Jesus expressed the faith in small 'tweets,' cardinal says

Rome, Italy, Nov 14, 2012 / 12:07 pm

A Vatican official urged Catholics to share the Gospel in a concise and eloquent way like Jesus, "who used only 78 Greek characters to express the faith, barely half of the amount used for a message on Twitter today."

Cardinal Gianfranco Ravasi, who serves as president of the Pontifical Council for Culture, made his remarks Nov. 9, as he received a "Honoris Causa" Doctorate in Sacred Theology from the Lateran Pontifical University of Rome for his pastoral work.

"The proclamation needs to be made with the same essence as Christ," the cardinal said, "who in his first public intervention used a sort of essential 'tweet:' 'This is the time of fulfillment. The kingdom of God is at hand. Repent and believe in the Gospel.'"

"A phrase in Greek that has a total of eight words, and that without articles and conjugations would include a total of fifteen terms in 78 characters."

During the event, Cardinal Ravasi also delivered a speech titled, "Education and Communication: How to Grow in Faith at the University," in which he analyzed education from the point of view of communication and content.  

"Communication should be an atmosphere, and because of it, the message of Jesus Christ has reached our days two thousand years later," he said.

Cardinal Ravasi, who often writes posts short scripture quotes on his Twitter account, said the sharing of the faith should be eloquent, clear and concise, and ever deeper.

He also stressed the importance of silence, recalling that the Bible calls us to silence and meditation in order to hear the call of the faith through words, "Shema Israel," which means "listen Israel."