McCann, Cercas and Ruffini: «Communication that builds communion»

Can communication build something new? The answer was explored in a meeting on Sunday, August 24th, at 1 PM with writers Javier Cercas and Colum McCann, along with Paolo Ruffini, Prefect of the Dicastery for Communication, and moderated by Rai journalist Linda Stroppa. Here we present the summary written by Giuseppe Bianchini in the Quotidiano Meeting of Monday, August 25th.

The function of journalism and writing? To be a vehicle for truth against all prejudice.

by Giuseppe Bianchini

"Communication is communion," summarizes Irish writer Colum McCann at the end of the meeting titled "Communication that Builds Communion." The Neri Hall was packed in anticipation of the speakers: two internationally acclaimed writers, McCann and the Spanish Javier Cercas, along with Paolo Ruffini, a journalist and Prefect of the Vatican's Dicastery for Communication.

They were undoubtedly the main event. In over an hour of back-and-forth between the interviewer and the interviewees, the audience delved into the world of communication. McCann and Cercas, different in style and delivery, were irrepressible in the issues they raised in their remarks. Those who can hold a pen must be able to track down stories like the ones that live in their novels. "My stories are born from a deeper look into other stories I've come across," states the Irish writer, while Cercas reiterates that "it's not me who seeks the stories, but the stories that seek me." They seem to be polar opposites, yet they speak the same language.

The meeting raised a problematic issue that has become increasingly urgent in recent years: the function of journalism and writing in general as a vehicle for truth.

Our society is increasingly marked by conflicts and ideological stances, "fake news" as it's called, deceitful simplifications, and professional haters on social media. The drift of communication, which risks becoming pure polemics, takes the form of political propaganda and news tailored to the needs of the powerful figure of the day.

The journalist and moderator, Linda Stroppa, addressing Ruffini, asked: "Regarding the conflict in Palestine, Cardinal Pizzaballa said that peace is also made with language. Is it still possible, then, to communicate with hope?"

"We can and we must," was the reply. "In particular, we must seek out stories where good can be recognized: let's take, for example, the story of the martyrs of Tibhirine."

McCann offered his perspective: "I believe in hope, but a process of reparation is needed. We need to slow down and listen to each other."

Those who dedicate themselves to writing are asked to foster dialogues and discussions based on real events, guiding a discourse capable of creating understanding, sharing, and communion between people and among nations, without homogenization and with a true attention to the richness of diversity. All of this is based on the relationship between truth and freedom.

As Cercas highlights: "We must return to the most elementary thing. Think of the Gospel when it says that the truth will set you free. The discrediting of truth is enormous, and journalists have a categorical duty to defend the truth."

There is a step that marks this work: the fight against prejudice. In this sense, Cercas's own experience is significant: "My latest book is truly strange. The Vatican, with Paolo Ruffini's mediation, opened its doors to me, a non-believing writer, and this forced me to remove the veil of what I already thought I knew about the Catholic Church. The Church took a great risk in calling on me; it's a very strange thing." He says this with a smile, because his speech reveals his gratitude for having been able to see a story born from reality and not from imagination: "Everything was exceptional, from the trip to Mongolia to being with the Pope, but the most exceptional thing is that I was able to ask him, Francis, the question that has obsessed me my whole life, which grew out of having a very religious mother. Me, an atheist, asking the Pope about the resurrection. Incredible."

Two other themes found space in the final part of the meeting: one on the relationship between young people and technological communication, and the other on the Church and the language that characterizes it.

"Technology is not a problem; its use, however, can be. Young people need to be guided by another algorithm, one dictated by reality and not by the virtual world of social media." The other writers present also agreed with Ruffini's words.

The Church has a language problem, because it can be old and ineffective, according to Cercas, when compared to the expressive power of the Christianity of the Gospel. But Ruffini makes a deeper point: "Yes, there is a language problem, but before that, there is something even more essential. The Church is either communion or it does not exist. Its communication to the world depends solely on this, on its very being."

Likewise, the task of intellectuals, journalists, and writers is to make evident the beauty of truth and goodness as they emerge from the facts. And facts are the most stubborn thing in the world.

Javier Cercas Mena was born in Catalonia in 1962. In 1985, he graduated in Hispanic Philology in Barcelona and then worked for two years at the University of Illinois in America. In 2001, he published Soldiers of Salamis, a novel acclaimed by international critics. In 2005, he wrote the award-winning work The Speed of Light. An opponent of the Francisco Franco dictatorship, he describes his works as "novels that are easy to read and difficult to understand."

Born in Dublin in 1965, Colum McCann is an Irish-American writer. He studied journalism in Dublin and was named Young Journalist of the Year in 1983. In 1986, he moved to America where he began to focus on his writing career. In 2009, he won the National Book Award for his work Let the Great World Spin, an allegory of the attack on the Twin Towers. In 2024, he published American Mother, the story of the mother of James Foley, a journalist imprisoned and murdered by ISIS in 2014.

Paolo Ruffini, Prefect of the Holy See's Dicastery for Communication since 2018, was born in Palermo in 1956. After completing his classical studies in Rome, he graduated in law from La Sapienza University. His journalistic career began in 1978 at the news desk of Il Mattino in Naples. From 1996 to 2018, he was the director of major radio and television networks, including Giornale Radio Rai, Rai 3, La7, TV2000, and Radio InBlu. At the core of his philosophy, he has always believed that "the duty of a journalist is to investigate and denounce injustices" but also "not to remain imprisoned in the story of evil." (m.f.)