A statement released by the Information Network of the Church in Latin America (known as RIIAL, Red Informática de la Iglesia en América Latina) announced that the conference will be held Oct. 17-19 in Santiago. It will be organized by RIIAL, the Pontifical Council for Social Communications, the Latin American Episcopal Conference (CELAM), the Chilean Episcopal Conference and the Catholic University of Chile.
«The speed of the current media world is no longer news; it is a fact of daily reality that strongly influences individuals, families and countries,» RIIAL commented in its press release. «The Church, immersed in this cultural eco-system in speedy evolution, takes part actively in it and wishes to contribute so that it will develop in justice, peace and solidarity, respecting the dignity of every person.»
The information agency said that the conference hopes to explore «the present moment of the digital culture free of naiveté, exploring some of its most characteristic aspects,» and to «carry forward a theology of communication in the light of the Aparecida Document, which directs the missionary action of the whole continent.»
«A central part of this reflection will be how to generate lively communities through communication, of which there can be no exclusions,» it added. «That is why attention will be given to the extension of bridges to include those who live outside this dialogue, so that all will have a voice.»
