Dean Sison of Graduate School Represents UST at Vatican Congress

The Pontifical Council for Social Communications organized the Congress of Schools and Departments of Communications in Catholic Universities last May 22-23, 2008 at the Pontificia Universita Urbaniana at the Vatican City in Rome. The Congress had for its theme “Looking to the Future of Communications together with the Whole Church.” There were 97 representatives of Schools of Communications in Catholic Universities from countries across five continents. Fr. Franz Josef Eilers, SVD consultant for the Graduate program in Social/Pastoral Communication, and Dr. Lilian Sison, Dean of the Graduate School represented the University of Santo Tomas in the Congress.

 Keynote Speakers provided the general framework and background for the discussions, while the panel discussions and the working groups enabled the participants to share information on the context and environments within which Schools of Communications of Catholic Universities operate from country to country.  One important highlight of the discussion was the articulation of the core elements, in terms of mission and identity, of such School in a Catholic university. Following the opening speeches, three thematic sessions focused on the specific challenges confronting Schools of Communications for Catholic universities. In the first session, the participants deliberated on the question of what it means to be a Catholic school of communications in different geographics and ecclesial contexts.  The second session focused on Ethics and Communications. It examined the question of how Catholic social teaching and anthropology contribute to ethical reflection. The third session delved on the issue of curriculum, how the curriculum can best present a theory or philosophy of communications that reflects basic Christian teachings on the value and worth of the human person. The Congress was also highlighted with a Papal Audience and the Corpus Christi Mass and Procession officiated by His Holiness, Pope Benedict XVI.

 Fr. Eilers was a panelist in the first session where he spoke about the challenges of Social Communications in the Asian region. He also highlighted the Graduate program on Social/Pastoral Communications of the UST Graduate School which attracts secular priests and religious persons from all over Asia. Dr. Sison gave a synthesis of the discussion in the second session, on the issue of ethics and communications. As a result of their participation in this Congress, Dr. Sison of the Graduate School and Fr. Eilers of the FABC are spearheading the preparations for the Asian Congress on Social Communication to be held at the Assumption University in Bangkok in May 2009.

article taken from The Academia, December 2008 issue.