Cinema, spirituality and digital literacy–these terms summarize a series of apostolic initiatives held in the Czech Republic in the second half of January 2023.
The community of the Daughters of St. Paul has been present in the Czech Republic for almost 30 years now. They are known there through their publishing apostolate and book center in the heart of the capital. This time, however, they wanted to highlight another aspect of the Pauline apostolate–that of culture and formation.
For this reason, they invited Sr. Rose Pacatte, FSP, an expert in the field of cinema and media literacy, to guide a number of different events they had organized:
– A cineforum entitled Spirituality and the Cinema and the film The Fablemans
– A panel on the theme From Hollywood to Andrei Tarkovsky
– A dialogue with director Václav Kadrnka and journalist Lukáš Jirsa on the questions: Do spiritual films exist? Can one find something other than entertainment in the cinema? How can films change the way we look at reality and life?
In addition to these events devoted specifically to the field of cinema, Sr. Rose addressed issues concerning pastoral care, catechesis and evangelization in the digital age in four different encounters:
– The Plenary Assembly of the Czech Bishops’ Conference: Evangelization in the Digital Age
– A conference and workshop for religious: The Digital World and Religious Life
– A workshop for catechists, teachers and parents: Faith and Education in the Digital Age
– A workshop for youth ministry workers: Evangelization in the Digital Age.
hese stimulating sessions opened a window of reflection on the importance of digital communication in the Church and world. The Daughters of St. Paul are called to exercise to the full the power of their charism in this new reality.
