Church organises Social Media Masterclass on Mercy for WYD pilgrims

How do you share mercy across the social media platforms? In the run-up to World Youth Day with Pope Francis in Krakow, young Catholics from across England and Wales have signed up for a Social Media Masterclass on Mercy.

Organised by the Catholic Bishops' Conference of England and Wales, the young pilgrims, otherwise known as World Youth Day Communications Officers will receive world class tuition from leading social media and news practitioners.

Course content includes:

An insider's guide to the media
The impact of social media in the newsroom
Becoming a dynamic storyteller
Mobile journalism
Using your smartphone to get good pics/vids
Periscope
Live blogs

The programme which runs on 10th June in London is designed to equip young pilgrims to 'share mercy' across the social media platforms and to create content which will have impact both online and offline. Snackable training videos will become available after the day for young Communications Officers unable to attend the Social Media Masterclass.

The training has been created in response to Pope Francis' invitation for young and old to bring hope and tenderness to the digital world.

In the run up to World Youth Day, the pope has invited young people, to choose a corporal and spiritual work of mercy to practice each month for the first seven months of 2016

The seven corporal works of mercy are to feed the hungry; give drink to the thirsty; clothe the naked; welcome the stranger; assist the sick; visit the imprisoned and bury the dead. The seven spiritual works of mercy are to counsel the doubtful; teach the ignorant; admonish sinners; comfort the sorrowful; forgive offenses; patiently bear with troublesome people and pray to God for the living and the dead. During the Masterclass, the Communications Officers will find ways in which they can share these works of mercy with their peers online.

Pope Francis recently met with youtube vloggers and praised them for their work. The internet, text messages and social networks, he says are 'a gift from God'. He joined Instagram on the third anniversary of his election and has been on twitter since becoming pope.

Daisy Powles, a recent graduate and award winning photographer will be responsible for populating the Bishops' Conference Instagram Account at World Youth Day. She is attending the training and says "I am passionate about expressing the faith through the medium of photography. I think it is incredibly important that people in the UK are able to witness the World Youth Day week from the perspective of the young people who take part."

The World Youth Day Communications Officers will be available to create content and to be interviewed for online platforms. There are 65 World Youth Day Communications Officers who come from 17 different dioceses, one religious order and one new movement in England and Wales. Three members of the Krakow World Youth Day team will also be in attendance on the day.

Source: CCN