OCEANIA/AUSTRALIA - “Go Tell Everyone”: Australian Bishops issue Pastoral Letter on the Church and the Media

Friday, 17 February 2006

Sydney (Fides Service) - “Go tell everyone” is the title of a recent Pastoral Letter on the Church and the Media issued by the Catholic Bishops of Australia. In fact the Church in Australia intends to be increasingly present in the means of social communications and to use the “new pulpits” for evangelisation offered by the culture and the world of the third millennium.
“We, the bishops of Australia, offer this Pastoral Letter on the Church and the Media as a guide and an encouragement. It draws from the Church’s 40 years of rich teachings in the area of social communications since the Second Vatican Council - the Bishops write - We pray that this letter will help those who read it to embrace all that is good in the media and to discern that which might be harmful so that together we will “Be not afraid” to meet the challenges of life in the media age with faith, hope and confidence.”
The letter focuses on the various fields of communications, television, the Internet, radio, print media, cinema, and advertising. It also mentions Catholic media and identifies the family as the ideal place for education to the media.
The Bishops say the Church is striving to make better use of the media, print media, TV, radio, the Internet to spread the Good News and to put into practice the advice given in the Pope’s annual messages for World Communications Day.
They note the great technological progress in communications and stress the need for Catholics to keep up with the times and be more incisive in this field which plays a crucial role in orienting social, political and religious issues and creating public opinion.
Among recent examples, the new Mission & Spirituality News monthly web magazine focussed on mission produced by the Church in Australia. The aim of the newsletter is to offer encouragement, news and resources to Catholic communities spread all over the continent, acting as a useful channel of connection and communion. (PA) (Agenzia Fides 17/2/2006 Righe: 29 Parole: 291)


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