“New New Media” and Catechesis of the Church

Abstract

Contemporary world uses mass media at an unprecedented scale. Every culture and every society is pervaded by a media reality. In many people the media form a picture of the world that is different from the real one. Loosening the communal ties between people is a serious threat posed by the media. A man rooted in the virtual world does not have a sense of community as well as of life for and in a community. Building the sense of community is one of the important tasks that the Church is facing. Talking about the media the Church does not point to their negative image, but it recommends that the people managing the media should use moral criteria referring to another man, for his good. Undoubtedly the Church’s catechesis is facing a serious task, that is building a sense of community in a man who, using the media, makes his presence in the community less obvious. The media world, especially the world of the electronic media, constitutes a great space for evangelization and catechization that can be used by the Church.