ARTS AND ENTERTAINMENT

This painting represents the turmoil experienced during a time of crisis. Typhoon is a symbol of anxiety, chaos, destruction and struggle. However, once those trial moments are surmounted, the inner energy of the typhoon brings transformation, putting life in order and strengthening one’s spirit. Emotional typhoon seems to tear life apart when it hits. One can’t turn away from it, but once it is over, it brings new potential; visions become clear and one sees brighter days ahead.

PAINTING BY FR RAUL TABARANZA MCCJ

RADAR

Sr Orianne’s profile on Instagram-Source: vaticannews.va.

Sister Orianne, a Pauline nun on Instagram Encountering Christ online

Sister Orianne, a Canadian-born Pauline nun, currently based at their North American Publishing House, Boston, USA, ministers to followers via social media platforms fostering through them an encounter with God through the message of Christ and His deep and abiding love

Is it possible to evangelise with a smile? The answer to that question seems to be a definite, “yes!”, when swiping through the Instagram posts published by Sr Orianne Pietra René. This young sister, beyond her great competence on social media and her witty humour, boasts an extraordinary talent for mimicry. Her irony, though, is never an end to itself; rather, it always proposes an invitation to the spiritual and calls her 33 000 followers back to the Gospel.

“I entered religious life when I was 27 years old”, says Sr Orianne, “and I made my first vows as a Daughter of Saint Paul in July 2021.”

Q: And what was your life like before then?
I had no intention of becoming a nun. As a convert to Catholicism, my teens and early 20s were spent studying, working, travelling and growing in my faith. I studied Anthropology and International Development at university and then pursued studies in Education. I worked as a teacher in the UK for one year, and then returned to Canada where I taught French to kids in kindergarten through grade 7. I was also active in youth ministry at our local parish.

I loved working with kids and teens. I began to realise that there was a real spiritual starvation in kids. That realization opened me up to a desire for something more. Then when a priest asked me in confession if I’d ever considered my vocation, I began to wonder (with a lot of panic at the time!) whether the Lord was calling me to religious life.

Since I was in a very rural area, there were not many communities nearby I could talk to, so I began to search online. That’s where I found the Daughters of Saint Paul for the first time.

Q: How did you first become involved in this digital pastoral activity? Did your superiors request it of you or was it a personal decision?

As Daughters of Saint Paul, we are called to use the most modern and effective means of communication to share the Gospel of Jesus Christ. I certainly used social media before I entered the Daughters, but my accounts were all private. I just used it to share with my family and friends.

When I became a sister, I felt the Lord invite me to bring all of myself to this call, including my social media. After discerning this invitation with my sisters, I changed my social media accounts to public, and began to share from my heart with the people of God.

Q: Your videos are very original and ironic. Was that planned or is it part of your personality?
I actually never post anything unless I feel the Spirit prompting me to share. I love to find the humour in life. I think God has an amazing sense of humour and it comes out even in Scripture!

At the same time, I feel the needs and sufferings of people very deeply. I hope my videos can bring a smile to people’s faces, and that the written messages beneath them can bring healing to people’s hearts.

Q: Is it difficult to transmit a spiritual message in such a short video?
If we realized how much God loves us, and how much He loves us in the simple realities of life, our lives would be so different. I long for people to know that love—a love that is living, that heals, and that invites us to newness. This is the Gospel’s message. This is what I hope to share.

Q: Who are your followers?
Each one of my followers is a precious child of God. I am grateful to have a little social media family that actually prays together—I pray for them, they pray for me, and they pray for one another. It’s so humbling to see this amazing community forming in the comments of a video.

My following is pretty evenly split between guys and girls, and they range in age from teenagers to 60-year-olds. They are from all over the world—I’ve had amazing conversations with people across the US and Canada, Brazil and Italy, Lebanon and Kenya, Korea and Australia. It’s amazing to see the Lord working in all of their lives and they teach me a lot too!

I can say from personal experience how important our Christian presence is on social media. I have had the incredible privilege of accompanying people through seasons of doubt, returning to prayer, and of conversions to Catholicism.

I still cry every time I hear about someone beginning RCIA because of interacting with our sisters on the social media, whether it was me or someone else. I rejoice that the Lord has used both the fun and the serious posts of my account, and the accounts of my other sisters, to create an environment that is safe for people to come, ask, question, debate, learn, explore, and be transformed by Christ’s love.

Q: What risks can arise from digital religious communication?
On social media, messages have the potential to reach people you might never think of. We must always be open to the Spirit’s guidance in both what and how we share: am I sharing love in truth? Am I creating division in how I express myself or am I inviting people into respectful dialogue?

One of the biggest risks in religious digital communication is accidentally counter-witnessing to the Gospel by posting or reacting hastily and thoughtlessly. When we make this mistake in real life, our words may impact one or two people, and it is easier for us to apologize and make things right. Online, it may impact hundreds or thousands of people.

This challenge comes with a great responsibility which calls us to accountability for our words and actions. In fact, it can help to refine our hearts in how we consider and respond to others.

Q: Yours is a complex vocation then?
As Christians we have been baptized into Christ. When we are on social media, we are called to live fully out of our baptism in how we scroll, interact with posts, and converse with people.

If we can live radically out of our baptism, and truly understand that we bring Christ to even this virtual space, then we can create a real ground of encounter for people with the one who loves them most.

NEW COMBONI GENERAL COUNCIL (2022-2028)

The 19th General Chapter of the Comboni Missionaries, held in Rome last June, has re-elected Fr Tesfaye Tadesse Gebresilasie, as Superior General of the Comboni Missionaries of the Heart of Jesus, for the next sexennium, 2022-28. The Chapter delegates also elected his four assistants to join him as members of the General Council.

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Catholic Radio receives boost to reach out to the faithful

Staff at Tuntufye FM, a Catholic radio station of the Malawi’s Diocese of Karonga, have received transport means to facilitate their access to their remote parishes in the sourcing of information from the people of God.

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Wole Soyinka’s life of writing holds Nigeria up for scrutiny

What role do you play in the Synod’s
Commission on Methodology?
“The Commission on Methodology is called to accompany the synodal process both in local Churches and the synodal assembly. We are helping translate the theology of synodality into the concrete life of communities, welcoming the voice of the Spirit and listening to one another.

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AMID CRISES AND WAR, GRANDPARENTS’ PRAYERS CAN TRANSFORM THE WORLD

In his message for the 2nd World Day of Prayer for Grandparents and the Elderly, Pope Francis encourages the elderly to persevere in hope and reminds them of their great power to transform the world through prayer and tenderness. The 85-year-old Pope insists that grandparents are invaluable despite messages to the contrary in our “throwaway culture”

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AFRICAN SCHOLARS HOPING FOR LENGTHY SYNODALITY BEYOND THE OCTOBER 2023 SYNOD OF BISHOPS

A WORKING group of theologians, professionals, and academics who participated in a symposium organized by the African Synodality Initiative (ASI) on the ongoing preparations for the Synod on Synodality have exuded confidence that the synodal deliberations will live beyond the October 2023 Synod of Bishops.

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CHRISTINA KHENG AND THE CHURCHES OF ASIA ON SYNODALITY

Professor Christina Kheng is a laywoman from Singapore. She teaches pastoral leadership at the East Asian Pastoral Institute in Manila and was called by Pope Francis to be part of the Commission on Methodology that is accompanying the Synod’s work. She explains her dream for the Asian Church with the laity sharing more responsibilities and holding the leadership together while listening to everyone’s voice

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