From the 16th to 19th October the 10th week of Guardian Formation for COMPI-South was held at San Giovanni Rotondo (FG), at the Centro di spiritualità Padre Pio, with the subject being: “Deviance and dependency in the use of media”. The attendance was numerous, about 70 Guardians being present.
In the opening talk of the conference entitled “Entangled in the Web? Social Media and Ethics in Religious Life” given by Prof. Don Roberto Massaro, Moral Theology teacher at the Theological Faculty of Puglia, attention was immediately focused on the problem of the so-called Internet Addiction, or rather that tendency to use the web in conformity with our status with evident consequences in the relational, social and vocational ambits.
Ample space was given to the psychological and physical modifications that the continual use of social media inevitably comports and it was highlighted how these modifications can lead to an overexposure on the media which is not in synchronization with our vocation. On this subject, the intervention of Prof. Michele Sardella OFM Dean of the Faculty of Canon Law at the Antonianum, who placed the emphasis on the canonical consequences connected to an improper use of the internet in the private, intimate and emotional ambits of social media.
The second contribution given by Prof. Massimo Vasale, psychologist and lecturer at the Salesian Pontifical University, entitled “Deviances and addiction in media use in consecrated life”, allowed us to reflect on the link between deviance and digital media from a psychological standpoint. Developing further the concept of addiction, we evaluated some clinical and behavioral evidence in order to identify useful criteria to recognize the symptoms: untrustworthiness in roles and tasks, compromised control, social compromise, risky use, mood changes that are always present in manifesting a dependency and can be valid indications of a dangerous situation in being.
The lecture then helped those present to identify the possible old wounds at the base of addictive behavior and the risk factors linked to consecrated life for those who, although already consecrated, find themselves in difficulty: perfectionism, repressed anger, solitude, lack of awareness, minimalizing, denial of emotional damage, stress, narcissism, lack of formation, and spiritual aridity…
The third and last contribution was given by Prof. Massimiliano Padula, sociologist and lecturer of communicational science at the Redemptor Hominis Pastoral Institute of the Lateran Pontifical University, centred his talk on the definition of a social and cultural framework in which to give a context to the “social life” phenomenon which has grown exponentially since the beginning of the year 2000.
Prof. Padula wished to present to the audience of Guardian how as, Friars Minor, we cannot limit the use of digital media to spread the Gospel: the challenge consists in succeeding in “integrating” the good news in “the new (communication) culture”, which prefers narration and communication to be mediated through sounds and pictures. We are therefore called to exercise a service to culture, overcoming the temptation to self-centredness, and projecting ourselves in a charitable dimension.
In conclusion, the conference contributed in clarifying and giving a new insight into the relationship of social media and possible deviance, while at the same time giving the go-ahead to a process of discernment which, it is hoped, will help to take into account of the difficulties that are emerging presently in our religious life, enabling us to push forward towards new models of evaluation for our initial formation curriculum and good discernment for that of permanent formation as well in our lives as brothers and minors.
Particular thanks to Br. Nicola Gildi of the Province of the Sacred Heart of Naples, for his choice of venue and his organization.
