This issue of New City has Media and Dialogue as its theme. How do you see the role of the media in evangelization and in building peace, and bridging divisions and gaps in society? Archbishop Tagle: Since the time of Blessed John Paul II, the social communications media has been considered a new area for evangelization. It possesses wonderful tools or means for the new evangelization. Aside from that, the world of media produces a “new culture” which is to be evangelized as well; it produces a new mentality, a new set of values and culture, for it probably has the strongest influence on people right now.

The media apostolate takes on two directions: one is that we want to make full use of the means available, and the other is to infuse in these means the values of the Gospel – the words of Jesus Christ. In fact, moral watchdogs, and children’s parents among others, complain about how media distort the truth or distract its users from the truth.

It is really powerful. Just imagine if we can use that power, instead, to sow seeds of integrity, truth, care for others and justice. Media then would not only provide easy access to information, but could also help form minds, intellects & consciences towards peace and dialogue.

How can we make the Word relevant to everyone today? Archbishop Tagle: Now you ask, how do we make the message of Christ more “relevant?” But the timeless message of Christ is always relevant! It will never grow old or stale. I mean, “Love one another” – that will never be irrelevant! Neither will his message on “forgiveness,” on “sharing what we have,” and on “mercy.” But how do we share this message, without diluting it? At present, some people adapt the message to make it more acceptable to contemporary culture.

However, they give up something important in the process, and people fail to recognize the message of Christ and so his message is lost. There are many creative ways for communicating that message which we have to discover. I believe in simple, direct communication, as the human heart longs for the faith which Jesus is talking about. All hearts long for love. All hearts long for forgiveness. All hearts long for wholeness, and healing. Let us be simple like John the Baptist in sharing the Word, and let the Word speak for itself. With this simplicity, we can bridge the experiences of people with the message of Christ.

With your TV program, “The Word Exposed,” which is in sync with next year’s theme on The New Evangelization, do you see this medium impacting our youth? What can you say about our younger generations? Is there a general awareness and sensibility to the call of God? Archbishop Tagle: I am very grateful to God and to the producers of “The Word Exposed,” the Jesuit Communications, to have given me the opportunity to do this kind of ministry.

But actually, to tell you the truth, I think it was not really meant for me. It was a show about the Word of God, and there are many experts on the Bible who could have done it. But somehow, they asked me to try it. “Okay”, I told them, “for the first few episodes.” But now, it has been running for 3 years! I really marvel at the audience reach, because it is available on YouTube, Facebook – in the internet. When I visited some countries, people I met were telling me, “You’re the one from the show!” I believe the show could continue, and should continue, especially in countries where the Catholics cannot attend regular Sunday masses, and so they access YouTube, and somehow they can get the readings and some reflections from that Sunday. A Filipino migrant worker, whom I met selling coffee in Dubai, said to me, “Through your show, I get connected to the Philippines.” Since most of my examples come from the Philippines, so it is also a way of “bringing them home.” Now regarding the youth, this is one surprising area. In the show, I accept questions on faith from people, and most of them are young people! I am very happy about this, for it shows that they are interested in the faith.

Yet I also pity them because they are troubled with so many distractions.

When I was growing up, there were very few distractions from the church, the family and school. Now, I don’t know how to live as a young person today. If I had been born a few years ago, I would know how to act. That is why I pity them, but at the same time, I admire young people for the way they are able to survive.

I don’t believe in the common notion that young people are not interested in the faith. I had to gauge their involvement with the faith, from their questions like during the last World Youth Day, or at the local celebration held in the Ateneo campus with 13,000 young people present, where I was tasked to give the Catechetical instruction at 11:30 p.m., at night! It was after all the singing groups, all the actors and actresses had performed and who had prepped them up. So I asked myself: “Would they still be interested in catechetical instruction about how to be firm in the faith?” True enough, they enjoyed the singing so much! My talk came at 1:30 a.m.. I told myself, “Well, just get over it, say your piece, and it’ll be over!” But oh, I underestimated the young people. They were wide awake and responsive! After giving my talk, I opened the floor to questions, and afterwards there were still hundreds of hands raised, to ask other questions! But we could afford only five, and afterwards there were still so many hands raised. After that, the organizers conducted an informal evaluation.

The young people suggested that if this session were to be repeated, three years later, they would ask for an extension of the catechetical hour to accommodate more sharing and questions. Therefore, the young people are truly looking for meaning, for life, for role models. They are looking for people who can talk about the faith.

That’s why I think that it’s partly our fault because we assume that the young are not interested so we don’t talk about our faith. But they are! And when proclamation takes place, they are there, and they will listen to it.

What could be the particular contribution of the Church in Asia and the Philippines to the upcoming Synod of Bishops on the New Evangelization? Archbishop Tagle: I am a member of the council for the Synod, so I am part of the team preparing that Synod.

I believe that the Philippines and Asia could contribute first of all from their own context. Asia is a unique continent, as it is the place where Jesus was born. But this is also where the believers of Christ are a small minority, almost negligible in terms of numbers.

Half of the Christian population of Asia is concentrated in the Philippines. So imagine the other half, a sprinkling of Catholics found all over Asia. The Catholic Church exists as a minority in this vast ocean of Ancient Religions and Ancient Civilizations, of wisdom and philosophies.

How can the church survive, and contribute to the search of Asian people for meaning and religiosity? In Europe, the tides are changing.

Christianity used to be the religion of the majority, but it’s now slowly being reduced to a minority religion. I believe they will turn to Asia, and ask us, “How have you been getting along as a minority?” Then dialogue enters, the triple dialogues of the Church in Asia: Dialogue with the poor, with cultures, and with religions – this is the way to evangelize.

In all this, the Philippines has a role to play. Being the only country in Asia with the most number of Christians we are able to do here what other Asian Catholics cannot.

So, I feel, first of all, that we need to be sorry, and repent for the many times we have taken the Church and our evangelization here in the Philippines for granted, not knowing that what is so ordinary for us, is something extraordinary in other countries. It even requires martyrdom! That is why, for me, this can be one of our contributions to that Synod, which states that the new evangelization means it cannot be just “business as usual.” The world has changed, so we need to discover new creative ways to bring the eternal truth of Christ to people with the firm belief that the message of Christ is ever new, and will be able to reach the hearts of different peoples, from different cultures and races. I think the silent witness of persecuted Christians in Asia, the hidden valor and the courage they exhibit, will be a major contribution to the new evangelization.

To a problem-laden society such as ours, which is in need of rediscovering and finding hope, what message could you give? Archbishop Tagle: Our message is Jesus. Jesus is our hope! Jesus experienced all the hardships that we continue to experience like poverty and loneliness. He became an exile, and was himself a refugee. He was the object of threats and murderers, and the object of people filled with ambition who were clinging to power. So he is familiar with all these things. He knows the effect of injustice on the human heart and soul. God who is not alien to our experience gives us so much hope. We have a God who embraces all these sufferings and carries all these things in his heart.

In his heart which is willing to die for us, the resurrection triumphs, good and mercy triumph. Hope for us lies in the fact that we know how the story ends. It is clear – the Resurrection, the triumph of God.

We just need to proclaim that and to make it tangible in our lives by living solidarity with the suffering and with the poor, and in our prophetic role for society. We have only one message: Christ. We are impelled by hope in the Resurrection of Christ.

Interview by Jose Aranas