2026 Conference
June 4-6, 2026
Rome, Italy
KEYNOTE #1:
"The Church & Communication in a Digital World"
Sr. Rose Pacatte, M.Ed in Media Studies, D.Min., is a member of the Daughters of St. Paul and the Director of her community’s International Office for Pauline Media Studies here in Rome. Rose has been actively involved in media literacy education for more than 30 years and is a previousrecipient of both the Marieli Rowe Innovation in Media Literacy Award and the Jesse McCanse Award.
Mons. Paul Tighe, A native of Navan, County Meath in the Republic of Ireland, Monsignor Paul Tighe was ordained a priest of the Dublin Diocese in 1983. After post-graduate studies in Rome, he was appointed as a lecturer in Moral Theology in the Mater Dei Institute in Dublin, where he was appointed head of the Theology department in 2000. In 2007, he was appointed as Secretary of the Pontifical Council for Social Communications. In that capacity, he was involved in promoting Church reflection on the importance of digital culture and in the launch of some of the social media initiatives of the Holy See. In 2015, he was nominated to the Pontifical Council for Culture and as titular Bishop of Drivastum. At the Council, he followed questions related to digital culture and technology, with particular attention to artificial intelligence. In October 2022, he was appointed as Secretary of the newly established Dicastery for Culture and Education, where he has particular responsibility for the Culture section. In January 2025, said Dicastery, together with the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith, published ANTIQUA ET NOVA. Note on the Relationship Between Artificial Intelligence and Human Intelligence.
( https://www.vatican.va/roman_curia/congregations/cfaith/documents/rc_ddf_doc_20250
128_antiqua-et-nova_en.html )
Dr. PAOLO RUFFINI Born in Palermo on 4 October 1956, graduated in Law from Rome University La Sapienza, married, Ruffini has been a professional journalist since 1979 and has worked for years in the print media: first at Il Mattino in Naples (1979-1986) and then at Il Messaggero in Rome (1986-1996). He has been Director of Giornale Radio Rai (1996-2002), Gr Parlamento (1998-2002), Radio 1 (1999-2002), Rai Tre (2002-2011) and La7 (2011-2014). On 28 April 2014 he was appointed Director of Tv2000 and Radio InBlu, the media of the Italian Episcopal Conference. During his career, he has received several journalism awards and has taken part in numerous study conferences on the role of Christians in information, the ethics of communication and new media. On 5 July 2018 he was appointed by the Holy Father Pope Francis Prefect of the Dicastery for Communication, which brought together the various media of the Holy See (Vatican Radio, Vatican Television Center, Pontifical Council for Social Communications; Holy See Press Office, Vatican Internet Service, Photographic Service, L’Osservatore Romano, Libreria Editrice Vaticana and Tipografia Vaticana) and has created the Vatican News portal. He is Member of the Dicastery for Evangelization and of the Dicastery for Culture and Education.
Author Presentation
The End of Information: Media, Knowledge, and Education in a Post-Truth Age by David Buckingham.
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Are we really living in a 'post-truth age'? Have ideas like information, knowledge and truth passed their sell-by date? Is 'information disorder' leading to the terminal decline of democracy? Or will fact-checkers, media regulators and educators come to the rescue? The End of Information cuts through the exaggerated claims that have been made about these issues. Interrogating the key terms in the debate, including trust, democracy, news, and information itself, the book offers a clear-eyed evaluation of potential solutions to the problem. It also considers the implications for education, in relation to key issues like literacy and knowledge. It argues that we need to look, not just at the symptoms of information disorder, but also at their wider political and economic causes; and it suggests that these will not be amenable to a simple 'information fix'.
David Buckingham is Honorary Professor at the Institute of Education, University College London, and Emeritus Professor of Media and Communications at Loughborough University. ​​