VATICAN - Pope tells President of Catholic Union of the Italian Press: “not to give in to compromises of such important values, but to have the courage of consistency, even at personal cost: A serene conscience has no price.”

Vatican City (Agenzia Fides) - “Firmly foundered on principles rooted in the Gospel, your work as Catholic journalists is increasingly more challenging: along with a sense of responsibility and a sense of the spirit of service that is your trademark, you should in fact have always more notable professionalism and a greater capacity for dialogue with the atheist world, in search of shared values. The more consistent is the witness of your life, the larger your audience will grow.” This is part of the message that the Holy Father Benedict XVI sent to the President of the Catholic Union of the Italian Press, Massimo Milone, on the occasion of the National UCSI Congress held in honor of the 50th anniversary of its foundation.
The Pope recalled “the valuable service that the UCSI has offered the Church and the country, over the course of its 50 years in existence,” as well as the profound transformations that have taken place in this time in all sectors, including the culture, in which the respect for the dignity of the person, along with the sense of values like justice, freedom, and solidarity – essential in the survival of a society – seem remarkably weakened.”
“Not few of your non-believing colleagues privately expect from you the silent witness, without ostentation but with substance, of a life inspired by the values of the faith.” Concluding, Benedict XVI, aware of the ever more demanding task of Catholic journalists, in which “the spaces of freedom are often threatened and economic and political interests often overcome the spirit of service and the criteria of the common good,” and he exhorted them “not to give in to compromises of such important values, but to have the courage of consistency, even at personal cost: A serene conscience has no price.” (SL) (Agenzia Fides 26/1/2009)