Information service of the Pontifical Mission Societies since 1927
Madrid (Fides Service) – In a message issued for Communications’ Day (in Spain June 1) the Commission for Social Communications of the Spanish Bishops’ Conference has called on Catholic media workers to fulfil their duty to be evangelisers at the service of peace.
In the message the Bishops recall the recent (5th) visit to Spain made by Pope John Paul II (3/4 May) and the Holy Father’s call for more effective evangelisation keeping in mind that “one of the most important fields for the formation of present day culture is social communications” where “we see one of the greatest tragedies of our day: the separation of Gospel and culture”. In their message the Bishops mention that in their pastoral plan they stress the need for the evangelisation of the media and this calls for pastoral care of culture aimed at reconciling the message of the Gospel with the present day culture.
The Bishops say that in Spain progress has been made in this field thanks to various initiatives which however need moral and economic support. At the same time the Bishops express appreciation for communications workers who “faithful to their Christian convictions and their professional vocation work in the media serving through their work the common good of society and the cause of the dignity of the human person and, therefore, the Gospel”.
In this new culture which must be built on the Gospel, peace has a central place, and the means of communications are called to play an important role in reaching peace. “The building of peace to which we are called by Pope John Paul II implies not only defensive or preventive action against terror and violence, but also, especially on the part of communicators, active commitment for building, through the media, an integral culture of peace and defence of human life”. The Bishops also raise the question of violence a serious threat to education to peace and they stress the need for educational commitment in communication which is the duty of parents, educators and the Church. RG (Fides Service 30/5/2003 EM lines 28 Words: 362)
