Networking to communicate: Conference Communicators Meeting

The Conference Communicators from the six conferences met once again to coordinate, learn from each other and improve communication in the Society of Jesus. On this occasion, the conference was held virtually from 26 to 30 April, and Jesuit Network was invited with the aim of learning what is being done from each conference in terms of communication and see what collaborative actions are taking place across the global network.

The main themes of the conference were the Universal Apostolic Preferences, the Ignatian Year and Vocation Promotion. Along these lines, the General Curia presented the projects it is currently working on. 

• A collaborative repository of resources has been created, with videos, images, templates and other utilities to be used by the different communication teams. It is also reminded that any person or institution can contribute royalty-free images or illustrations to be used by the Society of Jesus.  

• The “One Gospel Step” project also has a collaborative purpose: to make visible different actions of any Ignatian community in the world, coming from the different conferences, provinces and networks, which helps the whole Jesuit network to know what other institutions of the network are doing anywhere in the world. It is also easy to do for the communication teams: the General Curia has made available a very easy-to-edit template, which allows to unify the format, improve the quality of the communications and reduce the time required for this promotional work.

• Marc Ravizza, Father General’s Delegate for Formation, made a warm appeal to use all means of communication for vocations promotion throughout the world, including the new site vocations.jesuits.global.

There was also a time to share each conference’s experiences and learn from the other. It was extremely enriching to understand how different each Conference’s reality is. There are various plans and initiatives for this year and there is a need for the communication teams to share all these projects that will enable the whole Ignatian family to collaborate and further their work. It is clear that unity and cooperation are key words for the years to come. In the end, we all have the same mission: to spread God’s word to the World.

Jesuit Network is grateful to the Curia and the conferences for the opportunity to attend this meeting of communicators, as it is a direct way of getting to know what is being done by the different conferences to share learning and ideas, and to give voice to all the collaborative initiatives that are being carried out.