The International Conference on Theology entitled Cultus Publicus & Mass Media. Liturgie durch, mit und in Medien (Public worship and Mass-media. Liturgy through, with and in Mass-media) was held in Vienna, Austria, on March 3-6, 2022.
For more than two years, the Covid-19 pandemic has kept the entire world, states, society and the Church in suspense.
For several months, public worship could only be performed behind closed doors. However, the Church’s services experienced a real boom due to modern media tools, especially during periods of isolation and restrictions.
Thus, the media has become an integral part of the spiritual life and will continue to be so in the future.
Based on this observation, the lectures and workshops organized at the Vienna conference highlighted the use of the media in Christian worship from different perspectives.
Thus, the liturgical-theological discussion was enriched with practical perspectives in the broad field of broadcasting and media organization of services.
Both in the traditional media and the online environment, the Orthodox Church has held its place, whose purpose is to preach the word of God and offer the common prayer in the Church for those who cannot be present at services, primarily sick people.
On behalf of the Romanian Orthodox Church, Archdeacon Dr Vlăduț-Iulian Roșu from the New St. Spyridon Cathedral in Bucharest took part in this conference, giving a lecture entitled Liturgie und Medien in der Rumänisch-Orthodoxen Kirche (Liturgy and Mass-media in the Romanian Orthodox Church).
He highlighted the excellent functioning of the Basilica Media Centre of the Romanian Patriarchate under the coordination of His Beatitude Patriarch Daniel of the Romanian Orthodox Church. The media centre comprises five departments: radio station (Radio Trinitas), television (Trinitas TV), newspaper (Ziarul Lumina), Basilica News Agency and the Press and Public Relations Office.
He also presented how religious services are broadcast in the Romanian Patriarchate, emphasizing the advantages and the challenges or threats that online participation in Church services can bring.
The partners of the conference included the Faculty of Roman Catholic Theology at the University of Vienna, the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Vienna, the Roman-Catholic Archdiocese of Paderborn (Germany), Renovabis Association, the Department of Religion and Ethics of the Austrian Corporation Broadcasting (ORF) and the Catholic Media Academy (Katolische Medien Akademie, KMA).
The event was held at the Kardinal-König-Haus Formation Centre of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Vienna.
Article by Archdeacon Vlăduț-Iulian Roșu
Edited by Basilica.ro
Photography courtesy of Archdeacon Vlăduț-Iulian Roșu
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