Information service of the Pontifical Mission Societies since 1927
Vatican City (Agenzia Fides) - “There is no area of human experience, especially given the vast phenomenon of globalisation, in which the media have not become an integral part of interpersonal relations and of social, economic, political and religious development” Pope Benedict XVI says in his Message for the 42nd World Communications Day to be celebrated on 4 May, Ascension Thursday , or another state set by the respective Bishops' Conferences. The theme chosen by the Holy Father is “ "The Media: At the Crossroads between Self-Promotion and Service. Searching for the Truth in order to Share it with Others”.
In his Message the Pope says “with their meteoric technological evolution the media have acquired extraordinary potential, while raising new and hitherto unimaginable questions and problems”. Among the positive elements the Pope mentions the media's contribution to the diffusion of news, facts and knowledge, the spread of literacy and socialisation, development of democracy and dialogue among peoples. “The media, taken overall, are not only vehicles for spreading ideas: they can and should also be instruments at the service of a world of greater justice and solidarity. Unfortunately, though, they risk being transformed into systems aimed at subjecting humanity to agendas dictated by the dominant interests of the day”. The Pope explains: “ This is what happens when communication is used for ideological purposes or for the aggressive advertising of consumer products. While claiming to represent reality, it can tend to legitimise or impose distorted models of personal, family or social life. Moreover, in order to attract listeners and increase the size of audiences, it does not hesitate at times to have recourse to vulgarity and violence, and to overstep the mark. The media can also present and support models of development which serve to increase rather than reduce the technological divide between rich and poor countries.”
Humanity today is at a cross roads with regard to the media: we must ask ourselves “ We must ask, therefore, whether it is wise to allow the instruments of social communication to be exploited for indiscriminate "self-promotion" or to end up in the hands of those who use them to manipulate consciences”… or “ ensure that they remain at the service of the person and of the common good”. The Pope calls attention to “ the radical shift, one might even say the complete change of role, that they are currently undergoing”. "Today, communication seems increasingly to claim not simply to represent reality, but to determine it, owing to the power and the force of suggestion that it possesses”. In certain situations the media are used not to inform but to "create" events. “ Precisely because we are dealing with realities that have a profound effect on all those dimensions of human life (moral, intellectual, religious, relational, affective, cultural) in which the good of the person is at stake, we must stress that not everything that is technically possible is also ethically permissible.”.
For the Holy Father “The role that the means of social communication have acquired in society must now be considered an integral part of the "anthropological" question that is emerging as the key challenge of the third millennium… in the sector of social communications there are essential dimensions of the human person and the truth concerning the human person coming into play. When communication loses its ethical underpinning and eludes society’s control, it ends up no longer taking into account the centrality and inviolable dignity of the human person, As a result it risks exercising a negative influence on people’s consciences and choices and definitively conditioning their freedom and their very lives”. It is necessary for the media “ to assiduously defend the person and fully respect human dignity”, according to principles of "info-ethics" “to avoid becoming spokesmen for economic materialism and ethical relativism, true scourges of our time”. The “highest vocation” of social communications is seeking and presenting the truth about humanity .
Benedict XVI concludes his Message reaffirming that “ Man thirsts for truth, he seeks truth; this fact is illustrated by the attention and the success achieved by so many publications, programmes or quality fiction, “ in which the truth, beauty and greatness of the person, including the religious dimension of the person, are acknowledged and favourably presented… The truth which makes us free is Christ, because only he can respond fully to the thirst for life and love that is present in the human heart. Those who have encountered him and have enthusiastically welcomed his message experience the irrepressible desire to share and communicate this truth.” Lastly the Pope invokes the Holy Spirit, “ to raise up courageous communicators and authentic witnesses to the truth, faithful to Christ’s mandate and enthusiastic for the message of the faith ”. (S.L.) (Agenzia Fides 25/1/2008; righe 54, parole 772)
