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Portoviejo, Ecuador, Mar 15, 2017 / 12:50 pm (Aid to the Church in Need).- Almost one year has passed since a devastating earthquake struck Ecuador on April 16, 2016: more than 660 died and many thousands lost their homes and livelihoods.Grave suffering persists, as countless people remain homeless or have been living in bamboo huts and pre-fabricated containers that were only supposed be a very temporary solution.“About 1,500 to 2,000 people are suffering from these circumstances,” said Father Walter Coronel, who oversees the rebuilding projects for the Archdiocese of Portoviejo, which was hard hit.“Most of them live in very poor rural areas, where conditions were already difficult before the earthquake. Now things are even worse. It is absolutely impossible for them to manage without outside help,” the priest told international Catholic charity Aid to the Church in Need.Full recovery will take a long-time, even as aid has been pouring in for the past year. ...
Portoviejo, Ecuador, Mar 15, 2017 / 12:50 pm (Aid to the Church in Need).- Almost one year has passed since a devastating earthquake struck Ecuador on April 16, 2016: more than 660 died and many thousands lost their homes and livelihoods.
Grave suffering persists, as countless people remain homeless or have been living in bamboo huts and pre-fabricated containers that were only supposed be a very temporary solution.
“About 1,500 to 2,000 people are suffering from these circumstances,” said Father Walter Coronel, who oversees the rebuilding projects for the Archdiocese of Portoviejo, which was hard hit.
“Most of them live in very poor rural areas, where conditions were already difficult before the earthquake. Now things are even worse. It is absolutely impossible for them to manage without outside help,” the priest told international Catholic charity Aid to the Church in Need.
Full recovery will take a long-time, even as aid has been pouring in for the past year. Fr. Coronel remains anxious about the current situation: “A lot still needs to be done. Please do not forget us. We need more help.”
He explained that 52 churches in the Portoviejo archdiocese in Manabí Province were affected by the 7.8 magnitude earthquake. “Most of them were completely destroyed. Only 25 are being rebuilt. There isn’t enough money for the other churches.”
On the bright side, the reconstruction and repair of churches and church-related facilities are creating employment opportunities.
Fr. Coronel reported that many people are approaching priests on the street, telling them: “We must not remain without a church.”
“Many of them may not even have a roof over their heads, but they want to have their church,” the priest said, adding that “in Ecuador, churches are our social identity, our outward expression.”
“At the moment, Holy Mass is being held on the street; if we are lucky, in tents. Services often have to be interrupted due to heavy rains or because of the winds typical for this region on the Ecuadorian coast. Several weeks ago, there was heavy flooding in the areas that had been hit by the earthquake,” he continued.
ACN is currently carrying out various co-funded projects to rebuild parish structures in Ecuador. Fr. Coronel confirmed that such aid is crucial for enabling the Church to continue its work of evangelization and providing pastoral care.
He said that “it is very difficult to receive support for this purpose from other sources.”
Last year, ACN spent some $1.2m in projects in Ecuador, more than half of which was spent on reconstruction efforts in the wake of the earthquake.
IMAGE: CNS photo/Matt PalmerBy Matt PalmerAUSTIN,Texas (CNS) -- McDonald's, Apple, Starbucks and ' the Catholic Church?Interms of recognizable organization names, the Catholic Church has to rank nearthe top. But, does it view itself as a brand to be marketed?Thatwas among several questions raised by attendees during a March 12 panel titled"Compassionate Disruption" at the annual South by Southwest Festival in Austin.The panel was one of the festival's first steps to address faith's place in seculardiscussions. Bishop Paul Tighe, adjunct secretary for Pontifical Council forCulture, was on the panel with Catholic communicators Helen Osman, MichaelHertl and Christoph Krachten at the Hyatt Regency.Theconcept of branding has become more prevalent than ever, thanks to the digitalage. All around the festival, commonly known as SXSW, companies marketed theirbrands via experiential booths and events.Activistgroups trying to attract young people to affect social change also werepresent. Faith...
IMAGE: CNS photo/Matt Palmer
By Matt Palmer
AUSTIN, Texas (CNS) -- McDonald's, Apple, Starbucks and ' the Catholic Church?
In terms of recognizable organization names, the Catholic Church has to rank near the top. But, does it view itself as a brand to be marketed?
That was among several questions raised by attendees during a March 12 panel titled "Compassionate Disruption" at the annual South by Southwest Festival in Austin. The panel was one of the festival's first steps to address faith's place in secular discussions. Bishop Paul Tighe, adjunct secretary for Pontifical Council for Culture, was on the panel with Catholic communicators Helen Osman, Michael Hertl and Christoph Krachten at the Hyatt Regency.
The concept of branding has become more prevalent than ever, thanks to the digital age. All around the festival, commonly known as SXSW, companies marketed their brands via experiential booths and events.
Activist groups trying to attract young people to affect social change also were present. Faith-specific booths appeared few and far between at the Austin Convention Center, but that could be changing, thanks to the "Compassionate Disruption" panel. The festival runs through March 19.
Bishop Tighe told the large crowd inside a Hyatt Regency ballroom that the Vatican would not likely play a centralized role in defining a Catholic brand online. The church's real strength, he said, comes from the local level.
"I say, let's look around the world and the dioceses that do this well," he said. "Starbucks is Starbucks wherever you go. McDonald's is McDonald's wherever you go. Churches are different in the different parts of the world you go and that's the richness of liturgy, the music, the language and everything else.
"I think we have to be very careful about not trying to be overly uniform," he continued. "But, I do think there's value, at the same time, in saying, 'Let's define standards and language that would work together.'"
Bishop Tighe helped lead a digital revolution at the Vatican during his eight-year tenure as secretary of the Pontifical Council for Social Communication, which ended in 2015.
He jokingly acknowledged that the Catholic Church is an unconventional place to turn to when it comes to communication.
Referring to how the results of papal elections are revealed, he said, "Here we are talking about, we're talking about social media, digital media and new technologies, in the Vatican and in the church, our biggest communications moment is delivered by smoke."
Hertl and Krachten, who work in digital media for the church in Germany, stressed that quality content, on YouTube and social media channels, is a must for Catholic communicators.
"I think we have to connect with the young generation where they are," Krachten said.
Bishop Tighe told attendees that social media is marred when there is acrimonious discussion. Catholics, he insisted, must be good citizens there and avoid giving in to trolls, a term for social media users who aim to solely deride people online.
He added that Catholics, and the Vatican, must keep a mission in mind.
"One of the things we were very clear about from the beginning was that that we're not going into social media as a brand trying to measure performance," he said. "We're ultimately in social media as an agency that is speaking of something other than ourselves, which is trying to share the good news of the Gospel."
That's not to say that the church can't learn lessons from social media analytics.
"We need to be professional in what we do," he told the crowd, before adding that key performance indicator data shouldn't "block what God is trying to do."
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