FOR JOURNALISTS
JANUARY 23/26, 2025
what identity for what mission?
An exceptional event requires an exceptional system! On the occasion of the Holy Year, the Federation of Catholic Media is associating its 28th International Meetings Saint Francis de Sales with the Jubilee of Journalists organized in Rome. These days, close to the heart of the Catholic faith, will be an opportunity to question ourselves on the particular identities of our media. In what way are they Catholic? How is this identity embodied on the editorial level? What position should we adopt vis-à-vis the ecclesiastical authorities? What does this identity mean for the collaborators – journalists or not – of our titles? And all this, for what purpose, in the service of what mission?
These reflections will continue with the Pilgrimage of Journalists for the Jubilee, with the passage of the Holy Door and an audience with the Pope. As every year since 2017, the Saint François de Sales Meetings will also be the occasion to award the Father Jacques Hamel Prize to the winner who will be designated at the end of the year.
JeanMarie Montel, Xavier Le Normand, president of the Federation of Catholic Media. coordinator of the program.
WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 22, 2025 From 5 p.m., in the various accommodation locations offered Welcome of people already present and installation in the rooms. Free dinner at the expense of each participant.
THURSDAY, JANUARY 23, 2025 Lunch at the expense of each participant. From 2:00 p.m. to 3:00 p.m. — Location to be determined Opening Mass of the Meetings presided over by His Excellency Msgr. Rino Fisichella, Proprefect of the Dicastery for the Evangelization of the Holy See, coordinator of the Jubilee 2025. From 3:30 p.m. to 4:15 p.m. — General Curia of the Jesuits
All sessions of the 28th Meetings of Saint Francis de Sales will be held in the great hall of the General Curia of the Jesuits, via BorgoSantoSpirito, 4 in Rome, near St. Peter’s Basilica.
OPENING OF THE 28TH MEETINGS H.E. Mgr Rino Fisichella, Pro-Prefect of the Dicastery for Evangelization of the Holy See, coordinator of the Jubilee 2025; Paolo Ruffini, Prefect of the Dicastery for Communication of the Holy See; Brother Renaud Escande, Administrator of the Pious Establishments of France in Rome and Loreto; Mgr Bruno Valentin, Bishop of Carcassonne President of the Council for Communication of the Conference of Bishops of France; JeanMarie Montel, President of the Federation of Catholic Media. Presentation of the theme Xavier Le Normand, editorial manager of the international editions of La Croix, coordinator of the program.
From 4:15 p.m. to 4:45 p.m.
Coffee Break Plenary 1. Information, training or evangelization: what mission for Catholic media? Conference-debate / General Curia of the Jesuits /
Thursday, January 23 / 4:45 p.m. 6:15 p.m.
What is the purpose of our Catholic media? Is our goal to take part in the missionary mandate to evangelize our audiences? Or are we here to participate in the formation of Christian readers, to help them grow in faith? Or do our media participate in general information, providing a Christian reading of events, particularly in these times when crises follow crises? Or are our media all of these things at once? Speakers: • Michel Kubler, Assumptionist, former religious editor-in-chief of La Croix; • Céline Guillaume, president of the La Procure bookstores, member of the Dominican Third Order; • Simon Lessard, journalist for the Quebec magazine Le Verbe, Dominican brother.
Presentation of the Father Jacques Hamel Prize Embassy of France / Villa Bonaparte / Thursday, January 23 / 7 p.m. Among the candidates producing an original creation in any form, published during the year 2024, the jury has selected and rewarded a journalistic work that highlights initiatives in favor of peace and interreligious dialogue. Created in 2017 by the Federation, in memory of the priest assassinated on July 26, 2016 in his church in Saint-Étienne-du-Rouvray, this Prize will be presented – for the eighth edition – by Mrs. Florence Mangin, Ambassador of France to the Holy See, at the Villa Bonaparte, a prestigious high place of the French presence, Via Piave, 23, in Rome. The award ceremony will take place in the presence of Mgr Dominique Lebrun, Arch Bishop of Rouen, and Roseline Hamel, sister of the priest (pending confirmation). It will be followed by a cocktail. Round-trip transportation between the Jesuit General Curia and Villa Bonaparte, provided by private coaches, is included in the package registration.
FRIDAY, JANUARY 24 From 8:00 to 9:00 — Venue to be confirmed Mass presided over by His Eminence Cardinal Fernando Filoni, Grand Master of the Equestrian Order of the Holy Sepulchre of Jerusalem. Plenary 2. Do Catholic media have a future? Conference-debate / General Curia of the Jesuits / Friday,
January 24 / 9:30 a.m. – 11:00 a.m. In a world that seems increasingly de-Christianized, in the West at least, is there still a place for Catholic media? Do audiences still have an interest in our titles, whether for a Christian vision or even to live a daily Christian prayer? If we are currently celebrating the 2025 Jubilee, will we still be here for the 2050 Jubilee? Speakers: • Hubert de Torcy, President of Saje Distribution; • Karem Bustica, editor-in-chief of Prions en Église; • Bruno Courtois, general director of Radio NotreDame.
From 11:00 to 11:30 Coffee Break Testimony. Reporting the Pope’s words, quite an art! Conference-debate / General Curia of the Jesuits / Friday, January 24 / 11:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. Listening to the Pope’s words, understanding them, analyzing them and reporting them to the public, such is the very special task of Vatican journalists. How do we live this daily life with the papal word, how do we learn to understand it, how to question it and put it into perspective? Vaticanists will answer all your questions! Speakers: • Hugues Lefevre, director of the I.Media agency; • Nicole Winfield, Vatican journalist for the American agency Associated Press.
From 1:00 to 2:00 Shared lunch Taken in a restaurant near the Jesuit General Curia, this lunch is included in the registration fee. Plenary 3. Is a Catholic media a relay of the magisterium like the others? Conference-debate / Jesuit General Curia /
Friday, January 24 / 2:30 p.m. to 4:00 p.m. Our media have a very particular positioning, between editorial line and journalistic requirements on the one hand, and adherence to the Catholic faith on the other. Therefore, how can and should our media position themselves with regard to developments in the magisterium? Are we there to relay them, support them or question them? Speakers: • Andreas Thonauser, head of the Roman bureau of the American television Eternal Word Television Network (EWTN); • Anne Ponce, editorial director of La Croix; • AntoineMarie Izoard, editorial director of Famille Chrétienne.
From 4:30 p.m. Event at SaintJeandeLatran The program for the evening in which we are invited to participate is being prepared by the Vicariate, as part of the 2025 Jubilee. We will communicate the details to you later. From early Friday evening until Sunday, we wanted to give participants of the 28th Saint Francis de Sales Meetings the opportunity to participate in the process initiated by the Vatican as part of the 2025 Jubilee of journalists, the program of which will be communicated later. Free dinner at the expense of each participant.
SATURDAY, JANUARY 25
Starting at 7:30 a.m. — St. Peter’s Basilica Passage of the Holy Door From 9:30 a.m. to 12 p.m. — St. Peter’s Basilica Pontifical Audience From 12:30 p.m. to 1:45 p.m. Lunch Optional and only by reservation at the time of registration. In the early afternoon — Church of Saint Louis of the French-speaking Participation of the Federation in the 2025 Jubilee
As part of the Jubilee ceremonies, the Vicariate asked the Federation of Catholic Media to offer a proposal for common reflection to all French-speaking jubilee journalists and communicators present in Rome. We have chosen the following theme: Jubilee proposal How can Catholic media be actors of peace? Conference-debate / Saint-Louis-des-Français Church /
Saturday, January 25 / Time to be determined On the occasion of the Jubilee, the Holy Father exhorts us to be “pilgrims of hope”. What does this mean for us, professionals in the Catholic media? Don’t our media have a special responsibility to communicate this hope, by being a voice of peace in a world where conflicts, the “Third World War in pieces”, sadly seem to multiply and never end? Speakers: • Roseline Hamel, sister of Father Jacques Hamel, member of the jury for the Father Jacques Hamel Prize; • Samuel Lieven, editorial director of Le Pèlerin; • Philippine de Saint Pierre, general director of KTO, member of the jury for the Father Jacques Hamel Prize. Private concert Saint Louis des Français Church /
Saturday, January 25 / 7 p.m. As part of an exceptional partnership, the Pious Establishments of France in Rome and Loreto offer us a private concert by the Capella Ludovica at Saint Louis des Français, one of the five French churches in Rome. Round-trip transportation to Saint Louis des Français, provided by private coaches, is included in the registration fee.
Apart from 7:30 p.m. — In a nearby restaurant Closing dinner of the Saint François de Sales International Meetings Optional and only by reservation at the time of registration.
SUNDAY, JANUARY 26 10 a.m. — Saint Peter’s Basilica Sunday Mass presided over by the Pope Lunch at the expense of each participant, depending on the return flight times to Paris.