FAITHFUL TO DON ALBERIONE

By Fr Silvio Sassi
Superior General of the Society of St Paul,
Consultor of the Pontifical Council for Social Communication.

Who are the Paulines, present in 34 countries of the five continents with publishing houses of books, periodicals, music and radio productions, televisions, cinematography, with multiple areas of diffusion and multimedia bookstores, with internet sites, with centers of communication studies, among which a Faculty, with courses of specialisation in Sacred Scripture and organisms of the promotion of culture? We are a community of priests and consecrated laity who, responding to the gift of vocation, have decided to belong to the religious Congregation founded in 1914 in Alba (Cuneo, Italy) by a diocesan priest, Blessed James Alberione.

From the market point of view, Paulines can be identified a catholic publishing house at a world level. Observed as persons who continue the pastoral activity of Fr. Alberione, Paulines do not maintain a publishing house which puts out in the market products of Christian inspiration, nor the least, a commercial activity which has as a sole scope economic benefit. The inspirational idea behind all the editorial activities of Paulines has been indicated by the Founder since his first journalistic assignment in the direction of the weekly newspaper Gazzetta d’Alba: the press is a new form of evangelisation. In its 93 years of history, Paulines have assumed in their mission mass media communication, that of multimedia and on-line.

Faithful to the teachings of Blessed Alberione, we maintain that the proposal of the person and the teachings of Christ can be realised in a new way, complementary to that which comes in a parish: can be presented are the richness of the faith, the various modes of prayer and the necessity of a testimony in social work, as occurring in the multiple forms and languages of communication. The Pauline priests, do not assume, if not as exception, parish administration, because their parish is constituted by millions of persons who read the publications, listen to the transmissions, see the TV and cinematographic programs, are served in the bookstores, are formed by culture
and by communication and visit websites. «Your parish is the world», repeated untiringly by Fr. Alberione.

In front of the explosion of the phenomenon of the press, filled with the certainty that «if St Paul would return today he would be a journalist», Fr. Alberione with the approval of the Church, to realise “a new evangelisation”, gave life to the ecclesial community a new style of pastoral activity that has as foundation a new style of religious life: religious and priests, but also professionals of communication. The development of the works of the Congregation, has pushed the founder to start the other institutions which form the Pauline Family and motivated his followers to a progressive coinvolvement of professional laity who realises the Christian vocation participating in the aims of the Society of St Paul.

Well apart from wanting to be industrialist of the sacred, yet trusting in the mysterious ways of Providence, Paulines are convinced that it is possible to
encounter God in the pastoral activity in a parish as much as they immerse
themselves in the consumption of a communication in which God reaches out
his hand.

(written on the occasion of the 41st World Day of Social Communications)