Trinidad and Tobago, August 7th, 2018 (SIGNIS-ALC). This Sunday, August 5, 2018, begins a new course of the Caribbean School of Catholic Communication, with the participation of thirty-eight students from twelve dioceses of the Anglophone Caribbean who are part of the SIGNIS Caribbean subregion. The course, which runs until August 11, has been taking place annually in Trinidad for 24 years, under the leadership of Living Water Community and Trinity Communications Network.

The Caribbean School of Catholic Communication (CSCC ) has the academic endorsement of the University of Dayton, which recognizes the modules of the CSCC with credits of Continuing Education for Professional Development.

Participants will explore digital applications and tools, learn theology and communication theory, as well as practical skills to update a production project.

Annually, the CSCC modifies the format and content of the training program to address the new challenges of emerging media for the communication of the faith. The central theme of this year's course addresses the challenge of the "Formation of missionary disciples in the digital age", which responds to the proposal made by the Episcopal Conference of the Antilles (AEC) in its Pastoral Letter on Communication. The theme of the Caribbean School of Communication is oriented to support the communication mission of the Catholic Church of the Caribbean.

The Pastoral Letter on Communications was published by the bishops of the AEC in August 2016, in the perspective of responding to new ways of being Church in the digital age.

"As technology continues to evolve and develop more and more rapidly, the church is challenged to rethink what we do in terms of ministry and how we proclaim the message and the Good News to all people, but especially to the poor," says the Chairman of the AEC Communications Commission, Archbishop Jason Gordon.

The Pastoral Letter of Communication warns that communications in the Church can not be developed only in the print media, radio, television, but also through the Internet and social networks. Nor can one think about communication in isolation from the ministries of catechesis, evangelization, social justice, etc.

The pastoral letter demands that each Diocese of the Episcopal Conference of the Antilles (AEC) offer formation to design an integrated plan of pastoral communication that unites all the dioceses. The key elements of the planning process are collaboration, communion and commitment.