27-38,COMMUNIQUE 2023 okCorr1.qxp_Culture 4/27/23 10:46 AM Page 27
Spring 2023
Issue 4
The Way of the Logos GREETINGS! In the pages of this special Communiqué, you will find an account of the remarkable things a number of talented and faithful people with the US nonprofit, Urbi et Orbi Communications, are accomplishing to bring the message, the presence and the love of Jesus, the Logos (“Word”) of God, to an increasingly dehumanized and de-humanizing world. Our flagship magazine, Inside the Vatican, has been published for 30 years (2023 marks our 30th anniversary!). Now we embark on the next 30 years, which, if anything, are crying out for the light of the Gospel as never before. The Way of the Logos In about the year 60 A.D., St. Paul wrote to the first generation of Christians living in the city of Ephesus: “For our wrestling is not against flesh and blood, but against principalities and powers, against the rulers of the world of this darkness, against the spirits of wickedness in the high places.” (Ephesians 6:12) This understanding of our struggle remains true today, almost 2,000 years later. In our time, the “spirits of wickedness” are the schemes and cold ideologies of powerful men, the theorists of an emerging technocratic elite, the doctrines of a rigid materialism which are taking away the very concept of the “soul” from our understanding of what it means to be human, and in the process depersonalizing our culture. Against all these “spirits” of ideology, we propose a different way: the way of truth, of beauty, of love, of unity in and through Christ. Here, you’ll read about how we are doing it: in our manyfaceted print and digital efforts, yes, but also in our pilgrimages, which bring individual souls face-to-face with the Logos in many different places: in the beauty of a lush mountainside crowned with white peaks, within a spectacular edifice of stone and glass built by the devout 800 years ago, or by gazing upon the mysterious image not painted by human hands of a bearded man’s loving face. And, of course, the everyday kindnesses of a fellow traveler: these are the
human — and humanizing — experiences we share with each pilgrim we travel with, and each pilgrim we encounter on the way. You’ll also read about our efforts to bring human relief to currently disastercrippled places on the globe, like Ukraine and Lebanon, where we partner with people on the ground who live and work in the midst of sometimes terrible conditions. And you’ll learn about how we are reaching out to Orthodox Christians, our brothers in faith and sacrament, to join hands with them in round-table meetings and discussions on how to confront, together, a confident regime of secular humanism which sees no place for our 2,000-year-old faith in Jesus Christ. Even within our own Catholic Church, there is a sad division and strife which we are working to heal with balance and objectivity, always holding high the Church’s unchanging message of salvation, yet never abandoning dialogue with anyone willing to engage. Enjoy this issue of Communiqué! I hope you will be so impressed and moved by our accomplishments and our plans that you, too, will want to join us as we take to heart the words of Christ to St. Francis of Assissi: “Come, Rebuild My Church!”
Editor, Inside the Vatican magazine Founder and President, Urbi et Orbi Communications
TABLE of CONTENTS Unitas Report..............................…......................2 Urbi et Orbi Communications timeline ............6 Spotlight: Digital and Print Media...................10 “Now is the Time”..............................................12
URBI ET ORBI COMMUNICATIONS u 14 W. MAIN ST., FRONT ROYAL, VA 22630 +1.202.536.4555 u UrbiEtOrbiCommunications.com. 1