Blog post
In December 2020, SIGNIS Uruguay formalized an alliance with the CICU. Since then, SIGNIS has been advising the institution from the communication point of view. In this framework of cooperation, SIGNIS Uruguay took part in the 2021 edition of the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity and it collaborated in the dissemination campaign for this important activity.
As many readers can point out, preparing an event like this one in such a secularized country is a challenge! However, the Holy Spirit, which we received some days before on the solemnity of Pentecost (this year celebrated on 23 May), inspired the need of a space of communion.
I’m extremely grateful for the organization and for the huge success of this initiative – more than 90 people representing member churches of the Uruguayan Council were connected: pastors, bishops, priests, laymen and laywomen, youngsters, adults, elderly, from all sides of the territory. Even in the midst of a very difficult situation regarding the pandemic, we were united, in the search of the common good, respecting the measures recommended by our government to protect us from spreading the virus and reflecting on the urgency of building more bridges as brothers and sisters in Christ.
We meditated on this year’s theme, inspired by the Gospel of Saint John 15:1-17 (“Abide in my love… you shall bear much fruit”), we heard messages delivered by the representatives of the churches and we heard some music. Just as we get used to social distancing, to the mandatory usage of masks, to the greetings with a fist bump, to the online gatherings and to all the necessary cares for this fight against COVID-19, there’s still a big challenge: continue spreading the “antivirus called hope” (a beautiful term proposed by Helen Osman, president of SIGNIS, in the frame of her message for Easter 2021). Here’s our mission not only as Christians but also as communicators willing to build a better world, to transmit the Good News and the good news, to be the voice of the voiceless and to leave a trace in our communities. It’s not easy, but we have our Best Friend on the road.
About the author :
Sebastián Sansón Ferrari (Uruguay, 1998) holds a Degree in Communication from the University of Montevideo. He is a correspondent of the Latin American and Caribbean Catholic Association of Communication (SIGNIS ALC) and vice president of SIGNIS Uruguay (Uruguayan Association of Catholic Communicators). He also serves as a contributor for Vatican News, the official information system of the Holy See, and for the Hebrew Weekly Jai, a communication media from the Jewish community in Uruguay.
