Stories, videos, shorts, reels, scripts, editing including the analysis of risks and potential of social media, short history, language, usefulness.

These are the essential elements of a workshop that Fr. Andrea Piccolo, SJ, Rector of the Interregional Seminary of Naples, and the formation team planned to organize at the request of the 6th year seminarians. “We feel the necessity to go more deeply into the language and the mode of communication of young people”, Fr. Piccolo explains, “in order to accompany them also in this major dimension of their daily life”.

The project, carried out in collaboration with the Communications Office of the Euro-Mediterranean Province of the Society of Jesus, took place in Posillipo from the 10th to the 12th of March.

Bringing their experience to the table were Caterina Rizzi, 24, a content creator and video maker with profiles of 150 thousand followers, and Francesco Chiappetta, a content creator.

“Social media is a great influencer,” Francesco highlights, “and has the ability to create community in a short time.” “It is used to create relationships, to communicate, to connect,” adds Caterina. “It is truly a valuable tool for the new evangelization.”

The beneficiaries were 19 sixth year seminarians who completed the course as residential students. They are now spending their final formative years in their dioceses, returning only for a few modules.

From spiritual direction to confession to managing even the financial aspects of a parish. “The focus on social media was our proposal. It is there that you can communicate with young people”, Nico, 27, explains “we asked for experts to work not only on the content but also on the form”. “We need to update ourselves,” adds Joseph, 34, “to understand the potential of these tools.

A number of videos produced by the seminarians were made during the workshop, using the guidance provided for structuring, filming and editing.