The first Catholic IT conference in Medjugorje has ended. Apart from the prayer part of the program, these were three days of excellent lectures, panel discussions, constructive and creative workshops, networking, socializing and getting to know people from the IT world who have the same value system, which, as they themselves testify, is hard to find in this industry. The Medjugorje Catholic IT community was founded, which was created as a result of this conference, but also as a response that Pope Francis addressed to all of us, emphasizing the need to adapt the mission of the Church to the modern means of communication. The Pope points out “We must avoid becoming hostages of the net and instead we need to catch fish, that is, to attract the souls to the Lord.”
The newly formed Catholic IT community from Medjugorje is actually a sown seed that a group of technological professionals will continue to water, nurture, in order to spread into large branches all over the world and to bring the abundant fruit for the good of the whole world. Of course, our doors are open to all those who recognize themselves as a part of this group, and we invite them to join us.
Our desire was to gather all Catholic IT professionals in one network that shares common goals and value systems. At the end, the participants of this conference concluded that they came to Medjugorje not knowing what to expect, but they gained friends, colleagues and experiences that they will take home.
Director of the Mir Međugorje Information Center Vedran Vidović spoke about the establishment of the first Catholic IT community in Medjugorje, which is the fruit of this conference.
“We Catholics are often not networked in the knowledge and skills in which we are professionally oriented, and it often happens that we do not cooperate with each other. These events are an opportunity to see why it is important to cooperate between those of us who have the same life perspectives in matters of spirituality and religion, and who are fighting for common goals in this day and age,” said Vidović.
The president of the Mir Međugorje Information Center, Fr. Danko Perutina, spoke about the goals of this IT conference, and he also announced that this conference will be held next year as well.
Always listening to the words of Pope Francis, we wanted to respond to his call for a new evangelization. And that was precisely the first goal for these colleagues of ours who are still here and friends, to make their contribution from the gift that God gave them, to spread the spirituality of Medjugorje throughout the world. All of us who worked here and the priests who work now and all the pilgrims are witnesses that a change of heart is happening, that new lives are beginning, and in a way we also wanted the message of Medjugorje to spread as quickly and as widely as possible throughout the world. My personal experience is that wherever the message from Medjugorje comes, wherever the gospel comes, wherever Jesus Christ comes, there must be a change of hearts, lives, communities, people…” said Fr. Danko Perutina, adding that more than 60 people participated in the conference. IT experts from about 15 countries. He also hopes that there will be even more of them at the second conference next year.
One of the presenters at this IT conference was dr. Davor Pavuna, who spoke about the values of this conference, which is the link between theology and spirituality. He said that we should not be ashamed of our Catholic faith in today’s world.
“The ethical code that matters at this moment is important when talking about the development of the artificial intelligence and robots. We just have to live the gift that was given to us, each in our own area, of course I contributed in what belongs to my area. I am a person who travels a lot around the world, but I would have a hard time finding a place where I would feel more comfortable than in Medjugorje,” said dr. Pavuna, who rated the IT conference in Medjugorje, where he lectured, as a very successful.
In addition to the workshops, discussions and lectures, the participants of this IT conference prayed together at Medjugorje prayer places and participated in the evening prayer program.
