"A correlative resonance exists between the experience of communication in the new normal forced by the COVID-19 pandemic and each of the Seven Last Words of Christ on the Cross. The words become the new normal way and guiding beacon to how religious communication can be effectuated during the pande ... mic. They herald hope in God – the first and the last Word of creation. The study begins by defining the global challenge and loss of human lives brought by COVID-19, a new arena of communication that reincarnates the reality of Christ’s Last Words on the cross. These words never die but continue to live inspiring a sevenfold praxis of hope: 1) entreaty, 2) disclosure, 3) relationship, 4) isolation, 5) exigency, 6) fulfillment and 7) entrustment. Each relates with narrative experiences during the COVID-19 pandemic inviting persons not only to approach communication as a process of transmission but as semiotics offering newfound meanings and significance. Here communication never fails as listeners focus on the self-significance of the message. Religious communication enables people to seek what is best for those who receive the message and centers on how they could grow not only in faith but likewise as human beings who bear God’s image and likeness also in the time of the pandemic." (Abstract) more

"Despite the wide-ranging topics presented in this collection, this volume takes ‘communication’ as the keyword for the various research and reflections on the life and mission of the Catholic Church during the COVID-19 pandemic as well as post-crisis. The reader will readily recognize that what ... is referred to as ‘communication’ here is an extremely elastic and multi-dimensional category. Within the context of the Church, particularly as discussed in this book, communication refers to words and images that the Church transmits to the faithful and to the world to help the people cope with issues brought about by the crisis. This communication helps contextualize these dramatic events in sound theological principles which need to again and again be creatively restated and reaffirmed with every human happening, both big and small, that takes place. Second, communication also refers to pastoral and evangelizing actions carried out by the Church and its members to sustain the life of the Church amid the grave situation of imposed isolation, pastors and members of the flock succumbing to COVID-19, shuttered church doors, and unlit altar candles. Third, communication refers to the models and strategies by the Church and its leaders to employ technological means to promote ecclesial communion, nourish the faith life of the people, and to dialogue with individuals and groups to create a truly synodal Church. Finally, communication also refers to ways that the Church discerns and engages with the signs of the times in order to transform raw experiences into valuable lessons, human suffering into salvific grace, and pandemic isolation and division into greater post-pandemic interculturality, interdependence, and collaboration." (Introduction, page xx-xxi) more