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CONNECTED TOWARD COMMUNION: THE CHURCH AND SOCIAL COMMUNICATION IN THE DIGITAL AGE, Daniella Zsupan-Jerome (Collegeville, MN: Liturgical Press, 2014), pp. 130, paperback, $36.95.
The author, Daniella Zsupan-Jerome, teaches in the area of theology and communication at the Loyola Institute for Ministry, New Orleans. In this book she aims to bring together the relevant material that would assist those involved in ministerial formation to embrace the principles of social communication.
The book, however, is not a practical handbook with tips on how to communicate. Rather, it provides an in-depth analysis of the significant church documentation on social communication. This forms the basis for constructing a sound theology of communication. This book would be particularly useful in forming future ministers to embrace the digital age.
The book is divided into six chapters but some initial reflective reading of the preface and introduction would be very profitable. The author begins by noting 'communication is essential to the Church's identity', and then goes on to make the point that the 'present cultural shiftmarked by the digital media is of utmost importance as it touches all of the Church's ministerial activity, on a global and local level' (xiii).
There is a passing reference to the initiative of the Pontifical Council for Social Communications, the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops, and Santa Clara University, which annually brings together theologians and scholars in the area of communication and theology under the title Theocom. This reviewer has attended on two occasions, as...