A Penitent Blogger
The rapid development of technology
"in the area of the media is surely one of the signs of progress in today’s society. In view of these innovations in continuous evolution, the words found in the Decree of the Second Vatican Ecumenical Council, Inter Mirifica, promulgated by my venerable predecessor, the servant of God Paul VI, December 4, 1963, appear even more pertinent:
"'Man’s genius has with God’s help produced marvelous technical inventions from creation, especially in our times. The Church, our mother, is particularly interested in those which directly touch man’s spirit and which have opened up new avenues of easy communication of all kinds of news, of ideas and orientations.'
"2. More than forty years after the publication of that document, it appears appropriate to reflect on the 'challenges which the communications media constitute for the Church, which Paul VI said 'would feel guilty before the Lord if she did not utilize these powerful means.'
"In fact, the Church is not only called upon to use the mass media to spread the Gospel but, today more than ever, to integrate the message of salvation into the 'new culture' that these powerful means of communication create and amplify.
"It tells us that the use of the techniques and the technologies of contemporary communications is an integral part of its mission in the third millennium.
"Moved by this awareness, the Christian community has taken significant steps in the use of the means of communication for religious information, for evangelization and catechesis, for the formation of pastoral workers in this area, and for the education to a mature responsibility of the users and the recipients of the various communications media.
"3. Many challenges face the new evangelization in a world rich with communicative potential like our own.
"Because of this, I wanted to underline in the Encyclical Redemptoris Missio that the first Areopagus of modern times is the world of communications, which is capable of unifying humanity and transforming it into – as it is commonly referred to – 'a global village.'
"The communications media have acquired such importance as to be the principal means of guidance and inspiration for many people in their personal, familial, and social behavior.
"We are dealing with a complex problem, because the culture itself, prescinding from its content, arises from the very existence of new ways to communicate with hitherto unknown techniques and vocabulary."
from an Apostolic Letter to those responsible for communications (nn.1-3)
by Pope John Paul II
published February 21, 2005
"'Man’s genius has with God’s help produced marvelous technical inventions from creation, especially in our times. The Church, our mother, is particularly interested in those which directly touch man’s spirit and which have opened up new avenues of easy communication of all kinds of news, of ideas and orientations.'
"2. More than forty years after the publication of that document, it appears appropriate to reflect on the 'challenges which the communications media constitute for the Church, which Paul VI said 'would feel guilty before the Lord if she did not utilize these powerful means.'
"In fact, the Church is not only called upon to use the mass media to spread the Gospel but, today more than ever, to integrate the message of salvation into the 'new culture' that these powerful means of communication create and amplify.
"It tells us that the use of the techniques and the technologies of contemporary communications is an integral part of its mission in the third millennium.
"Moved by this awareness, the Christian community has taken significant steps in the use of the means of communication for religious information, for evangelization and catechesis, for the formation of pastoral workers in this area, and for the education to a mature responsibility of the users and the recipients of the various communications media.
"3. Many challenges face the new evangelization in a world rich with communicative potential like our own.
"Because of this, I wanted to underline in the Encyclical Redemptoris Missio that the first Areopagus of modern times is the world of communications, which is capable of unifying humanity and transforming it into – as it is commonly referred to – 'a global village.'
"The communications media have acquired such importance as to be the principal means of guidance and inspiration for many people in their personal, familial, and social behavior.
"We are dealing with a complex problem, because the culture itself, prescinding from its content, arises from the very existence of new ways to communicate with hitherto unknown techniques and vocabulary."
from an Apostolic Letter to those responsible for communications (nn.1-3)
by Pope John Paul II
published February 21, 2005
posted by Penitens | 3:09 PM
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