EUROPE/ITALY - Ethics and Communication: “Consciences are not only informed, but also formed.”

Rome (Agenzia Fides) - “Do not affirm anything that is false, nor fail to affirm that which is true.” With this quote from Leo XIII, the Pope who formulated Catholic Social Doctrine, Bishop Rino Fisichella, President of the Pontifical Academy for Life and Rector of the Pontifical Lateran University, summed up his thought on the theme of “ethics and communication” during the encounter organized by the Perseus Foundation and the Association VedRai2016 in collaboration with ENI, which took place on December 17, in the presence of the National Association among Popular Banks.
Upon its opening, a brief introduction was given by Prof. Giorgio Assumma, President of the SIAE, who recalled Antonio Genovesi, priest, economist, and philosopher from Salerno (Italy) who gave courses on Ethical Studies at the University of Naples (Italy). Prof. Assumma mentioned that nowadays, with the wide range of laws on freedom of the press, there has not been an ampliation of norms on correct formation, except for a minimal amount of rules on self-regulation.
At the beginning of his talk, Bishop Fisichella explained the theories on which he would reflect: the distinction between morals and ethics – especially morals as the Truth for believers of monotheistic religions, which is revealed by God to man, the ethic as a part of philosophy that studies objective and rational foundations that allow us to distinguish good from evil. Based on these theories, the Rector focused mainly on the usefulness of ethics and reason as its principle, in order to effectively enter into discussion on communication, even with non-believers.
“The one who speaks should say what is, how he sees it, how he understands it. He should use words to express what he has inside. It can be difficult in some circumstances, and can lead to frustration, damages, and dangers; however our conscience reminds us that the truth is obliging; that it is something unconditional, something with lofty heights. We cannot say: you can say it when you like it or when it will help you in reaching a certain goal, but rather: you should say the Truth when you speak, without changing it in any manner. You should always say it, with simplicity, even when the situation could make you want to remain silent or when it would be easier for you to blow off a question.” Citing this text from priest and theologian Romano Guardini, Bishop Fisichella introduced the first key concept which one should make reference to in analyzing the relationship between ethics and communication: the “truth.” According to Bishop Fisichella, it is of fundamental importance that the primacy of truth is recognized in referring to communication, given its importance in forming consciences - the Truth that touches on the life of each one of us and on the meaning of life itself.
The second key concept on which Bishop Fisichella reflected was that of “responsibility,” using several examples, one of them being in relation to what occurred following the speech given by Pope Benedict XVI at the University of Ratisbona in September 2006. In this situation, many news sources selected individual sentences from the Holy Father's address in which he had referred to a dialogue between Byzantine Emperor Manuel II Paleologus with a Persian on Christianity and Islam. The result was that a reverse meaning was attributed to the Holy Father's speech, leading to threats, protests, and anti-Christian violence in various parts of the world.
The person who communicates, therefore, must do so in an ethic of responsibility, that of a person who will have to respond to the consequences of his actions. The Rector's last reflection was that of the distinction between a person and a consumer, which implies different attitudes on the part of the person working in the communication world. In some cases, in fact, news is selected and reprted according to the characteristics of the audience. In this case, all formative demands – which should be characteristic of the communicator – are left aside. The risk of this attitude is evident: “the people are fed what they are hungry for,” and thus, the debate on the value of truth and responsibility comes into play. “Consciences are not only informed, but also formed,” Bishop Fisichella concluded. (MT) (Agenzia Fides 19/12/2008)