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MESSAGE
OF THE HOLY FATHER
FOR THE
XXXV WORLD COMMUNICATIONS DAY
Sunday, May 27, 2001
Theme: "Preach from the housetops":
The Gospel in the Age of Global Communication
1. The theme which I have
chosen for World Communications Day 2001 echoes the words of Jesus
himself. It could not be otherwise, for it is Christ alone whom we
preach. We remember his words to his first disciples: "What I
tell you in the dark, utter in the light; and what you hear
whispered, proclaim upon the housetops" (Mt 10:27). In
the secret of our heart, we have listened to the truth of Jesus;
now we must proclaim that truth from the housetops.
In today's world, housetops are
almost always marked by a forest of transmitters and antennae
sending and receiving messages of every kind to and from the four
corners of the earth. It is vitally important to ensure that among
these many messages the word of God is heard. To proclaim the
faith from the housetops today means to speak Jesus' word in and
through the dynamic world of communications.
2. In all cultures and
at all times - certainly in the midst of today's global
transformations - people ask the same basic questions about the
meaning of life: Who am I? Where have I come from and where am I
going? Why is there evil? What is there after this life?(cf. Fides
et Ratio, 1).And in every age the Church offers the one
ultimately satisfying answer to the deepest questions of the human
heart - Jesus Christ himself, "who fully reveals man to
himself and brings to light his high calling" (Gaudium et
spes, 22). Therefore, the voice of Christians can never fall
silent, for the Lord has entrusted to us the word of salvation for
which every human heart longs. The Gospel offers the pearl of
great price for which all are searching (cf. Mt 13:45-46).
It follows that the Church cannot
fail to be ever more deeply involved in the burgeoning world of
communications. The global communications network is extending and
growing more complex by the day, and the media are having an
increasingly visible effect on culture and its transmission. Where
once the media reported events, now events are often shaped to
meet the requirements of the media. Thus, the relationship between
reality and the media has grown more intricate, and this is a
deeply ambivalent phenomenon. On the one hand, it can blur the
distinction between truth and illusion; but on the other, it can
open up unprecedented opportunities for making the truth more
widely accessible to many more people. The task of the Church is
to ensure that it is the latter which actually happens.
3. The world of the
media can sometimes seem indifferent and even hostile to Christian
faith and morality. This is partly because media culture is so
deeply imbued with a typically postmodern sense that the only
absolute truth is that there are no absolute truths or that, if
there were, they would be inaccessible to human reason and
therefore irrelevant. In such a view, what matters is not the
truth but "the story"; if something is newsworthy or
entertaining, the temptation to set aside considerations of truth
becomes almost irresistible. As a result, the world of the media
can sometimes seem no more friendly an environment for
evangelization than the pagan world of the Apostles' day. But just
as the early witnesses to the Good News did not retreat when faced
with opposition, neither should Christ's followers do
so today. The cry of Saint Paul echoes among us still: "Woe
to me if I do not preach the Gospel" (1 Cor 9:16).
Yet, as much as the
world of the media may at times seem at odds with the Christian
message, it also offers unique opportunities for proclaiming the
saving truth of Christ to the whole human family. Consider, for
instance, satellite telecasts of religious ceremonies which often
reach a global audience, or the positive capacities of the
Internet to carry religious information and teaching beyond all
barriers and frontiers. Such a wide audience would have been
beyond the wildest imaginings of those who preached the Gospel
before us. What is therefore needed in our time is an active and
imaginative engagement of the media by the Church. Catholics
should not be afraid to throw open the doors of social
communications to Christ, so that his Good News may be heard from
the housetops of the world!
4. It is vital too that
at the beginning of this new millennium we keep in mind the
mission ad gentes which Christ has entrusted to the Church.
An estimated two thirds of the world's six billion people do not
in any real sense know Jesus Christ; and many of them live in
countries with ancient Christian roots, where entire groups of the
baptized have lost a living sense of the faith, or no longer
consider themselves members of the Church and live lives far
removed from the Lord and his Gospel (cf. Redemptoris missio,
33). Certainly, an effective response to this situation involves
much more than the media; but in striving to meet the challenge
Christians cannot possibly ignore the world of social
communications. Indeed, media of every kind can play an essential
role in direct evangelization and in bringing to people the truths
and values which support and enhance human dignity. The Church's
presence in the media is in fact an important aspect of the
inculturation of the Gospel demanded by the new evangelization to
which the Holy Spirit is summoning the Church throughout the
world.
As the whole Church seeks to heed
the Spirit's call, Christian communicators have "a prophetic
task, a vocation: to speak out against the false gods and idols of
the day - materialism, hedonism, consumerism, narrow
nationalism..." (Ethics in Communications, 31). Above
all, they have the duty and privilege to declare the truth - the
glorious truth about human life and human destiny revealed in the
Word made flesh. May Catholics involved in the world of social
communications preach the truth of Jesus ever more boldly and
joyfully from the housetops, so that all men and women may hear
about the love which is the heart of God's self-communication in
Jesus Christ, the same yesterday, and today, and for ever (cf Heb 13:8).
From the Vatican, 24 January
2001, the memorial of Saint Francis de Sales. JOANNES PAULUS II |
