspaper and magazine coverage (with
great enthusiasm by our Iranian partners).
This led to plans for a similar jury in Beirut which, with the help of Sami Bou Chaloub,
should begin in 2004. (Note: this did not actually happen and further upheavals in Lebanon
75
led to more disruptions of plans as will be indicated later.) It also led to a broader interfaith
jury in August, 2003, at the Brisbane Film Festival where there was a jury of three: a
Muslim, the Catholic Dean of the Australian Catholic University and Jan Epstein, who is
Jewish, but who has also been on an interfaith panel for SIGNIS in Cannes, and this year
was appointed an associate of the Australian Catholic Film Office. Our delegate Richard
Leonard is making his Jesuit tertianship at present. During his absences, Jan does the
reviews for the Catholic papers and website. In January, she and I developed plans for an
award at the Australian Jewish festival, to begin in 2004. Rabbi John Levi, who has been
strongly involved in Catholic-Jewish dialogue, represented the Asia-Pacific region at the
annual meeting in Jerusalem of the World Union of Progressive Judaism. I wrote an official
letter and received a reply that Rabbi Levi is empowered to represent the Union in any
Catholic-Jewish dialogue in audiovisual matters.
Along with Interfilm and WACC, SIGNIS has been invited to participate in some
dialogue with the Orthodox. This year, there was a conference in Iasi, in northeastern
Romania, where the Metropolitan has a large ecumenical centre with a very open program.
In 2004, we anticipate a European meeting in the Balkans and a seminar linking icons with
audiovisual media in Crete.
Along with visits to Dubai, Beirut, Romania, Belarus and Cyprus this year, I have been
alerted to the Middle East region.
This dialogue with Judaism and Islam complements the long dialogue of the Church with
Hinduism in India and with Buddhism in such countries as Sri Lanka, Korea and Thailand.
I am to attend the awards in Sri Lanka in December and will experience something of the
Catholic-Buddhist dialogue. I hope after this to visit Myanmar for the 25th anniversary of
Catholic Communications in Mandalay (in fact, this did not happen).
I hope that the link with CRTN for television and video production and distribution
will expand. As I meet television people from KRO, EWTN, Stopshot in Minsk and other
centres, I see that the need for sharing programs and resources is a number one priority.
Establishing networks with CRTN and other institutions who can develop our databases
and program-sharing has been one of the major focuses of the producers’ meeting here in
Cape Town. SIGNIS is developing its presence in television festivals in Monte Carlo and in
the Prix Italia. Canada is investigating the possibility of a presence in Banff. The religious
television week (occuring every four years) is a major event for European television. Next
May, it is taking place for the first time in Eastern Europe, in Warsaw.
While we visited Peru for the Board meeting in April, 2003, we went to two television
stations as well as the former Peruvian member of Unda, the network (Ret Nacional) for
Catholic radio stations from the coast to the peaks of the Andes to the Amazon jungle.
Their impressive organisation, mission statements and plans until 2010 showed what his
possible. At the same time, we visited Pedro Sanchez’ diocese, Chosica, a new diocese on
the outskirts of Lima, poor but with plans for radio as well as distance learning (and, happily
for me, the Bishop was a Missionary of the Sacred Heart confrere). The radio managers’
meeting which preceded this assembly is an initiative for Catholic Radio in Africa, which has
been long supported by Jean-Paul Guillet and the staff of the missionary service and will be
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supported by the new director, Bernardo Suate. This meeting was for English-speakers.
There are plans for a similar meeting for French-speaking managers.
You will hear more in the reports from the programs and priorities days of our Assembly.
I will leave initiatives in Information Technology until then except to say that developments
are rapid but I have great empathy for those, like myself, are in constant need of tutorials
in some of the most basic developments. I will leave the cinema activities also until the
priorities and programs. However, I felt that the initiatives in Interfaith dialogue with Islam
and Judaism were worth highlighting.”
2004
In theory, 2004 was to be a quieter year. While SIGNIS was still in its transition period,
two years had shown that life for SIGNIS was difficult but possible. The Secretariat
in Brussels now had more experience in how it needed to function. The president,
vice-presidents and secretary general could see what their responsibilities demanded.
Bernardo Suate, with the help of a special committee, had begun a review of the work,
resources and functioning of the Rome Service (its streamlined name instead of the
Rome Missionary Service).
While there was a Board meeting in Strasbourg in April 2004 with visits to the Council
of Europe (and a screening of the SIGNIS award winning Iraqui film, Zaman, Man of the
Reeds, for delegates to an international gathering of heads of NGOs) as well as a visit
to Arte headquarters, followed by another producers’ meeting, 2004 was more a work
year.
The usual items on the agenda were reviewed but several developments were noted.
The regional reports to the Board meeting indicated developments. Ana Maria Rodriguez
was elected president of SIGNIS Latin America and joined Siriwan, president of SIGNIS
Asia as the second woman president of a region. (Jeaneane Merkel was to be elected
president of North America in 2005.) In Asia, SIGNIS Malaysia was to prepare the Asian
assembly with the theme of Media and a Culture of Peace. In fact, the assembly, held in
Kuala Lumpur in October 2004, was a fine example of the work of a region. A range of
invited speakers explored the theme theoretically and practically. There was a concert
in a KL theatre in the presence of the archbishop and his predecessor, celebrating peace
in song and drama. Competitions were held around Asia for art and poetry by students
on the theme of peace. Asia also produced a substantial document, a Charter for Media
and Peace.
The former Unda-WACC think-tank on media issues prepared documents on
television and began preparation for a conference and a document on media and peace.
Fr Gabriel Nissim OP chaired the meetings of this group.
The guidelines for the document:
- We need to understand what we mean by ‘peace’ and believe in it. The definition
of peace has diverse aspects. It defers in relation to the culture and context. Peace is
not necessarily the absence of conflict but its true expression is always about justice
and truth.
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- Identification of the Culture of peace in SIGNIS should stem from concrete work
being done in ground, by members in various parts of the world. It needs to connect with
the real ‘wants’ of ‘actual’ and ‘potential’ individuals and communities
- Need to create opportunities for professional dialogue, and to identify those media
stories and people that illustrate peace.
- SIGNIS needs to create small practical activities (e.g. Media education that identifies
stereotyping that leads to racism and conflict, the encouragement of productions that
open dialogue towards understanding conflict and conflict resolution) that help members
identify with a movement for a culture of peace.
- International and regional activities (e.g. workshops, seminars and training)
should be constructed in a collaborative manner that encourages local ownership of the
activities.
Public Relations continued to be a topic for discussion, especially in terms of marketing
and promotion. One resolution was that: ‘We have to move from a message-centred
organisation to a customer-centred orgganisation’. The resolution that membership
should be enlarged by membership of professional organisations was important.
Advocacy was by this time coming into its own. Jim McDonnell was to attend the
preparatory committee in Tunis of the World Summit on the Information Society. ‘Cultural
diversity’ was also a significant slogan for SIGNIS.
A project for peace correspondents was to be launched during the Barcelona World
Forum. This took place in September 2004 with Ricardo Yañez working with young
correspondents – this was also a feature of the 2005 World Assembly of SIGNIS in
Lyon.
During the Board meeting, discussion took place concerning production and
distribution, the issues of television for public broadcast as well as for Catholic channels
and Catholic Channels and their production. The second SIGNIS Producers’ meeting
which followed the Board meeting took up these issues.
With Media Education one of SIGNIS’ priorities, the project on the status of media
eduction in Asia and the Pacific was discussed.
On a practical level, the plans were put in place for the search for a new secretary
general: a drafting committee, information on salary and working conditions to be
circulated for Board approval, advertising for the position, interviews in January 2005,
an appointment at the Board meeting of 2005 with the appointee beginning work with
Robert Molhant as soon as possible.
The preparations for the Assembly of 2005 were discussed with Beirut as the
favoured venue with a forum on a culture of peace to precede it.
A final decision was made to create a new SIGNIS Foundation in Belgium or
Luxemburg from the FOCIC (OCIC Foundation currently in Canada) and the Funda
(Unda Foundation currently in Jersey, UK).
One of the important features of the producers’ meeting was the agreement to make
a pilot television magazine program with contributions from member, SIGNIS, to be co-
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ordinated by Peter Thomas in Australia but with the technical collaboration from Italy’s
Sat 2000.
The annual meeting (begun in Unda and OCIC days) of the presidents and
secretaries general of the church’s media associations during the Pontifical Council
meeting led to an agreement concerning a joint award to individuals or groups who had
made outstanding contributions to media education, something particularly dear to the
President of the Catholic Union of the Press (UCIP), Ismar Soarez. The first awards
were made jointly at the UCIP assembly in Bangkok, October 2004, by Ismar with Augy
Loorthusamy and Peter Malone.
A special cinema feature of 2004 was an award from the Ecumenical Jury in Cannes
to director Ken Loach to mark the 30th anniversary of the ecumenical collaboration in
Cannes. Loach is the director who has won the most Ecumenical awards. Ken Loach
attended, received a medal, made himself available for a journalists’ conference and
joined the jury on La Marche, on the red carpet. However, Loach is a man of social
concern. During the festival, workers from the arts union were holding a strike and
demonstrations and he brought in two young representatives to speak on the issue at
the end of his speech accepting his award.
Regional meetings were held by the US Catholic Academy, in Los Angeles in October,
with an emphasis on Media for a culture of peace. Europe met in The Netherlands in
July. Asia met in Kuala Lumpur with an ambitious program on media for a culture of
peace. Not only were there Asian speakers and discussions, there was a competition
among Asian children for art and poetry on peace, a peace concert in a theatre in KL and
work on a charter for peace which was endorsed by the assembly and sent to members
around the world.
In December, there was a first assembly of International Members in Rome to try to
develop means of networking.
2005
After the (comparative) quiet of 2004, 2005 was to be a year of significant activity. Not
only was there to be a Board meeting in Prague in April, preparations were ongoing
for the Assembly of Election and of Business in November. The plan was to hold a
conference on Media for a Culture of Peace in Beirut to be followed by the Assembly.
As it turned out, 2005 did not unfold predictably.
As regards the administration of SIGNIS International, Peter Malone had let
members know when he was elected in Rome in 2001 that he thought it appropriate that
he serve only one term in the spirit of the statutes, since he had served a term previously
as president of OCIC. The statutes speak of two terms maximum for presidents and
vice-presidents. He sent out some reflections and guidelines for members’ considering
nominees to be presented:
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The next president of SIGNIS
With two years to go before the Assembly of Delegates of 2005 with power to elect office
bearers, it seems important to invite delegates to give thought to the next president. Robert
and I both finish our terms at the end of 2005. I would like to suggest some elements which
I have learnt by experience. I do not want at this time, nor during the next two years, to
offer any personal opinions about who should be the next president. It belongs to the vote
of the Assembly.
1. The president is not an employee of SIGNIS, does not receive a salary and is not
beholden to the General Secretariat.
Travel and accomodation for the work of SIGNIS is paid for by SIGNIS.
2. While I have been made available for the work full-time, this is not necessarily a
precedent. There are advantages, of course, in having a full-time president (the model,
more or less, of Ambrose Eichenberger, Henk and myself). There is the other model,
seen with Chainerong and and Angela Ann, where the president has a full-time job
whose management make the president available for a range of duties and meetings.
3. The president needs to have reasonable health because of the number of journeys
to be made and the number of meetings and functions to attend.
4. The president has to attend Board meetings and Assemblies and take part in the
preparation of these events and, along with others, chair them. The president is also
a member of the Pontifical Council for Social Communications and must attend the
annual meeting. Other representation can be shared with the Vice Presidents and
the Secretary General of one of his/her assistants. The president needs to be present
at, at least, one regional assembly a year. Meetings and/or phone conferencing is
desirable for communication between president, vice presidents, secretary general and
secretariart staff.
5. Issues of language: the three languages of the association are English, Spanish
and French. Around the world these days, the majority of meetings are held in English.
Spanish is a dominant language throughout the world, Spain, Latin America and the
United States (where Hispanic media is one of the affinity groups of the Catholic
Academy). French is important, not only in France but, especially in Francophone
Africa. Being able to understand some of these languages is important while speaking
them is desirable.
6. It is desirable that the President (or Vice Presidents where possible or needed) attend
a number of meetings throughout the year with other bodies like UCIP, WACC, Interfilm,
as well as visiting organisational members and associate institutions throughout the
term, for example, during visits to Brussels.
7. The president needs to be able to write official reports, overviews of meetings and
activities and contribute to the website and to the publications.
8. The president needs to be available through email for particular (and frequent)
enquiries and requests from members as well as those seeking information about
SIGNIS.
9. The president needs to be available for each of the media that forms SIGNIS while
being able to contribute worldwide expertise from his/her own specialisation.
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Maybe this is an ideal (no, it is definitely an ideal) but is worth putting forward for delegates
to consider who, within the assembly or, more widely, amongst the members of SIGNIS
who could actually carry out the role of president. Notices and advertisements were also
placed for submissions for the new Secretary General.
There was not a great number of applications but interviews began in March. The
decision was made to present Marc Aellen to the Board for confirmation. Marc was
Swiss French from Geneva and had trained as a journalist, had also written film reviews
in France for some years and had recently been spokesperson for the French Swiss
Bishops conference which gave him a familiarity with church language and ways of doing
business. He began work in the office in June, to shadow Robert Molhant to experience
the work of the secretariat before taking up his office at the start of 2006. He travelled
to some of the regional meetings of SIGNIS and participated in the preparations for and
the running of the General Assembly.
A major difficulty emerged in February with the assassination of Rafik Hariri, former
Prime Minister of Lebanon. This raised the atmosphere of tension for the region and
put into question the possibility of holding the General Assembly in Beirut in November.
During the Pontifical Council meeting in Rome in March 2005, Peter Malone and Robert
Molhant met with the Lebanese media bishop, Roland Aboujouade and his assistant.
The bishop expressed the hope that the assembly could go ahead, but graciously
insisted that SIGNIS must feel entirely free about the decision. The plan was that the
Board would vote on the matter at the Board meeting the next month in Prague. Many
were willing to go to Beirut but Monsignor Maniscalco from the US bishops conference
sent a message threatening to withdraw financial support if the meeting were to go
ahead. Fr Sami Bou Chalhoub CM came to the Board meeting to make the plea in
favour of Beirut. However, with a number of members uncertain as to safety issues, it
was decided that the Assembly would be held at the fallback location: Lyon.
As an acknowledgement of the preparations that the Lebanese had made, especially
for a pre-assembly conference, with talks, screenings, student film competitions, on
Media for a Culture of Peace, organised by the think-tank, it was agreed that this meeting
would go ahead in Beirut with the president, secretary general, treasure and other Board
members attending. The situation worsened in Lebanon and, reluctantly, the decision
was made to hold the peace conference in Lyon as well.
The Board meeting was scheduled to begin on April 3rd with a special SIGNIS
celebration of the Eucharist in St Vitus’ Cathedral with Cardinal Vlk (a member of the
Pontifical Council for Social Communications who welcomed the 1994 Unda-OCIC
Assembly in Prague) on the Thursday evening. This was to be followed by the third
SIGNIS producers’ meeting. However, John Paul II died on the night of April 2nd.
The Board meeting and the producers’ meeting went ahead. However, a number of
members, especially from EWTN and from news services, had to stay at home for the
Vatican broadcasts. There was a Eucharist in the Cathedral on the Thursday evening.
It was a requiem mass for the Pope – and SIGNIS members were placed in the front of
the Cathedral and acknowledged by the auxiliary bishop who presided.
The producers’ meeting went ahead but with fewer members.
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Congress and Assembly, Lyon, November 2005
The conference on Media for a Culture of Peace
More than 150 delegates and visitors to Lyons participated in the Culture of Peace
conference. The basic material had been prepared by the SIGNIS thinktank headed
by Gabriel Nissim OP. The core of the preparations remained but the wide range of
activities planned for Beirut had to be let go. However, after an introduction by Gabriel,
the conference got off to an excellent start with a keynote address by Oliver McTernan.
He not only had fine material and reflections to present, he had the gift of powerful
persuasion that engendered a strong enthusiasm for the theme and for the workshops
which followed.
The conference aimed to produce a SIGNIS Charter for Peace. Already in 2004,
the Asian region and, particularly, the Casuahara Centre in Kuala Lumpur under the
leadership of Lawrence John, had produced a fine document on peace. During the
Saturday afternoon, groups met to discuss the most significant elements for such a charter.
The reporting back enabled a committee to work diligently into the night and produce the
draft which was approved by the conference members. After several presentations on
peace themes on the Sunday morning from Michele Debidour, Albert van den Heuvel,
the first major liturgy of the conference and Assembly provided the occasion for the
proclamation of the charter by representatives of three continents: Annamaria Rodriguez
from Latin America, Sherry Brownrigg from North America and Magali van Reeth from
Europe. The president of the Liturgy was Bishop Roland Aboujouade from Lebanon, the
conference’s acknowledgement of the contribution Lebanon had made in preparations
as well as an expression of solidarity with the people in their suffering.As we know now,
even worse was to befall the country in July 2006 when Israel attacked after the conflict
with Hezbollah and bombed Beirut and the south.
Declaration of Lyon: Media for a Culture of Peace
People should be placed at the centre of communications and media. We are
convinced, as human beings, media professionals and as Christians, that interpersonal
communication is a fundamental need of the human person; because the person can
only become fully human through and with communication with other people. We call
therefore for a fundamental change in the orientation of media communications : it must
be centred anew in our capacity to live with each other.
We, media professionals and citizens, Christians and members of the World Catholic
Association for Communication (SIGNIS) have come togther in Lyon in order to promote
Media for a culture of peace.
At the start of the 21st Century we have not achieved peace. Everywhere, humanity
faces violence, springing from many sources:
•
Hunger and structural injustices
• Trafficking of all kinds and especially of human beings
•
Nationalism, ethnic and religious conflicts, terrorism and wars etc
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• But above all, an absence of respect for the dignity of each human person, man
or woman, black or white, with or without disabilities, of any country, religion, minority
group or whatever they may be.
So there is an urgency to develop a Culture of Peace in order to build an environment
of peace and security for ourselves, for future generations and for the life of all.
Recalling that peace is not the absence of conflicts, it is not the consecration of the
victory of the strong over the weak, nor the confirmation of established injustice. It is,
on the contrary a way of resolving conflicts, not according to the force of might, but by
the force of law and negotiation, with the aim of achieving a fullness of life for every and
each one. In our globalized world, in which peoples and cultures encounter each other
every day, living together presupposes that we recognize and accept the diversity of
our identities as a reflection of the multi-faceted richness of our common and unique
humanity.
Convinced that in each human being, in each people, there is at the same time both
an instinct for violence, and a profound desire for peace and a capacity for realising it:
“Blessed are the peacemakers, they shall be called children of God”. Created irTthe
image of God, we are fitted for making peace, as has been shown bv the initiatives
undertaken by those who worked, suffered and given up their lives for peace throughout
the world. We believe that the main battle for peace is within each human being, and not
in the pursuit of weapons and violence.
We declare and emphasise that peace today necessarily involves the media:
they are necessarily at the heart of every process which promotes war or peace. That
the media, in reality, are often instigators of violence, when they reinforce sectarian
(exclusive identities) tendencies, when they fall prey to sensationalism, when they
reproduce stereotypes of the “others’”, when they stir up hatred.
But the media have also the capacity to be mediators, bringing groups and
individuals into contact with each other: there lies their unique basic human value, when
they contribute to mutual understanding and solidarity. They have a decisive role in
showing people to each other when they recognize different groups as at the heart
of society and through their influence on the mentalities, values and models of social
behaviour.That is why we invite all citizens, public authorities, representatives of civil
society, the Churches and other religions, all media professionals and their publics, and
we ourselves, to commit to the following objectives:
1. Develop the independence of the media in conflict situations
a. In opposing all form of censorship or propaganda on the part of political, civil,
military or religious authorities;
b. In opposing all forms of economic censorship which claims to satisfy the supposed
opinions and tastes of the public in stead of respecting the public by giving serious
and in depth information.
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2. Develop the capacity of the media to put individuals, groups and peoples into
communication with each other
a. In resisting all nationalistic, xenophobic, racist and sectarian pressures;
b. In refusing to disseminate caricatures which imprison social groups in degrading
stereotypes;
c. In giving other people the opportunity to speak - a highly symbolic attitude
because it recognizes others as truly human;
d. In being attentive to the emotional force of images: depending on the way in
which they are created and disseminated can lead to anxiety as well as sympathy,
to voyeurism as well as solidarity;
e. In being attentive to the specific risks and advantages of the Internet: violent
as well as educational games, hate sites as well as those dedicated to justice and
peace;
f.
In short, pay attention to the human quality of the look we give to others
3. Pay attention to the role of the media in conflicts
a. Refusing to cover events without seeking to know and understand their causes;
b. In refusing to be quiet in the face of structural or other injustice;
c. pay attention, therefore, to the way in which the media report events and their
multiplicator effect on public opinion;
d. in asking how to give an account of conflicts without fostering the idea that
violence is the normal way to resolve conflicts and to contribute to a culture of
peace;
e. in short how to place the resources of each type of media (press, radio, music,
cinema, television, Internet etc) at the service of promoting a culture of peace.
The media have an important role to play in the construction of peace and. in spite of all
difficulties, they do so more often than one might assume. We must not forget all those
media professionals who themselves suffer violence and opposition in their work. Many
of them have lost their lives. In putting themselves at the service of truth and justice they
have been prophets. And like the prophets, people want them to be quiet, “he is telling
the truth, he must be killed”. The effort that we want to promote is one way of honouring
the memory of their sacrifice.
Workshops
After the Peace Conference, those attending the congress and assembly participated in
two days of workshops.
The four major fields of activity in SIGNIS conducted these workshops: The Media
Education group worked to develop a SIGNIS Media Education policy; the Television
Producers continued their series of meetings; the Radio workshop developed themes
from the 2003 workshop in Cape Town and the follow ups, especially in Africa; the
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Cinema group looked at themes of women in cinema as well as aspects of spirituality
and continued the conferences on juries and their work in festivals.
The final board meeting before the Assembly was held prior to the Conference on
Peace, November 4th. Its function was to ensure the smooth running of the Assembly.
190 people had registered for the Conference and 55-60 delegates for the Assembly.
Augy Loorthusamy, the only nominee for president, was absent as he was ill in Malaysia.
The Board agreed that Peter Malone would ‘stand in’ for Augy until he recovered his
health.
Other details included some amendments to the Statutes, the finances (which
now seem to represent happier times than the credit squeeze years following with
recommendations of supplementary pensions being paid to Secretariat employees and
an accrued entitlement to Robert Molhant).The Board also unanimously accepted the
nomination of Marc Aellen as the new Secretary General.
There were plans for transferring the Foundation funds for OCIC and Unda to a new
SIGNIS Foundation.
The Caribbean, Middle East and the Indian Ocean were to have observers at the
Assembly with a view to formulating a strategy for future structures for these areas.
It was also a time for thanks all round for those who had made the first term of
SIGNIS possible and, in its way, successful.
THE ASSEMBLY OF DELEGATES
The final Assembly of the first SIGNIS Administration.
Two former presidents of Unda were welcomed, Chainerong Montheinvichienchai and
Angela Ann Zukowski were welcomed as were several observers, Joseph Chittilapilly,
Secretary General of UCIP, the International Catholic Union of the Press, Daniela
Frank, Executive Director of CAMECO, Hans Hodel, President of Interfilm and Denyse
Muller, Vice-President of Interfilm and Timo Reuhkala, representing the World Lutheran
Federation, one of the founding members of CREC-AVEX. Randy Naylor, Secretary
General of WACC, had attended the Conference on Peace.
Archbishop John Foley, head of the Pontifical Council for Social Communications,
attended the OCIC-Unda Assemblies regularly and was present in Rome, 2001, for the
founding of SIGNIS and was present in Lyon.
Peter Malone presented his last report as president.
Four years ago, members of Unda and OCIC met in Rome to establish SIGNIS. The
joint boards and joint assemblies around the world had spent three years discussing
aims and objectives, membership and structures, statutes and finances. We were
blessed that the merging of the two organisations was able to be accomplished in just
over three years. Two years ago, the SIGNIS assembly delegates met in Cape Town,
a sign that the association was a world association and highlighting the importance of
Africa. It was an opportunity to review the first two years and to affirm the new stability
of the association. Now we meet in Lyon to assess our first four years and to venture into
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our future. It is an assembly of review of our priorities, the work of the delegates, 20012005. It is an assembly of election and planning for the delegates, 2005-2009.
The assembly of 2001 established priorities in our activities and we have tried to
develop these. Radio workshops have been held in both French-speaking and Englishspeaking Africa. Lyon will see the fourth meeting of video and television producers and
the presentation of the second pilot of Signs magazine. Developments in Information
Technology move very rapidly and we are all trying to get to grips with swift communication,
websites, conferencing, distance learning. Our presence in festival juries for television
and cinema is increasing, a means of dialogue with the professional world. These are
some of the directions we have taken for our traditional work. Instead of reporting on
these, I will leave it to the Assembly discussions and the feedback from the workshops.
On the one hand, we see that we have not been able to achieve all that we hoped. On
the other hand, many excellent things have been accomplished. The combined boards
of Unda and OCIC spoke strongly on the theme of advocacy. Under the guidance of Jim
McDonnell, we have become more involved in advocacy and communications justice
issues. The thinktank that was part of Unda and WACC has been active in discussions
and papers under the leadership of Gabriel Nissim and has prepared the material on a
culture of peace and the Peace Conference in Lyon. The Rome service, so long served
by Jean-Paul Guillet and his staff, has been active under the leadership of Bernardo
Suarte and his staff. While we have a long way to go on finances and fund-raising,
Theo Peporte of Luxemburg has been both diligent and devoted in his supervising of
our finances.
During the last four years, I have been freed by my congregation to be available
full-time for SIGNIS. This, of course, is not necessarily a possibility for office-bearers
of SIGNIS and the way that I have worked as president is not meant to be a pattern for
anyone else. We all develop our own style according to our situations.
I have tried to be present at regional assemblies and have been impressed by the
active involvement of so many people. I have been able to go to Asia (except for the
recent assembly), to the US, to Europe and to the international members meeting. I have
been to Africa for other meetings. My regret is that I have not been able to be present
at a Latin American assembly.
One of the benefits of being able to travel is to be able to meet so many members
of SIGNIS, to get to know them and to establish strong friendships and to learn more at
first hand of the work that our members do. One of the results is a growing number of
communications, especially emails with ideas, plans and requests. Replying to these
and trying to assist has become an important part of my ministry.
During 2005, I have been fortunate enough to be able to visit briefly Vietnam
and Cambodia (and to see the work of Fr Omer and his young associates). Another
unexpected journey was that to Kenya (and to see so many religious houses in Nairobi!)
and to be part of the Zanzibar Film Festival in Tanzania.
As president of SIGNIS, I was invited to be a member of the Pontifical Council for
Social Communications and I have valued the friendship of Archbishop John Foley
and his staff. Msgr Enrique Planas is the liaison between the Board and the Pontifical
Council. SIGNIS also has ties with the World Association for Communication, WACC,
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and collaborates with Interfilm, the Protestant association for film which this year
celebrates its 50th anniversary. In the past I taught in seminaries and adult education
centres and Angela Ann Zukowski has during these years invited me to keep my hand
in at the Institute for Pastoral Initiatives in Dayton. (Classes started at 8.00 am!) On a
personal level, I have supplied monthly film reviews for our website and statements on
controversial films.
I am sure you share with me the great thanks to our two vice-presidents, Augy
Loorthusamy and Gaye Ortiz. I want to thank publicly our staff in Brussels, especially
Alvito and Ricardo as assistants to Robert, and Guido for the cinema work (which I will
continue with him over the next four years). Thanks also to Lawrence Pieters, especially
for his management of the website and to Daniel Van Espen who has managed many
of the legal matters that arise. I hope many members will get the opportunity to visit
Brussels and meet the staff in the office who contribute behind the scenes.
Of course, I have to add my word of appreciation to Robert. 27 years and still
enthusiastic for the work of media and the church. I could not do what I have done
without the support and friendship of Robert. Since June, Marc Aellen from Switzerland
has been working with Robert and the staff in view of becoming the next Secretary
General. This will ensure continuity. Marc has a strong background in the European
church and understands very well how the Church works (and sometimes doesn’t!).
There will be continuity after Robert and I finish. Though Robert may be in his garden
or playing with his new grandson, he will be active in supportive ways. I will still be
based in London and will work with Guido consolidating our film work and outreach. We
won’t be far away for backup. I should end with sincere thanks to all – and blessings,
A significant part of the sessions was the presentation of regional reports and those of the
administration – which was done briskly. The proposed amendment to the Statutes was
passed. The observers from the Caribbean, the Middle East and the Indian Ocean were
also acknowledged. The Assembly voted that these areas be recognised by creating
new regions or Sub-Regions or by giving existing regions an additional delegate.
President of Asia, Lawrence John, spoke on behalf of Augy, nominee for President.
The nominees for Vice-President, Peter Thomas (Australia), Gustavo Andujar
(Cuba) and Siriwan Santissakultarm (Thailand) presented themselves to the Assembly.
Lino Pungi of DRCongo was presented in absentia.
Augy Loorthusamy was voted president. Peter Thomas was elected in the first round
as Vice President and Gustavo Andujar in the second round. They were missioned along
with Marc Aellen as the new Secretary General. The retiring delegates had missioned
the new delegates at a ceremony in the crypt at Taizé on the evening of the first day of
the Assembly. The representatives of the regions gave feedback on the pre-Assembly
workshops and the SIGNIS priorities.
Archbishop Foley had conferred the blessing of Pope Benedict XVI and announced
that Robert Molhant was named a Knight Commander of the Order of St Gregory.
At the end of the Assembly, speeches were made and gifts offered to Robert Molhant
and to Peter Malone as they finished their terms as Secretary General (27 years) and
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President (8 years). A CD of 5000 film discussions by Peter Malone was presented to all
attendees and, as a sign of the times, a memory stick with the SIGNIS logo on it.
The first Board meeting of the new SIGNIS administration, November 11th.
In the absence through illness of the newly elected president, Augy Loorthusamy,
Peter Malone chaired the meeting. The main thrust of the meeting was to discuss the
priorities for the coming years: women in media (data from WACC suggested that
the presence of women in media was decreasing); the work of the SIGNIS Reflection
Group; Media Education; Internet and e-|Learning; production; cinema; advocacy and
representation.
Marc Aellen was voted as a member of the SIGNIS Foundation.
In retrospect, each of the ten days of Board meetings, Peace Conference,
Workshops, Assemblies and final Board meeting, went so smoothly and productively
that they seemed blessed.
2006
On January 1st 2006, Marc Aellen took over from Robert Molhant as Secretary General of
SIGNIS, Robert having served for 27 years as Secretary General of OCIC and SIGNIS.
However, Augy Loorthusamy did not take over as president, on account of ill health, until
the Board meeting of April 2006. Peter Malone continued as president during this time
(even at the Pontifical Council meeting along with Robert; the Secretariat of State had
not finalised appointing Augy and Marc; however, they had meetings with the officials
during the Council meeting). He presented a report to the board.
SHORT REPORT OF INTERIM PERIOD, NOVEMBER 2005 - APRIL 2006
At the Board meeting of the previous Board, November 4th, 2005, the question of how
SIGNIS would manage between the time that Augy Loorthusamy was elected in Lyon
to his feeling fit and well again was discussed. The decision was made that Peter
Malone should serve as acting president during this period. This meant that I chaired
the sessions of the new Assembly as well as the meeting of the new Board on November
11th.
In the meantime, Augy was able to go to India for treatment and had time during
January and February to recuperate. He was able to attend the Pontifical Council
meeting in Rome in mid-March 2006 and he and Marc Aellen were able to meet with
Vatican officials, especially from the Secretariat of State, although they had only guest
status at the Pontifical Council meeting because the Secretariat of State had not yet
approved their membership. The principal matter for consideration during this period
was the setting up of a Review Committee for the working of the Secretariat. A letter
of consultation was sent to all Board members on December 18th with the nominations
of Jos Horemans, Theo Peporte, Peter Malone and Marc Aellen with the possibility of
inviting consultors to meetings. This was approved. The first meeting was held on
March 27th and a separate report presented to the Board.
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Some other matters arose, especially correspondence with Jacob Srampickal of the
Gregorian University and plans for SIGNIS participation in a series of conferences on
media research. I visited Jacob during a visit to Rome for Chevcom discussions and
was able to develop these matters. This continued at the time of the Pontifical Council
meeting.
There was an anomaly in the invitations to the Pontifical Council meeting. The
Secretariat of State had not yet appointed Augy and Marc as member and consultor
respectively and Robert and I found ourselves invited to the meeting and attending in
our past capacities. [This enabled Archbishop Foley to thank Robert profusely for the
umpteenth time!]
On the morning of March 27th, the Board of Escodev (the organisation for the staff
in the Secretariat) met and elected a new Board which means that Robert and I finished
our terms on that Board. Details of the new Board will be given in the Secretary’s
report. I have also received much correspondence concerning the foundation for the
new building for the Secretariate. Developments on this project will also be presented
in the Secretary General’s report.
One more matter: while I visited our office in Hong Kong on the way home to
Australia in December, I went to Bangladesh and the Dhaka International Film Festival
on the way back where I was asked to be president of the festival jury (and supply the
prize money!). SIGNIS was seen as one of the principal sponsors of the festival and our
logo was on every poster and advertisement and at the beginning of each screening. I
was able to nominate a film for the president’s prize and there is to be a SIGNIS jury and
award at future festivals. This is in collaboration with the church in Bangladesh – I had
time with Fr Kamal Corraya and a visit to the Papal Nuncio.
It is good to be able to offer a word of thanks to everyone in the Secretariat for their
constant work for SIGNIS. I am pleased to see Augy well again and am happy to finally
hand over the service of SIGNIS president to him.
The Board meeting was held in Brussels at rue du Saphir, 23rd-27th April. During the
meeting, the members went to rue Royale to inspect the building which had been
considered as suitable for the new Secretariat. This Board meeting gave the new
members the opportunity to get to know one another as well as to the running of the
Secretariat.
Monsignor Enrico Planas, the liaison between the Pontifical Council for Social
Communications and SIGNIS, had returned to Spain. His successor was a laywoman,
Claudia Di Giovanni, who had worked for the Council and the Vatican Filmoteca for
some years.
Speaking of the Vatican, the Pontifical Council for the Laity had invited Augy and Marc
to visit them during the plenary of the Pontifical Council for Social Communications. The
Council for the Laity would recognise SIGNIS as a ‘Catholic public association’. It meant
that the Statutes had to be modified in accordance with the requirements of Canon Law.
The agenda of the meeting indicated that 2006 would be a year of consolidation but that
it would be a year when the finances of the organisation and the structure and working
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of the Secretariat would need fuller attention. General Treasurer, Theo Peporte, had
been thorough in presenting budgets since 2003 and alerted the members to difficulties
in funding, in running costs of the secretariat and salaries and the limited resources
available for SIGNIS work, especially in view of the purchasing of the building at 310 rue
Royale which drew on the reserves of the SIGNIS foundation and would require a further
loan from the archdiocese of Mechelen.
This consciousness of financial difficulties coloured the outlook and activities of
2006-2007. This was important also for the Rome SIGNIS Service. At this time, Clara
Salaparuta was retiring after 40 years of service which meant reorganising of that office.
There was a tribute to her in Brussels. In the meantime, the Board proposed that the
SIGNIS Reflection group, which had been responsible for the work on Media as a Culture
of Peace and the Lyons Peace Conference should be reconstituted.
The practicalities of the organisation, ESCODEV, for the staff at the Secretariat
were also considered with president of SIGNIS, Europe, Jos Horemans, agreeing to be
the president of the board of ESCODEV. Later, Jos Horemans accepted to take Peter
Malone’s place as a trustee on the board of the SIGNIS Foundation.
A sign of development that had been talked about for some years was sub-regions.
At the Board meeting, the Middle East, the Caribbean and the Indian Ocean Islands
aapplied for a formal recognition by having their own delegate. Since this would require
a change of statutes at a General Assembly, the Board resolved, in principle, to look
favourably on the request that these sub-regions be represented by an extra delegate
within their existing regions. In the case of the Middle East, they had to specify which
region they wished to be joined to.
Time was given to reports of the fields of action and plans for the future. Board
members agreed to nominate for membership of the committees or desks for the fields
of action. One of the features of action was a ‘Global Media Monitoring Project’ to be
pursued in Latin America, especially in devising a methodology for this detailed look at
media.
In order to begin work on the reflection for the Secretariat, a review committee was
proposed:
REVIEW COMMITTEE
The Terms of Reference for the Review Committee, passed unanimously by the
Board:
1. To clarify the roles and responsibilities of staff, including the Secretary General
and his assistants.
2. To monitor the structure and resources in the General Secretariat to ensure:
- adequate servicing of members throughout the world
- adequate servicing of Secretariat based projects
3. To consider, in consultation with the Finance Committee, staff salary reviews.
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4. To inform the Board, through the Treasurer, of any difficulties in relation to the
above.
The members of the Committee: Peter Malone (chair), Marc Aellen, Theo Peporte,
Jos Horemans, Marie Caroline de Marliave (previously spokesperson for the French
Bishops Conference).
Activities, Regional Assemblies continued during 2006 with the President and
Secretary General attending when they could. As a compliment to SIGNIS Middle East,
Marc Aellen and Peter Malone visited Beirut for a competition for short films made by
University students on the theme of Media for a Culture of Peace originally planned for
the Peace Conference which could not take place because of the unrest at the time.
However, three weeks later Israel began bombing Beirut and southern Lebanon in
retaliation for Hezbollah attacks. With over 1000 dead in Lebanon and considerable
damage done to the country’s infrastructure, and destruction at the Catholic media
Offices and studios of Telelumiere and Catholic radio stations, Marc Aellen accompanied
Bishop Jean-Michel de Falco to the country to arrange for aid and for an appeal on
behalf of the media organisations.
The flavour of the work in 2006 – and the style of the new president can be gauged
from this letter looking back over the year.
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President’s Letter
October 9, 2006 on SIGNIS Activities
To All Members of the SIGNIS Board, Dear Colleagues,
Greetings! Trust you are in the Best of Health and Spirits.
It has been some time since our last Board meeting and I would like to update you
on recent developments.
I have been in regular contact with our Secretary General Marc Aellen and members
of the Brussels staff. There has been much streamlining done in Brussels to make the
office more effective. The Secretary has also written to you of late on his activities.
I am also in touch with our Vice Presidents, via Skype, on a regular basis. We are
constantly monitoring and following up on the decisions and recommendations made
during our April Board meeting. There have been developments to date:
1. Marc has informed you that we will be moving to the new building on the 23rd.
of January 2007. At the moment renovation work is going on. I have asked Marc to keep
an eye on the overall budget and expenses.
2. Theo Peporte, our Treasurer, is hard at work on the Accounts. He hopes to
have it ready by this month. We will also have a new accounting system in place. This
will also serve the SIGNIS Rome Office. Peter Thomas our Chairperson of the Finance
Committee will follow this up with Marc and Theo. We are grateful to Theo for all the
hard work.
3. Marc informs me that he is in touch with the SIGNIS Foundation and will have
a report from them. He will invite them to our next Board meeting. I think this is a good
idea. As you know our finances are not in the best possible shape. We have to be
careful in spending. More importantly we have to look for fresh sources of funds.
4. The Executive has decided that we really have to find ways and means to hold
the Assembly of Delegates meeting late next year despite the financial situation. As you
know we need about Euro 60,000 to hold such a meeting. We will have to look for the
funds. A plan to organize a seminar or symposia to coincide with the assembly is in a
preparatory stage. Peter Thomas is helping out here.
5. We will examine our financial situation again at the end of the year and get
back to you on whether we will go ahead with the Assembly or not. It will not be a good
sign if we cancel this important assembly. Marc will look for a suitable place in Europe to
hold the meeting. He is thinking of Munich Germany.
6. Peter Malone responsible for the work of the Review Committee will hold a
meeting this month with the Brussels staff. We can expect a report from him at the Board
meeting.
7. Peter Thomas is at the moment attending the Catholic Television Congress
in Madrid. Part of the objective is to identify and discuss what is Catholic Television? I
decided not to go for the meeting as Peter, being a producer himself, will do a better job.
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There will also be others from the SIGNIS family, namely Marc Aellen, Jerry Martinson of
Kuangchi Program Service of Taiwan and Fr. Dominic Emmanuel the President of Signis
India. We will get a report soon.
8.
In terms of our SIGNIS priorities. There has been movement. Jim McDonnell
has prepared a position paper on Advocacy and Media Education. This will be discussed
and we will update you on that.
9. Peter Thomas has also developed an excellent position paper on Religious
Broadcasting. We are looking forward to that soon. He will also discuss with Marc Aellen
the status of ‘SIGNS’. You will remember that at our last Board meeting we gave the go
ahead for the production to proceed. We should get a report on that.
10. Marc informs me that Ricardo Yañez is very active with the formation of the
SIGNIS Media Education team. They plan to meet in Johannesburg, South Africa for the
5th. Summit on Media Education. Apart from attending the Summit this SIGNIS team on
Media Education will hold a meeting to plan for the future.
11. Gustavo writes and says that he has been busy in Latin America. He
represented Signis at the Latin American Congress on Catholic television held in
Medellin in May. A report on this can be found on our website. Gustavo has also been in
touch with Peter on the situation of Catholic TV stations and producers in LA. He is also
looking into the marketing of SIGNS. He was also present at the UCIP refresher course
held in Paraguay. There he got in touch with a number of radio and TV participants from
that country, as well as from Panama, Ecuador, Chile and Brazil. In fact, the majority of
the participants were SIGNIS rather than UCIP affiliates he says.
12. I have also been informed by Gustavo that SIGNIS Caribbean was formed
last August. An Interim Group was assembled and the formal launching will take place
during the summer of 2007. This is particularly relevant for the Board, since we approved
the appointment of an extra delegate from that sub-region within OCLACC, in order to
represent them in our Assembly of Delegates. There will be more news from Gustavo
on North America soon.
13. Peter Thomas informs me that the Pacific Region has been badly hit financially
due to project cuts. Bill Falaekano and Peter Thomas are working hard to find a long
term solution to this perennial problem. Major decisions will be taken at their Regional
Assembly early next year. They will keep us posted.
14. I was present at the SIGNIS Asia Assembly in Hydrabad India from September
22 -26. Marc Aellen was also there. It was a very good Assembly with excellent speakers
on Social Marketing. This was the theme for the Study Days.
15. Marc has also been receiving positive information from Africa.There has been
a radio workshop in Dar es Salaam. A film critique workshop is being planned in Zanzibar.
Local Signis meetings are being planned for West Africa and in other sub-regions. We
thank Fr. Moses Hamungole, our SIGNIS Africa President for the good work. I am sure
we will get more news soon as they are into planning at the moment.
All in all things are moving. I would like to thank Marc and the staff of the Brussels
office for all the hard work. I will discuss with Marc on other areas that needs to be
followed up. We are looking forward to hearing from our other regions, our SIGNIS
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Rome Office and from our International Group. Marc will keep us informed regularly as
he has done recently.
I am very grateful to Peter Thomas and Gustavo Andujar our two Vice Presidents
who have been a great help to me. I have confined my travel activities this year to the
Asia and the Pacific Region due to my health. I am now nearly recovered and so next
year I hope to be more active.
2006 ended with a ceremony at the Salesianum in Rome. On December 7th,
Robert Molhant received an honorary doctorate in recognition of his contribution to
communication, media and the Church. It was conferred by the Rector Major of the
Salesians. Archbishop Foley attended and spoke as did Peter Malone, Guido Convents
and Ricardo Yañez, representing SIGNIS and the General Secretariat.
2007
2007 began with some difficulties, especially with the warnings voiced by General
Treasurer, Theo Peporte, concerning the financial situation of the association and,
especially, of the General Secretariat. A great deal of consideration went into ideas for
the restructuring of the office.
Alvito de Souza was Officer in Charge in Brussels, with Ricardo Yañez as Assistant
Officer in Charge. Activities were grouped under six headings, with six members of staff
responsible for their paricular area:
Administration: Florentina Gonzalo
General Services: Daniel Van Espen
Projects/Funding: Alvito de Souza
Relations with members/ Co-ordination of activities: Ricardo Yañez
Information/Communication: Guido Convents
Representation/Advocacy: Jim McDonnell
This structure was affirmed during the Board Meeting in Bucharest in November.
In the meantime, January-February saw a move from the premises in rue du Saphir,
where OCIC had been since 1996, joined by Unda in 1998, to a building bought by the
SIGNIS Foundation in rue Royale near to the Gare du Nord in Brussels. The building
had been visited by the Board members during their meeting in April 2006. Multi-storied
(which means quite a number of steps!), the new building provided more space for
offices, for reception, a kitchen area, a large room for meetings, two rooms with shower
and kitchen facilities for visitors on the top floor and basement space for studios, archive
storage which can be developed. Marc Aellen and Daniel Van Espen oversaw the move.
In the meantime, Guido Convents had organised with KADOC (Catholic documentation
Centre - an institution linked to the Catholic University of Louvain -KUL-) to house the
extensive archives at their quarters in Leuven with access available to members.In its
march 2009 edition (vol.29) the American Historical Journal of Film, radio and Television
published the article “Documenting Catholic media Activities all Over the World: The
SIGNIS, OCIC and Unda Archives (pp.113-121) written by the historians dr Guido
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Convents and drs Tom Van Beeck. It gives an overview of these archives which have an
inventory and are accesible.
The building was blessed on March 17th by Cardinal Gottfried Daneels of Mechelen,
primate of Belgium, a supporter of SIGNIS. The president, vice-presidents and staff
attended the blessing with a number of guests including past president and general
secretary, Peter Malone and Robert Molhant.
It was decided that a full General Assembly would be too costly for 2007. Effort
would go into the planning of the 2009 Assembly. This meant that the Board meeting,
usually held in the first months of the year was postponed until November. In March, the
three members of the Executive, President Augie Loorthusamy, and Vice-Presidents,
Peter Thomas and Gustavo Andujar, met to look more closely at the financial situation
and management. During the meeting, the secretary-general, Marc Aellen, offered his
resignation which was accepted. In the meantime, Bernardo Suate from the Rome
Service was named as temporary secretary general and the two assistants to the
secretary general, Alvito de Souza and Ricardo Yañez, were responsible for the running
of the office and SIGNIS international business. During the Board meeting in November,
Bernardo Suate was officially named as Director of the Rome Service and Alvito de
Souza as Director of the Brussels office.
For the most part, SIGNIS business continued as usual, though with a tightening of
belts and an awareness of the need for economies. The annual Producers’ meeting was
held at the same time as the Board meeting in Bucharest. A new Ecumenical Jury was
established in Yerevan, Armenia. In 2006, SIGNIS France was officially established. In
2008, SIGNIS Spain, SIGNIS Bolivia and SIGNIS Costa Rica as well as the launching
of the Caribbean Sub-Region. A contract was also signed wth Faith Satellite Radio
(affiliated with World Space Satellite Radio Network) for a project to supply every parish
in Africa with a digital radio carrying content determined by SIGNIS.
on:
At the Board meeting, a format was suggested for regional reports, for concentration
-
regional priorities: main achievements, priories for the future, and how these
might be realised;
-
partnerships in the region: actual partnerships with organisations in the region;
partnerships being
-
cultivated;
-
principal fields of activity: radio, television, cinema, media education...
-
media for a culture of peace;
-
media and children.
At the Board meeting, after the reports by the executive, the Brussels and Rome
offices and the SIGNIS Foundation (by its president, Robert Molhant), the reports from
the regions were more a kind of information/brainstorming. There was also a sense
of anticipation. OCIC and Unda would have been 80 during 2008, so it seemed fitting
that celebrations be held at the end of 2008 and would continue up to the International
Congress and Assembly in 2009. The theme would be: Media for a Culture of Peace –
Facing Children. This was later refined to ‘Children’s Rights, Tomorrow’s Promise. With
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the decision later to hold the Congress and Assembly in Chiang Mai, Thailand, in October
2009, there was a drive to capitalise on the Asian context and draw on Asian expertise as
well. The areas which would contribute to the presentations and workshops would be:
Media Education Network, TV Producers Community, Radio Seminars and Reflection
Groups, Cinema Culture Network, Advocacy (representation and public relations). The
Board meeting took place in a newly built monastery on the outskirts of Bucharest. One
of the reasons for going to Romania was the Facing Children conference and festival
which was held at the same time.
Facing Children was an initiative of Anca Berlogea and SIGNIS Romania. It was,
for three years, a celebration of children as well as a consciousness rasing event on
the rights of children throughout the world. Facing Children (which means looking at
children with a sense of responsibility to challenge abuses of the rights of children as
well as seeing films, which provide a face for the faceless children) showed what can be
done to promote film culture and advocacy and to make links between the social workers
and the professional world of film. The Festival is part of a broader project, initiated by
SIGNIS Romania, consisting in the main following activities:
•
•
•
Artistic and documentary films festival focused on children’s rights
Workshops on video creativity for underprivileged teenagers
Trainings and debates for social assistance professionals on how to use the artistic video productions as a working tool
It should be noted that 2007 saw the retirement of Archbishop John Patrick Foley,
had of the Pontifical Council for Social Communications from 1984. Since the Presidents
of OCIC, Unda and, then, SIGNIS, were members of the Pontifical Council and attended
the annual plenary meetings, and the General Secretaries were Consultors, also
attending the meetings, Archbishop Foley had strong and supoortive contacts with the
organisations. He also attended the assemblies during this almost quarter of a century
and was present for the merger of OCIC and Unda.
He was made a Cardinal and took up a post with the Equestrian Knights of the Holy
Sepulchre in Jerusalem. SIGNIS is indebted to him for his support and advice.
His successor was Archbishop Claudio Celi with Monsignor Paul Tighe as secretary.
During 2008, Archbishop Celi held a number of meetings in Rome to get to know Catholic
media people and to give a boost to different areas such as radio and tertiary media
education. Alvito de Souza was present at the radio meeting. There was a meeting of
80 bishops in Rome, bishops responsible for media, in March 2009. Augy Loorthusamy
was invited to attend.
2008
2008 saw the 80th anniversary of the establishment of Unda and OCIC and the tenth
anniversary of the vote for the two organisations to merge. While the activities of SIGNIS
continued as usual (busy times at the secretariat in Brussels and in the Rome Services),
there were continued preoccupations about the financial situation of the organisation,
which became more clouded as the year went on and the credit squeeze in the US led
the world into a credit crunch and global recession.
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A decision was made early in 2008, that the Assembly would be held in Thailand
with the collaboration of SIGNIS Asia and SIGNIS Thailand and, especially with former
president of Asia, Chainerong Monthienvichienchai who had made the Assembly of
1990 such a memorable event. The venue for the meetings would be Chiang Mai in
northern Thailand. The decision was also made to hold the annual Board Meeting in
Rome at the end of November This became the occasion for the ‘official’ 80th anniversary
celebrations with members of the board being the international representatives. Two
dinners were provided by Don Dario Vigano and Ente Dello Spettacolo, one at the Domus
Internationalis Paolo V1 where the meeting was held. Archbishop Celi and Monsignor
Tighe attended this dinner and the Archbishop made a congratulatory speech. The
other dinner was held at Palazzo Colonna and was hosted by Don Dario. Ente Dello
Spettacolo was also celebrating its 60th year.
Another celebration was held at Vatican Radio and hosted by Fr Federico Lombardi
SJ. Archbishop Celi also attended as did Cardinal Foley. In his speech to the gathering,
Archbishop Celi emphasised that the policy was dialogue and respect for communications
and added the memorable line that our theme music was not ‘the ride of the valkyries’!
SIGNIS Europe held its annual conference at the same time, so that swelled the
number of participants acknowledging and celebrating 80 years of media ministry.
The Board meeting received the usual reports which used the format recommended a
year earlier in Bucharest: achievements and plans and priorities. However, the principal
attention was given to considering a strategic plan, 2009-2011, with the objectives of the
2009 Congress to:
•
•
promote a culture of peace and the rights of the child
inspire and give new impetus to Catholic media professionals to make a culture
of peace and children’s rights priorities in their work
•
celebrate the creativity and take stock of the rich achievements of Catholic
communicators
•
reflect on the issue, sharing ideas,experiences, insights and strategies among
communicators from across the world
•
•
update communicators with knowledge and skills
offer solidarity and mutual support to communicators, some of whom are working
in very difficult situations
In the aftermath of the congress, key objectives for the implimentation of the strategy
proces are:
•
identifying the key local issues with regard to implementing a Culture of Peace
with special regard to human rights and children’s rights
•
enabling local programs to provide the appropriate formation and professional
development for membership
•
raising members’ profiles and enabling networking programs and links to local,
regional and global forums which can enhance and extend their work and
influenced
97
•
helping to develop new partnerships and synergies which will enable members
to realise their aims more effectively
•
progressive re-design of services provided by the General Secretariat to promote
decentralisation and offer more effective and responsive support services to
regions
•
providing resource and research information, contacts and opportunities
tosupport regions
•
developing sustainable funding strategies for local and regional projects.
At the end of the Board meeting, Alvito de Souza, who had been officer for the General
Secretariat, was voted in as Secretary General of SIGNIS and Ricardo Yañez appointed
Assistant to the Secretary General. The Board acknowledged their work since the
resignation of Marc Aellen and commissioned them to continue preparations for the
2009 Assembly and Congress.
2009
While the customary work of SIGNIS continued around the world, a meeting of the
executive, President and Vice Presidents with the General Secretary and his assistant,
met in March to develop the preparations for the Congress in Chang Mai. Chainerong
Monthivienchinchai and a team from Thailand had done a great deal of local preparation
in 2008 and Augy Loorthusamy, Peter Thomas and Alvito de Souza had visited Thailand
during 2008. Alivito and Ricardo Yañez visited in 2009 for overseeing some final
preparations. Peter Thomas, with his wife, spent several months in Brussels helping
with the preparations and filming material for DVD presentation.
A special website for the Congress had been set up in 2008 and continued to add
information as well as offer facilities for registration. Marie Therese Kreidy from Lebanon
also prepared a brief visual presentation for internet release. A poster was designed by
the Public Media Agency, Malaysia.
In Asia, a project for children was set up, Global Children’s Handkerchief Project,
where children make a print in any colour of their hand, palm and five fingers, and send
it in to be part of the representation of Children from around the world. This illustrates
the SIGNIS and Congress theme, Today’s Children, Tomorrow’s Promise. Through
programs of Tele Lumiere this project was promoted throughout the Middle East.
Dr Zilda Arns Neumann of Brazil was to be the opening keynote speaker. She is a
pediatrician and public health official, founder of, amongst other organisations, Pastoral
de Crianca (Children’s Pastoral Action). Other keynote speakers invited are dr Jan
Servaes, an expert on international communication and development; Steve Gan, a
journalist who was named an Amnesty Prisoner of Conscience; Steve Hertl, journalist
and expert on websites and web transmissions; Angeline Khoo, a social psychologist
and researcher.
A wide range of concurrent workshops were planned, providing for all the priorities
of SIGNIS as well as media for a culture of peace and today’s children, tomorrow’s
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promise. Invitations to Asian members in the various fields were also made to lead and
participate in the workshops.
The SIGNIS television producers’ network plan to have their meeting during the
Congress.
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PART 2
ACTIVITIES: 1998-2008
The Changing Media Landscape
80 years ago Catholics working in media got together to change the media landscape of
the time by creating two organizations: Unda for radio (and later, television) and OCIC
for cinema. The driving forces behind these associations were Catholic families who
saw that human values, spirituality, solidarity and even democracy were threatened
by the commercial evolution of the media. The idea to merge both organisations had
surfaced in the 1960s and from then on more and more common meetings were held.
It became clear that they were dealing with the same issues, problems, institutions
and people. At the same time, the big media corporations started to integrate radio,
press, television and film in multimedia enterprises. also take up, in dialogue with all
those who want a value-orientated media world. By the 1980s they controlled almost
every aspect of the media, often for the well-being of their stockholders rather than
their audiences. Even public media followed their (commercial) policy. Educational and
citizen awareness programmes were often skipped in favour of entertainment. The
multimedia groups became global, at the cost of cultural diversity. The foundation of
SIGNIS in 2001 reflected the desire of Catholic communicators to have an organisation
which could represent them at a global level to defend human values in the 21st century.
Today, as the media landscape is once again reshaped by the emergence of Internet,
mobile phones and ‘new’ media, the multimedia companies face a new challenge. It is
a challenge that SIGNIS and its members must also take up, in dialogue with all those
who want a value-orientated media world.
In 1998, two important media events took place that would have profound effects
on today’s media landscape. The first was the launch of Google. Today the global
dominant media company is Google, and the verb ‘to google’ has entered the English
language. Back in 1998 no one dreamed that a free Internet search engine would not
only challenge the giant Microsoft, but also threaten the advertising revenues of other
media corporations.
The other major event in 1998 was the appearance of the first downloadable ring
tones for mobile phones in Finland. This seemingly trivial innovation heralded the
dramatic growth of the mobile phone as an ubiquitous consumer item. Today Apple’s
iPhone is the ‘must have’ global consumer item. People are using phones to surf the
web, download music, check the news, play videogames, jokes, and watch TV. The world
where consumers had to choose between one or two radio or TV channels and there
was no Internet seems very far away for most people in the developed world. But even
in countries where access to basic communications is still difficult, the new landscape
is taking shape. Africa, for example, is the fastest growing mobile phone market in the
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world and both China and India added more than 5 million new mobile subscribers a
month in 2006. According to the International Telecommunications Union (ITU) more
and more people are gaining access to information and computer technologies and
their benefits for health, education, government and business through mobile telephony.
In a recent publication (New Tech, New Ties: how Mobile Communication is reshaping
Social Cohesion, Cambridge 2008) the author Rich Lang analyses the role of mobile
phones in our daily life. The writer sees it as a modern way of community building, a way
to strengthen social bonds among family and friends. With the mobile phone everybody
can have an instant and a perpetual access to everybody. He even can send images
taken while phoning to his correspondent. The writer analyses how the mobile phone
affects the contacts built through the phone and those that are face to face. He finds
that through the use of various social rituals the mobile phone has a positive effect on
the family and close friends. This is to him the way to develop and nourish “bounded
solidarity”. He admits that sometimes these contacts are at the expense of interaction
with those who are physically present.
Of course, broadcasters and film companies still provide the bulk of the cultural
content that these new technologies deliver – but the lines between ‘offline’ and ‘online’
companies is blurring. The BBC, for example, has scored a huge hit with its iPlayer, an
online service that allows viewers and listeners to listen again or download radio and
TV programmes.
These developments pose enormous challenges (and opportunities) for advertisers
– for many years the financial underpinning of TV and the press. Advertisers and
commercial media are desperate to find ways of using the Internet to reach the elusive
(and youthful) fragmenting audience. The old models do not operate in the new world.
Big record companies like EMI struggle with declining music sales as young people
download for free from the web. Now some rock bands have started to give away their
music online in the hope of making more money through live events. Another seismic
shift has been the emergence of so-called user-generated content and the rise of ‘social
networks’ like MySpace. Today, individuals, companies and other institutions upload eight
hours of new video to YouTube every minute. Bloggers and so-called ‘citizen journalists’
challenge traditional journalism in breaking stories and setting the political agenda.
Wikipedia, created and edited by its users, is dominating the intellectual landscape – it is
the source that every student turns to first when asked to research a topic.
All these changes pose challenges not just for consumers, media executives and
marketing people but for religious communicators as well. Some pioneers are beginning
to experiment. In June 2008, for example, the first Catholic New Media Celebration was
held in Atlanta. Religious communicators are now podcasting for a mobile population
(see pray-as-you-go.org, described as pray as you go for your MP3 player); blogging
and experimenting with video, TV and radio on the net. There is even GodTube.com !
In the middle of all these technological marvels there are some important questions
that should not be neglected. Who will have access to this media abundance and on what
terms? The ITU speaks of a ‘connected’ world but it is important that the poor, those with
disabilities and cultural minorities are not ‘dis-connected’. Who will speak up for their
interests? Can civil society affect the decisions of government and big business?
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And will consumers also be citizens in this new world? Where will they find the
spaces for dialogue and exchange? Will the values of public broadcasting, for example,
be transferred to the Web? And how will they acquire the right GPS navigation systems
of media and Internet literacy to ensure that they can travel confidently across the new
media landscape?
Jim McDonnell
Fast Changing Mobile-Internet Landscape
Ten years ago, it was very fashionable for people in Calcutta (India) to flaunt a mobile
phone. Only a few people could afford it then as both incoming and outgoing calls were
levied a hefty fee. The call cost per minute or part thereof was prohibitive (Rs.14 a
minute), compared to today’s offers going as low as 10 paise per minute. The use of
mobile phones has made giant communication leaps. The number of Indian consumers
connecting to the Internet via cell phones more than doubled, to 38 million from 16
million just last year.
According to the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) 2007 report, the
mobile Internet is increasingly becoming a popular feature in India where more than
200 million people use mobile phones and 7 million are added to the rolls each month.
Seen as a necessary gadget, the chowkidar (security man), the autorickshawala, the
hawker, vegetable vendor and even the fishmonger, have one. Students are banned
from bringing mobile phones to school since the incident of Delhi students circulating
photos of fellow students in compromising positions.
Impact on Teens
Mobile phones give youth, especially Indian girls, the possibility to be with peers, boys,
strangers, in public without loosing their identity or intimacy. They are adventurous and
fun loving but safe at the same time granting them opportunity to want and have the best
of both worlds. Members of the family stay together under one roof but with individual
mobiles they can stay connected with their outside soul-mates 24 hours a day. This
creates a lot of suspicion and relationship break-ups. The outside soul-mate is seen as
an ideal partner apparently without any flaws.
Further, tempting commercials seduce youngsters to go for latest model devices like
their peers. In India, most middle class families with two working parents have invested
in a home computer and the Internet. If the use of the net at home is unregulated then
why blame cybercafés for corrupting young people?
The Great Digital Divide
Though the great economic divide gave rise to the Bolshevik and Maoist Revolutions of
yesterday, they have not succeeded in bringing about an economic leveler. Even though
the Right to Information Act has been promulgated in India (2005), there still exists the
great divide between the information haves and have nots. It is the same in the case of
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access to information technology. Just think of the lack of basic infrastructure facilities
like 24x7 electricity supply in thousands of Indian towns and villages. However, it must
be stated that even a poor youngster spends all his/her money on a mobile phone.
Spirituality Goes Hi-tech
Apart from software being used for Church administrative purposes, ministers and
religious institutions have also used it in reaching out to distant listeners through radio
broadcasts, web streaming and podcasts, e-mails or chats. It is also used to support and
sustain spiritual formation through e-group prayer, study, reflection and discussion.
In Asia, especially in the Philippines, the use of text messages has been used to
invite people to the Church.
Muslims have researched on a portable sundial-like device, an application that
supports Muslims’ prayer practices to remind them of the times of prayer, identifying
prayer as an activity that can be supported with technology. In Varanasi (Benares) the
Internet has refined the ancient practice of Hinduism and the modern practice of corporate
outsourcing by uniting the two. At its most venerable house of worship, dedicated to God
Shiva, outsourcing prayers is possible with the click of a mouse. If one can’t make the
pilgrimage here, an Internet connection and the payment of a small fee can book the
services of a priest at Vishwanath Temple who will “do the needful” for his/her plea to
be heard. The temple went online in August 2007 and within a month received 180,000
hits on its website, www.shrikashivishwanath.org. That is more than double the average
number of devotees who show up in person every month, braving difficult journeys,
the smelly narrow alleys leading to the temple, and the vendors hawking sweets and
religious paraphernalia.
Wireless Internet for Rural Internet Access
Wireless Internet Service Providers (ISP) like Bharti Airtel and Tata Indicom offer wireless
as well as fixed-line connections to the Web, while local cable operators provide cable
modem Internet hookups. Wireless phones can be bought right off store shelves, with
Web connections set up instantly. The appeal of the wireless Web can be particularly
strong for rural residents who have little access to the Internet via personal computers.
The mobile is the first Internet experience for rural folks. Outside India’s big cities,
providers entice subscribers with services that let farmers use a handset to call up such
information as land records, feed prices, and weather reports. Nokia (NOK), Samsung
Electronics (SSNLF), and Motorola sell mobile phones in villages for as little as USD
63. Vodafone (VOD) entered the Indian market through its USD11.1 billion purchase
of Li Ka-Shing’s 67% stake in Hutchison Essar, and in a partnership with China’s ZTE
(ZTE) for handsets. Relevant mobile content and aggressive marketing by companies is
boosting mobile Internet usage.
C.M. Paul
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Cinema and the Changing Media Landscape
How do we see cinema in the changing media and technological landscapes?
At least three answers suggest themselves: in the making of cinema, in the distribution
of cinema and, thirdly, in the themes of film plots. Film-making: changes are becoming
more rapid. In the 1950s, lenses for widescreen processes and for 3D were developed.
Experimentation continues. To watch The Dark Knight on an Imax screen, especially the
city vistas of Chicago and Hong Kong as well as many action sequences is exhilarating.
To see Beowulf in an Imax cinema in 3D can be breathtaking. Cameras which offer
greater flexibility of movement bring audiences into the action. Film to video to digital
cameras and High Definition means a transition from classic film-making. Sound systems
for cinemas as well as for home theatre improve daily.
Film distribution: once upon a time, a projector was needed to show a film and that
happened in a cinema. Television changed that truism in the 1940s and 1950s. With
the advent of video cassettes in the 1980s, the movies were literally to hand. DVDs and
subsequent developments of digital technology means that cinemas have an option:
projectors and/or players. Home entertainment players are becoming as compact as
the disks. And, possibilities for downloading films from the Internet (pirated or legitimate)
abound. Some films can be seen cumulatively in small chunks through YouTube
streaming. Films in the public domain can be watched on a computer from the Internet
Archive and other sites.
Film media plots: surveillance in thrillers and espionage stories show us how
prevalent is watching by Big Brother and by everyone else. In 1998, Will Smith was
at the mercy of rogue government monitor watchers in Enemy of the State. Ten years
later, the climax of The Dark Knight has Bruce Wayne developing a system of tapping
into mobile phones so that the whole of Gotham City can be watched on a wall of
screens. His inventor, Lucius Fox, criticises the ethics of this mass surveillance. In The
Bourne Ultimatum, authorities in New York watch closely a life-and-death chase through
London’s Waterloo Station. We know that television is all pervasive (The Truman Show,
Ed TV, Holy Man) and that everyone wants their Warholian 15 minutes of fame. This was
key to the violent thriller, 15 minutes, in which a network broadcast a video of the brutal
killing of Robert de Niro as a New York policeman. Television cameras and producers in
their editing trailers contribute to detecting what happens in an assassination attempt on
the US President in Vantage Point.
And the omnipresent mobile phone (which has taken the place of lighting up
a cigarette so prevalent in the films of the past)! How many times has a crime been
controlled by mobile phone contacts? One of them was, in fact, called Cellular. With
the advent of YouTube, My Space and other sites where any individual could place
material and watch all the material placed, the police thriller Untraceable created a very
unwelcome scenario. A serial killer creates his own website and then tortures and kills
victims in front of his camera. While this is shown as horrific, another horrific point is made
by the film: the increasing hundreds of thousands who log on to watch this horror.
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Ultimately, all media are gifts of God and have a power for good. And cinema tells
many a warning fable about their power for evil.
Peter Malone
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The SIGNIS Television Producer and the Church
Peter Thomas
In SIGNIS there are basically three categories of television producers who are members
(1).
The first is a paid employee, often of a diocese or a religious congregation. The
majority of SIGNIS producers are in this category.
The second is a producer who works for the church but has formed an ‘at arms
length’ structure designed to promote gospel values but is seen by the television industry
as independent. This producer is often paid in part by the church but sometimes in
conjunction with fees and commissions from the sales of productions. There are a good
number of SIGNIS producers working in this way.
The third works in the television industry either as an independent producer or as
a station or network producer and is therefore economically independent of the church.
Apart from those producers who work for religious TV stations that are owned privately,
regrettably this category of SIGNIS producer is difficult to attract into membership.
In the first and second categories of SIGNIS producers it is a reality that, in many
parts of the Western world, the leadership of Catholic media enterprise is increasingly
non-Catholic. We see this in Catholic health, social welfare and education and now more
and more in media. As this represents the changed character of professional leadership
in many Catholic institutions including media it must be faced that we cannot expect
people who are not Catholic to be sacramentally linked to the life of the church.
In the first and second categories of SIGNIS producers there is the possibility of
a Catholic producer working for an ecumenical production agency or for an inter-faith
agency. Producers in these positions have much in common with our third category.
All three have important evangelizing roles. The first is engaged in church ministry.
The second is also engaged in church ministry but is also striving to exercise the lay
apostolate. The third is the only category of producer that is fully engaged in the lay
apostolate, that is an apostolate that happens in a secular environment of which the
Second Vatican Council’s Constitution on the Church spoke of as a ‘special vocation.
making faith ‘present and fruitful’ in those places where that can be done only by the
laity, a right and duty arising directly from baptism (2). The convalidation of the laity is
one of the most forthright proclamations of the Council.
Of the three categories, the second, i.e. a producer who works for or with the church
but has significant involvement in secular media and relies to some extent on part of his
or her income from this stream, often has the task of satisfying two masters. This is by no
means impossible but requires the sort of compromise that is common in dialogue both
within the church, between churches, between faith groups and between church and
state. It can be an uncomfortable and stressful position. However, it comes with great
possibilities to build bridges of understanding in an increasingly pluralist society. This
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producer has a mandate directly from the church but also a mandate from a broadcaster.
In the first instance he or she is a lay minister representing the official church and, in the
second instance, a lay apostle doing what Catholic lay-people should be doing, by virtue
of their baptism, every day of the week. The Catechism makes this beautifully clear.
Lay people also fulfill their prophetic mission be evangelisation, that is, the
proclamation of Christ by word and the testimony of their life. For lay people, this
evangelisation acquires a specific property and peculiar efficacy because it is
accomplished in the ordinary circumstances of the world. (3)
All three categories strive to subscribe to a respect for truth and, in the case of
documentary and factual programs, the public right to information. Generally a producer
would not allow personal interest, or any belief or commitment, to undermine the need
for accuracy and fairness. This becomes awkward for producers employed by the church
and for that matter some producers whose employers set a direction that demands a
particular editorial angle. Injudicious fidelity to an employer can often mask the truth.
In deciding, choosing, appraising, selecting and rejecting, all producer categories,
as daughters and sons of the Church, are guided by teaching and tradition. Practical
discourse, however, in secular media environments, whether in fiction or non-fiction
television, calls for a wider exposition that does not necessarily indicate infidelity or
disloyalty.
The aims of religious broadcasting will differ according to the category.
At SIGNIS Television Producers’ meetings, held annually since 2003, we have either
had representatives from Public Service Broadcasters or church agency producers,
producing for public service broadcasters.
A Public Service Broadcaster might have an obligation to reflect the thought and
action of the principal religious traditions represented in their country by seeking to
present to its viewers those beliefs, ideas, issues and experiences in the contemporary
world which are related to a religious interpretation or dimension of life.
A church owned and operated station or network would generally not be as inclusive.
It might express its charter as one of evangelisation according to the teachings and
traditions of the Catholic Church. Both are valid as long as the viewer is aware of the
intentions of the latter.
Those production agencies and television stations owned and/or operated by the
church, a diocese, an Episcopal conference or religious congregation or congregations
are often managed and governed, at least in part, by clergy. It is important to acknowledge
that what constitutes a Catholic identity and how that is translated into programming
content is contingent on management and governance. Yet the passage from clergy
to lay management is a reality in many parts of the world. Although SIGNIS does not
discriminate between ordained and non-ordained membership the vast majority of its
TV producers are lay.
Traditionally management has been in the hands of clergy, a group who has lived
within a framework of Catholic institutional authority. As the clergy ranks diminish so
the leadership of lay people begins. Yet lay management and governance is complex
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as the lay set of loyalties and economic ties is generally broader. SIGNIS appreciates
these differences and aims to be supportive. In spite of these differences a lay Catholic
identity informs the work done and therefore affirms and supports a distinctive Christian
contribution. A Catholic Producer, working as an independent or for any kind of
broadcaster, public, private, community or church, has the baptismal authenticity as a
lay apostle.
Lay people who are capable and trained may also collaborate in catechetical
formation, in teaching the sacred sciences, and in use of the communications media.
(4)
What is clear is that all Catholic producers, as laity, must take the great declarations
of the Second Vatican Council seriously. The Council tolerated no equivocation when
it declared that lay people together with bishops and pastors form a communion of
believers bound together by baptism and the renewing power of the Spirit.
Of particular interest to SIGNIS are young producers. As in many nations the
leadership in media ministry is often close to retirement age, the question of succession
and, therefore, who will pass on the Catholic ethos and identity is a very real problem.
The staffing of institutions, even at the highest levels – has been rapidly shifting from
priests and nuns of yore to lay professionals, many of them hired strictly on the basis of
skills and with little or no regard to their religious commitment. (5)
SIGNIS has been of considerable assistance in helping me forge a clear Catholic
identity. In societies where a sense of vocation is denigrated or has been completely
lost, a Catholic identity both with production and management personnel and in the
content of productions is difficult to maintain. Timothy Radcliffe, the English Dominican
author has acknowledged that this crisis of identity is not only within the church but is a
more generalised crisis of identity in the community. Specifically writing about religious
life but prefacing his writings by hoping that they will be of some use to any one who is
trying to live a Christian life.
What is the identity of religious life today? I answer this by saying that we must place
this in the context of a society in which most people suffer from a crisis of identity. The
global market wipes out all sense of vocation, whether you are a doctor, priest or a bus
driver. (6)
I would add to this list the lay- person called to media ministry who works tirelessly
as a professional to sustain a mission focus. When priests, nuns and brothers do this
work they describe their priesthood or religious consecration as a vocation. When a
layperson does this work they might describe their vocation as married, husband, father
and professional.
Public Service Broadcasters, common to many countries throughout the world,
have charters that protect them from commercial influence, reflect traditional values of
independent journalism and promote a production slate that expresses national culture.
They are distinguished for their general excellence in arts, classic drama, science,
children’s and religious production and programming. Although their traditional role is
under immense pressure from fierce commercial television interests, they survive as
beacons to quality in broadcasting.
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In the English speaking world, but also in a considerable proportion of the world in
general, is dominated by television production and program distribution from the giant
multi-national production companies and therefore programming is produced to satisfy
commercial criteria that includes ratings and the selling of sponsor’s products. PBS,
the Public Broadcasting Service in the US is a relatively small niche organization that
produces outstanding material but is mightily overshadowed by the commercial free-toair and cable networks. With one or two notable exceptions around the world it seems
that there is an enormous commitment to marketisation; to perceived value-for-money.
So, ratings become paramount.
The popular catch cry is that the virtues of public broadcasting can be merged with
a commercial revenue-driven component. My observation is that the best religious
programming is produced by Public Service Broadcasters as they have standards of
objectivity that protect them from subjective propaganda that is fostered by commercial
constraint and ideological ownership. This in no way denigrates the outstanding work
achieved by SIGNIS producers. Therefore, a public service broadcaster that becomes
commercially driven is likely to produce and present religious programs that are severely
compromised.
SIGNIS recognizes that the television landscape is evolving into something distinctly
different from its recent past. Video screens are popping up everywhere, in public
spaces and in our pockets. Eventually TV will move on-line in earnest, with more and
more of us watching on the Net. With podcasting and emerging technologies many
can be TV proprietors and producers in much the same way that on the Net all of us
can be writers and publishers. Narrowcast channels, datacast services and the new
compression technologies, add to the options available by enabling more efficient use of
the spectrum and increasing the number of program channels. It is the beginning of the
end for traditional television. Some people refer to this as the fragmentation of television
and others the democratization. The use of spare spectrum channels could provide
significant opportunities for new innovative digital service options of likely interest to the
church.
How can technology serve as a medium for a ‘close encounter’ with a transcendent
God and hence become truly sacramental? How are we to unite modern science and
technology to traditional Christian religion without losing our own identity as Catholics?
(7)
The danger for the church in taking up these services is that the easy option, usually
the most economical option, is to embrace global programming that has the potential to
limit our perception of what it means to be Catholic. The church, in unity throughout the
world is diverse, a characteristic that contributes to our catholicity.
Local producers and lobbyists for more local TV content refer to the domination of
foreign programming, particularly if it emanates from one nation, as cultural imperialism.
In the same way each nation has a unique spirituality that when expressed in unity with
the worldwide church, is spiritually enriching. Making local production means observing
the local language and recognizing the local culture and sensitivities. The Church in
her wisdom has acknowledged the need for dialogue with culture through the Vatican’s
Pontifical Council for Culture.
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The Council promotes the meeting between the saving message of the Gospel and
the culture of our time, often marked by disbelief or religious indifference, in order that
they may be increasingly open to the Christian faith, which creates culture and is an
inspirational source of science, literature and the arts. (8)
Some SIGNIS members in their enthusiasm to evangelise might manage to raise the
capital costs to fund the development of a Catholic television station. We train staff and
try to estimate and cover our ongoing operational costs. We generally underestimate
the costs of production, program acquisition and the challenge of maintaining our
initial objectives and goals. When we fail to provide the appropriate programming, in
desperation we look for a lifeline, even if the lifeline programming is not in accord with
our original mission ideals. As our reliance on the lifeline programming becomes semipermanent our resolve to return to the station’s ideals wane and we settle for ‘second
best’. Unless we are scrupulously honest in our programming inventory, we will always
settle for the mediocre and in doing so sell-out our ideals and rightly deserve ridicule
from the rest of the industry and, indeed, from the church. In the same way, production
agencies that began with a resolve to compliment ministry initiatives, forced to become
financially self-sufficient in a market where this is not always possible, continue to
operate and often prosper financially by meeting market forces in producing material
that although worthy is not in accordance with the aims, objectives and mission of the
agency.
Pope Benedict has asked us as Social Communicators to be protagonists of truth
and promoters of peace. Such commitment demands principled courage and resolve on
the part of those who own and work within the highly influential media industry to ensure
that promotion of the common good is never sacrificed to a self-serving quest for profit
or an ideological agenda with little public accountability. (9)
As this applies to secular media so to it applies to those engaged in religious media,
to those television producers who seek to unlock the imagination of TV viewers with
productions that help people to tell their stories in metaphor, poetry, image and art. Above
all the Catholic television producer must be scrupulously honest in examining content to
ensure that it. Promotes what is good and true, especially in regard to the meaning of
human and social existence and to denounce what is false, especially pernicious trends
which erode the fabric of a civil society. (10)
The SIGNIS television producer of documentary is especially challenged by
the Pope’s words as he or she is generally working in a medium of self-expression
and inquiry with issues of objectivity and adversarial balance, a reasonable and
proper demand of broadcasters who cherish an unbiased view of events, issues and
personalities. The courage and insight of the Catholic TV producer to make interpretive
judgments, decisions that could involve ethical choices, many of them disquieting, is
guided by his or her loyalty to the tradition and teaching of the church. If the producer is
working for a secular broadcaster, this is frequently a grave dilemma, that like a politician
working for an electorate and subject to a political party caucus, the producer has split
allegiances. And yet within this working environment a seeking to enculturate faith within
a secular television context is a key and indeed central focus. SIGNIS documentary
producers work with a pluralism previously unimagined in both the world and the church.
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Productions have to take seriously the multiplicity found in the world but also the variety
of publics found within the church.
The documentary producer often is best when presenting something of the ‘inner’
dialogue between culture and faith, the dialogue that takes place in the soul of every
human.
With all the growth and transformation of television, one thing has not changed: the need
for TV programmers to have programming content. The need for new programming is
the only steady factor in one of the world’s most volatile industries. Rapid technological
development and the immense pressure of globalized business have focused our
attention in media in recent years on the politics, the business and the technology,
usually to the detriment of content.
At the ‘end-of-the-day’ the only issue that really matters for the SIGNIS TV producer
is content. Quality not quantity, evangelism not profits, the Kingdom of God not
maximum audience reach. Station executives become excited about the hundreds of
hours of programming from new digital platforms with scant regard for quality programs.
Proliferation of Catholic TV stations does not necessarily equal proliferation of quality
content. New services are not necessarily pathways to better production, better
programming. As preachers of the Good News it is incumbent upon us to ensure that
quality is always our benchmark.
The language and discourse of television, fiction or non-fiction, is often the language
of mystery, a language of imagination that invites the viewer to go further than what
is known and what can be seen. This is in stark contrast to the discourse of written
documents that are generally conceptual, lucid and logical. For this reason alone it would
be an impossible task for the church to impose a nihil obstat on Catholic television.
The SIGNIS television producer in using the medium well endeavors to probe the
questions that emerge from people’s experience. Confusion and doubt, pain and sorrow,
joy and love present a raw experience, a truthful, personal experience. The producer
is a storyteller and therefore holds the responsibility for ‘naming’ the experience. This
profound honesty is not always possible within program genres that are constrained
by ideology, format or unreasoned censorship. In spite of these factors SIGNIS TV
producers are breaking new ground in television production seeking to make a difference
by keeping religion and religious issues on the public agenda.
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
10.
Notes:
I use the term ‘Producer’ loosely to mean a producer, director, writer, etc.
Constitution of the Church etc
Catechism of the Catholic Church, 905.
Catechism of the Catholic Church, 906.
‘A People Adrift’(P.111) – Peter Steinfels, Simon & Schuster, N.Y. 2005
‘Sing a New Song’ (p 209) Timothy Radcliffe OP, Dominican Publications, Dublin. 1999.
“Revisioning Mission” by Richard Cote. Paulist Press NY 1996.
Mote Propriety. ‘Dialogue With Non Believers Are United’ J.P.2 25/3/’93.
Pope Benedict, Mar 17,2006 – Address to Pont. Council for Social Communications.
Crux of the News (newsletter) Apr.30, 2001.
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A SIGNIS programme for Catholic television stations
and producers
Eight TV/Producers’ Seminars – 2003 - 2009
Robert Molhant
In November 2001, during the first assembly of the new SIGNIS association, a number
of former officers of OCIC were elected to the board. As a result, some members were
preoccupied. Was SIGNIS going to turn into a cinema organization, neglecting radio and
television ? Already in Unda some producers had the impression that the organization in
the past was too ‘academically’ oriented and not active enough in supporting television
production and distribution of programmes.
So, the new board and particularly the general secretariat were challenged to set up
a concrete strategy to give the support of the new organization to the members working
in the fields of television and production. One of the vice-presidents, Peter Thomas, a
television producer, was nominated in charge of a ‘SIGNIS TV Desk’, with the help of
the secretary general.A follow up could be given to initiatives taken in the past by Unda
and OCIC. For instance, since 1992, OCIC had organized a series of ‘Video Forums’
gathering not only video producers but also a number of leaders involved in Catholic
programming for television. Was that an experience which could be re-adapted in the
new context of SIGNIS? Unda, together with WACC Europe, had organized regularly
‘Christian Television Festivals’ that were very well appreciated, but limited to Europe.
Was it an experience to offer to other parts of the world?
Steps had already been taken during the period of the merger. The Catholic Radio
and Television Network (CRTN), linked to Aid to the Church in Need, was active in
providing television programmes to a number of stations and church institutions in the
former communist countries. CRTN was willing to broaden its service to other regions
of the world. A grant was given by SIGNIS in order to help to develop the CRTN website
by adding a Spanish version, mainly to serve the Latin-American Catholic television
institutions. CRTN was also developing contacts in Asia, mainly through the Hong Kong
Diocesan Audiovisual Centre.
Attending meetings in different countries, both the President and the Secretary
general took the opportunity to visit a number of Catholic television stations. They went
to KRO, the Catholic Television station in the Netherlands. They went to EWTN, the
radio and television station of Mother Angelica, in the US. Over the years, they had the
opportunity to visit Sat2000, in Rome, KTO and Le Jour du Seigneur, in Paris, stations in
Peru, in the Dominican Republic, in the Caribbean (Trinidad and Grenada), in Lebanon
(Télé Lumière and the Centre Vincentien), in Cyprus (Sat 7)… This gave a good picture
of the vast diversity of situations.
2003 - Cape Town
In November 2003, the SIGNIS Assembly of delegates took place in Cape Town. It
was a good opportunity to organize in conjunction with it a Radio workshop and the
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first seminar for Catholic TV/Producers. In fact, the main purpose of the seminar
was to listen to the participants, to see what kind of services were to be set up for
the benefit of such a diversity of Catholic televisions and production centres. Was
there anything in common between CRTN (production and distribution of programmes
based in Germany), Kuangchi Program Service (Jesuit production centre in Taiwan),
the Hong Kong Diocesan Audiovisual Centre, the Centro Televisivo Vaticano (with a
worldwide distribution of exclusive coverage of Vatican events), Maryknoll (USA), Frank
Frost Productions (USA), EWTN (USA), Albert Street Productions (Australia), Metanoia
(South Africa), KRO (Netherlands), Nova-T (Capuchin production centre in Torino, Italy),
the Audiovisual Centre in Lebanon and the Polish Video Studio of Gdansk (former
production centre of Solidarnosc)?
The first step was to know each other. Part of the meeting was devoted to sharing
information. Then came some proposals. In the conclusions, we read : ‘The SIGNIS
strategy for production and distribution has two objectives: to reach the public market
and to reach the internal Catholic market. To reach the public market a professional
marketing strategy must be applied. SIGNIS is studying the possibility of creating a
sales office, a catalogue of the best productions and to develop the presence of Catholic
producers in TV markets. For the internal market, the promotion of the SIGNIS brand
and producing in multimedia format should be encouraged.’
2004 - Strasbourg
This was November 2003. A few months later, in April 2004, the SIGNIS Board met in
Strasbourg. Again, the opportunity of that SIGNIS meeting was taken to invite the TV/
Producers to join Strasbourg for the second seminar. The programme included a visit to
the studios of Arte, the European public-service cultural television channel established
in cooperation between France and Germany.
Most of the participants present in Cape Town came to Strasbourg, joined this time by
representatives from Belgium, the two Catholic television institutions of France (Le Jour
du Seigneur and KTO), Rome Reports (the news agency based in Rome), Sat2000, Télé
Lumière from Lebanon, Blagovest Media, active in Russia, TV Seculo 21 from Brazil and
the Paso Alto Group from Spain. Some twenty five institutions were represented at the
TV/Producers’ seminar in Strasbourg.
Again, the programme offered the possibility to each participant to present their
institution and to show samples of programmes and productions.
Apart from efforts to promote the programmes of all institutions, three concrete
projects were chosen. One was to coproduce a television magazine called ‘SIGNS’.
Peter Thomas, with the support of Sat2000 was in charge of preparing a pilot
programme. A second one was to present, for funding by the European Community, a
series of animated films about traditional fairy tales belonging to the European cultural
heritage. Three institutions promised to collaborate in that project: Imago from the Czech
Republic, Studio Malembe Maa (DRCongo - Belgium) and Paso Alto (Barcelona).The
third project was to collect pictures and films made by missionaries since the early times
of photography and film, to digitalize that material and to offer it as archives at the
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Catholic television stations and producers. Two institutions were involved in the project:
Telecre (Belgium) and Nova-T (Italy).
Msgr Enrique Planas, the delegate of the Pontifical Council for social communications,
also representative of the Vatican Film Library, who was present for half a day, indicated
how much he appreciated the initiative taken by SIGNIS to organize such seminars for
the leaders of Catholic television.
The delegate of Imago invited the participants to come to Prague for the next
seminar, scheduled for April 2005. He offered a visit to the famous puppet studio where
Jiri Trnka made all his films and where Imago, with the support of Le Jour du Seigneur
was producing a series of films under the title : The Time of the Foundations, describing
the three religions, Islam, Judaism and Christianity.
2005 - Prague
Everything was ready for an exceptional seminar in Prague. The meeting was going
to be hosted in the auditorium of the Cardinal’s palace. The Cardinal himself was
supposed to open the seminar. Again the number of participants was increasing. But
at the end of March, Pope John Paul II went to hospital and died on the 2nd of April. A
large number of the registered participants being in charge of religious programmes had
to cover the events, the ceremonies in Rome, the funeral. The Cardinal was called to
Rome. Eighteen participants still joined the seminar. Peter Thomas presented the first
pilot of the SIGNS Magazine, realized with the collaboration of Sat2000. Participants
made some suggestions. Those who had contributed to the magazine offered to take
the suggestions into account and to produce a second pilot. Peter Thomas took the
responsibility to coordinate this second pilot.
The proposal of a series of cartoons on European fairy tales had not been presented
in due time and according to the rules of the European Commission. It was too difficult
to face all administrative difficulties for the first experience of such an international
collaborative work.
The project about photographic and cinematographic archives from the missionaries
was in better state. Some German funding agencies were ready to finance part of the
costs for the collection of material and the digitalization.
Exchanges of programmes and resources between participants was another result
of the previous seminars so that the feeling of building a community of interests and
services was more and more shared by all Catholic TV/producers.
In Prague, Msgr Planas, the representative of the Pontifical Council for Social
Communications, surprisingly announced that the Council was going to organize a
World Congress of Catholic Television, in Madrid. One of the purposes was to give a
clear definition of what is a ‘Catholic television’. Other purposes were to build a data
bank of programmes offered free of charge to all Catholic television stations.
The announcement was followed by reactions from the participants. Was it possible
and to be desired to fix a definition of what is really ‘Catholic television’ considering
the great variety of initiatives, institutions, contexts? Some producers found it unjust to
organize a bank of programmes offered free of charge to the Catholic television stations.
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A production has a cost that has to be covered. The fact that SIGNIS was invited to
contribute to the organization of the Congress spoke in favour of the idea of organizing
in 2006 the TV/Producers’ seminar in Madrid, a few days before the Congress.
2005 - Lyon
The events in the Vatican at the end of March and beginning of April 2005 (the death of
Pope John Paul II, the funeral and the Conclave) had reduced the number of participants
at the Prague seminar. This was a reason to organize in 2005 a second seminar for TV/
Producers, in Lyon (France), in the context of the SIGNIS World Congress.
The link with the Congress increased the attendance up to over 50, with a number of
participants coming even from the Pacific, from Asia, from Africa and Latin America.
Once again, the presentations of the different Catholic television institutions and
of the production centres showed the large diversity of situations, from small entities in
the Pacific or the Caribbean islands, to quasi public television stations like KRO in the
Netherlands, with a large staff of over one hundred people. Not only the institutions were
different in size, in range, but also in objectives and religious culture. Some television
stations were of general interest, others were specifically religious. Some came from
the initiative of a charismatic group, some were linked to a shrine, others were officially
constituted by an Episcopal conference.
Peter Thomas presented the new pilot of the SIGNS Magazine. It was very well
received. A discussion led to the preparation of a business plan in order to be able to
produce a series of five magazines to be distributed amongst the Catholic television
stations. Suggestions were made to find sponsors for the SIGNS Magazine.
Marcel Bauer showed some of the pictures and films he collected from the early
times of the missions. His plan was to digitalize the best part of the archives and to offer
it free of charge to the Catholic television stations and production centres.
Télé Lumière (Lebanon) and KTO (France) interviewed some participants and filmed
the meeting for a news programme on their television station.
2006 - Madrid
The fifth seminar took place in Madrid (7-9 October), shortly before the World Congress of
Catholic Television organized jointly by the Pontifical Council for Social Communications
and the Episcopal Conference of Spain.
Again the proximity with that Congress encouraged a larger number of participants
to join the two events. Participants came from the Czech Republic, Russia, Hungary,
Poland, Romania, France, Belgium, Italy, Spain, the Netherlands, Hong Kong, Korea,
India, Taiwan, Canada, USA, Brazil, Colombia, Mexico, Lebanon, Australia, Cameroon,
Kenya, Senegal, South Africa and Burkina Faso.
New programmes were presented by most participants. Agreements were discussed
in order to exchange some productions. Collaborations were initiated (for example,
the cameraman of Télé Lumière filmed for Frost Productions an interview of a former
Jesuit assistant to Father Arrupe). The wish was expressed to organize a seminar in
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Latin America. Funds were still needed to produce the SIGNS Magazine. The project to
digitalize the missions’ archives was progressing. Discussions were on the way between
Telecre and Le Jour du Seigneur to produce short programmes using the missions’
archives.
Some participants were preoccupied with projects to be announced during the World
Congress of Catholic Television, particularly the ideas of a free of charge programme
bank and the creation of a television news agency.
At the closing of the seminar, the participants went to the Congress.
2007 - Bucharest
The sixth seminar took place in Bucharest (19 – 22 November 2007). Programmes were
presented by Maryknoll, Frank Frost and EWTN (USA), by Nova-T, H2Onews, Rome
Reports and Shineout (Italy). Le Jour du Seigneur showed the short programmes using
in a very creative way some material from the missions’ archives. Almas (Mexico) and
BNC (Argentina) came with new productions. A number of Catholic television stations
and production centres from the Eastern part of Europe attended the seminar for the
first time : Domus Patris (Russia) and LUX Studio (Slovakia) joined Duna TV (Hungary).
Lebanon was largely present and even delegates from centres in Africa (Kenya,
Cameroon, Senegal). All together some 45 participants were hosted in a monastery
close to Snagov (not far away from Dracula’s grave!).
During the seminar in Bucharest the www.catholictv.tv website launched in December
2006 was presented as a tool for the TV/Producers’ community to increase the exchange
of information and programmes, offering the possibility for streaming video.
The option to organize the following seminar in Latin America was discussed. A
majority was in favour, although the cost of travelling to South America was seen as
an obstacle for a number of participants. It was considered and accepted that such a
seminar was going to be more Latin American than worldwide.
2008 - Buenos Aires
The seventh seminar took place in Buenos Aires (Argentina) from 20 – 23 April 2008
in the Argentina Catholic University (UCA). Fifty-five people were registered, a majority
coming from the Latin American and Caribbean countries (Argentina, Mexico, Cuba,
Ecuador, Trinidad, Chile, Bolivia, Brazil, Haiti, Venezuela, Belize, Panama, Peru) but
still with participants from France, Hong Kong, Spain, Taiwan, USA, South Africa, and
Germany.
This was an extraordinary opportunity to discover the vitality of Catholic television
stations and initiatives in that part of the world. A previous meeting – the Latin-American
Congress of Catholic Television - had already taken place in Medellin (Colombia) in
May 2006. The seminar in Buenos Aires was seen as a new step in the collaboration
between stations, production centres in the context of the presence of the Church in the
television media. The CELAM (Episcopal Conference of Latin America) was represented
at the seminar. A meeting was held at the secretariat of the bishops’ conference and the
participants went for a visit to the archdiocesan television station Canal 21.
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From the conclusions taken during the seminar, we would like to point out the offer
made by some participants to produce the SIGNS Magazine in Latin America. ADB
(Ecuador) took the challenge to produce the first episode of SIGNOS, in collaboration
with other production centres in Latin America. The wish was also expressed to have a
new seminar in Latin America, probably in Mexico in 2010.
The eighth seminar in Chiang Mai
The eighth seminar is planned to take place in the context of the SIGNIS World Congress,
in Chiang Mai (Thailand) from 16 to 22 October 2009.
Some reflexions
The Catholic television landscape is continuously changing. An increasing number of
countries have opened the access to television to private groups, including religious
entities. The technologies have made it possible to produce television at a lower cost.
Groups of Catholics, religious congregations, dioceses, Episcopal conferences have
started their own television station. A large number are ‘message driven’, with no real
business plan, market strategy, professional experience. Some are well equipped, have
employed dedicated Catholic professionals, have the support of a large community,
even have a worldwide coverage, using satellites. Others have taken the opportunity
of a presence in television but without having the capacity to produce programmes
expressing the pastoral priorities of their local Church. They rely on programmes offered
by larger Catholic television enterprises.
Since 2003, the SIGNIS TV Desk modestly weaves links between a growing network
of Catholic institutions in the field of television. The task is immense. The conviction is
that marvels are happening every day, but also that the Catholic Church has not taken
the real measure of what its presence should be in television.
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Radio
Excerpts from SIGNIS Media from Latin America and Brazil
The work of SIGNIS members in Radio is quite diverse, especially in Africa, Latin
America, Asia and the Pacific. Some samples from Brazil and from African countries
are offered.
The Identity and Mission of a Catholic Radio Station
At a congress sponsored by the Pontifical Council for Social Communications in June
2008 in Rome, more than 100 representatives from some 50 nations discussed the
identity and mission of a Catholic radio station. They were welcomed by the Pope
who encouraged them to produce attractive programmes based on the values of the
Gospel. The president of the communications council, Archbishop Claudio Celli, said
the congress aimed to help radio stations fulfil their service to the Catholic community,
and foster understanding and solidarity among all peoples. Participants also wanted to
see how Catholic broadcasting or programming could reach parts of the world where it is
lacking, he said to L’Osservatore Romano. People should know, according to Celli, that
financial or even legal restrictions sometimes prevent bishops’ conferences from setting
up a Catholic radio station.
Msgr Celli was very concrete in talking about Catholic radio in the world. He
mentioned that Latin America has about 3,000 Catholic stations, and Africa has only
about 150. Some countries in Africa and Asia do not allow radio stations that have any
religious affiliation, the archbishop said. Australia and Ireland do not have any Catholic
radio stations, but religious programming is allowed, he added.
The secretary of the Vatican Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, Archbishop
Angelo Amato, considered the radio medium like a “modern-day pulpit.” According to
Msgr Amato, Catholic programming can “educate and edify” the Catholic faithful, filling
in the gaps where traditional places of formation -- like the family, schools and society –
fall short. Catholic broadcasters must announce the word of God “unequivocally, clearly
and professionally” and spread and pay witness to the truth, he stressed. That way
Christ’s message will not be seen as being “just one opinion among others, but as
truth that forms opinion.” Msgr Amato suggested strongly that along with music, news
and information, Catholic radio should host debates concerning pressing issues like the
right to life, bioethics, scientific discoveries and the lack of ethical public policies. He
said through its words Catholic radio must help heal the “spiritual deafness” in today’s
world.
Some radio stations are more than entertainment and connecting people with news
and music from the “outside world”.
They are often more directly involved with the well-being of their community than
is acknowledged. They are constructing peace in their communities and country. Some
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even have a worldwide reach through the Internet, like Radio Peace Africa which defends
children affected by war and poverty. In a number of countries different radio stations are
coming together to strive for the same human values.
Latin America:
Brazil, Radio Rural, Santarem
One interesting example is the work of Fr. Edilberto Sena, the director of the Radio Rural
in the city of Santarem, Brazil. The station is dedicated to serve the native population
and migrants, many of whom live in the middle of the forest. Radio Rural was founded
to communicate with them in 1964. The station aims to give counselling and education
and so help to make sure that its listeners do not become alienated from the rest of the
country. Fr. Sena believes in a better future for the many poor people in Brazil. Radio
Rural brings news that is interesting for the listeners and that is not commercial. “Some
politicians try to bribe you, but I believe that this station is firstly meant to give good
information and not publicity or advertising.”
Today, Radio Rural draws large audiences with special broadcasts for children,
young people, families, farmers and people living in slums. Fr. Edilberto says: “Radio
Rural is more important than ever for the people. We try to inform and warn the people
about the big companies that are destroying the Amazon. The people trust us, they know
that we give honest and correct information.” Part of Sena’s mission is to arouse public
action against what he terms the four enemies: logging, mining, cattle-ranching and
soya bean farming. About 104,000 square miles of trees have been felled in his state
of Para, the most deforested in the Amazon according to new government data. Sena
refuses to air advertisements of businesses that he says trample on the environment, a
decision that has lost the station money.
Bishop Carlos Verzeletti of Castanal says there is “no clear-cut line” between the
work of the Church and the work of civil society in the struggle for the rights of people. “I
give the people the power of the word (through radio adds Sena) to help them recognize
what they should be doing. So it’s a path to citizenship — a strong word — and it means
the people are going after their own rights,” Bishop Esmeraldo Barreto de Farias says.
Cooperation between five radio stations has now led to new radio programmes delivered
by satellite broadcasting so helping to reach even more of the Amazon’s inhabitants.
Sena is not only coordinator of Radio Rural de Santarem but he is also the driving force
behind the news agency about Amazonia which distributes its news by satellite (in cooperation with ALER, the Latin American Association for Educational Radio, in Quito)
and by Internet.
Africa:
Zambia, Radio Liselo
In May 2004 the Oblates started, in the northern province of Zambia, to explore if they
should set up a community radio station. Before launching into broadcasting, they
embarked on an audience survey in order to see clearly how the Oblate radio station
was going to reach the intended audience. They also found out what kind of programmes
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people from communities would love to listen to and what lessons about the Catholic
faith they would love to be taught. During these surveys, listening clubs and Parish
Communications Committees (PCCs) were introduced. These PCCs included three
members from each small Christian community - two of whom were young people and
one representative from each lay group in the parish. The parish councils and the parish
priests approved these committees. Some months later they obtained a broadcast
licence from the Zambian government. The radio station covers the whole of Mongu, the
provincial capital, and most parts of the western province. One repeater transmitter has
been installed in Lukulu to increase coverage.
As Oblate Radio Liseli is a Catholic community radio station, a good number of
religious programmes are on air every day. These religious programmes have been
locally produced or syndicated from other radio station/organisations within or outside
the country. The radio station gets programmes mainly from EWTN. These are mainly
teachings on Catholic doctrine and are in English. Locally produced programmes, which
are meant to help evangelize the local community, are in both English and Silozi.
But Liseli also produces different programmes. Development programmes put forward
different themes: agriculture, health, and civic awareness. Among the most outstanding
programmes is Kanzuma Ka Balimi (Farmers’ Basket). This particular programme tries to
relate agriculture to HIV/AIDS, culture, religion, young people, and meteorology. Cultural
programmes try to promote and preserve local culture by discussing local traditions and
history. For the education aspects they work together with Quality Education Services
Through Technology (Questt) and the Ministry of Education. The radio station also
localizes the programme content by bringing the literature programme in Silozi called
Liseli Mwa Libuka (Learning from a Book) for general consumption.
Africa:
Tanzania, A radio of Hope : Radio Kwizera
Radio Kwizera was born in 1995 as a response to the hate radio Mille Collines in Rwanda.
The name says it all: kwizera means “hope” in Kinyarwanda language. It is the first Jesuit
Refugee Service (JRS) radio project and was designed by Fr. Thomas Fitzpatrick. Initial
funding for the equipment came from JRS and UNHCR. The station reaches a radius of
300 kilometres, including the Kagera and Kigoma regions in Tanzania, and some parts
of Rwanda and Burundi. The objectives included improving the physical and mental
well-being of the refugees, helping with reconciliation, assisting with camp management,
being a pastoral tool for JRS, and keeping refugees informed of developments in their
own country. Camp information committees were set up to serve as focal points there.
Following the mass repatriation of Rwandan refugees in December 1996, JRS decided
that the station should continue to serve the remaining Burundian population. Over the
years it has also developed an audience among the Tanzanian population. Three types
of listeners are now under the scope of Radio Kwizera: the refugees, the rural villages
in the western regions, and the population in Burundi and Rwanda. The fact that these
two small countries are also within the range of Radio Kwizera increases the station’s
commitment to contribute towards reconciliation and peace.
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The station broadcasts a total of 91 hours per week, 3 hours in Kirundi and 48
in Kiswahili. Information and programmes amount to 49 hours, and entertainment
and music to 42 hours. Not one programme is aired twice. The schedule includes
educational broadcasting for primary schools; programmes on gender issues, mother
and child health, environment, sanitation, agriculture and livestock management; news,
current affairs, youth and children’s programmes, religious segments, development
initiatives, greetings and music; as well as a refugee-tracing programme that has
contributed towards reuniting families. NGOs collaborate on various topics: education,
health, women’s issues (NPA), water and sanitation (Oxfam), food distribution (WFP),
immunisation campaigns (UNICEF), and environment (REDESO). Radio Kwizera also
rebroadcasts in English, French and Swahili from Radio France International (RFI) and
Deutsche Welle; and airs tapes from RFI, UN Radio, Panos Institute (Bamako) and
Africa Radio Service (Nairobi).
The station lists among its policy issues the concerns for the poor and powerless,
women and youth, cultural creativity, interreligious dialogue, and staff development. It
provides training to enhance broadcasting skills. The languages of programming are
Kirundi (for the refugees), and Kiswahili (for Tanzanians). The station also re-broadcasts
programmes in English and French from Germany, France and United Nations Radio,
but most of the programming is produced locally. Two production teams (Kiswahili and
Kirundi) guarantee the production of news and programmes for the refugees and for the
Tanzanian population.
SIGNIS Africa Radio Workshop
Dar es Salaam, Tanzania
Behaviour Change Through Radio - SIGNIS Africa Radio Workshop in Dar es Salaam,
Tanzania (7-11 August 2006) Addressing social conflict and planning radio campaigns for
behavioural change was the theme of a workshop for Catholic radio stations in eastern
and southern Africa run by SIGNIS Africa in conjunction with the communications offices
of the AMECEA and IMBIS ecclesiastical regions and with the assistance of Search for
Common Ground’s (SFCG) Radio for Peace Africa Project (RFPA) (See: http://www.
radiopeaceafrica.org/). The workshop, which was held at Kurasini Training Centre in Dar
es Salaam, drew representatives from18 Catholic radio stations from Angola, Kenya,
Malawi, Mozambique, Tanzania and Uganda as well as communications coordinators
from Tanzania, Zambia and Zimbabwe. Animated by SFCG’s Francis Rolt and Yannick
de Mol, the workshop worked through the planning process in designing a campaign that
sought Knowledge- Attitude-Behaviour change (KAB).
Participants formed five groups and after finding a specific campaign issue, worked
their way through to designing a radio campaign that sought specific behavioural
change to address the issue. Participants from Angola and Mozambique formed one
group that built a campaign “against armed violence in cities”. Representatives of
radio stations from Kenya and Uganda chose “the elimination of mob-justice” for their
campaign, while the group from Malawi, Zambia and Zimbabwe designed a campaign
to “stimulate constructive dialogue amongst politicians in the run up to elections.” The
Tanzanian participants were many, with local representatives from Dar es Salaam and
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Zanzibar joining the sessions, and although they chose one campaign topic, to “stop
deforestation”; they had to form two separate groups to facilitate participation. The
afternoons of the first two days were spent listening to radio programmes presented
by the participating radio stations. The presentations generated lively discussions and
most found the peer critique and suggestions useful. At the end of the workshop, SIGNIS
awarded prizes to three of the programmes.
One award went to Radio Wa (Uganda) for their programme Karibu which encourages
child soldiers and rebels of the infamous Lord’s Resistance Army to return to their
communities. It is a very brave programme that gives the returnees a chance to tell their
stories and seek reconciliation with their communities. Radio Sem Fronteiras (Radio
without Borders) from Mozambique was awarded for its creative and competent use of
radio programmes in tackling the issue of domestic violence. The very effective use of
radio drama in this campaign generated a lively debate in Dar es Salaam. A third award
was presented to radio Waumini from Kenya for a well produced six-minute programme,
The Angels Have Left Us, about children living with the HIV virus and having to face
discrimination and abuse. The programme was a passionate cry for understanding and
the caring embrace of society.
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The Cinema Tradition
Peter Malone
In 2001, SIGNIS took on the OCIC cinema tradition. In the final years of OCIC, there were
developments in the cinema outreach. SIGNIS has continued these developments.
Policies
There is a twofold policy of SIGNIS towards cinema. The first is that of supporting
Catholics who work in cinema, makers, writers, reviewers, researchers. The second
is that SIGNIS is to be a bridge between the Church and the professional world of
cinema.
Shortly before the Joint Board meetings of Unda and OCIC to pursue the merger,
Robert Molhant invited a small group to work on cinema policy at a meeting at the
University of Louvain-la-Neuve (October, 1997): Gaye Ortiz, Charles Martig and
Peter Malone. The results of this meeting, a statement of principles, activities and
collaboration with Church and ecumenical, interfaith and secular bodies, were published
as an appendix in the 1999 booklet Cinema, Religion and Values, published by OCIC
(English version only).
The president of SIGNIS (as with OCIC and Unda) is appointed as a member of the
Pontifical Council for Social Communications and the Secretary General is appointed
as a consultor. This means attendance at and a report to the annual Plenary meeting.
Monsignor Enrique Planas acted as the liaison between the Council and OCIC and
SIGNIS for many years. His successor, who attends the SIGNIS Board meetings, is
Claudia di Giovanni, director of the Vatican Filmoteca. There was a long collabaration
with Archbishop John Foley (now Cardinal) who was president of the Council from 1984
to 2007. His successor is Archbishop Celli.
Ecumenical collaboration was formally established in 1973 and the first jury was
that of Locarno in 1973. The first ecumenical jury in Cannes was that of 1974 (the
30th anniversary celebrated in 2004 with British director, Ken Loach, winner of the most
OCIC, SIGNIS and Ecumenical awards, as the guest). Prayer services, receptions and
some seminars have developed at different festivals over the years. To celebrate the
centenary of cinema in 1995, a conference took place in Los Angeles, a joint OCICWACC enterprise with the participation of Interfilm (the Protestant film organisation).
Further conferences were held in Mannheim (2002), Iasi, Romania (2003), Crete (2004)
and Edinburgh, hosted by the University and considering Peacemaking and Conflict in
cinema (2007).
Another ecumenical initiative was the decision that WACC and SIGNIS would make
an award at each of their General Assemblies to films which promote human rights.
After a visit to the Vatican in 2001 by Iranian cinema and government representatives,
an invitation was made for attendance at the Fajr Film Festival in Tehran. On this
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occasion collaboration with Interfaith groups was initiated. Interfaith juries are now
present in Brisbane, Australia, and Dhaka, Bangladesh, as well.
The cinema desk has tried to find ways of acting on the SIGNIS slogan, Media for a
Culture of Peace (with a competition, for instance, for university student film-makers in
Lebanon) and the present slogan, Today’s Children, Tomorrow’s Promise. The slogan,
A Face for the Faceless, has also been adopted as a complementary focus to radio’s
A Voice for the Voiceless. A Face for the Faceless means that visual media can show
people who otherwise would remain hidden and unseen. Anca Berlogea, from SIGNIS
Romania, began a festival-conference in 2005, Facing Children, which focused on films
about children and their rights.
OCIC, through its European origins and presence at festivals, developed a strong
support for what is sometimes called ‘art-house’ cinema. It has also tried to develop a
positive, critical support for the mainstream.
In tackling the films which explore the darker side of human nature, SIGNIS has
adopted the phrase, ‘De Profundis’ (Out of the Depths) films which take the characters
and the audience into the depths before finding redemption. With some of the more
popular films doing the same thing, it is appropriate to say that many voices seeking
redemption cry ‘out of the shallows’ as well.
Consultancy
The cinema desk at the General Secretariat has always been available for consultancy
work. With the development of email, questions, queries and requests come in constantly
to Guido Convents and Peter Malone. Some are for information. Some are for help in
research. Some provide information which broadens SIGNIS horizons. This is part of
the service that the Secretariat should offer to world members.
In recent years, some distributors have approached SIGNIS for advice and some
assistance for the release of their films: the South African Son of Man, the American
The Nativity Story and, to ensure that it was not just a sensationalising of the sex abuse
crisis, the release of a film about the Boston church, Our Fathers. In 2000, OCIC funded
French subtitles for a video release of Paul Cox’s film on Fr Damian: Molokai - The Story
of Father Damien.
Film-making
From the beginnings of OCIC, members have aspired to be film-makers. However,
costs of production are generally prohibitive. With developments in video and digital
technology, film-making is not so remote a dream as it once was. Many SIGNIS
members produce video material and programs for television or internet distribution.
Some have made films like Fr Joseph, SDB in north eastern India. His Mathia (2003)
and Yarwng (2008) were filmed amongst tribal people in their own language. They have
won awards at international festivals. Fr Dominic Emmanuel of India made (and acted
in) a Bollywood style fable about AIDS and inter-religious collaboration,2005, Aisa Kyu
Hota Hai (Why Does This Happen?).
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Many members are involved in cinema production. With the Los Angeles-based
group Catholics In Media becoming part of SIGNIS, a strong link has been forged with
the American capital of film-making. Several directors, including Elizabeth Bostan and
Nicolae Margineanu, are members of SIGNIS Romania.
Seminars for film-makers take place in some countries like Cuba. Polish director
Krzysztoff Zanussi led a seminar at his home in Warsaw in 1999 for a select group of
young European film-makers.
A prestigious dialogue with directors takes place each year during the Venice Film
Festival under the auspices of Don Dario Vigano and Ente Dello Spettacolo with its Prix
Bresson. Recent recipients include Wim Wenders, Manoel de Oliveira, Daniel Burman,
Alexsander Sokurov and Walter Salles.
On a practical level, members are asked advice about the content of some films and
their marketing. Sister Rose Pacatte collaborated with The Nativity Story (2006) and
wrote a guide book for the film. The Communications offices of Hong Kong and Thailand
supplied the local sub-titles for The Passion of the Christ (2004).
Research and publications
OCIC encouraged research into cinema and cinema history. Robert Molhant wrote two
booklets, one on the history of the Church and cinema until 1935, another on OCIC award
winners from 1947-1966. Vice President of SIGNIS at the time, Gaye Ortiz, wrote a PhD
thesis, The Relationship Between the Catholic Church and the Film Industry (2004)
which has several chapters on the history of OCIC and the beginnings of SIGNIS. In
recent years, Guido Convents wrote his doctoral thesis on silent cinema in Belgium until
1908. He has continued his interest in African cinema, publishing rather large books on
cinema in Congo, Rwanda, Burundi and Mozambique, and on colonial culture in cinema.
Also in Africa, Sister Dominic Dipio of Uganda, wrote her thesis, The Representation of
Women and of the Changing Gender Roles in African Film Narrative: a Feminist Critical
Approach. Other SIGNIS members who have been involved in doctoral studies include
Richard Leonard SJ from Australia writing on Peter Weir and his mystic gaze. Lucas Jirza
from the Czech Republic investigated ‘The Current Crisis of The West: the culturological
approach to the film as a mean of cognition and interpretation of the world’.
German speaking members of SIGNIS have participated in seminars on cinema
and theology and, more recently, in ecumenical seminars on this theme. Many of them,
including Peter Hasenberg and Thomas Krolle contributed to Handbuch Theologie und
Populaerer Film (2008), edited by Thomas Bohrmann. Hans-Jurgen Feulner of the
University of Vienna is collaborating with Thomas Bohrmann to produce a study of how
liturgy and sacraments have been visualised in films.
One of the most prolific of countries writing on cinema is Italy. Ente dello Spettacolo
has a reputable glossy magazine and has published a number of books, several by its
president, Dario Vigano, like Attraverso lo schermo. Cinema e cultura cattolica in Italia
(2006). The Italian church also produces several popular and scholarly periodicals on
cinema.
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North America has seen an increase in books on cinema and religious issues, some
theological, some spiritual and pastoral. Members of SIGNIS have been invited to
contribute articles for dictionaries and companions to cinema and religion. Peter Malone
has contributed a chapter on the Catholic Church and Cinema from 1967 to the present
as well as a chapter on how the Catholic Church has been presented on screen.
In terms of publishing books on cinema, Michele Debidour of Lyon published La
quete spirituelle dans le cinema contemporain (2006), Charles Martig Kino der irritation,
Lars von Triers theologische und ästhetische Herausforderung (2008), Richard Leonard
Movies that Matter (2005), John Pungente SJ (who has been associated with OCIC)
and Monty Williams SJ Finding God in the Dark (2005), Gaye Ortiz, with Christopher
Deacy, Theology and Film, Challenging the Sacred/Secular Divide(2007), Rose Pacatte
FSP and Gretchen Media Mindfulness (2007), Peter Malone On Screen (2002), Can
Movies be a Moral Compass? (2005), a collaboration with WACC, Film and Faith
(2008), Film, Faith and the Church (2009), the latter two published by SIGNIS member,
Communication Foundation for Asia, Manila, and, with Rose Pacatte, Lights Camera
Faith… Cycles A B C and The Ten Commandments (2001-2006).SIGNIS members and
associates contributed to Through a Catholic Lens, Religious Perspectives of Nineteen
Directors from around the World (2007).
There are developments in productions of DVDs which contain lectures, illustrated
by clips, which offer material on film and religious issues as well as media education.
Consumer Information
One of the regrettable questions asked of SIGNIS members by people who say they
did not realise that the Catholic Church had a cinema organisation is, ‘So, you censor
films?’. More recent language generally, especially by government bodies who have
responsibility to the public concerning film, prefers to use the word, ‘Classification’ rather
than ‘Censorship’. Even better is the language of Consumer Advice.
This language is found in lists as well as accompanying reviews.
Many reviewers and classifiers are part of national Catholic bodies, especially for the
Episcopal Conferences, offer classifications of most films released. While many reviews
are published in papers or magazines, most appear on websites.
Some of the excellent periodicals on film review include Film Dienst from Germany,
Filmmagie and Cinemagie from Flemish Belgium. The Belgian reviews are used for
many popular magazines and for television guides. This is also true of the reviews
from Communication et Société, the French Canadian affiliate of SIGNIS world. Many
papers and magazines in the US and Australia use the reviews from the National Office.
In other countries as Spain (Pantalla 90), Cuba, Portugal (Cinedoc) and France (Les
Fiches du Cinéma) the film work - and publications - also continue. Most of the reviews
and classifications are to be found on websites.
SIGNIS international website containes reviews in French, Spanish and English. The
United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) has reviews and classifications
with extensive details about what is considered unsuitable or offensive. An interesting
Asian example is CINEMA (Catholic Initiative for Enlightened Movie Appreciation,
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established in 2000 after seminars on films, values and classifications attended by
over 100 people by the Office for Women of the Catholic Bishops Conference of the
Philippines. (CBCP). Available for papers and magazines, these reviews are also online along with classifications of both artistic quality and moral values. The reviews are
written by a team, especially of Catholic women.
Since the formation of SIGNIS, another service provided by the General Secretariat is
that of ‘Statements’ on films that are controversial and films that have particular Catholic
interest. They have been written by Peter Malone. Some of them have been taken up
by Bishops Conferences (this was especially true of comments on The Passion of the
Christ). Some statements are issued by national bodies (as did Spain for The Golden
Compass). Preparations were made in 2006 for the release of The Da Vinci Code.
However, advisers in the United States (especially Jonathan Bock of Grace Hill Media,
who has worked with SIGNIS and with the Pontifical Council for Social Communications)
were able to collaborate with the film-makers so that the film did not cause the same
discussions as did the novel.
Other titles for statements include (on sexual abuse questions), Our Fathers, Song
for a Raggy Boy, Mal Educacion, Doubt, (on Catholic practice), The Exorcism of Emily
Rose, Requiem, The Omen and (on the history of the Church), Amen, Elizabeth, The
Golden Age.
Information comes in from different countries. A frequent contributor concerning
films and their release in India has been C.M.Paul SDB from Calcutta.
Media Education
Cinema finds its place in media education. This is important for many centres around
the world and is particularly important for Latin America and for Asia and the Pacific.
Collaboration with Crec Avex, both at courses held in Lyon and now with travelling teams
in Asia and Africa, has been significant.
Religious orders who are international members are important contributors to media
education: Jescom for the Jesuits, Boscom for the Salesians, for the Pauline family,
both men and women, and for the Missionaries of the Sacred Heart’s Communication
Foundation for Asia in Manila. Individual members also contribute to seminars. For
instance, in 1998, Bill Falekaono, president of OCIC, then SIGNIS, Pacific, inaugurated
regular courses at the Pacific Regional Seminary in Suva, Fiji, where lecturers have
included Richard Leonard, Peter Malone and the president of SIGNIS, Augy Loorthusamy.
Trinity and All Saints College in Leeds, an Associate member of SIGNIS offers several
film and spirituality courses conducted by Maggie Roux.
A different approach to media education for cinema and spirituality is the National
Film Retreat in the US for several years. Established by Frank Frost and Rose Pacatte,
retreatants watch selected films, discuss and pray on the themes of the retreat. Also
in the United States, the Catholic Academy has been a sponsor of the Festival of the
City of Angels, a thematic festival over a weekend which includes introductions and
commentary and discussion after each film as well as round tables, one sponsored by
Catholics in Media.
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National Awards
Since SIGNIS is a federation of regions and an international group, the activities at
national and regional level are most important. One of the features that raises the profile
of cinema is that of national awards (which need to be listed on the SIGNIS website for
reference). Countries which have had these awards for some decades include Japan,
Australia, Taiwan An example of how important such awards can be is the annual OCIC
now SIGNIS Salutation in Colombo, Sri Lanka. Catholics are a minority in Sri Lanka,
Buddhists being the majority. Over the years, at a well-attended public ceremony, many
Buddhist film and television makers have won the awards at the Salutation, showing
the vitality of Catholic interest in cinema as well as promoting interfaith dialogue. The
Centrale Catholique Egyptienne du Cinéma, the Egyptian member of SIGNIS, founded
in 1949, organizes since 57 years the national filmfestival in Egypt.
At present, the cinema activity at international level is managed by the Cinema
Desk (Peter Malone and Guido Convents, with Board Members Gustavo Andujar, Jos
Horemans and Moses Humangole. Along with the juries at film and television festivals,
which are considered in another chapter of this book, the OCIC tradition has continued
in SIGNIS and has developed strongly since the merger of 2001.
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The Work of Signis Juries in Film and Television Festivals
Guido Convents
With the merger of OCIC with Unda into SIGNIS the presence in festivals of catholics,
members of the organisation, not only continued but developed considerably. It is one
way of having contact with the professional world, but also a way of bringing together in a
jury, professionals from the association, who are active in TV and cinema, not only critics
but also producers, radio program makers, media educators and internet specialists.
Prelude : the presence of Catholics in juries at international festivals 1947-1997
One of the reasons for the catholic presence in international film festivals goes back to
the Catholic Action of the 1920s. Catholic women urged those professionally involved
in film to better co-ordination, to inform Catholics about films based on Christian values,
to promote these films and influence production and distribution. This was the origin
of the International Catholic Organisation for Cinema (OCIC) in 1928. A large number
of Catholic critics were members of national film press associations and international
film press associations. Dr André Ruszkowski (1910-2001) who was present in the first
FIPRESCI jury in Venice in 1934, became a very active member in the board of OCIC.
75 years later, in 2009 at the Venice Film Festival, SIGNIS was able to organise with
Ente dello Spettacolo a joint awards ceremony for the Navicella of Ente dello Spettacolo,
for the FIPRESCI awards and the SIGNIS awards. It was an extraordinary moment
because the three different juries had given their prizes to the same film : Lourdes,
directed by Jessica Hausner.
When the OCIC general secretariat in Brussels organized its first international jury at
the Festival Mondial du Film met des Beaux-Arts in Brussels in 1947, Ruszkowski was
among the five international catholic jury members and he became in the ensuing years
a driving force for the work of OCIC in international film festivals.
The first award in 1947 in Brussels was to Vivere in Pace by Luigi Zampa because,
according to the jury, the film contributed to the spiritual and moral revival of humanity:
peace, spirituality human understanding, hope and dialogue beyond racism. OCIC
wanted to broaden the cinema horizons of the public and to demonstrate that cinema of
quality, portraying values which are human, social, cultural and spiritual, are produced
by film-makers of every nationality and culture. It should be remembered that these
awards are the result of very particular situations. The jury can give its prize only to films
programmed within the framework of the festival which controls the selection of what
is presented. This means that in the global annual cinema production there are some
important films which merit an OCIC or an Ecumenical award, but, since they are not
included in any festival program, they cannot be the recipients of an award. That is one
of the limits of the international awards at festivals.
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The presence of critics from different national Catholic organisations gives the juries
the possibility for seeing and discussing films together. Most of the national members
who published in the 1950s until now inlcude renowned film magazines like Filmdienst
(Germany), Revista del Cinematógrafo (Italy) or Filmmagie (Belgium) and their presence
in juries served as a great help in their journalistic work. OCIC was sometimes criticised
for making awards to apparently unknown films (of course this relative; a prizewinning
film from a country like Iceland or Benin is unknown to most cinema goers around the
world, but not so in Iceland or Benin !).
OCIC was well aware that some films which received awards were almost
inaccessible in most parts of the world. The intention of OCIC was to promote these
films in its publications and present them to festival programmers. Most of the members
of OCIC had, and some still have, a network of film clubs where they organized debates
after the screening of these non-mainstream films, a way of stressing cultural diversity
in the cinema world. (This aspect has definitely changed with Internet and the easier
distribution of films on DVD) A number of national Catholic film organisations like Japan,
Australia, Sri Lanka, Egypt, Taiwan began to give national awards. These awards often
completed the list of winners in international catholic and ecumenical juries.
Since 1973 OCIC and Interfilm have worked together in Ecumenical juries. At the
Locarno film festival, the first Ecumenical jury was inaugurated.
After 60 years
In 2008 SIGNIS celebrated the 60th anniversary of the existence of an international
Catholic Jury at the Venice Film Festival. The event was hosted by the Fondazione
Ente dello Spettacolo (member of SIGNIS in Italy) and its director, Don Dario Vigano,
who represents the cinema interests of the Italian Bishops Conference. Guests of
honour included the Patriarch of Venice, Cardinal Angelo Scola. He spoke warmly of
the cinema, referring to two films he had seen during the summer, La Neuvaine and The
Diving Bell and the Butterfly, elaborating on the power of cinema with its storytelling and
its exploration of human themes opening up to transcendent values. The event was a
combination press conference and panel discussion. Professor Peppino Ortoleva from
the University of Turin, who pointed out that he was an atheist but was in sympathy for
the approach of the church to cinema and wrote for Catholic journals, gave a paper
analysing the films which had won prizes and commendations in Venice and the citations
the juries had written explaining their reasons for the awards.
While there was a broad range of films which received the awards, films like Fellini’s
La Strada (1954), he noted that some of the awards seemed to be more confessional in
the early years, like Heaven over the Marshes, in 1950, a drama about the child martyr
St Maria Goretti who was canonised that year and was widely promoted throughout
the church as a model of purity. The 1960s saw the prize for Pier Paolo Pasolini’s The
Gospel According to Matthew (1964), and the controversy over the award to Pasolini’s
Teorema (1968), some interventions from the Vatican which required a great deal of time
and diplomacy on the part of the then president of OCIC, Jean Bernard. Veteran filmreviewer, Virgilio Fantuzzi S.J., was also a member of the panel and spoke in some detail
of Pasolini and his films, especially reminding audiences of Pasolini’s own ideological
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Marxist stances and how he interpreted and made his film using the text of the Gospel
as the basis for his screenplay. Professor Ortoleva went on to note that during the
1980s and into the 1990s, OCIC jury citations tended to use the word ’crisis’ concerning
their choice of winners. Time prevented him from speaking further on the 1990s and
in the 21st century but, when asked, his opinion was that more recent winners were
characterised as responding to the signs of the times.
1997, fifty years after the first award and the eve of the definite merger process
In 1997 OCIC was present in 18 international film festivals and gave prizes and
commendations to 50 films. Fourteen of the festivals took place in Europe, one in Africa,
two in Latin America and one in North America. At ten festivals it had an own international
catholic jury to give an OCIC award or commendation, and at eight its members joined
Interfilm in Ecumenical juries. At that time there were already more ten thousand
festivals in Europe alone. The fifty awards and commendations show that OCIC was
highly international with quite a number of films from the southern hemisphere: 19 out
of 50. Among them were eight African productions, explained by OCIC presence at the
biennial Pan African Festival in Ouagadougou (Fespaco) and at the African Film festival
in Milan. The attention given to African films goes back to the end of the 1960s when
the organisation became aware of the importance to give a face to the faceless for
the African filmworld. The Senegalese film pioneer Sembene Ousmane and his work
played an important role for OCIC.
Every festival has its profile and a certain international official exposure and
importance. To be different from the others, some became member of the International
Federation of Film producers Associations (FIAPF) which could guarantee an
international and official recognition of having a valuable unique profile. The FIAPF
controls them and looks to the professional dimension of the organisation of the festival.
On the bases of this, the FIAPF classifies the festivals into an A and a B category. A
Festivals present films in competition which are premieres outside their own countries.
B festivals profile themselves with certain themes (children, human rights, spirituality,
animation, documentaries).
OCIC had its own juries in 1997 or participated in ecumenical juries in most A
festivals: Venice, Cannes, Berlin, Mar del Plata, Locarno, San Sebastian, Karlovy Vary.
For the B category festivals and others, OCIC became involved through its members,
personal contacts with the festival staffs or through Interfilm. There were OCIC and
Ecumenical juries at festivals specialized in African films (Fespaco and Milan), religious
films (Niepokalanov), documentary (Leipzig, St Peterburg), non western cinema (Amiens,
Mannheim), small film producing countries (Festroia).
For the first time no fewer then five films from Argentina won awards in 1997, announcing
the Argentinian cinema boom of the next years. Another feature was a special attention
to the film culture in Eastern Europe and the dialogue with the Orthodox Church. It was
present in an ecumenical jury in Karlovy Vary, Moscow and St Petersburg and with
a Catholic jury at the Polish Niepokalanow festival. During the communist era giving
awards to films from this part of Europe (or to the films of communist China or Cuba)
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was a way of indicating films that were putting forward values which Christians shared.
It was a way of building bridges to the creative people of these regimes who often were
fighting for human rights and democracy. Although in the following years there was no
jury activity in St Petersburg, Moscow and Niepokalanow, the presence in Karlovy Vary
and Leipzig was intensified with a special event with the local or media bishop and new
ecumenical juries were introduced in Bratislava, Zlin, Kiev (1998) and in Cottbus (1999)
(a festival in Germany which specializes in East European films).
At the eve of the 21st century, OCIC became well aware of the influence of the digital
revolution in the film world. At the international film festivals in Latin America, filmmakers
addressed themselves to the Catholic organisation for assistance. The digital way of
filmmaking allowed them a higher and even better quality production, but in the 1990s
their continent was hit by a major economical crisis. Most of the films of the young
talented filmmakers could not be completed. The means for post production were lacking.
After discussing with its members in Latin America in 1997, OCIC began the project of
Post Production Contest for Latin American films in 1998. For every contest (every two
years) it could offer $100,000 divided between 5 films (three features, one short and
one documentary). The jury comprised OCIC and then SIGNIS representatives from
Latin America whose countries participated in the contests and a representative from
the general Secretariat in Brussels. The contacts between the jury members were via
internet and phone. This activity helped the organisation to become involved in similar
professional activities of post production seminars in film festivals (San Sebastian and
Toulouse). This means that the organisation was accepted in Latin America and by Latin
American film makers as an international professional organisation whose brand was a
quality one.
Unda’s presence in international TV festivals was quite different. At the end of the 1950s
Unda was present in the international television world, and not only in religious television.
Compared with the international film festivals, there are fewer for television worldwide. In
1997 someone asked an Unda member at the Prix Italia festival, ‘Why does Unda attend
television festivals around the world?’. The answer was that Unda believed not only in
promoting excellence in programme making but also in the importance of promoting
positive human values in fiction and documentary television. That year Unda was at
the 37th Monte-Carlo TV festival. In fact the Unda TV religious festival which began in
1958 became the foundation of this highly important TV festival in 1960. And it had juries
in two other TV festivals: at Prix Italia and at the Golden Rose in Montreux. “Giving its
Dove (the Unda award at the Prix Italia) to a television programme, it is recognising the
degree to which media and media professionals con contribute to a better society”, said
a Scottish television producer, member of the first Unda jury at Prix Italia in 1997. That
year its jury at the TV festival of the Golden Rose in Montreux looked to TV comedies
and gave its award to a film for excellence in production, for humour and for ethical
solutions to genuine moral dilemmas.
These activities of OCIC and Unda at international festivals became a heritage
and a network of contacts for SIGNIS in the merger. In fact these activities were
complementary. Television and and film producers are more and more often the same.
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SIGNIS and its festival juries (2008-2009)
After the merger in 2001, it became clear that the activities of the festivals would increase,
and that other activities in SIGNIS should be developed with the same amount of staff
in the secretariat. To manage this administration with the festivals, SIGNIS started with
a department in the general secretariat, which is the cinema desk, which could also be
named festival desk since it not longer handles only the film but also the TV festivals.
More then ever, the secretary of the cinema desk who is responsible for contacting
the jury members and the festival directions or the partner Interfilm for the ecumenical
jury, leans upon candidates presented by members of the cinema desk or contact
persons mandated by the cinema desk to do so. North Americans are presented for
international juries by Sr Rose Pacatte who has the contacts with the members of
the Catholic Academy for Communication Arts Professionals, including Catholics in
Media. She sends months ahead (sometimes a year!) possible candidates for festivals
to Brussels. Those from Latin America are presented by Fr Luis Orso. Candidates
from Asia are coming to the festivals through Dominic Yung (Hong Kong), Teresa
Tunay (Philippines) and Augustine Loorthusamy (President). In Europe the Cinema
desk contacts Jos Horemans (President SIGNIS Europe), Magali Van Reeth (France),
Charles Martig (Switzerland), Peter Hasenberg (Germany), Don Dario Vigano and Paolo
Pelligrini (Italy) and Astrid Polz-Watzenich (Austria). Peter Malone looks for candidates
not only worldwide but especially from the Pacific. The International organizations
member of SIGNIS like the Salesians and the Jesuits also participate. In principal,
for every film festival the cinema desk has contact with the national member in whose
country the festival is organized. With a jury of 5 members, there is a local and a national
member and three international representatives. When the jury is smaller there is only
one national member.
In composing the Ecumenical Jury the secretary of the cinema desk is in constant
contact with the Swiss-based Interfilm president, Hans Hodel. He executes a number of
common tasks in sending information to all members of the jury and to the festival. In the
period 2002 -2008 guidelines/regulations for the Ecumenical Jury work were discussed
and finalized. These were also adapted for SIGNIS juries. The idea is to develop this as
a practical handbook for the SIGNIS jury activities, which is built upon the experiences
gathered at the workshops called Face for the Faceless, held annually since 2004.
Experience and an audiovisual culture : the seminars – Face for the Faceless
With the foundation of SIGNIS, the cinema desk members felt that the experiences
of the jury work of OCIC should be better transmitted to the new generation and new
members of SIGNIS. They discovered that more and more young people were sent
to the juries. A large number of them were even trained in traditional film studies. The
idea that SIGNIS makes awards to films according to certain criteria, critique and with a
Christian view on society was often not very well understood, which had consequences
for the discussions at jury deliberation. For that reason the cinema desk developed a
series of workshops and seminars under the title, Face for the Faceless, to serve as
a platform to exchange experiences and perspectives, with the objective of training the
SIGNIS jurors and improving the organisation and visibility of the juries.
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In 2005 Face for the faceless seminars were organized in Mar del Plata (Argentina),
Leuven and Lyon. The fourth of the series was held from April 14 to 15, 2008, in Buenos
Aires, Argentina. The seminar gathered coordinators of the several SIGNIS juries in
the Latin American film festivals. Present also were Peter Malone, representative of
the cinema desk, Gustavo Andujar, Vice President of SIGNIS, Ricardo Yánez, from the
General Secretariat of SIGNIS and Annamaria Rodríguez, President of OCLACC. The
themes which were discussed included the criteria to instal a SIGNIS Jury at a festival
or to join an ecumenical jury; the activities that these SIGNIS members should deploy
concerning the winning films and concerning the festivals where they were active.
Interesting were also the suggestions to fortify the institutional bounds with the festival
and with the local church andso on. In November 2008 the fifth seminar was held
in Rome at the same time as the SIGNIS Europe Assembly. Present were not only
SIGNIS Europe delegates and members but also representatives from Latin America
like Gustavo Andujar and Luis Garcia Orso.
Profiling SIGNIS through its jury film work
In the years 2002 till 2008 one of the policies of SIGNIS at festivals was to explain the
shift in the name from OCIC to SIGNIS. OCIC had its own well-known profile in the
festivals: sensibility for non-western films (but also for films from small western countries
which have a small film production), social and human rights issues and a critical look at
mainstream cinema. It was the same for the Unda at Prix Italia and Monte Carlo.
The name SIGNIS had to be introduced, which was not always easy. But in the
last eight years SIGNIS has been seen as the successor of OCIC but with an extra
qualification. The religion dimension as a political and cultural force is now more present
in the world. Dialogue with other religions has became more on the foreground of the
association and in the field of cinema and television. It was the president of these years
(1998-2005), Peter Malone, who saw in the working together with representatives of
non-Christians and Christians in interreligious and interfaith juries at international film
festivals another contribution of SIGNIS in the promotion of media as a culture of
peace
In the aftermath of the September 11th, 2001, the Iranian film industry and ministry
wanted to make it clear that there was no war between the Christian and Muslim world.
Peter Malone, who knew the manager of the Fajr Festival in Tehran film suggested
setting up an interfaith jury, a concrete way of showing this Catholics and Muslims could
watch and discuss films and values which they have in common. In that way, the first
Interfaith jury was organized in Tehran in 2003. The interfaith jury is comprises two
jury members selected by SIGNIS and one or two muslim jury members selected by
the festival direction. This jury has to consider for its award the section of new Iranian
feature films.
The idea of jury representatives from different faiths opened the way to the Brisbane
film festival (2003), Nyon (2005), Dhaka, Bangladesh (2006). One of the new trends was
also the participation with a jury in spiritual and religious international film festivals Alba
(2002) and Religion Today (2008).
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A growing presence in the professional TV and Film world
Looking more closely at 2008, SIGNIS had 37 international juries, which is two more
than in the previous year, and almost the double of ten years earlier. The result was
more activity among the members and more young people participating in the juries.
More local members from the country where the festival was held became involved or
had contact with other members of the association. In fact about hundred members
of SIGNIS of thirty-five different countries, from which twenty situated outside Europe,
joined the different juries. They participated in twenty SIGNIS, thirteen Ecumenical and
four interreligious/Interfaith juries. This means members of SIGNIS were present in
international juries in festivals in Europe (25), Asia (4), Africa (1), North America (1),
South America (5) and the Pacific (1).
It is interesting to note how SIGNIS could begin new juries in 2008. In Paris Magali
van Reeth (secretary of SIGNIS France) was contacted by the direction of the festival
who expressed their interest in having a SIGNIS jury. It is not a Latin American film
festival but it takes account of films made in co-production with France. The SIGNIS
Jury was composed this year by Magali Van Reeth (France), Margarida Avillez de Ataide
(Portugal) and Gustavo Andujar (Cuba). The festival was in October 2008 at the Champs
Elysee. As SIGNIS France had made all the arrangements with the festival, she stays
also responsible for the contacts between the festival and the general secretariat of
Brussels.
The second new jury was inaugurated in Rome at the Religion Today Festival.
Although SIGNIS had years ago good contacts with the organisation of this festival
which focuses on spirituality and interreligious dialogue in cinema, SIGNIS could only
respond at its request to have a jury in 2008. Two years earlier representatives of the
secretariat had a meeting with the direction of the festival (including the artistic director
Lia Beltrami) in Rome in the presence of Don Dario Vigano (Ente dello Spettacolo). The
directors of Religion Today asked to have a SIGNIS jury because they had seen the work
of the Interfaith jury in Tehran. Religion today is specialised in the interreligious dialogue.
In 2007 Magali van Reeth (Signis France) was sent as an observer. She was integrated
in the international jury. Her report stressed the importance of working together with
Religion Today. To the astonishment of the cinema desk, Religion Today did not want to
have SIGNIS an interfaith jury. They preferred a plain SIGNIS jury. The first SIGNIS Jury
at Religion Today, October 2008 comprised Magali Van Reeth, Father Kamal Correya
(SIGNIS-Bangladesh) and Salesian Father C.M. Paul (SIGNIS-India), member of the
Central Board of Film Certification currently pursuing doctoral studies in Rome.
A three-day Religion Today Rome festival was also held at the Salesian University’s
Communications Faculty, October 24-26. “The theme of the festival - Cinema, Religion
and Peace - is most relevant today in the continuing persecutions of Christians in India
and Iraq,” said vice-Chancellor Dr. Mario Tosso, inaugurating the festival. He called for
more such festivals to help people understand the need of religious understanding and
tolerance and promote peace. Currently the festival is hosted in eight places, including
Bangladesh (through the contact Peter Malone had with the director of the Dhaka
festival, Ahmed Kamal whose documentary on Islam and music had been screened at
Religion Today), Sao Paulo and Jerusalem.
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A surprise development in early 2009 led to the first SIGNIS jury in the United States.
Tony Gittens, director of the Filmfest in Washington DC, had been in discussions with
Frank Frost, who had established Cine and Media for OCIC in the US in the 1990s.
The opportunity arose in April and the jury consisted of Frank, Peter Malone and, by
invitation for an ecumenical perspective, Marjorie Suchocki, of the Methodist Church
(and member of a number of ecumenical juries). Later in 2009, there will be a SIGNIS
observer at the festival in Warsaw with a view to establishing a jury in 2010.
The future
Considering the work in 2008-2009 of SIGNIS members in Catholic (SIGNIS),
Ecumenical or Interfaith juries at film festivals, one notices that more than half of the 83
award-winning films come from Europe, Latin America, Africa and Asia. This does not
reflect the programming of most film theatres worldwide where more than 80% of the
films often come from the same country, the United States, or originate from a similar
entertainment conception of cinema such as Bollywood.
Films festivals reveal that quality films exist outside this popular industry and that,
for the movie-going audience, cultural diversity is possible. It is even accessible since
most of these films are available for sale on the Internet. But to be able to get a taste of
these works, one must first know about them. This is SIGNIS policy. Through its juries,
SIGNIS contributes to the promotion of these films so that they can find their way to a
wider audience. And the fostering of cultural and interreligious dialogue has became
almost an inherent aspect of the work of SIGNIS.
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Speaking up for Justice - the role of Advocacy in SIGNIS
Jim McDonnell
One of the key themes that has characterized SIGNIS from the beginning is that of
advocacy. Advocacy is a difficult term to define precisely (and to translate!) but a
workable definition is that: advocacy is to represent or present a case on behalf of or
with another.
In terms of the practice of a non-governmental organization (NGO) like SIGNIS,
advocacy is acting to influence policy-makers and encourage social change that will
benefit people’s lives. In Christian terms this means promoting social justice, human
rights and speaking up for the rights of the poor and marginalized.
Unda and OCIC origins
Unda long had a commitment to advocacy. This had been expressed formally through
its consultative status at UNESCO, the UN and the Council of Europe. There was a
permanent Unda representative at UNESCO in Paris and there had been representatives
in New York and Geneva. Over the years Unda had taken an active part in international
debates such as those on the New World Information and Communication Order
(NWICO) which had attempted to suggest ways in which the global flow of information
could be made more equitable. The rationale for Unda’s presence was that it was
playing its part in advocating for the needs and interests of the Third World.
In the discussions leading up to the merger of OCIC and Unda these aspects of
the Unda tradition were highlighted as being important aspects of the mission of the
new organization. The result of the consensus between the two boards was that the
advocacy themes are strongly expressed in the SIGNIS statutes (Art.3, Objectives)
The key statements are:
SIGNIS has as its objectives:
. “To promote a Christian understanding of the importance of human communication in
all cultures”.
. to engage in activities which motivate and encourage the participation of all in the
betterment of the communications environment on the basis of Christian values
. to promote communication policies that respect Christian values, justice and human
rights,
. to participate in the world forums of communication, and
. to represent Catholic media in different governmental and non-governmental
organizations and institutions.
These objectives have been the foundation of the various SIGNIS advocacy activities
undertaken since 2001 when the statutes were approved at the founding Assembly in
November in Rome. At that Assembly many members expressed the wish that the
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new organization would play a more active part in the field of advocacy, communication
policy, the defence of freedom of communication, the rights of media professionals and
the ethics of information.
Following the first Board meeting of the new organization in Mechelen (Belgium),
from 18 to 22 April 2002, it was decided that SIGNIS should begin to take practical
steps to realize this commitment to advocacy. Jim McDonnell was given responsibility
for facilitating the programme “Advocacy and Policy”. In the eight years since that
initial meeting SIGNIS advocacy has focused on a number of key themes: media for a
Culture of Peace, the global inequalities in the information society, cultural diversity and
defending human rights and freedoms.
Media for a Culture of Peace
In 1993 Unda Europe and the European region of WACC (the World Association for
Christian Communication) had established an ecumenical reflection group, Media,
Culture and Society, to reflect on broad issues concerning media policy and the
responses of Christian communicators. Their reports tried to speak to the members of
the organizations, to Church leaders and to make a bridge with the media community.
The group was convened by Fr Gabriel Nissim.
In May 2003, Robert Molhant participated in the group’s meeting in Mechelen
(Belgium) and as a result of his invitation the group committed itself to develop its
reflections in the service of SIGNIS, in particular regarding the issue of media and a
culture of peace. The theme of promoting a culture of peace was being much discussed
in the context of the United Nations which had inaugurated the International Decade
for a Culture of Peace and Nonviolence for the Children of the World (2001-2011). As
defined by the United Nations, the Culture of Peace is “a set of values, attitudes, modes
of behaviour and ways of life that reject violence and prevent conflicts by tackling their
root causes to solve problems through dialogue and negotiation among individuals,
groups and nations”.
In November 2003 the first SIGNIS Assembly of Delegates was held in Cape Town
(South Africa), and there the decision was made to ask SIGNIS members to devote the
majority of their efforts, during two years to come, to promoting a culture of peace through
the media. Following this decision the reflection group developed an initial dossier, which
was published in SIGNIS Media (2/2004). This group continued its task during 2004 and
in December shared its reflections with the SIGNIS international organization members,
who held an assembly at the same time in Rome.
The process culminated in the preparation of the booklet, Media for a Culture of
Peace, which was presented at a round table at the Congress and Assembly held in
Lyon in 2005. Delegates at the Assembly then approved a Declaration, which was to set
the agenda until the next Assembly.
The Lyon Declaration entitled, Media for a Culture of Peace asserts:
“We, media professionals and citizens, Christians and members of the World Catholic
Association for Communication (SIGNIS) meeting together in Lyon, call for a fundamental
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change in the way we communicate through the media centred anew in our capacity to
live with each other as we contribute to a world of peace, respect and solidarity….
We declare and emphasise that peace today necessarily involves the media. The
information media and the popular and entertainment media have the capacity to be
mediators. As means of communication, their fundamental purpose is to contribute to
mutual understanding and solidarity. We live more and more in pluralistic and multicultural societies. This situation can generate misunderstandings and fears.
The media can help us to live together in peace, by enabling us to accept and
embrace the diversity of identities, bringing social recognition to different groups and
communities. Or, the media can fail in their responsibilities, by favouring violence through
reinforcing sectarian identities, sensationalizing, stereotyping or stirring up hatred. …
As media professionals and Christians, contributing to a culture of peace, we commit
ourselves to be the voice of the voiceless and the face of the faceless.”
The commitments of Cape Town and Lyon have resulted in many initiatives by SIGNIS
members across the world to promote a culture of peace. Between the Assemblies of
Cape Town and Lyon, for example, SIGNIS Asia members agreed a Charter: Promoting
a Culture of Peace through Communicative Action (2004). And, just over a year after
Lyon, in February 2007, the SIGNIS Pacific region issued the Melbourne Declaration
which called upon the media in the Pacific to uphold the “principles of truth and justice in
their reporting and program production.” In Europe in 2007 there were two major events,
the international film seminar (in conjunction with the Protestant film organization,
Interfilm), Peacemaking in the World of Film (July) and the second TV and film festival
on children’s rights, Facing Children (November) organized by SIGNIS Romania and
with the support of Unicef. The emotional power of film is an important means of
communicating the challenges of building a culture of peace, which is why SIGNIS and
the World Association for Christian Communication, WACC, inaugurated an award for
a film on human rights. In 2007 the award went to Nick Higgins for his documentary, A
Massacre Foretold about human rights violations in southern Mexico.
The emphasis on building a culture of peace will take on a new impetus at the
SIGNIS World Congress and Assembly in Chiang Mai, Thailand, in October 2009. The
theme of the Congress is Media for a Culture of Peace: Children’s Rights, Tomorrow’s
Promise. The Congress will highlight issues affecting children and media and encourage
communicators to make children’s rights a priority in their work. The theme was chosen
to highlight the fact that the UN international decade for a culture of peace and nonviolence is for the children of the world and is now drawing to a close.
Participating in UN initiatives
While promoting media for a culture of peace has been the orientation that draws SIGNIS
advocacy activities together, SIGNIS has also engaged in more directly institutional
forms of lobbying. On 19th June 2002, a meeting of the SIGNIS representatives at
UNESCO and the Council of Europe (Martine Roger Marchart and Fr Gabriel Nissim,
OP respectively), was organized at the General Secretariat, in view of reformulating the
policy of SIGNIS’ presence at international institutions such as UNESCO, the Council
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of Europe and ECOSOC (United Nations). Also present were the SIGNIS President, Fr
Peter Malone, SIGNIS Vice President, Gaye Ortiz and Robert Molhant and Alvito de
Souza from the Secretariat.
The first objective of the meeting was to learn of the work being done in Unesco
and the Council of Europe and to clarify the areas of particular interest to SIGNIS. The
second objective was to agree the broad outline of how the advocacy and policy work
of SIGNIS should develop. From the discussions it became clear that SIGNIS had many
opportunities to contribute to the work done by both Unesco and the Council of Europe
and to participate in UN initiatives.
One of the first consequences of that meeting was that SIGNIS joined the Platform
for Communication Rights and the Communication Rights in the Information Society
(CRIS) campaign. The campaign and the Platform were initiatives of NGOs (coordinated
by WACC) taken in order to participate more effectively in the UN World Summit on the
Information Society (WSIS) which had its first preparatory meeting (Prepcom) in July
2002.
The World Summit on the Information Society Process
The WSIS brought together governments, international institutions such as the UN, the
International Telecommunications Union (ITU), business and civil society organizations
to discuss ways to meet the challenge of building a more just, equitable and sustainable
information society. A major concern was the global digital divide, the increasing gap in
access to and use of new information and communication technologies (ICTs) between
the countries of the North and those of the South. Over the next few years the Summit
struggled to agree a global Declaration of Principles and an Action Plan which would
express an international consensus on how such problems can be addressed in the
future.
SIGNIS played an active role in the civil society discussions trying to bring the
concerns, experiences and insights of SIGNIS members into these debates. The
Summit process was a great opportunity to work closely with WACC and to make contact
with other NGOs and with a variety of Christian and other religious organizations also
concerned to promote justice in global communications.
In the months preceding the first WSIS Summit in December 2003 SIGNIS
collaborated with other representatives of Civil Society in formulating an alternative
Declaration of Principles to that ultimately adopted by the WSIS. Its opening paragraphs
begin: “At the heart of our vision of information and communications societies is the
human being. The dignity and rights of all peoples and each person must be promoted,
respected, protected and affirmed. Redressing the inexcusable gulf between levels of
development and between opulence and extreme poverty must therefore be our prime
concern.
We are committed to building information and communication societies that are
people-centred, inclusive and equitable”. This alternative declaration incorporated many
of the ideals which also animate SIGNIS members and offered an alternative vision of
the information society.
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At Geneva the WSIS participants agreed a Declaration of Principles and an Action Plan
for information and communication technologies. They also accepted the invitation of
Tunisia to host the second part of the WSIS in Tunisia in November 2005. SIGNIS
also followed second phase of the WSIS process and worked with other civil society
organizations in what was often a difficult political climate (the Tunisians were not keen
to allow discussions of human rights on the agenda) to promote communication rights
and freedoms as well as to keep the needs of the global South to the forefront.
The result of the WSIS process was that governments agreed to entrust UN agencies
with specific tasks. In particular, ECOSOC, the UN Ecomonic and Social Council, set
up a Commission on Science and Technology for Development which was charged with
following–up the commitments made at Tunis. Another, highly important move, was that
the Internet Governance Forum was established, in which civil society has a voice. This
Forum is shaping the rules by which the internet is being organized on a global level
and deals with issues such as access, multilingualism, the link between the internet
and development, internet literacy and privacy as well as governance itself. SIGNIS is
currently seeking the most effective way to be involved in this process.
Media and Human Rights at the Council of Europe
The Council of Europe should not be confused with the European Union! The Council
brings together 47 countries from across Western and Eastern Europe. Founded
in 1949, the Council of Europe seeks to develop throughout Europe common and
democratic principles based on the European Convention on Human Rights. It has no
legislative power but does have a considerable amount of influence. At the Council of
Europe, SIGNIS advocates for human rights, democracy and the rule of law through its
representative, Fr Gabriel Nissim, OP,
In October 2003, Gabriel Nissim arranged a visit to Strasbourg for Robert Molhant,
Peter Malone, Jim McDonnell and Daniel Van Espen to establish links and to explore
avenues of future collaboration. As a result, the Iraqi film Zaman, was screened at the
Council in April 2004.
More importantly, Gabriel Nissim and Jim McDonnell were able to participate in the
Meeting of ministers of communication from Council of Europe states in Kiev from March
7th to 11th 2005. In this meeting, for the first time, members of the international NGOs in
consultative status with the Council were allowed to participate and contribute. Among
other issues SIGNIS was able, with others, to lobby successfully for a commitment to
media literacy to be written into the final document. In 2008 SIGNIS has been active
again in taking the lead in organizing an NGOs forum in conjunction with next Council of
Europe Ministerial Conference on media policy which will be held in Reykjavik, Iceland
in May 2009.
Gabriel Nissim has gained great respect at the Council of Europe. In 2005 he became
the President of an NGO working group on Media and Human Rights. He lso took on
the Presidency of the wider Human Rights Grouping of NGOs. Through his initiative,
in 2006 SIGNIS was able to collaborate further with a number of European NGOs in
developing the European Alliance for Media Integrity and formulating a Manifesto for
Media and Democracy in Europe.
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In its work with the Council of Europe SIGNIS is putting into practice in a very
concrete way the aspirations of the SIGNIS statutes that the association should “promote
communication policies that respect Christian values, justice and human rights.”
Promoting Cultural diversity
Promoting cultural diversity is very important in the work of SIGNIS. Its practical realization
is seen most vividly in the great number of film festivals in which SIGNIS participates
and its efforts to acknowledge and support the work of film-makers from many different
cultures and regions. But there is also an advocacy dimension to this work. Cultural
diversity is perceived to be threatened by the spread of a globalized culture-whether
of Hollywood, Google or Nike. In 2004-5, therefore, governments came together, and
working through UNESCO, eventually agreed a Convention on the Protection and
Promotion of the Diversity of Cultural Expressions.
The advocacy desk has sought to keep members informed of these developments
and alert them to the key issues. In 2003 SIGNIS Media devoted two issues to covering
this topic and, in addition, it is a regular feature of the magazine.
An interesting experience, combining both cultural diversity and media for a culture
of peace, took place in 2004. Jim McDonnell and Ricardo Yañez participated in the
UNESCO Universal Forum of Cultures in Barcelona in September 2004 which had as its
themes, cultural diversity, sustainable development and conditions for peace.
They worked with a team of young “peace correspondents”. The Barcelona peace
correspondents sent reports (written, audio and video) directly from the Forum in Spanish
and English. They were made available on the SIGNIS website.
This experience was a first small attempt to put into practice the idea of establishing
peace correspondents analogous to war correspondents. The idea is that such
correspondents will specialise in reporting on initiatives, activities, events and people
that are engaged in the work of peace around the world. Of course, many SIGNIS
members through their existing activities and productions are already de facto peace
correspondents but SIGNIS would like to emphasise this dimension of their work.
SIGNIS Members and Human Rights
Part of the Advocacy brief is to monitor human rights situations in different countries,
especially as they affect the members and associate members of SIGNIS. At the end
of October 2003, there were attacks on the Pius XII radio station in Bolvia, a member
of SIGNIS Bolivia. In conjunction with SIGNIS Bolivia and SIGNIS Latin America, a
statement of solidarity was put together which was then signed by the Presidents of
SIGNIS World, Latin America and Bolivia. The Statement was distributed widely in Latin
America and sent to news agencies and SIGNIS members across the world.
Similar statements were issued in 2006. One was on the controversy over the
Mohammed cartoons and it was primarily aimed at indicating to a non Christian audience
that, as Catholic communicators, SIGNIS members were sensitive to the feelings of the
adherents to other religions. A member in Pakistan, for example, expressed his thanks
145
for the statement which he had found of real practical value in communicating with the
local Muslim community.
The other statement was an expression of support for Catholic broadcasters in
Lebanon who had had their transmitters and buildings destroyed by Israel air strikes.
As the Lebanese crisis unfolded the SIGNIS website carried regular updates from
Lebanon.
These statements are important expressions of solidarity with members who are
often working in difficult or dangerous situations. As a global network SIGNIS can ensure
that their concerns are kept in the public eye and can offer them the moral support (and
as far as possible, practical) support, they need in these circumstances.
Helping to formulate Church policies on media issues
Advocacy activities also take place in conjunction with Church institutions involved
in media policy. Jim McDonnell continues to Chair the Working Group on Media of
the COMECE (Commission of Bishops’ Conferences of the European Union) and to
represent SIGNIS interests in that group and at European Union level. The group has
been active in responding to EU proposals concerning media education, the protection
of minors and human dignity (with special reference to the new media) and television
broadcasting, especially the future for public service broadcasting. Daniel Van Espen
from the SIGNIS secretariat has long been involved with the Conference of International
Catholic Organizations and worked with Jim McDonnell to organize two day-long
seminars on advocacy and communication in Brussels and Geneva in October and
November 2006.
In November 2007 the Vatican Secretariat of State convened a meeting in Rome
with the express purpose of exploring how best Catholic NGOs could work together
to improve their advocacy efforts in the UN system. Subsequently, the Conference
of International Catholic Organizations decided to dissolve itself in order to be active
within the framework of the Forum. This initiative of the Vatican is a demonstration of
how seriously the advocacy work of Catholic NGOs is seen by the Holy See. Indeed in
his visit to the UN in April 2008, Pope Benedict XVI expressed the Church’s continuing
commitment to the promotion of human rights and working within the UN system.
SIGNIS will certainly be playing its part in the Forum as it develops.
Providing Regular Information and News on Advocacy Issues
Advocacy has now become a taken-for-granted part of the work of SIGNIS. There is an
advocacy section on the SIGNIS website, each issue of the magazine SIGNIS Media
has an advocacy section and there is even an advocacy blog:
http://advocacyblogspot.com.
A regular supply of information and news on advocacy issues has been contributed
to the SIGNIS web magazine and to SIGNIS Media and SIGNIS Webnews. In addition,
contact has been maintained with individual members interested in particular issues.
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The way ahead
Advocacy is one area of work in which collaboration and exchange with others is vital.
Over the past few years SIGNIS has worked closely with WACC, in particular, and
together the two organizations have promoted a culture of peace. But there are many
other NGOs which share similar visions. In the period leading to the Declaration of Lyon,
Pax Christi played an important part in helping to shape the SIGNIS position and that
positive relationship has continued. More recently there have fruitful exchanges with
BICE, the Catholic children’s organization and there will be closer collaboration in the
run up to the World Congress in 2009. As SIGNIS continues to explore how to make its
advocacy work more effective it looks forward to working closely with many more global
partners.
But the real strength of SIGNIS advocacy ultimately lies with the work of its members
on the ground across the world. SIGNIS advocacy will continue to be grounded in national
and regional associations and will act to serve their aspirations and needs as it engages
“in activities which motivate and encourage the participation of all in the betterment of
the communications environment on the basis of Christian values” (SIGNIS Statutes,
Art.3 Objectives).
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Media Education
Johannesburg SIGNIS Charter on Media Education,
Building a Global Community of Media Educators
Johannesburg, South Africa
29 – 30 March 2007
(I) Preamble
SIGNIS recognizes the power of the media and their influence in all aspects of individual,
community and social life. The fact that we live in a mediated environment makes it
imperative to promote Media Education.
While media are meant to contribute to human development and well-being, not all
media activities uphold human values and dignity. By their nature, national and global
media influence people’s consciousness and social life, often leading to the legimatization
of the status quo. Critical thinking skills are essential for citizens of the 21st century so
that all of us may be active participants in existing and emerging democracies. This
means that people interacting with media messages will be able to challenge social,
political and economic structures when these put at risk the person, the community,
human development, and the environment.
Against this background, Media Education (Media Literacy, Critical Media Education
and Edu-communication) enables people to examine the process of media production,
media strategies, media ownership, the ways knowledge and meaning are made, as
well as media’s immense power for good and empowerment.
This Johannesburg SIGNIS Charter on Media Education, animated by spiritual,
moral and human values of empathy, freedom and responsibility, truth and justice,
peace and reconciliation, aims to promote Media Education as a human right and a
moral imperative for all societies and their governments. Such an effort will be based
on human and Gospel values, and the teachings of the Catholic Church, respecting all
faiths in a spirit of dialogue.
To achieve a community-oriented global communication and a sustainable
environment, this Charter aims to offer an effective action platform to intervene, advocate
and promote Media Education at all levels.
(ll) Rationale for Media Education
Media Education provides a conceptual framework and methodology to develop
awareness, access, analyse, critically evaluate, and produce media in their various
forms. Its definition is expressed in three main dimensions:
•
Critical – developing skills to analyse and assess media;
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•
Creative – developing skills to use media for expression, interpersonal communication and active participation in the public arena; and
•
Cultural – broadening experience of different kinds of media forms and content.
We believe that Media Education
1. Empowers people to interact critically with media in the local and global sociopolitical, economical and cultural contexts;
2. Enables all to exercise, through the use of media, their democratic rights and
responsibilities, and become active citizens;
3. Engages all to analyse media messages through their institutions, codes and
conventions, audiences, technologies and ideologies;
4. Provides ways for people to make informed choices;
5. Inspires the creative and democratic use of the media to express and communicate
ideas, information, opinions, and to entertain in an effort to promote participation in
the creation of content;
6. Encourages the use of information and communication technologies (ICTs) to shape
and share alternative content, media products and services to meet individual,
community and regional needs and interests;
7. Promotes a deep sense of interpersonal communication to build positive relationships,
family life and community;
8. Enhances the dignity of the human person and the potential for ethical/moral
development and spiritual orientation, in solidarity with the poor, and with respect for
the earth and cultural heritages.
(III) Aims of the Charter
The Charter proposes to launch a Global Network of Media Educators (GNME) by:
1. Strengthening ongoing Media Education efforts by both individuals and organisations;
2. Developing regional leadership for Media Education activities;
3. Developing strategic Media Education programmes, curricula and events;
4. Producing and making available print, electronic and web resources for regional and
global use.
5. Advocating the institutionalisation of Media Education as part of national educational
policies, and formal, informal and non-formal educational processes;
6. Conducting ongoing research to reflect changing realities and to assess Media
Education initiatives; and
7. Establishing a SiGNIS desk to co-ordinate the activities of GNME.
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(IV) The Way Forward
As citizens of the world in a multimedia age, we, members of SIGNIS, declare
the importance of Media Education in strengthening the values of family, school, faith
communities, public institutions and society. Through this Johannesburg SIGNIS Charter
on Media Education, we want to join hands with media professionals, cultural groups and
agencies that work to empower children, youth, the elderly, women and marginalised
communities to actively participate and transform our mediated world into one of justice,
peace and democracy for all.
Global Network of Media Educators
Mission Statement
The Global Network of Media Educators (GNME) is a project of SIGNIS World. Its focus
is to research, develop and promote Media Education. It also aims to train, recognise,
award and network Media Educators through its worldwide activities.
GNME will be an alliance of all existing local, national, regional and international
organisations and institutions, as well as individuals who are engaged in Media
Education.
Aims of GNME:
1. Network and Advocate,
2. Train and Educate,
3. Research and Document, and
4. Establish a SIGNIS Media Education Desk.
Strategies of GNME
1.
Network and Advocate
•
Build alliances and partnerships with like-minded organisations (e.g., Green Peace,
UNESCO, UNICEF, WACC, etc.) to lobby and advocate for a just, democratic and
sustainable society.
•
Build alliances and partnerships to lobby and advocate for Media Education and
related issues.
•
Build a network with global and regional agencies that monitor and assess Media
Education and related issues.
•
Develop and run campaigns on key local, national, regional and global Media
Education issues to encourage people to produce alternative media content.
2.
•
Train and Educate
Train trainers by developing audience-appropriate curriculum models to be adopted/
adapted by local and regional entities.
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•
Facilitate mentoring through the Internet.
•
Make available a model educational leadership programme for Media Educators.
•
Maintain and disseminate a calendar of Media Education events around the world.
3.
Research and Document
•
Conduct research and development activities to identify and evaluate best practices
in Media Education.
•
Encourage research into media issues for policy frameworks and curricula
development.
•
Document successful Media Education experiences, and build case-study
portfolios.
•
Formulate general formats/guidelines that could easily be adopted/adapted across
various formal, informal and non-formal educational contexts.
4.
Establish a SIGNIS Media Education Desk
A Media Education Desk is to be established, and a Co-ordinator appointed by the
SIGNIS Board, to organise activities for GNME. The Desk could be located in Brussels,
or at any other suitable location. The Desk would:
1. Design, develop and manage GNME’s web portal;
2. Co-ordinate the web portal’s virtual communities on Media Education and related
issues;
3. Build and update the web portal’s database;
4. Edit GNME’s e-newsletter;
5. Build, strengthen and support regional networks of Media Educators and
organisations;
6. Organise training programmes for Media Educators;
7. Research and develop tools for evaluation and assessment of Media Education
efforts;
8. Develop curriculum models, community-based projects and family activities for
Media Education;
9. Develop fundraising strategies and social marketing competencies to make Media
Education efforts financially viable;
10.Organise events (Global Summit on Media Education, Global Media Education
Award, etc.) for Media Education;
11.Produce materials for celebrating World Communications Day; and
12.Advocate and promote GNME.
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Action Plan
A.
Signis Board
ƒƒ
GNME Co-ordinator
ƒƒ
Regional/Sub-regional ME Coordinators
ƒƒ
Local
ƒƒ
Members (individuals/organisations/institutions)
ƒƒ
Advisory Board
B.
Budget – coordinator, publications, promotions, events, activities
ƒƒ
Fundraising – sale, services, membership
ƒƒ
Project Proposals
ƒƒ
Advertising on website
Membership (Plan & Structure)
ƒƒ
ƒƒ
Benefits and services
ƒƒ
ƒƒ
Interaction & networking with Media Educators around the world
ƒƒ
ƒƒ
ƒƒ
ƒƒ
D.
Finance
ƒƒ
C.
Structure
ƒƒ
ƒƒ
ƒƒ
ƒƒ
Access to online ME resources (research, international and multi-lingual
educational materials, etc.)
Special membership rates & privileges for events/conferences and on line downloads.
Special membership rates & privileges at GNME on-line bookstore
Organisational logo and link (roster will be on-line)
Who’s Who in Media Education
International Speakers’ Bureau
Projects/Events
World Communications Day – (Asia/Pacific) poster competition: video
camera, criteria to be set, format, categories, due dates;
Global Summit on Media Education – (All) (see below)
Global Media Education Award – (Europe/International) Two awards –
individual and institution; monetary awards; Congress of UCIP/Signis – jurors, criteria, application, call for entries, two-step processes,
first levelof selection, not every year, awards to be given every three
years during the summit, categories by school project, community project production project;
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ƒƒ
ƒƒ
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Global Media Education Day – (North America) launch ME Day (themes,date, five-year plan)
Online Forum – (Latin America) research on related days, and upload on website to discuss issues, themes, etc.
Participation – SIGNIS GNME to participate in festivals (as a juror, keynote speaker, etc. Havanna, Czech Republic, Zlin); medIa conferences
E.
Publication/Resources
ƒƒ
Produce and offer access to Media Education resources, research,international and multi-lingual educational resources (CD-
ROMS, downloadable software programmes) – Fr Tom, Delia, Adrien, Agatha
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Web portal to have links to other publications and resources – Fr Peter Gonsalves, Ricardo
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Media Education e-Journal – Gianna; Sr Dominic
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Pastoral Media Education e-Digest – Sr Rose; Pablo
F.
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Promotion
Contribute information on GNME to Signis Media publications (print and web) www.gnme.org or
www.globalnetworkmediaeducation.org (Ricardo)
G.
Consultants/Advisory Board for GNME
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Augustine Loorthusamy
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Dr Nadarajah Manikam
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Ismar De Oliveira
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Fr Roberto Giannatelli
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Sr Elizabeth Thoman
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Fr Lawrence Hannan
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Lina Zedriga
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Daniel Prieto Castillo
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SIGNIS Services in Rome
Bernardo Suate
Because of the growing importance of cinema, especially in the Third World countries,
and to promote its use in the evangelising mission of the Church in those countries,
in 1952 the International Catholic Organisation for Cinema and Audiovisuals (OCIC)
had established in Rome a Missionary Sub-Secretariat which soon became the OCIC
Missionary Service [from 2001 SIGNIS Missionary Service, and today SIGNIS Services
Rome]. The real take off of this important office did not happen successfully until Fr
Jean-Marie Poitevin - first Director and real Founder of the Office - arrived in April 1958
with clear mission and objectives: to put the new technologies at the service of the
evangelising mission of the church. As we read in Léo Bonneville’s history1, Poitevin had
always defended the idea that such an office should be in Rome to make much easier
the contacts both with missionaries and the Vatican.
Following always this principle, the Rome Office of SIGNIS has been operating over
the last 50 years, supporting the church especially in Africa, Asia and the Pacific in the
field of communications: by elaborating projects in communications, by choosing the
appropriate equipment and supplying it at the competitive prices. That is why Fr. Paul
Labelle, Director of the Office from 1973 to 1986 could write: ‘in 1958 the International
Catholic Organisation for Cinema and Audio-visuals (OCIC), because of the growing
impact of means of social communication in the countries of ‘young Christianities’ (Jeunes
Chrétientés), created a special service and put it at the disposal of the members in
those countries to help them to better communicate human and Christian values through
this new and powerful language’ and that was the beginning of its missionary service,
with the main objective of providing pastoral and evangelisation agents in the territories
of ‘young Christianities’ with special services made possible by the ‘group media’ (short
cut films, diaramas, photo languages, discs, videocassettes, etc).
At the beginning film was, therefore, the main activity (followed by video in the
1980s), and Fr. Poitevin could organise a special catalogue with more than 600 entries
of 16mm films and a magazine (FILMIS) to convince, especially, the leadership in the
church about the importance of media (and cinema in particular) in its pastoral work,
to show the positive aspects of cinema from real and concrete examples, promote
initiatives and circulate information in the field, to propose ways for some training and
mutual support and collaboration. His successor Paul Labelle (1973-1986) followed the
example and dynamism of the previous years by distributing 16mm and 8mm films and
the respective projectors.
The Office knew even greater developments with the arrival of Fr. Jean-Paul-Guillet
(a missionary of the Foreign Missions Priests, from Montreal, Canada), who replaced
Paul Labelle in January 1987. Fr. Guillet pme, had more than thirty years experience
1
BONNEVILLE Léo, Soixante-dix ans au Service du Cinéma et de l’Audiovisuel, Fides, Québec
1998, p. 89.
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in radio, video and other communication skills in Cuba and Honduras, and was very
sensitive to the needs and requirements of people at grass roots level. With this very
important background he decided to modernise the Office with new initiatives in radio
broadcasting, satellite phones and the OCICNet project for Africa.
In fact, with the newly discovered FM radio broadcasting technologies and
the decision of many African governments to free the frequencies and accord new
broadcasting licences, private, independent, community, rural, and local radio stations
have been mushrooming all over Africa, including Catholic Church. Africa in fact, with its
high rate of illiteracy, is a continent of oral culture and radio remains one among the best
means of communication: radio can reach any place easily, even the most remote, and
can speak to everyone in their own language.
During recent years the SIGNIS Office in Rome has contributed to the installation of
these radio stations by providing studio equipment, transmitters, antenna systems,
audio/video editing kits, etc. To make it easier for end users on the ground, complete
radio stations have been built at SSR Offices in Rome and sent ‘key-in-hand’ to different
countries of Africa.
A lot has been done for radio in Africa so far and the industry is definitely still
promising, yet a lot is still to be done and the challenges are numerous: financial
constraints and lack of economic viability, weaknesses in the programming and the
staffing, technical training and post-sell service for maintenance and assistance. That is
why the Office wants to continue providing this service and activity, especially now when
quite a number of Catholic Dioceses in Africa are requesting not only radio but television
stations as well.
In May 1995 a new important service was made available to Bishops, Religious
Congregations and other Church personnel in Africa and other places by SIGNIS Services
Rome: the satellite phone service. The service was very much appreciated especially
in troubled areas of war, conflicts and unrest where at times it is the only solution
from complete isolation and lack of any means of communication. Different satellite
technologies have been used in these years of service starting from the M Inmarsat and
Mini-M Inmarsat satellite phones, up to the latest Iridium and Thuraya phones. Satellite
phone service is decreasing now and quickly being replaced by VSAT because of high
costs, but we can still say the SSR provided over the last years more than 800 phones
in countries such as The Democratic Republic of Congo, Angola, Madagascar, Uganda,
Ivory Coast, Kenya, Papua-New Guinea and some other countries in Latin America and
the Caribbean.
OCICNet Project
In 1999 SIGNIS Rome initiated a quite ambitious project known as OCICNet, especially
for dioceses and other Church personnel in Africa. Fr. Guillet summarises as follows the
whole idea:
Installation of electronic mail servers in the National Secretariats of each Episcopal
Conference in Africa and other servers in the three OCIC offices in Brussels, Paris and
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Rome (each one of this would be an Intranet, closed in itself, offering no international
connection, at least during this first stage); establishment of a link between these
servers, so to become an important Church global network, between Africa and Europe;
integration of the isolated dioceses into the network through terminals linked to a low
earth-orbit (LEO) satellite system.
The guiding idea was that the Church is supposed to be a communion at the different
levels, different regions within the same continent, but also among the pastoral agents
of the same category, as for example the clergy, the religious communities, movements.
In order to assure this communion one essential condition is required: the intercommunication among all these different sectors, supported by the new technologies.
The means which at that moment were expected to facilitate that inter-communication
were either non-existent or deficient, or inappropriate to answer the needs of the target
populations in general, even within the same country, whether it is the post or telephone
service.
SIGNIS’ main objective in this project was to identify a system that would allow
all dioceses to communicate in a confidential, secure and economical way, using
written texts: a great challenge for the Office indeed. As an answer to this and to
avoid unaffordable expenses the satellite technology was identified as the solution to
offer upstream attractive services to many Church personnel and institutions, without
increasing costs considerably.
In short, the project was aiming at fighting against the isolation of the African
continent in terms of telecommunications; building solidarity among the different
members of the Church structure; generalizing access to electronic mail for pastoral
agents of the whole continent; offering an efficient service using all possible modern
technologies and maintaining investment and operational costs at the lowest economic
level, and sharing these expenses among the users. But the project was based on a
structure (good quality phone lines in National Secretariats of Episcopal Conferences
and in Dioceses or Archdioceses, etc) which simply was not there yet, and therefore it
was not (and honestly could not be) successful.
The Internet Africa Project via VSAT
In 2003 Fr. Guillet retired from the Office after 17 years of very dedicated service to join
his religious Community in Canada, and Fr. Bernardo Suate a Diocesan Priest from
Pemba, Mozambique, was appointed to replace him as Director of SSR. But before
leaving Fr. Guillet had put the bases for a new and even more exciting project to be
undertaken by the Rome SIGNIS Office: the Internet in Africa via the VSAT (Very Small
Aperture Terminals) Technology. It is clearly known that bandwidth availability in Africa
varies tremendously, but is generally very low compared to developed countries; there
are very few intra-African links and in most of cases fixed lines are concentrated in the
capital cities, leaving the vast majority of villages unconnected for Internet access; and
that in all this cost remains still the key issue.
In today’s world where we always take for granted the internet connectivity and
the use of Email, on line research, VoIP services, message forums, instant access to
people and information across the world, etc., in many parts of Africa such things are just
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unavailable. This reflects the dire need for Internet service in the African continent and
to some extent one could say that beneath the physical poverty evident in newspapers,
radio and television, there is another severe poverty in Africa: a poverty of information
and communication, which affects every aspect of life, from education, to medicine,
to agriculture, to the development of communities. Yet in order to solve its internal
problems and claim full membership in the international community, this poverty must
be stopped, African communities must gain access to the information readily available
in more developed parts of the world, and they must be able to communicate with each
other and with the world community. And the best, quickest, and easiest way to do this
is to bring the Internet to Africa.
These were and still are the main reasons why SSR decided to go through this new
challenge and offer Internet access services to the following customer categories, using
the satellite communications technology for different applications in Africa: Missions,
Dioceses, Archdioceses and Nunciatures; Religious Congregations, NGOs and other
humanitarian Organizations, Schools, Universities and Seminaries, Embassies,
Hospitals and Ministries, Radio Stations, Internet Service Providers, etc.
To provide services to so large and differentiated a market, considering also the related
applications in use (Internet browsing, downloading, peer to peer communication and file
sharing, VOIP telephony and everything the Internet access can include), the SIGNIS
strategy has been always based on the following policies:
- Quality / Price high ratio for the technology in use;
- all equipment used by SIGNIS for both Master Station Base Band and Remote
VSAT at end-users locations are produced by iDirect Technologies, a Multination located
in the USA and a leader in the satellite communications technology;
- reduction of direct costs for handling and setting-up the products;
- all equipment (mainly satellite routers and servers) are easily configured and
set-up through fast internal procedures. This impacts positively and contributes in the
reduction of final costs of managing and handling the equipment.
- Helpdesk Service: in SIGNIS the customers are never alone: we take care of them
starting from the assembling of the equipment till the antenna positioning and pointing.
In order to optimise the support to the customer we have created a ‘quick installation
guide’ explaining to the end users how to go about the VSAT installation, step by step.
Future developments
Satellite phones have been in decline, and they will decrease further in the years to
come because of prohibitive costs in the market, yet SSR will continue providing traffic
services to those who are still using our phones. Over the last few years we did not
get the expected increase on new radio stations either, but we started a new and very
promising area: the Catholic TV stations in Africa. We hope with this the audiovisual
Department will be more active and productive.
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Further improvements are expected in VSAT Department as well, which has
become a more stable and familiar technology, and SSR is definitely determined to
offer ever better services: access to good quality internet, VoIP (about 180 phones in
Africa, Cybercafés, law cost phone calls …), Distance-learning in collaboration with the
Polytechnic of Milan for the E-learning platform and the Catholic Diocese of Sumbe in
Angola for the content, Radio content distribution (in partnership with Vatican Radio
and Radio Don Bosco, in Madagascar): today SSR is managing a network of about 750
Terminals mainly in Africa, with ever increasing orders for new VSATs.
The Office is also expecting to expand its activities to new services in C-Band for
the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of Ghana network, Radio Maria (about 22 countries
to be connected in Africa), La Reunion (L’Arc-en-Ciel Radios Network), the Tanzania
Episcopal Conference (National Catholic Radios Network), Radio Ecclesia in Angola
And now after six years of such an important mission in supporting the developing
countries, having already changed technology from the Hughes Network Systems to
a more efficient one, flexible and cost effective iDirect solution for matching customers
requirements, we feel that are suffering due to a particular conjuncture of the satellite
market afflicted today by bandwidth shortage and consequent ascending costs due to
the unfortunate default and disruption of the NSS8 satellite at the beginning of the 2007.
This dramatic event has considerably reduced the satellite bandwidth availability in the
market, especially in Africa.
So having in mind that new satellites covering the continent of our interest will
be launched shortly and in order to meet our commitment in delivering a good and
reliable service to our customers, SIGNIS Rome is seriously considering the possibility
of changing from the condition of pure satellite service supplier to a Teleport on its
own. This important development should have, we believe, for SIGNIS the following
advantages:
Making SIGNIS free from suppliers and infrastructures not directly under our control;
Reducing the costs in the satellite bandwidth purchase: having its own Hub SSR will
be able to directly manage the satellite contracts and the technology in use.
SIGNIS Satellite Network will grow up free from technological / economical restrictions from third parties.
We, therefore, hope that for SIGNIS such a structure will have a very strategic
importance to be realised on the medium/long term with positive effects year by year
through the consolidation of our network in developing countries and the economic
convenience to our customers in using the SIGNIS satellite solution at the expected
40% discount for each satellite connection.
The Office turned 50 in 2007 and many people contributed with their vision and
dedicated work to the huge accomplished so far and to new developments reached.
First of all the Directors: Fr. Jean-Marie Poitevin, p.m.é., a Canadian and the real
founder of the Office; Fr. Edmond Becker, m.é.p., a French missionary (1967);
Fr. Yves Periguy, OMI, from Canada (1968); Fr. Etienne Dick, OP, from Belgium
(1969-1970); Fr. Robert Godard, sss, a Canadian missionary (1971); Abbé Paul
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Labelle, a Diocesan Priest from Canada (1972 - 1986); Fr. Jacques Cousineau and
then Fr. Gilles Comeau, OMI, as collaborators for the Audiovisual Secretariat for
Evangelisation; Fr. Jean-Paul Guillet, p.m.é., (1987 - 2003); and Fr. Bernardo Suate,
a Mozambican Diocesan Priest (since April 2003).
It is also worthy of mention that people like Clara Salaparuta who has been giving a
very dedicated and professional collaboration since April 1967 (!!), and covering very
diversified positions as time passed and technologies were changing: typewriter of
articles for the Magazine FILMIS; a secretary and treasurer, very helpful in packing
and shipping the equipments and magazines and in running the Office and preparing
the Board meetings and world Congresses in closer collaboration with the General
Secretariat; an accurate Accountant for the Office but dealing with the Propaganda
Fide subsidies as well, and now with the medals for SIGNIS Festival Awards. Many
others have kept the different departments running over the last years with their talents
and professionalism. We are grateful to all of them for believing in communication
and taking the vision and mission of SIGNIS Services Rome further.
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AFTERWORDS
Unda: Treasured Memories
Angela Ann Zukowski, MHSH, D.Min.
Unda World President (1994-2001)
The opportunity to contribute to this collection of reflections for the 80th Anniversary
is a walk down memory lane. I positioned myself behind the computer copious times
attempting to capture key moments, people and events that could enable me to compose
a narrative that would offer worthy timeless recollections. I found myself unpacking
archives of journals, newsletters, correspondence, pictures and mementos that I
preciously preserved. I have over 800 entries in one media form or another carefully
packed and stored. I wondered over the years why I should continue to treasure these
archives. In essence, they are components of essential time and people invested
experiences in my life. I often toy with the idea of writing a novel grounded on my
international communication experiences and encounters. Of course, I would change
the names, or the contexts to protect the innocent. Can you imagine how intriguing
an international Catholic communications novel could be? My idea is to consider
encompassing the rich diversity of people profiles, events and places along with the
thrill, emotions, angst, joy’s, dreams, hopes, struggles, dramas and celebrations that
surrounded bringing two world associations into a compatible union?
I spent many evenings in the past few months returning from the University mulling
over my memories by delving into my Unda Archives and allowing the 1989-2001
narratives, in particular, wash over me. Frequently I discovered myself vanishing into
history like an avatar in another dimension. Is this how time impacts us? How swiftly the
years flowed by and the past becomes treasured memories. Some memories emerged
still fresh, robust and detailed. I was surprised when skimming through journal accounts
how I could have ever forgotten certain people and events, or pondered why certain
situations caused so much historical drama. Time has a way to reframe, refocus, heal
and celebrate the past with a new perspective.
The context:
While I had been a member of Unda-USA since 1973 when I began Religious
Programming for cable television, I really came to appreciate the breadth, depth and
mission of the Association when I began to serve on the Unda USA Board (1983) and
eventually as Vice President (1988) and President (1989). The opportunity to serve on
the Unda International Board of Management (1989-2001) as a member, Vice President
(1990-1994) and President (1994-2001) illuminated my understanding and appreciation
for the wide world of Unda. I had always been deeply moved by the professionalism,
dedication, passion and profound faith that grounded our member’s communication
163
ministries. Participating in Board meetings is an initiation one does not easily forget.
Each session was full of character as they highlighted both the cultural distinctions and
similarities we brought to our discussions. The panorama of assorted cultural perspectives
stimulated colorful zealous conversations in our striving to reach a common ground. Yet,
it was the admiration I acquired for our Unda members reflected in their personal faith
filled lives that clearly overflowed into their enthusiastic and sensitive media expressions
that influenced me. Many struggled against numerous odds to weave the Good News
into the tapestry of their cultural context, or to speak out against the injustices of women,
men and children
Our World Congresses accentuated the tapestry of perspectives that exhibited vibrant
and plentiful exchanges. Hearing and seeing the continental reports awakened our
appreciation, amazement and gratitude for the artistic media productions and programs
that blossomed from various Catholic media arenas of the world. Congress themes
endeavored to bring forth the lived experience and practical wisdom of our members to
address critical cultural, political and religious media issues of the day. We hoped that
our world presence within any given country would both raise the consciousness of the
local community to the significant communication ministries of our members located in
the region, as well as to speak with one voice to media social justice issues. History can
only communicate how successful we had been. However, themes that focused our
Nairobi, Quito, Bangkok, Prague, Montreal and Rome World Congresses continue to
vibrate through my memory. Each one having a unique and special story and impact on
our individual lives.
The Merger:
Early in my Unda World Board membership I heard conversations about the historical
versions of Unda, OCIC and possibly UCIP merging. I learned these were age
long conversations. There are vague memories of queries with Fr. John Geaney
(Unda World President), Fr. Anthony, Scannell (Unda World President), Chainarong
Monthivienchinchai (Unda World President) Fr. Colm Murphy (Unda General Secretary),
and other Unda Board members of the volcanic dimensions that surrounded the
potential of merging. Nevertheless the persistence within the joint leadership of Unda
– OCIC teams maintained a trajectory that kept us alert. Centimeter by centimeter we
endeavored to realize the future infrastructure of both associations relying on a potential
common ground. Already many of our members belonged to both associations paying
double dues. The extremely precarious situation of the headquarters of the two general
secretariats in Rue de l’Orme was threatened with a termination of the lease every six
months. The media culture within which we all functioned was evolving and escalating
not only with new media tools but merging into previously unimaginable patterns and
techniques; e.g. the cinema, radio and TV on the Internet. Our missions were colliding
as we both strove to survive. Limited financial resources for supporting two somewhat
similar world associations were mounting on the horizon intensifying the need to re-think
our individual futures.
164
Merging two world organizations into one is no easy task. The enterprise involved
more than 140 nations on 5 continents and 30 international organizations – each with
profound cultural and organizational differences. The decision to move in a radically new
direction took courage, sacrifice, vision and commitment. I wrote in the Unda Newsletter
October 1998: “What matters now is how we want to organize for the immediate future
given the demands, developments and power of today’s communication revolution and
the communication needs of the Church. The principles on which Unda and OCIC were
initially organized were suited to the conditions of an earlier era but can only reach so
far.”
There is no merger that does not involve aspects of letting go, suffering and dying.
The larger and more diverse are the associations in culture, philosophy, methodology
and historical rootedness the greater is the stress and tension during the transitioning
experience. Nonetheless identifying at least one common principle, characteristics of a
potential common vision and a comprehensive plan of action enables and empowers
associations to stay focused. We are limited in space to explore the profuse valleys and
mountain top experiences that navigated Unda-OCIC through our journey together. In
our joint World Congress in Prague (1994) each association in General Assembly voted
to commit themselves to sincerely define the reality and parameters for merging our
associations.
Members of Unda and OCIC believed that Catholic communicators had the tools
to arouse the moral responsibility of humanity to discover and cultivate a more
humane, intellectual and spiritual response to the world’s ills through the media. As
organizational leaders, we knew it was a necessity to re-imagine how the emerging
new digital communication resources could create a symphony of new dialogue within
our media worlds. We comprehended from our lived experience that the creative and
imaginative use of stories, images, words and sounds within the new digital context
offered unimaginable power and influence. The world required a new consciousness
and Catholic communications – SIGNIS could contribute a significant role. However,
it anticipated a radical re-thinking what we (Unda-OCIC) had been and are presently
engaged as an association today!
From 1994-1998 Fr. Henk Hoeskstra, OC (OCIC President), Robert Molhant (OCIC
Secretary General), Sr. Angela Ann Zukowski, MHSH, D.Min (Unda President) and Fr.
Victor Sunderaj, PhD (Unda Secretary General) met frequently during the year to pave
the way for our annual joint board meetings to advance the conversation to bring a
proposal to the 1998 Montreal Unda-OCIC World Congress. Yes, there was drama in
every nook and cranny but in spite of that we kept moving forward.
We passed through rough terrains of agreement, disagreement, tension, acceptance,
compromise, letting go and embracing unforeseen realities. In preparation for the 1998
World Congress, the joint Unda-OCIC leadership team designed a comprehensive three
–year plan to present to members. The three year plan identified the rationale, vision,
risks and benefits for embracing the challenge facing our two associations. We assigned
the issues – nature, mission, objectives (activities), structure (international/national),
finances, name and statutes – to be embraced by a mature dialogue during the coming
165
three years. The grammar and language of the conclusions at every stage were finetuned by a core committee (two Presidents and Secretary Generals). A methodology
was implemented in order that each country would critically reflect and contribute
their insights and ideas. Members were given three months to respond. The core
committee collated the responses and prepared a second draft for Executive Session
with eventual distribution to all Unda - OCIC members. The core committee reviewed
and synthesized the second draft responses and the joint Unda-OCIC board studied the
recommendations and prepared the final documentation. Our transparency enabled
our members throughout the world to precisely be familiar with where we were in the
planning process.
In Montreal (1998) a detailed proposal was presented to the joint General Assemblies
for individual assembly reflection and dialogue. Each association analyzed, debated,
synthesized and voted on each dimension of the proposal. Montreal marked the major
turning point for our joint futures! The following three and half years accelerated a
deluge of joint executive committee and full board meetings in Europe. Sr. Angela Ann
Zukowski (Unda President), Fr. Pierre Bélanger, SJ (Unda Secretary General), Fr. Peter
Malone, MSC (OCIC President) and Robert Molhant (OCIC Secretary General) were
almost meeting monthly via conference call or actual location meetings. A meticulous
timeline focused all levels of the merging planning process for implementation. A precise
methodology for sustaining a constant flow of communication and engagement of all
Unda and OCIC members was provided. There was no way that any member of either
association could not know what elements or issues were being discussed, the direction
being analyzed, or the potential resulting outcomes from the straw votes taken at each
phase of development. There were moments when concerned individuals wanted to pull
back, re-think, or re-imagine the already defined process. In spite of it all, the association
leaders in collaboration with the majority of members stayed the course. What emerged
over time were various benchmark documents: Brussels, Bruges, Malta, Luxemburg,
Rolduc, Munich and Malta documents each advancing us toward our common goal.
The last joint Unda-OCIC Executive Committee met in Aachen, Germany, in 2000
finalized the statues for approval by Vatican and Swiss governments. We worked so
diligently, determined to realize our dream, that by March 2000 (Munich, Germany) we
had a unanimous acceptance of the Unda-OCIC full boards.
The issue around a name for the new association haunted every gathering for
dialogue. There were a few who were anxious to immediately establish a name for the
new association. Even so, a resolution left the naming as the final step in the process.
I believe this was a wise decision because coming up with a new name was not an
easy course of action in the midst of more critical topics on our agenda. As a matter of
fact, we may still be at the table searching for a name and have no new association. I
believe it was in Aachen that the name SIGNIS gelled emerging out of copious proposed
alternative names with a multiplicity of philosophical, theological and biblical rationale
supporting them. A Pentecost theme was inaugurated as the grounding principle for
the dialogue. Quickly symbols around a ‘new Pentecost’, blossomed - spirit, energy,
sacrament, Word, commissioning, fire and more images rebounded around the room.
Ultimately, the idea of ‘fire’, ‘sign’ took hold of the entire group! In biblical terms, our
166
mission is to ‘ignite’ the world with the Spirit of God, to be the fire, the energy, a sign of
a new Pentecost took birth and SIGNIS was born. There are people who liked, disliked,
or perhaps couldn’t care less what the new association was called – the name has
continued with us. I have always believed the name and logo would grow with and into
our being as history evolved.
The 2001 World Congress in Rome was the historical event that made all the difference.
For all of us that committed hours, weeks, months and years of our lives to ensure
that the new association could become a reality it brought a breath of tense but fresh
air to our gathering! The process, I believe worked! Everyone was informed, offered
the opportunity to express their opinion, contribute their ideas and participate in the
collaborative visioning procedure. Everyone’s ideas were not incorporated into the final
document voted and approved in Rome but everyone had a chance. Nothing is perfect!
We are all human! Still as both associations general assembly’s met in a common room
and voted one more time – the dye was cast with little to no explicit objection! SIGNIS
came into being! The future rested on the new leadership who were called forth to
navigate the future final stage.
Our meeting with Pope John Paul II during the Rome World Congress offered Fr.
Peter Malone and I an occasion to address the Holy Father in the name of both our
associations was an awesome moment. Speaking to the World Congress, Pope John
Paul II said: “It is my hope, and yours too, I am sure that SIGNIS will expand and make
every more effective the work which your two organizations have undertaken for the past
70 years, the work of evangelizing in and through the communications media, proclaiming
the Lord’s saving gospel in the world of cinema, radio, television and, most recently,
Internet…The formation of this organization at the beginning of the new millennium
seems particularly appropriate. Indeed, with the great advances in communications
technology and the continuing process of globalization, the church’s mission of making
Christ known and loved by all people finds itself with ever new opportunities and ever
new challenges as well. The Holy Father’s apostolic blessing upon our future association
capstoned a ‘new Pentecost’ moment! The rest is history!
Personal World Wide Encounters:
The advantage of being called to an international position or role is an occasion to travel
and discover the Church’s communications initiatives around the world. These were
treasured memories that bonded me to people the rest of my life.
A few trips to Africa enabled me to encounter women and men engaged in their
diocesan, religious community, or individual media center ministries. The prospect to
speak with Asian Bishops overseeing the communications ministry of their Episcopal
Conferences, or dioceses demonstrated the need for Bishops to be well informed
and formed with both understanding and skillful implementation for quality pastoral
communications planning in their regions.
Over the years I have continued to stay in contact with a fair number of the Asian
Bishops who inspired me with their ‘new way of being church’ and desire to cultivate a ‘spirit
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of inter-religious dialogue’ in the 21st century. Adding to the mix is the outstanding work
of Fr. Franz Josef Eilers, SVD, who is the eternal sentinel for preserving and educating
us all to the wisdom contained within the Church’s communication documents.
I continuously had a particular interest and concern for women connected with
Church’s communication’s ministry no matter the country, region, or continent. I
sensed they were the unsung heroes, having limited voice but constructing creative
and influential media initiatives transforming people and cultures while nurturing the
Gospel in everything they accomplished. Infrequently did women rise to leadership roles
within our world associations or their countries of origin. I returned from my international
journeys pondering my observations and the life narratives women ardently shared with
me. I sensed their stories would never be told within the world arena unless Unda
initiated a project. The tipping point was the Unda publication Voices of Courage !
We wrote to Unda and OCIC presidents on every continent, sought out women’s religious
communities and related non-profit Catholic communication media centers to identify
Catholic women to be included in our publication. Despite the fact that the initial casting
of the net identifying women drew few names, and mostly names I could already identify,
the second casting through women’s associations drew an abundance of women eager
to share their story. Unda’s publication of Voices of Courage” is to our knowledge the
first and only book that has highlighted Catholic women in a single publication who have
dedicated their lives to the Communications Ministry of the Church. During the 2001
World Congress in Rome the publication was presented as a gift to Pope John Paul II in
celebration and recognition of these women in the Church.
Two other publications emerged from Unda between 1994 – 2001: Pastoral
Communications Planning (edited by Sunderaj) and Radio Presence (edited by
Zukowski). Members of Unda contributed chapters for both publications reflecting their
creative communications endeavors.
Unda’s presence at media festivals around the world had always demonstrated the
Church’s recognition of excellence and affirmation of positive human values expressed
in popular media productions. It is more than presenting an Unda award but the mingling
with international media professionals, networking and building bridges for dialogue
and collaboration for promoting Gospel values in the media world which made the real
difference.
I would be amiss if I did not address the growth of Catholic Communications
endeavors in the Caribbean. In particular the spiraling of the Living Water Community’s
initiative in working closely with the Archdiocese of Port of Spain, Trinidad, West Indies
for applying Aetatis Novae into the fabric of the Archdiocesan Communications Plan
was spearheaded by Archbishop Anthony Pantin. A significant outcome of the 1993
Pastoral Communications Plan was the Caribbean School for Catholic Communications
(CSCC) which celebrated their 15th anniversary in August 2009), and rapid growth of
Trinity Communications Network (TCN), expansion into 24 hour radio and pioneering
ministry through the Internet. SIGNIS recognized and celebrated the Archdiocese of
Port of Spain’s fresh innovation throughout the Caribbean as a beacon of Catholic
communications initiative and vision.
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There are numerous Catholic centers for communication formation around the
world. I had the occasion to either teach or lecture at more than a few over the years.
CREC AVEX held a special place on my calendar over the years. The creative vision of
Fr. Pierre Babin’s ‘Symbolic Way’ brought young women and men from around the world
to be inspired with the Gospel’s religious imagination and perspective for arousing the
spiritual perspective for communications ministry. Today we encounter people around
the world trying to re-capture the inspiration that sparked unfathomable conversions
through their encounters with Fr. Babin.
People along the Journey:
There is no way we can measure or capture all the contributors who paved the way
to amplify the communications ministry of the church over 80 years. While there are
many individuals you and I may still identify with a face, name and stories of personal
encounters, there are many that remain unidentified but never forgotten in our history.
Most of these members are what the world may call ordinary. They were or are not
famous by the world’s standards or the standards within their particular culture for
marking one a hero! Nevertheless, they all have been the anchors of our Unda-OCIC
now SIGNIS presence through time. They have been the personification of religious
values and beliefs. Their artistic skills have been an epiphany manifesting the gospel
through image, word, music, song and story.
We remember His Eminence Cardinal John P. Foley, then President of the Pontifical
Council for Social Communications (PCSC) who stood by Unda year in and year out.
He encouraged Unda – OCIC members to be active participants in the imagining and
writing of PCSC documents. He has been a faithful friend and supporter for Catholic
communications always present at our World Congresses and when possible at our
regional continental congresses as well. I re-read Cardinal Foley’s address to us during
the 1998 Montreal World Congress. He stated: “Whatever our decision (referring to our
merger), know that the Holy See and I personally deeply appreciate the work, the loyalty,
the professionalism, the dedication of the members of both OCIC and Unda. The Holy
Father is grateful that you see to proclaim ever more effectively the message of Christ in
the new “areopagus” of the communications media. Know that whatever you decide, we
are with you – so that OCIC and Unda, or OCIC and Unda together – may serve even
better the Lord, His church and the world.” (Aetatis Novae)
Previous Unda World Presidents continue to inspire us with their passion and vision
are - Fr. Tony Scannell and Chainarong Monthievenchincahi. Each orchestrated an
important historical dimension for our association. Every now and then we see them
re-emerge, particularly Chainarong Monthievenchinchai, in assisting the planning of
our 80th Anniversary Celebration in Thailand! His enthusiasm and energy is limitless!
Fr. Colm Murphy gave tireless magnificent years of his life offering superb networking,
public relations and support to our members around the world. Always the historian, one
of affirmation and humor, he guided us through some difficult times. Fr. Victor Sunderaj
and Fr. Pierre Bélanger, SJ both Secretary Generals uniquely contributed to our
journey by their prophetic wisdom, gifts and talents navigating the association forward.
Representatives from each of the continents over the many years tirelessly strove to
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represent their regional members with strong intuitive voices. We were blessed with
ex-officio personnel like Mlle. Martine Roger Marchart who helped position Unda with
UNESCO. Board members came and went with each continental or international election
but all are fondly remembered as pioneers and friends along the journey.
With OCIC, our former sister association, we have unbounded memories of our journey.
Past presidents, secretary generals and board members had become respected
colleagues and friends. History mellows and celebrates all that we collectively achieved.
These pioneers journeyed between the lightening and the thunder. They journey
between the flash of recognition of what was happening within the Church and their
culture and the reverberations of what they were willing to do about it in and through
their media ministry.
There are hundreds of women and men who committed themselves to the Unda
and OCIC journey. I cannot name them all. In particular there are Unda Board members
who have gone before us and we hold in sacred memory because their lives enabled
us to accomplish our dream: Fr. Tom Connelly (Scotland), Fr. Michael Glynn (Episcopal
Advisor), Fr. Benny Baillargeon, OMI (Episcopal Advisor), Fr. Patrick Casserly (Vatican
Representative), Fr. Jean DeSautel (Unda General Secretary) and Sheila Nolan
(Assistant to the Unda Secretary General). Our hearts hung heavy over the loss of Fr. Henk Hoekstra (former OCIC President),
Sr. Shoko Shirai (Japan), Fr. Joseph Naidu (India), Sr. Luchina (Philippines), Alice
Laruich (Greensburg, PA, USA) and so many others we hold in our memories. These
were extremely dedicated men and woman who journeyed along with us. Hoekstra, as
a Carmelite priest radiated a deep spirituality that embraced him. His compassionate
and mild manner communicated an authentic loving concern for each person whose
life crossed into his. His very presence evoked a call to communion and reconciliation.
I recall many conversations between joint meeting sessions, walking the grounds of
retreat centers, sitting at table and experiencing his animation about a recent film, film
festival or new insights on spirituality and film. He never flossed over the surface but
plummeted us into the cosmic interpretation of film. Sr. Shoko Shirai, always bubbly with
new ideas and inspiration challenging and moving us forward. Her final mission was here
endless dedication in producing a documentary on the life of Mother Teresa of Calcutta!
Sr. Shoko was one of our Asian Catholic communication woman leaders! Sr. Luchina,
who held her position during the Edsa Revolution (Manila) and found humor and creative
imagination at every turn. Sheila Nolan with her attention to detail, ever ready smile
to navigate us through troubled waters. Alice Laruich established with Bishop Anthony
Bosco (Dioceses of Greensburg, PA (USA) one of the first comprehensive pastoral
communications plans in the country.
A Bit of Humor:
I have not even begun to address the moments of humor that lightened our journey over
the years. They are too numerous to explore but we cannot close without teasing a few
back into our memories: There was: Victor Sunderaj, Tom Connelly and I trying to reach
the Grand Platz (Brussels) absolutely convinced we were headed in the right direction
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but ending up at the farthest rural line of the tram; jumping off a slow moving train in
Aachen when Colm and I thought we missed our stop; being held up at gunpoint outside
Nairobi upon entering the country; being locked out of my apartment in Prague and
Colm literally took the door off the hinges to help me enter and the door too heavy for us
to replace it! (Always wondered what the landlord thought about that door!) Purchasing
ten dozen roses in a Prague Restaurant for our Unda Staff before the Congress. Victor
asking: “How do you plan to get those roses back to the university?” So, I bought her
valued basket. I can still hear her repeating as she left the restaurant: “I can’t believe she
bought the basket and all!”
Sr. Luchina driving full speed down Edsa Boulevard to re-arrange my return flight
that had been strangely cancelled during World Youth Day (Manila) while listening to
her copious hilarious life adventures and I am sure she was not looking at the road; or,
finding a flock of birds in my bathroom when I awoke my first night in New Delhi! Or, the
cacophony of wildebeests and night animals serenading me at the University of East
Africa; Or, the impact of a fierce night wind while residing at the seminary in Malta for
our Unda-OCIC Planning session sure that when I awoke Malta would be next to the
Gaza Strip! Thailand, Hong Kong, India, Philippines, France, Italy, Spain, Germany and
a rapid twenty day tour through Latin America, along with my many years friendship with
the Caribbean have all contributed to sacred and joyful memories of people and events
that shaped life today.
In Conclusion
In packing my memories away I re-read my opening last comments as Unda World
President. I believe that the three areas I posed for SIGNIS to focus her attention and
energy for the 21st century continues to exist. These are not meant to be exclusive but
inclusive of many insights each one of you brings to the conversation during our 80th
anniversary celebration.
First, SIGNIS needs to broaden her vision and understanding of the new digital
media world. Second, SIGNIS needs to consider new forms of collaborative and
participative leadership. We need young women and men who are digital natives, fresh,
young and imaginative ‘ambassadors’ for SIGNIS who are visionary for navigating into
a new space and time. Third, if SIGNIS is to be bold, she must be more assertive in
calling forth women to world, international and national leadership roles on all levels of
the Communication Ministry of the Church.
SIGNIS is once again facing a ‘tipping point’! The increasing speed and transformation
of the evolution of digital communications has only just begun! We need to have a
broader vision that looks into the future to experiment, explore and define the impact
these offer the Church. We should be prophetic pioneers cultivating the application of
the new digital media for dialogue within and without the Church.
If, ‘communication is the heart of the Church’, the Church is required to promote
and position expert women and men skillful in the wide world of digital communications
within every ministerial dimension of the Church. An integrated pastoral communications
plan woven into the fabric of every single ministry is not a luxury but a necessity if the
Church is to offer meaning and influence in the 21st century.
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We discover anew each day that we need to be women and men of constant
openness, wonderment and surprise to new possibilities beyond our traditional
understanding or imagination. Only then will our social communication endeavors be
realized and make a difference in our world.
David McNally in Even Eagles Need a Push wrote: “We can learn to soar only
in direct proportion to our determination to rise above the doubt and transcend the
limitations.” The courageous decision for any association to alter their course in the 21st
century demands that they rise above and transcend their limitations in order to engage
in transformation and change.
Each one of us has been faced with the challenge of trying to bring about some type
of change, new idea or innovation in our communication ministries in the past ten years.
Where we were in 2001 is definitely not where we are in 2009-2010!
As I work with a youthful team of digital designers creating a National Virtual
Conference Center at the University of Dayton, I realize that every day our plans need
to be re-visited and altered because the digital culture is yeasting as I am composing
these words. We are pioneers of a new communications architecture in the 21st century.
Is SIGNIS the pioneer of communications change within the Church, or do we stand on
the sidelines, dancing behind the parade vs. leading the parade into the future! We are
positioned at one of the most exciting and demanding points of Catholic communications
history! If not you and I, who will make the difference?
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Perspectives
Robert Molhant
(Secretary General OCIC, 1979-2001; Secretary General SIGNIS, 2001-2005)
Let me start my presentation by quoting three opinions.
The first one is an old one: a Catholic working in cinema that can not be serious!
This opinion was expressed around 1920 by Msgr. Charost, bishop of Lille, in France.
I found it published in a compilation of a series of documents issued by the Churches
about media. I used it in a booklet I wrote about Catholics and Cinema. That compilation
was prepared by a group called “Mediatech” linked to the Catholic University of Lyon,
under the title: “Les médias.Textes des Eglises” (Centurion, Paris, 1990). That group
does not exist anymore. On page 34, one could read the following: (I translate it from
the French) “These people of Flanders like to follow, passive and susceptible, fictions
made more unreal by their utter flimsiness than by their fantastic creations. Fascinatio
nugacitatis obscurat bona. And by a change so pitiful, its imagination, up to here so
simple and quiet, becomes aflame through the undefined shock of the images rendered,
by the magic of the light and by the romantic situations, more seductive than the reality!
… human nature is miserable, because a canvas where run shadows which do not even
leave trace becomes a screen between the Christian people and the heaven to which
it is called!” When, in 1979, I became the secretary general of OCIC, the International
Catholic Organization for Cinema, some of my friends were thinking I was giving up
serious work for something like an appearance on a screen, something which seemed
to be reality, but was not at all. Was I choosing a canvas where shadows flit, a canvas
that was going to become a screen between myself and my Christian vocation to the
heaven?
I was at that time the chairman of the Justice and Peace Commission, in the Frenchspeaking part of Belgium. Part of my responsibility was to meet delegations like the group
of the Abuelas de Plaza de Mayo (The Grandmothers) constituted as an association in
the Argentine Republic in 1977 in order to investigate their children and grandchildren’s
disappearance, in hopes of finding them. I also had to denounce the collusion of some
Belgian banks supporting the apartheid regime in South Africa. (I visited Soweto in 1976,
after the riots). And now, I was going to spend my time looking at movies!
The second one was heard in the USA, where cinema means something!
During my first visit to the United States, as secretary general of OCIC, I met some
representatives of the American film industry. One of them was astonished. ‘There is a
Catholic organization for cinema? Why? Film is entertainment. Is there also a Catholic
association for football?’
Starting from those two opinions, I could scarcely reach the point where I could
indicate that movies are an extraordinary place for meeting the cultures of the world and
for sharing the spiritual journey of artists which can enlighten our own lives.
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My third quotation will help me more to reach such a point.
The Berlin wall collapsed on the 9 of November 1989. In February 1990, I attended
the Berlin Film Festival. For the first time, a number of filmmakers from the former
communist countries, those who had been awarded prizes by OCIC juries, came to
the ecumenical reception organized during the festival. I always remember the Russian
filmmaker Alexander Askoldov telling me that the OCIC award had been for them, in
Russia, Poland, Hungary… ‘the symbol of freedom’. Due to the fact that the films they
made were not in accordance with the regime, these filmmakers were in danger of being
imprisoned. But having received an OCIC award, they were still free, saw their films
shown at least in some art theatres, and were able to continue to produce new films. The
paradox was that Askoldov had not been privileged with such a “Freedom Prize”. He had
shot his film The Commissar in 1967. But it was seen as pro-Zionist by the communist
regime. The filmmaker was excluded from the communist party. His film was banned for
twenty years and was not released until 1987, when the Soviet Union entered the period
of glasnost. It won the Silver Bear at the Berlin Festival in 1988 and the OCIC prize. For
him, our prize came too late.
What is our main role?
After mentioning those three opinions, it will not be a surprise to you if I recognize that
I started my work in OCIC with the fundamental question: ‘What must the main role of
such a Catholic organization in the field of cinema really be?” To protect the Christian
people from the danger of a fascinating art? To help them to select the best entertaining
movies that will help them overcome the weariness of their daily lives? To accompany
the journey of filmmakers, defending their values and encouraging resistance in difficult
social or political contexts?’.
When I started as secretary general, OCIC had developed a model for the presence
of the Catholic Church in the field of cinema. That model was expressed by the initials
‘N.O.’, which stands for ‘National Office’.
In each country, the local Church was supposed to set up a commission which would
rate all films presented in cinemas. That commission had to be representative of the
audiences: young people, parents, educators, and at least one theologian. In order to
help that commission to judge the films, a documentation centre had to be established,
with all the press material concerning films, filmmakers, actors, etc… The ratings of the
commission were to be published via a publication of the National Office, via posters
on the doors of the churches, or via the Catholic press. That model, influenced by the
American experience of the Legion of Decency and backed by the encyclical, Vigilanti
Cura (Pope Pius XI, 1936), was still the model promoted after World War II up to the
late seventies. Such National Offices could be found in most European countries, in
the United States and Canada, in some Latin American countries (including Cuba) and
in Australia. The centre built in St Louis, Senegal, by the French missionary, Father
Jean Vast, was strongly inspired by this pattern. It is true that that model had given
birth to some quality work in film analysis and that, in Catholic circles, many talented
teachers, academics, thinkers and journalists had produced remarkable works on the
world of cinema. But when I started to visit OCIC members in different African and Asian
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countries, it was obvious that such a model was not applicable in countries for example
where the Catholic Church was a very small minority. New ways had to be researched.
Dialogue with the creative community
There was another model promoted at international level by OCIC. It was, through the
presence of juries in film festivals, through awards given for films. This was a golden
opportunity to meet filmmakers and to open a dialogue with the creative community.
Although you could hardly approach filmmakers, producers, or actors in festivals like
Cannes, Venice or Berlin, there were less prestigious events which were, being hosted
in the same hotel, opportunities for participating in the same debates. One could be
on familiar terms with great personalities. I remember spending a week in Troia (1994,
Portugal) with Krzysztof Kieslowski who was conducting a seminar on his trilogy: Three
Colors: Blue, White, Red. Past contacts with Ken Loach gave me the possibility of
inviting him to be the honorary guest for the celebration of thirty years’ presence of the
ecumenical jury in Cannes (2004).
The contacts were even easier in Africa, at the Ouagadougou film festival,
FESPACO, where African filmmakers arrived, bringing themselves the precious rolls of
their films. Gaston Kaboré was there with Wend Kuuni (The Gift of God, 1982). Idrissa
Ouedraogo came to me at that time with some of his first shorts: Les Ecuelles, Issa le
tisserand. I bought his copies. In 1990, with his film Tilai, he was awarded the Grand Prix
at the Cannes festival. This presence in FESPACO became the source of a collection
of monographs on African cinema that I started to publish with the help of UNESCO
and the French ACCT (Agence de Coopération Culturelle et Technique). The director of
that collection of books was my former professor at the University of Louvain, professor
Victor Bachy.
All national offices of OCIC were invited to develop the same kind of dialogue with
the local film industry, to promote quality films in the context of events like local festivals
or even to organize ceremonies to honour the best films produced every year in their
country. OCIC Sri Lanka, with its Salutation was famous for celebrating the best of Sri
Lankan cinema. Fr. Poruthota and, later, Father Gamini were proud to show me famous
actors and actresses on stage, mixing with the highest Catholic Church authorities. They
wanted to give an image of the Church celebrating art, recognizing the importance of
cinema and the commitment of filmmakers to respect and promote values through their
films.
Four presidents
I have been fortunate to work in a team with four different presidents.
The first one, Msgr. Lucien Labelle was the head of the Social Communications
Office for French-speaking Canada, in Montreal. I have not known him as a passionate
filmgoer but more as a man with a clear vision of what the implications and structures of
a Catholic media organization really are. Already in 1980, at the Manila Congress, there
was mention of a growing collaboration between Unda and OCIC. He indicated three
possible consequences: the status quo, maintaining the two organizations; the creation
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of a federation in charge of joint activities; or a merger creating a new association. The
circumstances of a continual convergence of the media in modern society brought us,
in Montreal in 1998, to decide to merge the two organizations and to proceed to that
merger in Rome, in 2001, with the creation of SIGNIS. The clear vision of Msgr. Labelle,
his juridical knowledge as well as his calm temperament has been for many years for
me a continuous support.
Promoting the diversity of cultures
My second president, elected in Manila, in 1980, was a Swiss Dominican, Father Ambros
Eichenberger. He died in 2006. I miss him very much. He was an extraordinary man,
not only in developing the dialogue with film makers, but in broadening the boundaries
of the organization. Travelling to Africa, Asia, Latin America, the Pacific, he sowed the
seeds of new associations, meeting at the same time filmmakers and new talents in
all regions. At the Berlin festival, in the Forum section, which was a kind of laboratory
for new cinematographic experiences, he built deep relationships with filmmakers
from different cultures. With the directress of the Mannheim film festival, he conducted
seminars promoting the diversity of cultures in film.
Even if I had enjoyed during my studies in Louvain a large range of movies, they were
mostly or American or European. I had hardly seen a Tagalog film from the Philippines.
Ambros brought me to see The Perfumed Nightmare, by Kidlat Tahimik, the story of a
young Filipino listening to the voice of America and dreaming to go to the States. He had
created the Werner von Braun fan club in his village. To reach his home, there was only
one bridge over a small river, crossed all day long by jeepnies. A chance is given to him
not to go to the States, but to Paris. In the airport, he sees so many bridges, escalators,
tunnels…but will discover that the so called developed world has lost some values:
family relations, warm community life… So, why so many bridges, if there are so few
human relations?
I mention this film, because it was for me a catalyst for a new discovery: the richness
of the diversity of cultures expressed through film. And it was going to reinforce the
opinion that one of the goals of the organization could well be to help people to discover
that richness, to have our so called “national offices” more committed to promote films
that are not usually available in the commercial circuits. In the same line, the conviction
grew in the organization that every culture had the right to produce its own images.
Which is still true today so that recently this conviction was expressed in a slogan: “To
give a face to the faceless”.
A controversial report
I now have to open up another important theme: that you cannot study Church media
without considering the context of secular media.
In December 1977, an International Commission for the Study of Communication
Problems began to work at UNESCO, under the leadership of Sean MacBride (19041988), former Foreign Minister of Ireland, former Assistant Secretary-General of the
United Nations, Nobel and Lenin Peace Prizewinner. In 1980 that commission produced
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a controversial report, called the MacBride Report, but published in a book form under the
title, Many Voices, One World. The slogan on the cover page of the report was: ‘Towards
a new more just and more efficient world information and communication order’. One
of the judgments that caught public attention was that the commission considered the
mass media as being either in the hands of governments or in the hands of financial
lobbies. Measures had to be taken to counteract such a situation, to democratize the
media and to develop a more balanced flow of information and communication.
That report resonated with some events within the Catholic Church. In Latin America,
a number of publications were promoting Liberation Theology at that time. In 1979, the
CELAM bishops at the Puebla conference, gave credence to the phrase, ‘preferential
option for the poor’. In different countries in Latin America, one of the pastoral priorities
was to build local Christian communities. And simple media could help in this process.
In 1977, OCIC and Unda organised, at the request of the Vatican, a joint conference
on media and evangelisation in Munich. Although film and radio could be used for
evangelisation, it was obvious that small media, like posters, slides, could be of great
service not only as teaching tools used in the class room or in the parish but could
be used by the believers themselves to express their growing faith or their quest for
spirituality. In France, Father Pierre Babin was one of the promoters of ‘group media’.
He had been closely related to the creation of a group methodology using photos (called
photolanguage). The associations, Proa in Latin America, Sonolux in Germany, Africa
and Asia, were promoting the same approach: “Let us use small media to help groups
inside the Church to express their faith and so help each other in building lively Christian
communities”. Some of the promoters of such an approach were considering that, to be
loyal to the preferential option for the poor, the Church organizations had to abandon
their activities in those mass media fields – which were in the hands of governments
or financiers – in order to concentrate all efforts to promote group media, also called
“alternative media”. The joint conference gave birth to a joint Unda-OCIC service called
G-AV-EV (Group, Audiovisual, Evangelisation).
But some of the participants were convinced that there was a need to create a
separate international catholic organization for group media. In 1980, Unda and OCIC
incorporated this dimension into their statutes. Unda added the word “audiovisual”
in the fields of responsibility of the organisation, OCIC did the same in its full name,
but maintained its initials, The International Catholic Organisation for Cinema and
Audiovisuals. The question of a fourth international Catholic organisation for group
media was to be raised regularly until a meeting in Yogyakarta, in 1985.
In 1983, Unda and OCIC organized joint study days in Nairobi. The invited guest
speaker was Sean MacBride. This shows you the resonance between Church media
and secular media environment.
A time of turmoil
When I look back to that period, I see it was a time of turmoil. Cardinal Andrzej Maria
Deskur, when I met him for the first time, told me: ‘OCIC is an organization with a
prestigious past, but an uncertain future!’. Was I experiencing that? In many Catholic
circles, the cinema apostolate was in crisis, a crisis that was going to last for many years.
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It was obvious that the Church influence, even through rating systems, was marginal.
There were no Catholic films produced, or the few produced were not of high quality.
The best religious movies were made by non-believers. Film theatres were closing. Did
we have to consider that the only proper field of intervention by the Church in media
were those group media? Of course, our presence in the festivals was still growing.
The creative community was in many cases more interested in a Catholic cinema
organization… than our dear brothers in Christ! They appreciated very much being able
to speak with open-minded film reviewers, attentive to spiritual elements in their films
that were often not seen by other critics. But, even if we were encouraged by the open
dialogue in the festivals, we were confronted with the opinion that our juries were making
awards to films that nobody could see, because they had no proper distribution. Which
was another aspect denounced by the MacBride Report, about flaws in communication
flow.
Let me quote the Report:
“The imbalance in news circulation, the one-way flow of messages and ideas, is a common
concern of all countries. Professional communicators, politicians and the interested
public in both developing and developed countries are seized with the problem. It has
roots in both the north and the south; remedies must also be sought in both regions. And
because the problem is so basic, solutions to it cannot be delayed”.(p.149)
In the middle of that turmoil, a very encouraging message came from … Cuba.
The OCIC office there was going to celebrate its fiftieth anniversary and Gina Preval,
who was in charge, asked me if we were interested in organizing a jury in the Havana
Film Festival (Festival Internacional del Nuevo Cine Latinoamericano). I told her that
we could do it only if we were invited by the direction of the festival, which was the
ICAIC, the cinema institute of the communist government. A few weeks later, I got the
official invitation! With Ambros Eichenberger and the festival committee, we decided
to approach the Archbishop of La Habana, today Cardinal Jaime Ortega, to see what
his opinion was about the presence of a jury of a Catholic organization, invited by a
communist government. I remembered at that time that during the coldest period of
the cold war, a question had been raised in the OCIC board: ‘Is it possible to give an
award to a film produced in a communist country?’ The board had made the appropriate
distinction between the work of a filmmaker and the political regime of the country where
he was living.
The opinion of the Archbishop of La Habana was expressed in these terms: ‘We
cannot develop the dialogue with the government in the field of religion, but if your
organization is developing the dialogue in the field of culture, it will be of great help to
our Church.’
You understand my happiness when I received this answer. We had our first jury in La
Habana in 1984. Our first prize went to Fernando Birri, for his film Remember Nicaragua.
Open Letter to the World. Fernando Birri was later to be the director of the film school
in San Antonio de los Baños, near La Habana. This presence in Latin America was the
source of a number of film experiences in that region of the world. In 1985, during a
meeting, held in La Habana, with the directors of film libraries in different countries, we
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organized the circulation of a package of films which received awards from OCIC. There
were films from Africa and Asia that never before had reached Latin American soil. In
1986, escaping from a local revolution in Quito, with the preparatory committee of the
Unda-OCIC Congress, I could manage to have the films presented in different theatres
of the city during the congress held the following year.
Film and spirituality
This gives me the opportunity to come back to my list of presidents, because Fr Henk
Hoekstra, a Dutch Carmelite, was also trapped in the revolution in Quito. He was there
as chairman of the theme committee of the congress. So was Fr Bob White. Fr Hoekstra
was my third president. He was elected at the Bangkok Assembly, in 1990. He also
was a moviegoer, but when Ambros Eichenberger’s approach was mainly journalistic
(he published articles in newspapers in Switzerland, Germany and Austria) and largely
intercultural, Henk’s approach to films was educational and marked by his Carmelite
spirituality. Conducting many seminars in the Netherlands, then in Germany, he
contributed to many publications, including a book on communication and spirituality
with Cardinal Martini, Marcel Légault and Pierre Babin. But part of his main achievement,
as far as I am concerned, was a series of seminars he gave in Latin America under
the title of Ciné y espiritualidad. Un modelo educacional para explorar la espiritualidad
en historias cinematográficas. Those seminars have had a profound influence in many
educational and professional circles. I remember taking part in discussions about the
way of reading a film and discovering its spiritual dimensions. Even in very violent, dark
movies. The discussions culminating with The Funeral, the film by Abel Ferrara, that
received the OCIC Prize in 1996 at the Venice Film Festival. The analysis of the movie
reached the conclusion that even in such film, there was a possible reading of hope and
salvation, because one could read it as a de profundis cry.
Father Hoekstra passed away when he was only 68. His manual on spirituality and
film was published in Latin America. We could not complete one of his dreams, to have
it published in French and English.
The mainstream cinema
It is now time to speak about my fourth president. Fr Peter Malone, Missionary of the
Sacred Heart, came from ‘down under’, to recall the title of the first text of his I was
privileged to publish. He came from Australia. He was elected at the historical congress
of Montreal, where the decision was taken to merge the two associations. He brought
to the organization a new dimension in the approach to film. His interest was in the
mainstream cinema. When some people were considering that OCIC had an interest
only in art movies, the Bergman, Tarkowski, Zanussi type of film, in a way he reconciled
OCIC with the mainstream cinema, the popular culture in film. I had attended his film
appreciation seminars in the Pacific and had seen his ability to classify movies on
the basis of a grid of criteria. He made me understand his concept of ‘film review’,
aiming at building bridges of deeper perception between the audiences and the film.
He was particularly known for seeing Christ figures in many films. His extraordinary
encyclopaedic knowledge of all films, remembering not only the title, the name of the
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filmmaker, but also the plot, the characters, the main actors, the year of production…
was amazing. It gave him a capacity for selecting from the most popular films, those
which could express the ten commandments, or to be the most suitable to illustrate the
readings of the mass for the three cycles of the liturgical years. After publishing three
books under the series title Light, Camera, Faith, he continues to write along that same
line of offering film reviews not only for the moviegoers, but also material than can be
used in different pastoral activities.
Catholics are coming too late, when the film is already produced
Through all these years, I have always had in mind the preoccupation: how can an
organization like OCIC do more than reviewing films, writing about movies, conducting
media education seminars? Can we not help to have on the screens more quality films
carrying the Christian message in such a way that it can be received by the largest
possible audiences?
I have had many opportunities to meet Krzysztof Zanussi. During the communist
period in Poland, he was often travelling to Paris where I once interviewed him for the
Catholic program on the Belgian television. After the collapse of communism, he told
me that he was willing to thank all those who had helped him during those difficult
years and that he was ready to host a group of young filmmakers for a ‘Master Class’
in his house of Laski, in the countryside of Warsaw. Peter Malone was also there. We
organised a group of some twelve people who came with a video tape of their first work
to be evaluated by Zanussi. The Polish bishop for the media, Msgr. Chrapek, who died
in a car accident a few months later, was also present. He told me: ‘OCIC is intervening
in the film process when the film is already made. You have to come into the process
when the film is starting to be created in the imagination of the filmmaker.’ And Zanussi
added: ‘Filmmakers that are willing to produce films with a spiritual, even a Christian
dimension, have to be convinced that they can make a career, without selling their soul
to commercial cinema.’
A Catholic ‘Sundance Institute’ ?
The Master Class experience with Zanussi reminded me of the initiative taken by
Robert Redford in 1981 with his Sundance Institute Filmmakers Lab. There he hosted
filmmakers to help them to improve their scenario, to meet producers, finally to make a
film that would be of quality and successful. I had met some of those who had benefited
from that initiative in different festivals, for instance the Brazilian Walter Salles for his
film Central Station. One of my dreams… but it is still a dream, was to see such an
initiative taken in the Catholic Church to offer to a selection of quality young directors
a hands-on workshop. The Sundance Institute is offering the same kind of programme
for screenwriters. It also organizes a Conference for Independent Producers and… of
course… the well known Sundance Film Festival. This year he will look into new projects
and commission independent filmmakers to make short films for mobile phones.
When the bishop of Namur Mgr Leonard, in Belgium, received the money from the
sale of his assets in a regional newspaper, I convinced him to sponsor such kind of
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initiative. But ultimately the resources promised were not given to the project. So, I
am still dreaming that a creative laboratory will one day exist to accompany directors,
television producers… to deepen their faith and find a way to express it in successful
programmes. The Church, I think, has to invest more in the creative community. It has
done it during centuries… Look at all the cathedrals, the Sistine Chapel, the religious
music… Art is creation. And creation is, in a way, participation in God’s work.
Cinema, radio, television, new media…
In 2001, I became the Secretary General of SIGNIS. The new organization was not
only interested in cinema, video, but also in radio and television, in the Internet, in new
technologies. In the evolution towards the new association, the core committee who
conducted the merger process had to look into the future. Were we preparing a new
association that could better face the changes in media and society and better serve
the Church?
After many years where I gave priority to films, I had to look this time into radio
and television. Of course, like any one of us, even if for professional reasons I went
predominantly to see movies, I also was watching TV and was listening to the radio.
In 1992, I had met the successor of Marshall McLuhan, Derrick de Kerchove. I
had invited him to come as guest speaker at one of our video markets, in Cologne.
Three years later, he published a book under the title: The Skin of Culture. I cannot
resist offering you some of his thoughts, related to television and new technologies and
expressed as aphorisms, just as McLuhan himself did.
• ‘You don’t watch TV, TV watches you.’
• Quoting a New York TV critic, Tony Schwartz: ‘TV is not a window on the world, it is a window on the consumer.’
• Interactivity will turn many info-consumers into info-providers…(See what happenedwith You Tube)
• ‘People believe that the news is for real, and they believe that TV news is the most real. The only time we do not feel guilty about watching TV is when we are watching the news, because we are doing our citizens’ duty. Of course TV news is packaged like anything else on TV.
• In the oral-cybernetic culture of information, ignorance will become a valuable commodity, because unprogrammed individuals will have a functional edge over programmed ones. The flexibility of the ignorant will arise from the fact that they will not have to fight old biases and mind sets to learn new technologies.
• Video-on-demand is today’s biggest future market commodity because people understand what it means, not just the end of having to rent from video stores, but a host of other services. (See how some Catholic Television Producers, like Le Jour du Seigneur, in France, are developing websites offering video-on demand).
• Computers gave us power over the screen and allowed us to personalize information-processing. It is not the world that is becoming global; we are… To
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the extent that people are globalized, they will also emphasize their local identity all
the more.
I would like to leave you with those aphorisms. Media, society, Church, cultures… are
topics that can be studied in many different ways. I have just related some aspects of a
journey in the context of a Catholic media association. I did not know, when I agreed to
be a candidate for the position of secretary general of OCIC, that I was going to benefit
from so many opportunities to meet creators, highly committed Church leaders, talented
journalists, enthusiastic collaborators and so many friends.(1)
(1) This text was presented as Cultures on Screen: Dialogue with the creative community. Looking
at 27 years of Catholics working in cinema (1979-2004). Robert Molhant on the occasion of his
Doctorate, Honoris Causa, at the Salesianum in Rome, December, 7th 2006. Robert Molhant is
since 2006 responsable for the Television desk of SIGNIS.
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APPENDIX
Appendix 1
The Assembly in Rome, November 2001
Benvenuto a tutti !
Here we are, we are getting to it! In a few days the delegates from all over the world will
meet in Rome for the World Congress. They’ll arrive with OCIC and Unda hats and will
leave with a SIGNIS cap, the World Catholic Association for Communication.
SIGNIS is way of thinking, it is life for the future. We have prepared this future
together throughout the recent years. The prelude to the statutes, just like the statutes
themsel­ves, wanted to express the spirit of our asso­ciation in legal terms. The objectives
on which the members of both OCIC and Unda’s Boards of Management have agreed
upon also shows the openness and challen­ge that motivate us. But the legal language
will never be enough to tell what the heart can communicate.
The atmosphere of getting together, sharing and fraternity that the World Congress
is creating, will enable the participants to feel what is beyond words and statutes. Prayer
and music will play their part. The meeting of professional nature, the Multimedia Forum,
will also be an indication of what SIGNIS wants to be: a professional association that
aims to respond to its members’ needs and preoccupations to allow them to show better
the values of the Gospel in the present world of communications. Those who will be
pre­sent in Rome will have the responsibility, when they go back home, to not only talk !
about the assemblies, meetings and symposium, but also to communicate the spirit of I
life, the spirit of novelty, the spirit of unity of I our new world association.
A word on the Unda-OCIC Congress and its concrete stages: a summary of the agenda
for the participants and a chance for the members who stay in their country to follow
what will be going on in Rome.
* 18 November: OCIC and Unda Joint Boards Meeting.
* 19 November: Arrival of participants; last preparations; opening evening.
* 20-21 November: Unda and OCIC General Assemblies, in the same hall. The members of our association will therefore be informed of the associations’ global situation.
* 22-23-24 November: Multimedia Forum at the cultural center La Fabrica del San Michele a Ripa. Market, competition, video library, symposiums, workshops, webmas-ters seminars, mini cinema festival, etc.
* 25 November: regional assemblies, regio­nal programmes, choice of the regional dele­gates for SIGNIS.
* 26 November: first SIGNIS General Assembly. First SIGNIS Assembly of Delegates; Elections of the President and Vice-Presidents.
* 27 November: First SIGNIS Board of Management; departure of delegates.
185
Appendix 2
Members and Staff
MEMBERS OF THE JOINT BOARDS, 1998-2001
OCIC
Peter Malone (Australia) - President
Augustine Loorthusamy (Malaysia) - Vice President
Gaye Ortiz (UK) - Vice President
Achille Kouawo (Niger)
Bernardo Suate (Mozambique)
Sr Adeodata Nalukwago (Uganda)
Rolando Calle (Ecuador)
Roberto Tapia (Chile)
Hugo Ara (Bolivia)
Jacob Srampickal (India)
Peter Hasenberg (Germany)
Bertrand Ouellet (Canada)
Bill Falekaono (Tonga)
Pierre Babin (France, Crex Avex)
Timothy Villaram (Daughters of Saint Paul)
Ferdinand Poswick (Belgium)
Enrico Planas (Ecclesiastical Assistant)
Unda
Angela Ann Zukowski (USA) - President
Washington Uranga (Argentina) - Vice president
Peter Thomas (Australia) - second Vice president
Thomas Connelly (UK) - Ecclesiastical Assistant
Casimir Goossens (Belgium) - Treasurer General
Pierre Bélanger (Canada) - Secretary General
Patrick Casserly (Vatican) - Observer Pontifical Council for Social Communications
Benedict Assorow (Africa)
Eric Durocher (Canada)
Frank Morrock (US)
Isaac M. Auyuyu (Pacific)
186
Jude Botelho (India)
Lino Pungi (DRCongo)
Pedro Sanchez (Peru)
Ronald Grebe Lopez (Bolivia)
Siriwan Santisakultarm (Thailand)
Sr Theresita de Lara (Pacific)
Willi Anderau (Switzerland)
Gaston Roberge (Índia)
Ged Clapson (UK)
Martine Roger-Marchart (France) (Unda representative Unesco)
Attending:
Robert Molhant (Secretary General OCIC)
Pierre Bélanger (Secretary General Unda)
Alvito de Souza (Secretary for the Merger)
MEMBERS OF THE SIGNIS BOARD, 2002-2005
Peter Malone (SIGNIS President),
AugustineLoorthusamy (SIGNIS Vice President),
Gaye Ortiz (SIGNIS Vice President),
Jude Botelho (SIGNIS INT),
Scott Hults (SIGNIS INT),
Achille Kouawo (SIGNIS Africa),
Bernardo Suate, (SIGNIS Africa),
Cyril Gamini Fernando (SIGNIS Asia),
Siriwan Santisakultarm (SIGNIS Asia),
Rolando Calle (SIGNIS America Latina),
Pedro Sanchez Coronel (SIGNIS America Latina),
Reinhold Jacobi (SIGNIS Europe),
Jim McDonnell (SIGNIS Europe),
Frank Morock (SIGNIS North America),
Bertrand Ouellet (SIGNIS North America),
Viliami Falekaono (SIGNIS Pacific),
Ambrose Pereira (SIGNIS Pacific),
Attending:
Robert Molhant, Secretary General
187
Casimir Goossens (Treasurer 2002)
Theo Peporte (Treasurer 2003-2005)
Patrick Casserly (Pontifical Council for Social Communications)
Notes: Alvito de Souza.
MEMBERS OF THE SIGNIS BOARD, 2006-2009
Augustine Loorthusamy (SIGNIS President)
Peter Thomas (SIGNIS Vice President)
Gustavo Andujar (SIGNIS Vice President)
Peter Gonsalves (SIGNIS International)
Scott Hultz (SIGNIS International)
Moses Humangole (SIGNIS Africa)
Mathias Bell Bell (SIGNIS Africa)
Lawrence John (SIGNIS Asia)
Mikhe So (SIGNIS Asia)
Ana Maria (SIGNIS America Latina)
Attilio Hartmann (SIGNIS America Latina)
Jos Horemans (SIGNIS Europe)
Joachim Opahle (SIGNIS Europe)
Jeanane Merkel (SIGNIS North America)
Ronald Pickering (SIGNIS North America)
Viliami Falekaono (SIGNIS Pacific)
Ambrose Pereira (SIGNIS Pacific)
Attending:
Marc Aellen (Secretary General, 2006-2007)
Bernardo Suate (Acting Secretary General 2007-2008)
Alvito de Souza (Secretary General 2008-2009)
Theo Peporte (Treasurer)
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MEMBERS OF STAFF, 1998-2008
General Secretariat, Brussels
1998
OCIC - Robert Molhant, Daniel Van Espen, Guido Convents, Pascale Heyrbaut,
Henriette Anthonis, Fabienne Deseau, Florentina Gonzalo,
Unda - Pierre Bélanger, Nadine Jourde, Trinidad Carmona, Béatrice Raphel, Marc
Bourgois, Vinciane Denis, Magdalena Urbano, Alvito de Souza, Isabel Putinja, Claudine
Deschouwer
2001-2009
SIGNIS - Robert Molhant / Marc Aellen / Bernardo Suate / Alvito de Souza
Jim McDonnell, Ricardo Yañez, Daniel Van Espen, Guido Convents, Marc Bourgois,
Lawrence Pieters, Pietro Licata, Alejandro Hernandez, Pascale Heyrbaut, Fabienne
Deseau, Florentina Gonzalo, Béatrice Raphel, Anne Weyergans
Rome Service
P. Bernardo Suate, Directeur
Clara Salaparuta, Secrétaire / Administration
Ella Cangy, Secrétaire
José Alberto Chavez de Rio, Dept. Informatique et Station Radio
Lucio Mascaro, Administration / Tel. Sat.
Stefano Grando, Administration
Alessia de Angelis, Dept. Audiovisuel
Enrico Fraschetti, Dept. Vsat
Matteo Pietrolucci, Dept. Vsat
Previous staff
Angelo Caffari, Technicien Station Radio
Armida Martucci, Dept. Audiovisuel
Beatrice Sirri, Secrétaire Vsat / Tel. Sat
Daniele Tognazzi, Administration
Dolores Caputo, Secrétaire
Fulvia Pietrella, Service de nettoyage bureaux
Gianni Corazza, Consultant
Giuseppe Cestaio, Dept. Vsat / Tel.Sat
189
Ing. Pier Vincenzo Giudic, Consultant Dept. DAV
Marina Barisone, Assistant Directeur
Massimo Rossi, Ing. Station Radio
Nello Baldassari, Collaborateur DAV
Nhan Ngo Dinh, IP Consultant Network
Riccardo Moro, Consultant
Rinaldo Tognazzi, Administration
Roberto Carradori, Technicien Station Radio
Romina Di Torre, Dept. Audiovisuel
Steeve de Cesare, Collaborateur DAV
Stefanie Picin, Assistante Administration
Stefano Ottaviano, Technicien Station Radio
P. Jean-Paul Guillet (1987-2003), Directeur
P. Jean-François Galtier (2002), Assistant Directeur
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Appendix 3
Presidents and Secretaries general of OCIC and Unda
Unda 1928-2002
Secretary-Generals
1928-1935 (BCIR) Mgr Bernhard Marschall (Germany)
1935-1938 (BCIR) P. John Dito (OP, The Netherlands)
1938-1942 (BCIR) M. Paul Andrien Speet (The Netherlands)
1942-1950 (Unda) M. Joseph Diening (The Netherlands)
1950-1952 (Unda, M. François Van Hoek (Switzerland)
1952-1953 (Unda) P. John Dito (OP, The Netherlands)
1953-1954 (Unda) P. Bonaventura Jansen (OP, The Netherlands)
1954-1971 (Unda) Fr. Joseph Schneuwly (Switzerland)
1971-1974 (Unda) Fr. John Stapleton (UK)
1974-1981 (Unda) Fr. Jean Desautels (SJ, Canada)
1981-1994 (Unda) Fr. Colm Murphy (Ireland)
1994-1998 (Unda) Fr. Victor Sunderaj (India)
1998-2001 (Unda) Fr. Pierre Bélanger (SJ, Canada)
Presidents
1928-1935 (BCIR) P. Lambert Henricus Perquin (OP, The Netherlands)
1935-1938 (BCIR) Mgr Bernhard Marschall (Germany)
1938-1946 (BCIRT) Fr. John Dito (OP, The Netherlands)
1946-1948 (Unda) Mgr. F. Prosperini (Italy)
1950-1962 (Unda) P.J.B. Kors (OP, The Netherlands)
1962-1968 (Unda) Mgr Jacques Haas (Switzerland)
1968-1980 (Unda) Fr Agnellus Andrew (OFM, Scotland)
1980-1987 (Unda) P. Anthony Scannell (O.F.M. Cap., USA)
1987-1994 (Unda) Mr. Chainarong Monthienvichienchai (Thailand)
1994-2001 (Unda) Sr. Angela Ann Zukowski (MHSH, USA)
191
OCIC 1928-2002
Secretaire généraux
1928-1933 (OCIC) Fr. Joseph Reymond (France)
1935-1947 (OCIC) Fr. Jean Bernard (Luxemburg)
1947-1978 (OCIC) Mrs Yvonne de Hemptinne (Belgium)
1979-2002 (OCIC) M. Robert Molhant (Belgium)
Presidents
1928-1933 (OCIC) Dr. George Ernst (Germany)
1933-1947 (OCIC) Fr. Abel Brohée (Belgium)
1947-1972 (OCIC) Fr. Jean Bernard (Switzerland)
1972-1980 (OCIC) Fr. Lucien Labelle (Canada)
1980-1990 (OCIC) Fr. Ambros Eichenberger (OP, Switzerland)
1990-1998 (OCIC) Fr. Henk Hoekstra (O.Carm., The Netherlands)
1998-2002 (OCIC) Fr. Peter Malone (MSC, Australia)
SIGNIS (2002-2009)
President
2002-2005 (SIGNIS) Fr. Peter Malone (MSC, Australia)
2005-2009 (SIGNIS) M. Augie Loorthusamy (Malaysia)
Secretary General
2002-2005 (SIGNIS) M. Robert Molhant (Belgium)
2006-2007 (SIGNIS) M. Marc Aellen (Switzerland)
2007-2008 (SIGNIS) Fr. Bernardo Suate (Mozambique)
2008-2009 (SIGNIS) M. Alvito de Souza (Kenya)
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Appendix 4
Deceased Presidents and Secretaries General
of OCIC and Unda
Henk Hoekstra O.Carm (1932-2000)
President OCIC 1990-1998
Henk Hoekstra, Carmelite and priest, his vocation and spirituality radiated to all who
encountered him. His compassionate and gentle manner communicated an authentic
loving concern for each person whose life crossed into his. His very presence evoked a
call to communion and reconciliation.
He probably never said no to an invitation to be present in some part of the world to
share his passion for “spirituality and film”. In many conversations into the night, sharing
ideas about the relationship of theology and film, the talk would be animated by his
recollections of a recent film festival he participated in and the challenges emanating
from it. He never glossed over the surface but plummeted into the depths of the potential
meaning of the films.
Whether serving as the President of OCIC, CAMECO, a member of the Pontifical
Council for Social Communications, or, the Core Planning Committee for the unification
of OC/C and Unda, Henk committed himself to the task at hand. Following the 1994
Unda-OCIC World Congress (Prague) until the 1998 OCIC/Unda World Congress
(Montreal), there were four delicate years of copious and detailed meetings designing
an agenda and implementing a plan that would pave the way for a long sought after
dream - a New Catholic Communications Association reflective of the new media age.
Henk poured out his heart and soul trying to preserve the keystones of the past while
venturing into new frontiers of the future. His respect for all in the process reflected the
depth of his spirituality.
After completing his two terms as president of OCIC, he returned to The Netherlands
but was dogged by ill health for two years before his untimely death.
Jean Desautels S.J. (1914-2002)
Secretary General Unda 1975-1985
Fr. Jean Desautels, executive director of the Centre for the Study of Communication and
Culture from 1981 to 1984, died in Manila on August 1, 2002, after a brief illness. Long
connected with the educational and communication ministries of the Society of Jesus and
the Catholic Church, Fr. Desautels directed the CSCC, the publisher of Communication
Research Trends, in London, assuming the duties from the late Fr. Stephan Bamberger,
S.J., its founding director. He had long had an interest in the CSCC, participating in
the preliminary discussions in 1973-1975 that outlined its purposes and structures,
visiting London during its establishment in 1977, then serving as executive director. He
continued as a board member after moving on to the Philippines.
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Before coming to the CSCC, Fr. Desautels served as General Secretary of Unda,
the international Catholic association for radio and television, a position in which he
worked with international church offices to promote and support Catholic communication
efforts.. After leaving London, he became General Secretary in the Office of Social
Communication of the Federation of Asian Bishops’ Conferences, a position he held
from 1985 until his retirement in 1995.
Fr. Desautels’ career mirrored the Catholic Church’s activities in communication,
particularly in Asia, but also in Europe. Beginning in education, he came to communication
through the founding of an educational broadcasting system in Vietnam. From there
he moved into various administrative and fund raising roles, supporting communication
work and, with the CSCC, communication research in the service of the Church.
Ambros Eichenberger OP (1929-2006)
President OCIC 1980-1990
It is important for SIGNIS to pay tribute to Ambros Eichenberger as a dedicated Dominican
priest and as a significant president of OCIC. His achievement for the organisation was
immense. His service of the church in the field of media, especially of cinema, was
outstanding. In his time, he was the most significant person working in the church for
cinema.
In his commitment to OCIC, he brought the drive of his German Swiss background
and upbringing. He also brought the profound philosophical and theological dimensions
of his life as a Dominican.
When he was elected president of OCIC in 1980, he already had a strong reputation
for his work in cinema. As president, he broadened the horizons of the organization,
looking beyond Europe to Asia and to the Pacific. The combined OCIC-Unda assembly
of 1980 was held in Asia, in the Philippines. The three assemblies that his administration
organised took members to Africa, to Nairobi, in 1983, to Latin America, to Quito, in 1987
and to Asia, to Bangkok, in 1990. By the end of his term, OCIC was growing stronger
in most parts of the world.
In Europe itself, Ambros Eichenberger played an important role in contacts with
Eastern Europe, especially during the 1980s. When the Soviet empire collapsed, OCIC
members from Eastern Europe acknowledged his work and how OCIC had supported
them for many years when they were cut off from regular contact with the West. They
wanted to express that gratitude by inviting OCIC and Unda to hold the international
assembly in Prague in 1994.
During his time as president of OCIC, the publications of the organisation developed,
not only OCIC Media but also books of research, especially concerning African cinema.
OCIC and Ecumenical juries at festivals were consolidated. The organisation encouraged
a broader view of cinema, a consciousness of world cinema.
During his ten years as president, he worked hand in hand with Robert Molhant as
Secretary General, Henk Hoekstra as Vice President and with the Brussels staff.
In his last years, Ambros suffered from some physically debilitating conditions and
an increasing memory failure. But his knowledge, experience and breadth of vision
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showed us how important cinema ministry is in the contemporary world of media and the
arts in which the Church continues to find its place.
Ecclesiastical Advisers:
Monsignor Tom Connolly, adviser to Unda, died in 2000.
Fr Pat Casserly, liaison with the Pontifical Council for Social Communications, died
in 2003.
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Appendix 5
SIGNIS Jury Regulations
SIGNIS members participate in several categories of jury
- SIGNIS jury where all the jury members are nominated by SIGNIS and SIGNIS is the
award giver (juries in Italy, Spain and Latin America).
- Ecumenical jury where, ordinarily, SIGNIS and Interfilm, the International Interchurch
Film Organisation nominate an equal number of jury members at international level.
(SIGNIS and Interfilm from the host country of a festival sometimes nominate other
members of the jury, local members.) (Cannes, Berlin, Montreal …)
- SIGNIS Interfaith juries where SIGNIS nominates its members and the festival
where the award is to be given nominates the members from other religions (Fajr
(Tehran), Brisbane, Dhaka).
- Inter-religious jury where SIGNIS (and Interfilm where relevant) nominate all the jury
members including those from other religions (Nyon).
1. Constitution of the Jury
1.1 The members of SIGNIS juries are appointed by the SIGNIS Festivals Committee
in co-operation with the SIGNIS General Secretariat and the member organisation of the
country in which the festival is held.
1.1.1 SIGNIS may accept special appointments concerning single jury members
according to the nature of the respective festival.
1.1.2 Only people recognized for their competence in the field of cinema and who
accept the rules and criteria may become members of a SIGNIS jury. Normally, they will
be members of SIGNIS.
SIGNIS juries representing various aspects of the cinema world as well as different
nationalities, gender and age.
2. The Jury’s responsibilities
2.1 As guests of the film festival, the members of the jury undertake:
2.1.1 to fulfil their role as jury members by viewing all the films in their entirety in the
official competition (fiction, documentary or short film competition depending on the aim
of the Festival) and, as far as possible, the most important films in the other sections
and by attending all the jury meetings including ecumenical receptions and additional
special jury obligations.
2.1.2 to award a prize and where appropriate, commendations (in French “mention
spéciale”, in German “Lobende Erwähnung”) for the films in competition which they
consider the most outstanding according to the criteria of SIGNIS.
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2.1.3 award a prize and, where appropriate, commendations to films in additional
sections of the festival, if this has been decided officially SIGNIS.
2.1.4 Special Awards and/or Honorary Awards (in French «Prix d’Honneur»; in
German “Spezialpreis”, “Sonderpreis” oder “Ehrenpreis” (special commendations/prix
spéciale/spezielle Erwähnung) will be given only through a special agreement made by
SIGNIS to honour films out of competition, filmmakers or personalities from the world
of cinema.
2.2 As SIGNIS delegates at a film festival, the members of the jury undertake:
2.2.1 to represent the members of SIGNIS in relation to the Festival Management
and the professionals attending the Festival;
2.2.2 send to the SIGNIS Office all articles they write and publish concerning the
Festival, the prize winning films and the jury presence (cfr. 3.6.7).
2.2.3 make additional efforts that the prize winning films become known in the jury
member’s country of origin.
3. The Jury’s Duties
3.1 Members of the Jury meet together at the beginning of the Festival according to
the information provided by one of the jury-coordinators or the appointed chairperson:
3.1.1 to appoint the chairperson if the SIGNIS Cinema desk has not done so in
advance and to appoint a secretary from amongst their number as needed (cfr. 1.5)
3.1.2 to be briefed about the workings of the festival programs, meetings, practical
information
3.1.3 to remind jurors of the basic criteria for the choice of films and the goal of a
SIGNIS Prize.
3.2 The jury’s discussions and deliberations are held in camera and not in public.
The jury members undertake not to disclose the results until the Award ceremony, with
the exception of SIGNIS representatives.
3.3 The Jury takes its decisions independently.
3.4 The jury considers every film eligible for an award, eliminating a film only after an
open discussion and dialogue. The decisions of the jury are made only after the opinions
of all jurors are heard and by simple majority; the Chairperson having a casting vote in
the case of a tie.
3.5 The citation for each award includes the title of the film, director, country of
origin, year of production and a short explanation of motivation for the award. The text
of the citation for the award should be 60 to 80 words maximum. Readers of these texts
who have not seen the film receiving the award should be able to gather the basic
plot, the film’s values and the particular and distinctive qualities of the film, avoiding
generalisations that could apply to many films.
3.6 The Chairperson ensures that the jury carries out its mission and in particular
undertakes
197
3.6.1 to convene and chair the meetings of the Jury;
3.6.2 to represent the jury;
3.6.3 to make the jury’s decisions public (cfr 3.7.5. on the duty of the secretary)
3.6.4 draw up a report of the Jury’s activities at the Festival, special observations and
propositions for the future presence at the Festival and send it to the SIGNIS office.
3.7 The Secretary undertakes (in collaboration with the Chairperson and the local
representatives of SIGNIS, depending on the rules of the festival):
3.7.1 to support the Chairperson;
3.7.2 to take minutes about the main decisions of the jury;
3.7.3 to prepare the certificates
3.7.4 to plan (in collaboration with the Festival Management) the award ceremony;
3.7.5 to draw up and circulate a press release on the choice of the Jury and send it
as soon as possible to the SIGNIS offices;
3.7.6 to call a press conference if necessary and suitable (in collaboration with the
regional jury-coordinator and/or the Festival Management);
3.7.7 to send to the SIGNIS office as soon as possible complete documentation on
the awards made by the Jury.
4. Choice of films: Criteria and Rules
4.1 Rules and Recommendations
4.1.1 A SIGNIS Prize consists of a trophy and a certificate, while a Commendation (in
French: “Mention spéciale”; in German: “Lobende Erwähnung”) consists of a certificate
only. The trophy and certificates are given to the director or his representatives.
4.1.2 A jury may not give a prize to a film which has already been awarded a prize
by another SIGNIS,Ecumenical or Interfaith Jury.
4.1.3 The jury will limit the number of prizes and commendations to a maximum of three
(one prize with one or two commendations, prize ex aequo and one commendation).
4.1.4 The jury should favour quality films without regard to their commercial future.
However, the Jury will take into consideration, that the award can help independent films
to find a wider audience and possibilities for successful distribution.
4.1.5 The jury is not obliged to award a Prize or Commendation at a Festival. It
should be noted, however, that, if a Jury does not make an award or gives its award to
a film outside the official competition, such a decision is generally seen as a negative
judgement on the official selection of films made by the Festival Management (cfr.
2.1.1).
4.2 Criteria
The jury makes awards to films and to filmmakers according to the criteria developed
by SIGNIS as guidelines for judging films:
4.2.1 High artistic quality: The jury takes into account the artistic talent and technical
skill manifested by the director and the film-makers. Films which receive awards should
198
be of high artistic quality.
4.2.2 Message of the Gospel: The jury encourages films which lend expression to a
human viewpoint or stimulate debate, raise audience consciousness of the transcendent
dimensions of life or portray spiritual values in keeping with the message of the
Gospel.
4.2.3 Christian responsibility and human progress: The jury give special attention
to themes relevant to Christian responsibility in modern society and encourages films
which dramatise human values and contributes to human progress concerning:
- respect for human dignity and human rights;
- solidarity with all kind of minorities, disadvantaged and oppressed people;
- support for processes for liberation, justice, peace and reconciliation;
- preserving creation and the environment.
4.2.4 Universal impact: Films which receive awards have a universal impact and are
not confined to their national or local context. They reflect their local culture and help
audiences to respect the language and the images of that culture.
4.2.5 Inventive expression: Regarding all the criteria listed above, the Jury takes into
consideration that a film deserves to receive an award if its intention, choice of issues
and story telling have found an adequate, convincing and some inventive expression.
4.2.6 Films which have received awards can be recommended for groups to see,
discuss and use in appropriate ministries.
5. SIGNIS participation in festivals
Mostra Internationale del Cinema, Venezia
Festival Internacional de Cine, San Sebastian
Festival Internacional de Cinema, Troia
Mar del Plata
Buenos Aires Festival Internacional de Cine Independente
Festival International de Télévision de Monte-Carlo, Monaco
Festival del Cinema africano, Asia e America Latina (Milano)
Festival del Nuevo cine latinoamericano, La Habana
Festival Panafrican de Cinéma de Ouagadougou
Festival International du film d’Amiens
Hong Kong International Film Festival
Infinity Festival Alba (Italy)
International Fajr Film Festival
Journée Cinémathographique de Carthage (currently not active)
Prix Italia – TV Festival (Italy)
Rencontres Cinémas d’Amérique Latine de Toulouse
199
The Sevilla Film Festival
Zanzibar International Film Festival
SIGNIS Interfaith juries:
Fajr Festival, Tehran
Brisbane International Festival
Dhaka International Festival
Nyon -Visions du Réel - International Documentary Film Festival
SIGNIS and INTERFILM form International Ecumenical Juries at Festivals recognized
as being the most competitive (A) by the International Federation of Associations of Film
Producers (FIAPF).
Internationale Filmfestspiele Berlin (since 1992)
Festival International du Film, Cannes (1974)
Karlovy Vary International Film Festival (1994)
Festival international del film, Locarno (1973)
Festival des Films du Monde, Montréal (1979)
International Film Festival Moscow (1989, currently not active)
Internationales Leipziger Festival für Dokumentar-und Animationsfilm (1990)
International Film Festival Bratislava (2001)
Festival des Osteuropäischen Films Cottbus (1999)
Festival de Films du Sud Fribourg (2001)
Internationales Filmfestival Mannheim-Heidelberg (1995)
International Film Festival MOLODIST Kyiv ((1999)
Internationale Kurzfilmtage Oberhausen (2000)
International Film Festival for Children and Youth Zlin (2000)
Golden Apricot International Film Festival Yerevan (2007)
INTERFILM also appoints juries for:
Filmfestival Max Ophüls Preis, Saarbrücken (1985)
Nordische Filmtage Lübeck (1996)
International Film Festival Arsenal Riga (2004)
National members of SIGNIS take initiatives to award prizes to films either in the
framework of festivals which take place in their own countries or during events which
they themselves organize (SIGNIS-SALUTATION Sri Lanka; GOLDEN TORCH AWARD
200
Taiwan, MARGARITA DE PRATA Brazil, CONDOR Venezuela etc.)
National members of INTERFILM have award prizes since 2002 in Göteborg (Svenska
Kyrkan) and since 1987 in München (One-Future-Prize of the INTERFILM-Akademie).
An International Jury of INTERFILM or SIGNIS can make an award, (prize or
commendation) to a film which has already received a prize from a member of SIGNIS
or INTERFILM outside the framework of a festival.
An Ecumenical Jury may award a film which has already received a prize or commendation
by a SIGNIS or INTERFILM jury alone.
201
Index
Aachen (Germany) 41,166, 171
Abidjan (Ivory Coast) 40
Alba (Italy) 68, 137, 199
Amiens (France) 68, 134, 199
Angola 124, 155, 158
Argentina 24, 68, 119, 134, 137, 186
Armenia 95
Atlanta (USA) 104
Australia 24, 51, 55, 75, 76, 87, 89, 116, 118, 121, 127, 128,
129, 131, 133, 174, 179, 186, 192
Bahia (Brazil) 68
Balkans 76
Banff (Canada) 76
Bangladesh 89
Beirut (Lebanon) 40, 75, 76, 78, 79,81, 82, 91
Belarus 65, 75, 76
Belgium 7, 19, 25, 36, 58, 59, 61, 67, 78, 95, 116, 117, 118,
128, 129, 133, 141, 158, 173, 180, 186
Belize 119
Benin 133
Birmingham, Alabama (USA) 65, 75
Blois (France) 68
Bolivia 66, 95, 119, 145, 186, 187
Boston (USA) 75, 127
Bratislava (Slovakia) 68, 200
Brazil 98, 116, 121
Brisbane (Australia) 76, 127,137,196
Bruges (Belgium) 166
Brussels (Belgium) 2,13,15,19,20, 25, 26,28,30-32,34, 37,3
8,51,58,62,63,69,75,77,80,87,89,90,92-96,98,132,135,
136,138,146,151,155,166,170,189,194
Bucharest (Romania) 94-97,119
Burkina Faso (118)
Burundi 123,128
Calcutta (India) 105,130, 170
Cambodia 86
Cameroon 71, 118,119
Cannes (France) 68,79,126,175,200
Cape Town (South Africa) 62,70, 82,84,116,141,142
Chiang Mai (Thailand) 97,120
Chicago (USA) 107
Chile 68,93,119,186
China 104,134,170,171
Chosica (Peru) 62,76
Cologne (Germany) 76
Colombia 118,119
Colombo (Sri Lanka) 65,131
Cottbus (Germany) 68,135,200
Crete (Grece) 126
Cuba 46,87, 128, 129, 134, 138, 154,174, 178
Curitiba (Brazil) 40
Cyprus 75,76,115
Czech Republic 116, 118,128;153
Dachau (Poland) 19
Dar es Salaam (Tanzania) 93, 105, 124, 125
Dayton (USA) 25, 33, 35, 37, 55, 87
Democratic Republic of Congo 31,87,166,128,155,187
Dhaka (Bangladesh) 89, 127, 137,138, 196,200
Driebergen (The Netherlands) 43
Dubai 75
Ecuador 32, 62,93,119, 120, 186
Edinburgh (UK) 126
Egypt 131, 133
European Union 33, 144,146
Fiji 23,130
Finland 103
France 7,11,19, 65,68,70,80,81,95,
118,119,124,129,136,138, 171,173,177, 181,186,187,
192,
Fribourg (Switzerland) 68, 200
Geneva (Switzerland) 63, 81, 144, 146
Germany 7, 19, 25,33,41, 68, 92, 116, 119, 124,129,133,
135, 136, 166, 171, 177, 179, 186, 191,192
Ghana 56, 158
Haiti 119
Harare (Zimbabwe) 58, 65, 75
Havana (Cuba) 68, 178,
Hilversum (The Netherlands) 65
Hollywood (USA) 145
Hong Kong (China) 171, 199
Honolulu (USA) 75
Hungary 118, 119, 174
Hydrabad (Iran) 93
Iasi (Romania) 69, 76, 126
Iceland 133, 144
India 40,76,85, 87,88,90,93,104,105,106,118,127,
130,138,170,171,186,187,191
Iraq 69, 72, 77, 138, 144
Italy 11, 65, 68, 79, 116, 117,118,119,128,133,136,171,
196,199
Ivory Coast 155
Jerusalem 76, 96, 138
Johannesburg (South Africa) 62, 93, 148, 150,
Karlovy Vary (Czech Rep.) 68, 134, 135, 200
Kenya 25, 86, 118, 119, 124, 125,155,192
Kerkrade (The Netherlands) 26
203
Kiev (Ukraine) 135, 144
Kiribas (Kiribati) 23
Königstein (Germany) 51, 18, 66, 75
Korea 76, 118
Kuala Lumpur (Malaysia) 77, 79, 82
La Reunion (France) 158
Lebanon 75, 81, 82
Leeds (UK) 130
Leipzig (Germany) 68, 134, 135, 200
Leuven (Belgium) 68, 94, 137
Locarno (Switzerland) 68, 126, 133, 134, 200
Los Angeles (USA) 58, 65, 79, 126, 128
Luxemburg 7, 19, 24,25,26,33, 35,57,78,86, 166, 192
Luzern (Switzerland) 66
Lyon (France) 61,66,78, 81,82,85,86,88,90,118,129,
130,137,141,142,147
Macao (China) 75
Madagascar 155, 158
Madrid (Spain) 25,65,92,117,118
Malawi 124
Malaysia 24, 56, 70, 77,85,98,186, 192
Malta 20, 24,26,70,166,171
Mandalay (Burma) 76,
Manila (Philippines) 12,,13,20, 58, 71, 75, 129, 130,
170,171,175,176,193
Mannheim (Germany) 68, 126,134, 176, 200
Mar del Plata (Argentina) 68,134, 137, 199
Mauritius 40
Mechelen (Belgium) 58,59,61,65,67, 90,95,141
Medellin (Colombia) 93,
Melbourne (Australia) 142
Mexico 66,118-120,142
Milan (Italy) 68,134,158,199
Minsk (Belarus) 76
Monte-Carlo (Monaco) 68,135, 199
Monterrey (Mexico) 66
Montreal (Canada) 5,9, 14,15,19-23,26,30,32,34,45 46, 56,
57,61, 154, 164-166, 169, 175, 176, 179, 193, 196
Moscow (Russia) 134,135,200
Mozambique 58, 65, 124, 125, 128, 186, 192
Munich (Germany) 7,12, 15, 25,33-39,44, 46-48,60, 92,
166,177
Myanmar 76
Nairobi (Kenya) 13,20,71,86, 124, 164,171,177,194,
Namibia 75
Namur (Belgium) 31, 71, 180
New Delhi! (India) 171
New York (USA) 63,75,107,140,181
Niepokalanov (Poland) 134
Niger 23
Nyon (Switzerland) 137, 184, 200
Oberhausen (Germany) 200
Orlando (USA) 40
Ouagadougou (Burkina Faso) 68,134,175,199
Panama 93, 119
Papua-New Guinea 155
Paraguay 93
Pemba (Mozambique) 156
Peru 61, 65,76, 115, 119,187
Philippines 12,23,56,58,106, 130,136,170,171,176,193,194
Poland 65, 118, 174,180
Prague (Czech Rep.)
Quito (Ecuador) 13, 20, 32, 103, 122, 164, 179,194
Reykjavik (Iceland) 144
Rio de Janeiro (Brazil) 70
Robben Island (South Africa) 62
Rolduc (The Netherlands) 7, 25, 26, 28, 30, 35, 41,166
Romania 65, 66, 76, 96, 118, 126,127, 142
Rome (Italy) 9,12,13, 14, 20, 21, 25, 26, 34,35,
37,39-50, 53, 56, 61, 63,65-67,70,72,75,77,
79,81,85,86,88,89,90,92,94-97, 115,
121,137,138,140,141, 146, 154, 155, 156,158,
164,167,168,176,182,185, 189
Russia 174
Rwanda 123, 128
San Sebastian (Spain) 24, 31, 60, 68, 69, 71, 134, 135, 199
Sao Paulo (Brasil) 138
Senegal 118, 119, 134, 174
Seoul (Korea) 40
South Africa 62, 70, 93,116, 118,119, 127,141, 148,173
Soweto (South Africa) 173
Spain 65, 80, 89, 95, 116, 118, 119, 129, 130, 168, 171
Sri Lanka 76, 131, 133, 175, 200
St Louis (Senegal) 174
St Louis (USA) 65
St Petersburg (Russia) 134, 135
Strasbourg (France) 66, 70, 75, 77, 116, 144
Suva (Fiji) 130
Switzerland 35, 56, 87, 136, 179, 187,191, 192
Taiwan 93, 116, 118,119,131, 133,201
Taize (France) 87
Tampa (USA) 75
Tanzania 86, 123, 124, 158
Tehran (Iran) 75, 126, 137,138, 196, 200
Thailand 8, 76,96, 97,98, 120, 128, 142, 169, 171, 187, 191
The Netherlands 7, 19, 25, 26, 65, 79, 115, 119, 179, 191,
192, 193
Tonga 23, 186
Trinidad (Trinidad et Tobago) 119
Troia/Setubal (Portugal) 68
Tunis (Tunisia) 78, 144
Turnhout (Belgium) 68
204
Uganda 124, 125, 128, 155, 156
United Kingdom 56, 78, 186, 187, 191
United States 13, 51, 65, 72, 75, 80,,129,130,139, 173, 174
Varanasi (Benares/India) 106
Vatican 7, 25, 43,44, 54, 55, 57, 60, 74, 75, 81, 97, 109, 111,
112, 116, 118, 121, 126, 133, 146, 154, 158, 166,170,
177, 186
Venezuela 119, 201
Venice (Italy) 12, 68, 128, 132,133, 134, 175, 179
Vietnam 86, 194
Vilnius (Lithuania) 40, 43
Warsaw (Poland) 76, 128, 139, 180
Washington (USA) 13, 139
Windhoek (Namibia) 75
Winnipeg (Canada) 58
Yerevan (Armenia) 95, 200
Yogyakarta (Indonesia) 177
Zambia 122-124
Zanzibar 68, 86, 93,124, 200
Zimbabwe 42, 124
Zlin (Czech Rep.) 135, 153
Names
Aboujouade, Roland (Libanon) 81, 82
Aellen, Marc (Switzerland) 81,85,87,88,91-96, 98, 188,
189, 192
Amato, Angelo (Italy) 121
Anderau, Willi (Switzerland) 187
Andrew, Agnellus (Scotland) 191
Andujar, Gustavo (Cuba) 87, 94, 95, 131, 137, 138, 188,
Anthonis, Henriette (Belgium) 64, 189
Ara, Hugo (Bolivia) 66, 186
Arns Neumann, Zilda (Brazil) 98
Arrupe, Leopold (Tahiti) 118
Askoldov, Alexander (URSS/Russia) 174
Assorow, Benedict (Ghana) 56, 186
Auret, Michael (South Africa/Zimbabwe) 82
Auyuyu, Isaac M. (Pacific) 186
Avillez de Ataíde, Margarida (Portugal) 138
Babin, Pierre (France) 56, 169, 177, 179, 186
Bachy, Victor (Belgium) 175
Baillargeon, Benny (Canada) 170
Baldassari, Nello (Italy) 190
Bamberger, Stephan (Switzerland) 45, 193
Barisone, Marina (Italy) 190
Barreto de Farias, Esmeraldo (Brazil) 122
Bauer, Marcel (Belgium) 68, 118
Becker, Edmond (France) 158
Bélanger, Pierre (Canada) 7, 21, 24, 42, 47, 55-57, 166,
169, 186,187, 189, 191
Bell Bell, Mathias (Cameroon) 188
Bergman, Ingmar (Sweden) 179
Berlogea, Anca (Romania) 71, 96, 127
Bernard, Jean (Luxemburg) 19, 133, 192
Birri, Fernando (Argentina) 178
Bock, Jonathan (USA) 130
Bohrmann, Thomas (Germany) 128
Bonneville, Leo (Canada) 9, 19, 154
Bonnot, Bernard (Bob) (USA) 56
Borg, Joe (Malta) 66, 70
Borgomeo, Pasquale (Italy) 66
Bosco, Anthony (USA) 170
Bostan, Elizabeth (Romania) 128
Botelho, Jude (India) 187
Bourgois, Marc (Belgium) 64, 72, 189
Brohée, Abel (Belgium) 192
Brownrigg, Sherry (USA) 82
Burman, Daniel (Argentina) 128
Caffari, Angelo (Italy) 189
Calle, Rolando (Ecuador) 186, 187
Canaberal, Bernard (Philippines) 23
Cangy, Ella (Île Maurice/Italy) 189
Caputo, Dolores (Italy) 189
Carmona, Trinidad (Spain) 189
Carradori, Roberto (Italy) 190
Casserly, Patrick (Vatican/Ireland) 26, 44, 170, 186, 187,
195
Castillo, Pietro Daniel (Argentina) 153
Celi, Claudio (Vatican) 96, 97
Cestaio, Giuseppe (Italy) 189
Charost, Alexis-Armand (France) 173
Chavez de Rio, José Alberto (Italy) 189
Chittilapilly, Joseph (India) 85
Chrapek, Jan (Poland) 180
Clapson, Ged (UK) 187
Comeau, Gilles (Canada) 158
Connolly, Tom (Scotland) 26, 195
Convents, Guido (Belgium) 59, 64, 68, 69, 72, 94, 95, 127,
128, 131, 132, 189
Corazza, Gianni (Italy) 189
Corraya, Kamal (Bangladesh) 89
Cousineau, Jacques (Canada) 158
Daneels, Gottfried (Belgium) 95
de Angelis, Alessia (Italy) 189
de Cesare, Steeve (Italy) 190
de Falco, Jean-Michel (France) 61
de Hemptinne, Yvonne (Belgium) 192
de Kerchove, Derrick (Belgium) 181
de Lara, Theresita (Pacific) 187
de Marliave,Marie Caroline (France) 91
de Mol, Yannick (Belgium) 124
205
de Niro, Robert (USA) 107
De Oliveira, Ismar (Brazil) 153
De Oliveira, Manoel (Portugal) 128
De Souza, Alvito (Kenya) 25, 33, 59, 64-66, 71, 72, 93-96,
98, 143, 187-189
Deacy, Christopher (UK) 129
Debidour, Michele (France) 82, 129
Denis, Vinciane (Belgium) 189
Derksen, Piet (The Netherlands) 14,
Desautels, Jean (Canada) 56, 191, 193, 194,
Deschouwer, Claudine (Belgium) 189
Deseau, Fabienne (Belgium) 64, 72, 189
Deskur, Andrzej Maria (Poland/Vatican) 177
Dewil (Belgium) 71
Di Giovanni, Claudia (Italy) 89, 126,
Di Torre, Romina (Italy) 190
Dick, Etienne (Belgium) 158
Diening, Joseph (The Netherlands) 191
Dipio, Dominic (Uganda) 128
Dito, John (The Netherlands) 191
Drácula (Romania) 119
Dulles, Avery (USA) 52, 53
Duquesne, Jacques (France) 68
Durocher, Eric (Canada) 186
Eichenberger, Ambros (Switzerland) 56, 80, 176, 178, 179,
192, 194
Eilers, Franz Josef (Philippines) 168
Emmanuel, Dominic (India) 93, 127
Epstein, Jan (Australia) 76
Ernst, George (Germany) 192
Falekaono, Bill (Tonga) 23, 130, 186-188
Fantuzzi, Virgilio (Italy) 133
Ferrara, Abel (USA) 179
Feulner, Hans-Jurgen (Austria) 128
Fitzpatrick, Thomas (Tanzania) 123
Foley, John Patrick (Vatican/USA) 8, 24, 54, 56, 57, 75, 8587, 89, 94, 96, 97, 126, 169,
Fox, Lucius (USA) 107
Frank, Daniela (Germany) 85
Fraschetti, Enrico (Italy) 189
Frost, Frank (USA) 116, 118, 119, 130, 138
Galan, Diego (Spain) 60
Galtier, Jean-François (France) 58, 65, 190
Gamini Fernando, Cyril (Sri Lanka) 175, 187
Gan, Steve (Philippines) 98
Geaney, John (USA)
Giannatelli, Roberto (Italy) 153
Gittens, Tony (USA) 139
Giudici, Pier Vincenzo (Italy) 190
Glynn, Michael (Canada) 170
Godard, Robert (Canada) 158
Gonsalves, Peter (India) 153, 188
Gonzalo, Florentina (Spain) 64, 94, 189
Goossens, Casimir (Belgium) 26, 186, 188
Gore, Al (USA) 23
Goretti, Marie (Italy) 133
Grando, Stefano (Italy) 189
Grebe Lopez, Ronald (Bolivia) 187
Guillet, Jean-Paul (Canada) 26, 48, 58, 65, 76, 86, 154-156,
159, 190
Haas, Jacques (Switzerland) 191
Hannan, Lawrence (UK) 153
Hariri, Rafik (Lebanon) 81
Hartmann, Attilio (Brazil) 188
Hasenberg, Peter (Germany) 128, 136, 186
Hausner, Jessica (Austria) 132
Henau, Ernest (Belgium) 71
Henry, Laurence (South Africa) 62
Hernandez, Alejandro (Peru) 189
Hertl, Steve (Germany) 98
Heyrbaut, Pascale (Belgium) 3, 64, 72, 189
Higgins, Nick (UK) 142
Hodel, Hans (Switzerland) 85, 136,
Hoekstra, Henk (The Netherlands) 7, 20, 41, 170, 179,
192-194
Horemans, Jos (Belgium) 88, 90, 91, 131, 136, 188
Hue, Jean-Marie (Belgium) 71
Hults, Scott (USA) 65, 187
Humangole, Moses (Zambia) 131, 188
Jacobi, Reinhold (Germany) 59, 66, 187
Jansen, Bonaventura (The Netherlands) 191
Jirza, Lucas (Czech Rep.) 128
Joseph (India) 127
Jourde, Nadine (Belgium) 59, 189
Kabore, Gaston (Burkina Faso) 31
Kalman, Robert (Hungary) 69
Kanter, Rosabeth Moss (USA) 49
Kennedy, Robert F. (USA) 32
Kersten, Kevin (USA) 19
Khoo, Angeline (Singapore) 98
Kieslowski, Krzysztof (Poland) 175
Kors, Johannes Benedictus (The Netherlands) 191
Kouawo, Achille (Niger) 23, 186, 187
Kreidy, Marie-Therese (Lebanon) 98
Kroll, Thomas (Germany) 128
Labelle, Lucien (Canada) 26, 56, 175, 176, 192
Labelle, Paul (Canada) 154, 158
Laruich, Alice (USA) 170
Lawrence John (Malaysia) 82, 188
Lee, Clotilde (Korea) 23
Légault, Marcel (France) 179
Leonard, André-Mutien (Belgium) 180
206
Leonard, Richard (Australia) 75, 128-130
Levi, John (USA) 76
Licata, Pietro (Belgium/Italy) 64, 189
Loach, Ken (UK) 79, 126, 175
Lombardi, Federico (Vatican) 97
Loorthusamy, Augustine (Malaysia) 24, 26, 59, 70, 79, 85,
87, 88, 95, 96, 98, 130, 136, 153, 186-188, 192
M’Bow, Mahtar-Amadou (Senegal) 13
Malone, Peter (Australia) 1, 7, 21, 24, 26, 31, 35, 36, 41, 42,
44, 45, 51, 55, 56, 59, 61, 62, 65, 66, 72, 74, 79,81, 85,
87,88,90-92, 94, 95, 107,126, 127, 129, 130, 131, 136,
137, 138, 143, 144, 166, 167, 179, 180, 186,187, 192
Mandela, Nelson (South Africa) 62, 70
Maniscalco, Francis (USA) 81
Marchart, Martin Roger- (France) 142, 170, 187
Marconi, Guglielmo (Italy) 11
Margineanu, Nicolae (France) 128
Marschall, Bernhard (Germany) 191
Martig, Charles (Switzerland) 126, 129, 136
Martini, Carlo Maria(Italy) 179
Martucci, Armida (Italy) 189
Mascaro, Lucio (Italy) 189
Masquelin, Jean-Jacques (Belgium) 35
McBride, Sean (Ireland) 12, 13
McDonnell, Jim (UK) 56, 59, 65-67,72,75,86, 93, 94, 105,
140, 141,144-146, 187, 189
McLuhan, Marshall (Canada) 181
McNally, David (Canada) 172
McTernan, Oliver (USA) 82
Mejia, Marcello (Ecuador) 66
Merkel, Jeaneane (USA) 77, 188
Merton, Thomas (UK) 52
Molhant, Robert (Belgium) 7, 11, 20, 24, 41, 42,48, 56, 5962, 64-67, 69, 78, 81, 85, 87, 88, 94, 95, 115, 126, 128,
141, 143, 144, 165, 166, 173, 182, 187, 189, 192, 194
Monthienvichienchai, Chainarong (Thailand) 56, 66, 91, 191
Monty Williams, Geoffrey (Monty) (Canada) 129
Moro, Riccardo (Italy) 190
Morock, Frank (USA) 56, 66, 187
Mother Angelica (USA) 115
Mother Teresa of Calcutta (Albania) 170
Muller, Denyse (France) 85
Murphy, Colm (Ireland) 56, 164, 169, 171, 191
Nadarajah Manikam (Malaysia) 153
Naidu, Joseph (India) 170
Nalukwago, Adeodata (Uganda) 186
Naylor, Randy (Canada) 85
Ngo Dinh, Nhan (Italy) 190
Nissim, Gabriel (France) 57, 59, 66, 67, 69, 75, 77, 82, 86,
141, 144
Nolan, Sheila (UK/Belgium) 170
Opahle, Joachim (Germany) 188
Orso, Luis (Mexico) 136, 137
Ortega, Jaime cardinal (Cuba) 178,
Ortiz, Gaye (UK) 19, 20, 24, 56, 59, 71, 87, 126, 128, 129,
143, 186, 187
Ortoleva, Peppino (Italy) 133, 134
Ottaviano, Stefano (Italy) 190
Ouedraogo, Idrissa (Burkina Faso) 175,
Ouellet, Bertrand (Canada) 66, 186, 187
Ousmane, Sembene (Senegal) 134
Pacatte, Rosemarie (USA) 75, 128-130, 136
Pantin, Anthony (Trinité-et-Tobago) 168
Paquette, Jacques (Canada) 21
Pasolini, Pier Paolo (Italy) 12, 133
Paul, C.M. (India) 106
Pearson, Peter John (South Africa) 62
Pelligrini, Paolo (Italy) 136
Peporte, Theo (Luxembourg) 86, 88, 90, 91, 92, 94, 188
Pereira, Ambrose (Solomon Islands) 187, 188
Periguy, Yves (Canada) 158
Perquin, Lambert Henricus (The Netherlands) 191
Picin, Stefanie (Italy) 190
Pickersgill, Ronald (Canada) 188
Pieters, Lawrence (Belgium) 64, 72, 87, 189
Pietrella, Fulvia (Italy) 189
Pietrolucci, Matteo (Italy) 189
Planas, Enrique (Spain/Vatican) 26, 66, 86, 89, 117, 126,
186
Poitevin, Jean-Marie (Canada) 154, 158
Pope Benedict XVI 87, 113, 121, 146
Pope John Paul II 42, 43, 52-54, 117, 118, 167, 168
Pope Pius XI 174
Poruthota, Ernest (Sri Lanka) 175
Poswick, Ferdinand (Belgium) 23, 31, 71, 186
Preval, Gina (Cuba) 107, 178
Prosperini, Fernando (Italy) 191
Pungente, John (Canada) 129
Pungi, Lino (DRCongo) 87, 187
Putinja, Isabel (Portugal) 189
Radcliffe, Timothy (UK) 111, 114
Ramos, Pablo (Cuba) 68
Ranjith, Albert Malcolm (Vatican) 66
Raphel, Béatrice (UK) 64, 72,189
Redford, Robert (USA) 180
Reidemann, Mark (Canada) 58
Reuhkala, Timo (Finland) 85
Reuter, James (USA /Philippines) 58
Reymond, Joseph, (France) 192
Ringlet, Gabriel (Belgium) 68
Roberge, Gaston (India) 187
Rodriguez, Ana Maria (Columbia) 77, 82
207
Rolt, Francis (UK) 124
Rossi, Massimo (Italy) 190
Roux, Maggie (UK) 23, 130
Ruszkowski, André (Poland/Canada) 132
Salaparuta, Clara (Italy) 90, 159, 189
Salles, Walter (Brazil) 128, 180
Sami Bou Chaloub (Lebanon) 75, 81
Sanchez Coronel, Pedro (Peru) 61, 76, 187
Santisakultarm, Siriwan (Thailand) 71, 87, 187
Sarmiento, Luchina (Philippines) 170, 171
Scannell, Anthony (USA) 56, 164, 169, 191
Schlesinger, John (USA) 12
Schloendorff, Volker (Germany) 19
Schneuwly, Joseph (Switzerland) 191
Schwartz, Tony (USA) 181
Scola, Angelo (Italy) 133
Sena, Edilberto (Brazil) 122
Servaes, Jan (Belgium/USA) 98
Shirai, Shoko (Japan) 170
Sin, Jaime Lachica (Philippines) 58
Sirri, Beatrice (Italy) 189
Smith, Will (USA) 107
So, Mikhe (Taiwan) 188
Soares, Ismar (Brazil) 79, 153
Sokurov, Alexander (Russia) 128
Speet, Paul Andrien (The Netherlands) 191
Srampickal, Jacob (India) 89, 186
Suate, Bernardo (Mozambique) 58, 59, 65, 77, 95, 154, 156,
159, 1896-189, 192
Suchocki, Marjorie (USA) 139
Sunderaj, Victor (India) 20, 24, 56, 165, 168-170,191
Tapia, Roberto (Chile) 186
Tapleton, John (UK) 191
Tarkowski, Andreï Arsenievitch (USSR) 179
Tavares de Barros, José (Brazil) 66
Tessara (Kiribati) 23
Thoman, Elizabeth (USA) 153
Thomas, Peter (Australia) 24, 27, 58, 59, 69, 75, 79, 87,
92-95, 98, 109, 115-118, 186, 188
Tighe, Paul (Ireland/Vatican) 62
Tlhigale, Buti (South Africa) 62
Tognazzi, Daniele (Italy) 189
Tognazzi, Rinaldo (Italy) 190
Tosso, Mario (Italy) 138
Trnka, Jiri (Czechoslovakia) 117
Tunay, Teresa (Philippines) 136
Uranga, Washington (Argentina) 24, 47,186
Urbano, Magdalena (Spain) 59, 64, 72, 189
Van Beeck, Tom (Belgium) 95
Van den Heuvel, Albert (The Netherlands) 82
Van Espen, Daniel (Belgium) 64, 66, 72, 97,94,144, 146,
189
Van Hoek, François (Switzerland) 191
Van Reeth, Magali (France) 82, 136, 138
Vast, Jean (France/Senegal) 174
Verzeletti Carlos (Brazil) 122
Vigano Don Dario (Italy) 97,128, 133, 136,138
Villaram, Timothy (Philippines/Italy) 186
Vlk, Miloslav (Czech Rep.) 45, 81
von Triers, Lars (Denmark) 129
Washington, Uranga (Argentina) 24, 47, 186
Watzenich, Astrid Polz (Austria) 136
Wayne, Bruce (USA) 107
Weir, Peter (Australia) 128
Wenders, Wim (Germany) 128
Weyergans, Anne (Belgium) 65, 189
White, Bob (USA) 179
Wong, Catherina (Hong Kong) 68
Yañez, Ricardo (USA) 65, 68-70, 72, 79, 87, 93-95, 98,
137, 145, 153, 189
Yung, Dominic (Hong Kong) 69, 136
Zampa, Luigi (Italy) 132
Zanussi, Krzysztof (Poland) 31, 128, 179, 180
Zedriga, Lina (Uganda) 153
Zukowski, Angela Ann (USA) 7, 9, 20, 21, 24, 25, 33, 50, 52,
53, 55, 56, 85, 87, 163, 164, 166, 168, 186, 191
208
In 1998 at the Montreal assemblies of Unda, the World Catholic Organisation
for Radio and Television, and OCIC, the International Catholic Organisation for
Cinema, the two associations agreed to merge. The merger was achieved in just
over three years. This book gives an account of the merger process using reports
written at the time and minutes of meetings.
With the vote for SIGNIS in Rome in November 2001, the new World Catholic
Association for Communication was inaugurated. This book gives a history of the
Organisation for its first two terms as we celebrate 80 years of its predecessors
OCIC and Unda.
THE EMERGENCE
OF SIGNIS
MALONE Peter - Melbourne, Australia
Fr Peter Malone, Missionary of the Sacred Heart, born in Sydney, Australia in 1939, obtained an Arts degree
at the Australian National University and his Licentiate in Theology at the Pontifical Gregorian University
in Rome. He was ordained in 1965. After his studies he became a lecturer in theology and scripture in
Canberra and, since 1972, at the Yarra Theological Union, a member of the Melbourne College of Divinity.
He started that year working with the OCIC representative Fr Fred Chamberlin, who was responsible for
the Catholic Film Office of the Australian Bishops Conference. He succeeded Fr Chamberlin in 1992. Peter
Malone became president of OCIC Pacific (1989-1998), OCIC World (1998-2001) and SIGNIS (2001-2005).
In the mid-1960s he began writing on cinema and has been reviewing films regularly since 1968. He became
a film critic for several publications including The Universe (UK), SIGNIS Media (Belgium), and websites in
the UK, Hong Kong and the SIGNIS website. He is a well known writer of books on film as The Film, Films and
Values, Movie Christs and Antichrists, Worth Watching - 30 Film Reviewers on Review, In Black and White and
Colour - Aborigines in Australian Films, Myths and Meaning - Australian Film Directors in their own Words.
Furthermore he conducts seminars on film and spirituality with publications including the Lights Camera Faith
Series and the Film and Faith series. From 1993 Fr Malone has served as a juror at film festivals throughout
the world. Since 2005 he has been member of the cinema desk of SIGNIS. From 2002 to the present he has
published for SIGNIS official statements on films like Amen, Requiem, The Golden Compass, Doubt, Angels
and Demons, Antichrist. He organized several meetings on film criticism and reviewing and the international
jury work of SIGNIS through the Face for the Faceless seminars (Leuven, Lyon, Buenos Aires, Rome). In 2008
the Melbourne College of Divinity conferred him the Degree of Doctor of Sacred Theology (Honoris Causa)
for his “outstanding contribution to theological learning” and education in Australia and especially for “his
significant contribution to bringing a critical Christian perspective to the study, interpretation and enjoyment
of the visual media”.
Celebrating 80 years of Catholic presence
in the Media with Unda, OCIC and SIGNIS
Edited by
Peter Malone
Peter Malone
Special contributions come from the last President of Unda, Angela Ann Zukowski
MHSH, Robert Molhant, past Secretary General of OCIC and SIGNIS, Peter Thomas,
past Vice President of Unda and present Vice President of SIGNIS, Bernardo Suate,
director of the Rome Services, Guido Convents, Cinema Desk, SIGNIS, and Jim
McDonnell, SIGNIS UK and Advocacy Desk, SIGNIS.
THE EMERGENCE OF SIGNIS
Peter Malone MSC, from Australia, was the last world president of OCIC and the
first president of SIGNIS.
SIGNIS
The World Catholic Association for Communication