(ANS – Rome) – “Do not be afraid of new technologies!” The words were from John Paul II in 2005, in his Apostolic Letter, “The Rapid Development”. Fr. Maciej Makuła, a member of the Social Communication Sector, used these words to title his latest work, a series of contributions on Communication in the Church and in the Salesian Family.

The Pope, as Fr. Makuła explains, repeats this expression four times in the text cited, a text with which John Paul II took into account the rapid development of technologies in the field of the media, and drew the attention of those responsible for social communications to reflect on the challenges that social communications already constituted for the Church at that time.

Over the past decade, dynamic technological developments have created new questions and tasks for the Church in the context of the Internet and social media. Media advances have opened up pioneering communication opportunities for the Church, while posing additional challenges for the Church in the process of evangelisation. Social media and the Internet have become indispensable tools for communication on a global scale.

In the series, Fr. Makuła elaborates and explains the four points in which John Paul II repeats this expression: “Do not be afraid.” It is a message that the Pontiff forcefully repeats to the Heads of Social Communications in his Apostolic Letter.

John Paul II’s words about looking with courage and working with new technologies in the field of media can become a kind of motto for many people of the Church in their daily work. Attention to new emerging technologies requires responsibility for the tools used, as well as a clear awareness of what the Church is called to do.

“The future could bring further innovative solutions in the field of social communication and media” writes Fr. Makuła. “On the other hand, the elements that help to use new technologies correctly remain constant: training, professionalisation, cooperation and awareness of responsibility for a common goal.”