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Dawn of a New Era
Aetatis Novae
February 22, 1992
Pontifical Council for Social Communications
Document Type: Other Ecclesial Pronouncements
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Pastoral Instruction
DAWN OF A NEW ERA
On the Twentieth Anniversary of Communio et Progressio
INTRODUCTION
A REVOLUTION IN HUMAN COMMUNICATIONS
1. At the dawn of a new era, a vast expansion of human
communications is profoundly influencing culture everywhere. Revolutionary
technological changes are only part of what is happening. Nowhere today
are people untouched by the impact of media upon religious and moral attitudes,
political and social systems, and education.
It is impossible to ignore, for instance, that geographical
and political boundaries were both of very little avail in view of the
role played by communications during the "radical transformations"
of 1989 and 1990, on whose historical significance the Pope reflects in
Centesimus Annus."(1)
It becomes equally evident that the first "Areopagus
of the modern age is the world of communications which is unifying humanity
and turning it into what is known as a `global village.' The means of
social communications have become so important as to be for many the chief
means of information and education, of guidance and inspiration in their
behavior as individuals, families and within society at large."(2)
More than a quarter century after the promulgation of
the Second Vatican Council's decree on social communications, Inter Mirifica,
and two decades after the pastoral instruction Communio et Progressio,
the Pontifical Council for Social Communications wishes to reflect on
the pastoral implications of this situation.
We do so in the spirit expressed by the closing words
of Communio et Progressio: "The people of God walk in history. As
they...advance with their times, they look forward with confidence and
even with enthusiasm to whatever the development of communications in
a space age may have to offer."(3)
Taking for granted the continued validity of the principles
and insights of these conciliar and post-conciliar documents, we wish
to apply them to new and emerging realities. We do not pretend to say
the final word on a complex, fluid, rapidly changing situation, but simply
wish to provide a working tool and a measure of encouragement to those
confronting the pastoral implications of the new realities.
2. In the years since Inter Mirifica and Communio et Progressio
appeared, people have grown accustomed to expressions like information
society, mass-media culture and media generation. Terms like these underline
a remarkable fact: Today, much that men and women know and think about
life is conditioned by the media; to a considerable extent, human experience
itself is an experience of media.
Recent decades also have witnessed remarkable developments
in the technology of communicating. These include both the rapid evolution
of previously existing technologies and the emergence of new telecommunications
and media technologies: satellites, cable television, fiber optics, videocassettes,
compact disks, computerized image making and other computer and digital
technology, and much else. The use of new media gives rise to what some
speak of as "new languages" and has given birth to new possibilities
for the mission of the Church as well as to new pastoral problems.
3. Against this background we encourage the pastors and
people of the Church to deepen their understanding of issues relating
to communications and media, and to translate their understanding into
practical policies and workable programs. "As the council fathers
looked to the future and tried to discern the context in which the Church
would be called upon to carry out her mission, they could clearly see
that the progress of technology was already `transforming the face of
the earth' and even reaching out to conquer space. They recognized that
developments in communications technology, in particular, were likely
to set off chain reactions with unforeseen consequences."(4)
"Far from suggesting that the Church should stand
aloof or try to isolate herself from the mainstream of these events, the
council fathers saw the Church as being in the very midst of human progress,
sharing the experiences of the rest of humanity, seeking to understand
them and to interpret them in the light of faith. It was for God's faithful
people to make creative use of the new discoveries and technologies for
the benefit of humanity and the fulfillment of God's plan for the world...employing
the full potential of the 'computer age' to serve the human and transcendent
vocation of every person, and thus to give glory to the Father from whom
all good things come."(5)
We express our gratitude to those responsible for the
creative communications work under way in the Church everywhere. Despite
difficulties-arising from limited resources, from the obstacles sometimes
placed in the way of the Church's access to media and from a constant
reshaping of culture, values and attitudes brought about by the pervasive
presence of media-much has been and continues to be accomplished. The
dedicated bishops, clergy, religious and lay people engaged in this critically
important apostolate deserve the thanks of all.
Also welcome are those positive ventures in media-related
ecumenical cooperation involving Catholics and their brothers and sisters
of other churches and ecclesial communities, as well as interreligious
cooperation with those of other world religions. It is not only appropriate
but "necessary for Christians to work together more effectively in
their communications efforts and to act in more direct cooperation with
other religions to ensure a united religious presence in the very heart
of mass communications."(6)
I. THE CONTEXT OF SOCIAL COMMUNICATIONS
A. Cultural and Social Context
4. As more than just a technological revolution, today's
revolution in social communications involves a fundamental reshaping of
the elements by which people comprehend the world about them and verify
and express what they comprehend. The constant availability of images
and ideas, and their rapid transmission even from continent to continent,
have profound consequences, both positive and negative, for the psychological,
moral and social development of persons, the structure and functioning
of societies, intercultural communications, and the perception and transmission
of values, worldviews, ideologies and religious beliefs. The communications
revolution affects perceptions even of the Church and has a significant
impact on the Church's own structures and modes of functioning.
All this has striking pastoral implications. The media
can be used to proclaim the Gospel or to reduce it to silence in human
hearts. As media become ever more intertwined with people's daily lives,
they influence how people understand the meaning of life itself.
Indeed the power of media extends to defining not only
what people will think but even what they will think about. Reality, for
many, is what the media recognize as real; what media do not acknowledge
seems of little importance. Thus de facto silence can be imposed upon
individuals and groups whom the media ignore, and even the voice of the
Gospel can be muted, though not entirely stilled, in this way.
It is important therefore that Christians find ways to
furnish the missing information to those deprived of it and also to give
a voice to the voiceless.
The power of media either to reinforce or override the
traditional reference points of religion, culture and family underlines
the continued relevance of the council's words: "If the media are
to be correctly employed, it is essential that all who use them know the
principles of the moral order and apply them faithfully in this domain."(7)
B. Political and Economic Context
5. The economic structures of nations are inextricably
linked to contemporary communications systems. National investment in
an efficient communications infrastructure is widely regarded as necessary
to economic and political development, and the growing cost of such investment
has been a major factor leading governments in a number of countries to
adopt policies aimed at increasing market competition. For this and other
reasons, public telecommunications and broadcasting systems in many instances
have been subject to policies of deregulation and privatization.
While public systems can clearly be misused for purposes
of ideological and political manipulation, unregulated commercialization
and privatization in broadcasting can also have far-reaching consequences.
In practice, and often as a matter of public policy, public accountability
for the use of the airwaves is devalued. Profit, not service, tends to
become the most important measure of success. Profit motives and advertisers'
interests exert undue influence on media content: Popularity is preferred
over quality, and the lowest common denominator prevails. Advertisers
move beyond their legitimate role of identifying genuine needs and responding
to them, and, driven by profit motives, strive to create artificial needs
and patterns of consumption.
Commercial pressures also operate across national boundaries
at the expense of particular peoples and their cultures. Faced with increasing
competition and the need to develop new markets, communications firms
become ever more "multinational" in character; at the same time,
lack of local production capabilities makes some countries increasingly
dependent on foreign material. Thus, the products of the popular media
of one culture spread into another, often to the detriment of established
art forms and media and the values which they embody.
Even so, the solution to problems arising from unregulated
commercialization and privatization does not lie in state control of media
but in more regulation according to criteria of public service and in
greater public accountability. It should be noted in this connection that,
although the legal and political frameworks within which media operate
in some countries are currently changing strikingly for the better, elsewhere
government intervention remains an instrument of oppression and exclusion.
II. THE WORK OF THE MEANS OF SOCIAL COMMUNICATIONS
6. Communio et Progressio is rooted in a vision of communication
as a way toward communion. For "more than the expression of ideas
and the indication of emotion," it declares, communication is "the
giving of self in love."(8) In this respect, communication mirrors
the Church's own communion and is capable of contributing to it.
Indeed, the communication of truth can have a redemptive
power, which comes from the person of Christ. He is God's Word made flesh
and the image of the invisible God. In and through him God's own life
is communicated to humanity by the Spirit's action. "Since the creation
of the world, invisible realities, God's eternal power and divinity have
become visible, recognized through the things he has made";(9) and
now "the Word has become flesh and made his dwelling among us, and
we have seen his glory: the glory of an only Son coming from the Father,
filled with enduring love."(10) Here, in the Word made flesh, God's
self-communication is definitive. In Jesus' words and deeds the Word is
liberating, redemptive, for all humankind. This loving self-revelation
of God, combined with humanity's response of faith, constitutes a profound
dialogue.
Human history and all human relationships exist within
the framework established by this self-communication of God in Christ.
History itself is ordered toward becoming a kind of word of God, and it
is part of the human vocation to contribute to bringing this about by
living out the ongoing, unlimited communication of God's reconciling love
in creative new ways. We are to do this through words of hope and deeds
of love, that is, through our very way of life. Thus, communication must
lie at the heart of the Church community.
Christ is both the content and the dynamic source of the
Church's communications in proclaiming the Gospel. For the Church itself
is "Christ's mystical body—the hidden completion of Christ glorified—who
`fills the whole creation.'"(11) As a result we move, within the
Church and with the help of the word and the sacraments, toward the hope
of that last unity where "God will be all in all."(12)
A. Media at the Service of Persons and Cultures
7. For all the good which they do and are capable of doing,
mass media, "which can be such effective instruments of unity and
understanding, can also sometimes be the vehicles of a deformed outlook
on life, on the family, on religion and on morality—an outlook that
does not respect the true dignity and destiny of the human person."(13)
It is imperative that media respect and contribute to that integral development
of the person which embraces "the cultural, transcendent and religious
dimensions of man and society."(14)
One also finds the source of certain individual and social
problems in the replacement of human interaction by increased media use
and intense attachment to fictitious media characters. Media, after all,
cannot take the place of immediate personal contact and interaction among
family members and friends. But the solution to this difficulty also may
lie largely in the media: through their use in ways—dialogue groups,
discussions of films and broadcasts—which stimulate interpersonal
communication rather than substituting for it.
B. Media at the Service of Dialogue with the World
8. The Second Vatican Council underlined the awareness
of the people of God that they are "truly and intimately linked with
mankind and its history."(15) Those who proclaim God's word are obligated
to heed and seek to understand the "words" of diverse peoples
and cultures in order not only to learn from them but to help them recognize
and accept the Word of God.(16) The Church therefore must maintain an
active, listening presence in relation to the world—a kind of presence
which both nurtures community and supports people in seeking acceptable
solutions to personal and social problems.
Moreover, as the Church always must communicate its message
in a manner suited to each age and to the cultures of particular nations
and peoples, so today it must communicate in and to the emerging media
culture.(17) This is a basic condition for responding to a crucial point
made by the Second Vatican Council: The emergence of "social, technical
and cultural bonds" linking people ever more closely lends "special
urgency" to the Church's task of bringing all to "full union
with Christ."(18) Considering how important a contribution the media
of social communications can make to its efforts to foster this unity,
the Church views them as means "devised under God's providence"
for the promotion of communication and communion among human beings during
their earthly pilgrimage.(19)
Thus, in seeking to enter into dialogue with the modern
world, the Church necessarily desires honest and respectful dialogue with
those responsible for the communications media. On the Church's side this
dialogue involves efforts to understand the media—their purposes,
procedures, forms and genres, internal structures and modalities—and
to offer support and encouragement to those involved in media work. On
the basis of this sympathetic understanding and support, it becomes possible
to offer meaningful proposals for removing obstacles to human progress
and the proclamation of the Gospel.
Such dialogue therefore requires that the Church be actively
concerned with the secular media and especially with the shaping of media
policy. Christians have in effect a responsibility to make their voice
heard in all the media, and their task is not confined merely to the giving
out of Church news. The dialogue also involves support for media artists;
it requires the development of an anthropology and a theology of communication—not
least so that theology itself may be more communicative, more successful
in disclosing Gospel values and applying them to the contemporary realities
of the human condition; it requires that Church leaders and pastoral workers
respond willingly and prudently to media when requested, while seeking
to establish relationships of mutual confidence and respect, based on
fundamental common values, with those who are not of our faith.
C. Media at the Service of Human Community and Progress
9. Communications in and by the Church is essentially
communication of the Good News of Jesus Christ. It is the proclamation
of the Gospel as a prophetic, liberating word to the men and women of
our times; it is testimony, in the face of radical secularization, to
divine truth and to the transcendent destiny of the human person; it is
the witness given in solidarity with all believers against conflict and
division, to justice and communion among peoples, nations and cultures.
This understanding of communication on the part of the
Church sheds a unique light on social communications and on the role which,
in the providential plan of God, the media are intended to play in promoting
the integral development of human persons and societies.
D. Media at the Service of Ecclesial Communion
10. Along with all this, it is necessary constantly to
recall the importance of the fundamental right of dialogue and information
within the Church, as described in Communio et Progressio,(20) and to
continue to seek effective means, including a responsible use of media
of social communications, for realizing and protecting this right. In
this connection we also have in mind the affirmations of the Code of Canon
Law that, besides showing obedience to the pastors of the Church, the
faithful "are at liberty to make known their needs, especially their
spiritual needs, and their wishes" to these pastors,(21) and that
the faithful, in keeping with their knowledge, competence and position,
have "the right, indeed at times the duty," to express to the
pastors their views on matters concerning the good of the Church.(22)
Partly this is a matter of maintaining and enhancing the
Church's credibility and effectiveness. But more fundamentally, it is
one of the ways of realizing in a concrete manner the Church's character
as communio, rooted in and mirroring the intimate communion of the Trinity.
Among the members of the community of persons who make up the Church,
there is a radical equality in dignity and mission which arises from baptism
and underlies hierarchical structure and diversity of office and function;
and this equality necessarily will express itself in an honest and respectful
sharing of information and opinions.
It will be well to bear in mind, however, in cases of
dissent, that "it is not by seeking to exert the pressure of public
opinion that one contributes to the clarification of doctrinal issues
and renders service to the truth."(23) In fact, "not all ideas
which circulate among the people of God" are to be "simply and
purely identified with the 'sense of the faith.'"(24)
Why does the Church insist that people have the right
to receive correct information? Why does the Church emphasize its right
to proclaim authentic Gospel truth? Why does the Church stress the responsibility
of its pastors to communicate the truth and to form the faithful to do
the same? It is because the whole understanding of what communication
in the Church means is based upon the realization that the Word of God
communicates himself.
E. Media at the Service of a New Evangelization
11. Along with traditional means such as witness of life,
catechetics, personal contact, popular piety, the liturgy and similar
celebrations, the use of media is now essential in evangelization and
catechesis. Indeed, "the Church would feel guilty before the Lord
if she did not utilize these powerful means that human skill is daily
rendering more perfect."(25) The media of social communications can
and should be instruments in the Church's program of re-evangelization
and new evangelization in the contemporary world. In view of the proven
efficacy of the old principle "see, judge, act," the audiovisual
aspect of media in evangelization should be given due attention.
But it will also be of great importance in the Church's
approach to media and the culture they do so much to shape always to bear
in mind that: "It is not enough to use the media simply to spread
the Christian message and the Church's authentic teaching. It is also
necessary to integrate that message into the 'new culture' created by
modern communications...with new languages, new techniques and a new psychology."(26)
Today's evangelization ought to well up from the Church's active, sympathetic
presence within the world of communications.
III. CURRENT CHALLENGES
A. Need for a Critical Evaluation
12. But even as the Church takes a positive, sympathetic
approach to media, seeking to enter into the culture created by modern
communications in order to evangelize effectively, it is necessary at
the very same time that the Church offer a critical evaluation of mass
media and their impact upon culture.
As we have said repeatedly, communications technology
is a marvelous expression of human genius, and the media confer innumerable
benefits upon society. But as we have also pointed out, the application
of communications technology has been a mixed blessing, and its use for
good purposes requires sound values and wise choices on the part of individuals,
the private sector, governments and society as a whole. The Church does
not presume to dictate these decisions and choices, but it does seek to
be of help by indicating ethical and moral criteria which are relevant
to the process—criteria which are to be found in both human and Christian
values.
B. Solidarity and Integral Development
13. As matters stand, mass media at times exacerbate individual
and social problems which stand in the way of human solidarity and the
integral development of the human person. These obstacles include secularism,
consumerism, materialism, dehumanization and lack of concern for the plight
of the poor and neglected.(27)
It is against this background that the Church, recognizing
the media of social communications as "the privileged way" today
for the creation and transmission of culture,(28) acknowledges its own
duty to offer formation to communications professionals and to the public
so that they will approach media with "a critical sense which is
animated by a passion for the truth"; it likewise acknowledges its
duty to engage in "a work of defense of liberty, respect for the
dignity of individuals and the elevation of the authentic culture of peoples
which occurs through a firm and courageous rejection of every form of
monopoly and manipulation."(29)
C. Policies and Structures
14. Certain problems in this regard arise specifically
from media policies and structures: for example, the unjust exclusion
of some groups and classes from access to the means of communications,
the systematic abridgment of the fundamental right to information, which
is practiced in some places, the widespread domination of media by economic,
social and political elites. These things are contrary to the principal
purposes and indeed to the very nature of the media, whose proper and
essential social role consists in contributing to the realization of the
human right to information, promoting justice in the pursuit of the common
good and assisting individuals, groups and peoples in their search for
truth. The media carry out these crucial tasks when they foster the exchange
of ideas and information among all classes and sectors of society and
offer to all responsible voices opportunities to be heard.
D. Defense of the Right to Information and Communications
15. It is not acceptable that the exercise of the freedom
of communication should depend upon wealth, education or political power.
The right to communicate is the right of all.
This calls for special national and international efforts,
not only to give those who are poor and less powerful access to the information
which they need for their individual and social development, but to ensure
that they are able to play an effective responsible role in deciding media
content and determining the structures and policies of their national
institutions of social communications. Where legal and political structures
foster the domination of the media by elites, the Church for its part
must urge respect for the right to communicate, including its own right
of access to media, while at the same time seeking alternative models
of communications for its own members and for people at large. The right
to communicate is part also of the right to religious freedom, which should
not be confined to freedom of worship.
IV. PASTORAL PRIORITIES AND RESPONSES
A. Defense of Human Cultures
16. Considering the situation in many places, sensitivity
to the rights and interests of individuals may often call for the Church
to promote alternative community media. Often, too, for the sake of evangelization
and catechesis the Church must take steps to preserve and promote folk
media and other traditional forms of expression, recognizing that in particular
societies these can be more effective than newer media in spreading the
Gospel because they make possible greater personal participation and reach
deeper levels of human feeling and motivation.
The overwhelming presence of mass media in the contemporary
world by no means detracts from the importance of alternative media which
are open to people's involvement and allow them to be active in production
and even in designing the process of communications itself. Then, too,
grassroots and traditional media not only provide an important forum for
local cultural expression but develop competence for active participation
in shaping and using mass media.
Similarly, we view with sympathy the desire of many peoples
and groups for more just, equitable systems of communications and information
which safeguard them against domination and manipulation, whether from
abroad or at the hands of their fellow countrymen. This is a concern of
developing nations in relation to developed ones, and often, too, it is
a concern of minorities within particular nations, both developed and
developing. In all cases people ought to be able to participate actively,
autonomously and responsibly in the process of communications which in
so many ways helps to shape the conditions of their lives.
B. Development and Promotion of the Church's Own Media
of Social
Communications
17. Along with its other commitments in the area of communications
and media, the Church must continue, in spite of the many difficulties
involved, to develop, maintain and foster its own specifically Catholic
instruments and programs for social communications. These include the
Catholic press and Catholic publishing houses, Catholic radio and television,
offices for public information and media relations, institutes and programs
for training in and about media, media research and Church-related organizations
of communications professionals—including especially the international
Catholic communications organizations—whose members are knowledgeable
and competent collaborators with the episcopal conferences as well as
with the bishops individually.
Catholic media work is not simply one more program alongside
all the rest of the Church's activities: Social communications have a
role to play in every aspect of the Church's mission. Thus, not only should
there be a pastoral plan for communications, but communications should
be an integral part of every pastoral plan, for it has something to contribute
to virtually every other apostolate, ministry and program.
C. Formation of Christian Communicators
18. Education and training in communications should be
an integral part of the formation of pastoral workers and priests.(30)
There are several distinct elements and aspects to the education and training
which are required. For example, in today's world, so strongly influenced
by media, Church personnel require at least a working grasp of the impact
which new information technologies and mass media are having upon individuals
and society. They must likewise be prepared to minister both to the "information-rich"
and to the "information-poor." They need to know how to invite
others into dialogue, avoiding a style of communicating which suggests
domination, manipulation or personal gain. As for those who will be actively
engaged in media work for the Church, they need to acquire professional
skills in media along with doctrinal and spiritual formation.
D. Pastoral Care of Communications Personnel
19. Media work involves special psychological pressures
and ethical dilemmas. Considering how important a role the media play
in forming contemporary culture and shaping the lives of countless individuals
and whole societies, it is essential that those professionally involved
in secular media and the communications industries approach their responsibilities
imbued with high ideals and a commitment to the service of humanity.
The Church has a corresponding responsibility to develop
and offer programs of pastoral care which are specifically responsive
to the peculiar working conditions and moral challenges facing communications
professionals. Typically, pastoral programs of this sort should include
ongoing formation which will help these men and women—many of whom
sincerely wish to know and do what is ethically and morally right—to
integrate moral norms ever more fully into their professional work as
well as their private lives.
V. THE NEED FOR PASTORAL PLANNING
A. Responsibilities of Bishops
20. Recognizing the validity, and indeed the urgency,
of the claims advanced by communications work, bishops and others responsible
for decisions about allocating the Church's limited human and material
resources should assign it an appropriate high priority, taking into account
the circumstances of their particular nations, regions and dioceses.
This need may be even greater now than previously, precisely
because, to some degree at least, the great contemporary "Areopagus"
of mass media has more or less been neglected by the Church up to this
time.(31) As the Holy Father remarks: "Generally, preference has
been given to other means of preaching the Gospel and of Christian education,
while the mass media are left to the initiative of individuals or small
groups and enter into pastoral planning only in a secondary way."(32)
This situation needs correcting.
B. Urgency of a Pastoral Plan for Social Communications
21. We therefore strongly recommend that dioceses and
episcopal conferences or assemblies include a communications component
in every pastoral plan. We further recommend that they develop specific
pastoral plans for social communications itself, or else review and bring
up to date those plans which already exist, in this way fostering the
desirable process of periodic re-examination and adaptation. In doing
so, bishops should seek the collaboration of professionals in secular
media and of the Church's own media-related organizations, including especially
the international and national organizations for film, radio-television
and the press.
Episcopal conferences in some regions already have been
well served by pastoral plans which concretely identify needs and goals
and encourage the coordination of efforts. The results of the study, assessment
and consultation involved in preparing these documents can and should
be shared at all levels in the Church, as useful data for pastoral workers.
Practical, realistic plans of this sort also can be adapted to the needs
of local churches. They should of course be constantly open to revision
and adaptation in light of changing needs.
This document itself concludes with elements of a pastoral
plan, which also indicate issues for possible treatment in pastoral letters
and episcopal statements at the national and local levels. These elements
reflect suggestions received from episcopal conferences and media professionals.
CONCLUSION
22. We affirm once again that the Church "sees these
media as `gifts of God,' which in accordance with his providential design
unite men in brotherhood and so help them to cooperate with his plan for
their salvation."(33) As the Spirit helped the prophets of old to
see the divine plan in the signs of their times, so today the Spirit helps
the Church interpret the signs of our times and carry out its prophetic
tasks, among which the study, evaluation and right use of communications
technology and the media of social communications are now fundamental.
APPENDIX
ELEMENTS OF A PASTORAL PLAN FOR SOCIAL
COMMUNICATIONS
23. Media conditions and the opportunities presented to
the Church in the field of social communications differ from nation to
nation and even from diocese to diocese within the same country. It naturally
follows that the Church's approach to media and the cultural environment
they help to form will differ from place to place, and that its plans
and participation will be tailored to local situations.
Every episcopal conference and diocese should therefore
develop an integrated pastoral plan for communications, preferably in
consultation with representatives of international and national Catholic
communications organizations and with local media professionals. Furthermore,
communications ought to be taken into account in formulating and carrying
out all other pastoral plans, including those concerning social service,
education and evangelization. A number of episcopal conferences and dioceses
already have developed such plans in which communications needs are identified,
goals are articulated, realistic provision is made for financing, and
a variety of communications efforts is coordinated.
The following guidelines are offered as assistance to
those formulating such pastoral plans or engaged in reassessing plans
which exist.
Guidelines for Designing Pastoral Plans for Social Communications
in a Diocese, Episcopal Conference or Patriarchal Assembly
24. A pastoral plan for social communications should include
the following elements:
a) The statement of a vision, based on extensive consultation,
which identifies communications strategies for all Church ministries and
responds to contemporary issues and conditions.
b) An inventory or assessment which describes the media
environment in the territory under consideration, including audiences,
public and commercial media producers and directors, financial and technical
resources, delivery systems, ecumenical and educational resources, and
Catholic media organizations and communications personnel, including those
of religious communities.
c) A proposed structure for Church-related social communications
in support of evangelization, catechesis and education, social service
and ecumenical cooperation, and including, as far as possible, public
relations, press, radio, television, cinema, cassettes, computer networks,
facsimile services and related forms of telecommunications.
d) Media education, with special emphasis on the relationship
of media and values.
e) Pastoral outreach to, and dialogue with, media professionals,
with particular attention to their faith development and spiritual growth.
f) Means of obtaining and maintaining financial support
adequate to the carrying out of the pastoral plan.
Process for Designing a Pastoral Plan for Social Communications
25. The plan should offer guidelines and suggestions helpful
to Church communicators in establishing realistic goals and priorities
for their work. It is recommended that a planning team including Church
personnel and media professionals be involved in this process, whose two
phases are: 1. research, and 2. design.
Research Phase
26. The elements of the research phase are needs assessment,
information gathering, and an exploration of alternative models of a pastoral
plan. It includes an analysis of the internal communications environment,
including the strengths and weaknesses of the Church's current structures
and programs for communications as well as the opportunities and challenges
these face.
Three types of research will assist in gathering the required
information: a needs assessment, a communications audit, and a resource
inventory. The first identifies areas of ministry requiring particular
attention on the part of the episcopal conference or diocese. The second
considers what is now being done—including its effectiveness—so
as to identify strengths and weaknesses of existing communications structures
and procedures. The third identifies communications resources, technology
and personnel available to the Church—including not only the Church's
"own" resources but those to which it may have access in the
business community, the media industries, and ecumenical settings.
Design Phase
27. After gathering and studying these data, the planning
team should identify conference or diocesan communications goals and priorities.
This is the beginning of the design phase. The planning team should then
proceed to address each of the following issues as it relates to local
circumstances.
28. Education. Communications issues and mass communications
are relevant to every level of pastoral ministry, including education.
A pastoral social communications plan should attempt:
a) To offer educational opportunities in communications
as essential components of the formation of all persons who are engaged
in the work of the Church: seminarians, priests, religious brothers and
sisters, and lay leaders.
b) To encourage Catholic schools and universities to offer
programs and courses related to the communications needs of the Church
and society.
c) To offer courses, workshops and seminars in technology,
management and communication ethics and policy issues for Church communicators,
seminarians, religious and clergy.
d) To plan and carry out programs in media education and
media literacy for teachers, parents and students.
e) To encourage creative artists and writers accurately
to reflect Gospel values as they share their gifts through the written
word, legitimate theater, radio, television and film for entertainment
and education.
f) To identify new strategies for evangelization and catechesis
through the application of communications technology and mass communications.
29. Spiritual formation and pastoral care. Lay Catholic
professionals and others working in either the Church apostolate of social
communications or the secular media often look to the Church for spiritual
guidance and pastoral care. A pastoral plan for social communications
therefore should seek:
a) To offer opportunities for professional enrichment
to lay Catholic and other professional communicators through days of recollection,
retreats, seminars and professional support groups.
b) To offer pastoral care which will provide the necessary
support, nourish the communicators' faith, and keep alive their sense
of dedication in the difficult task of communicating Gospel values and
authentic human values to the world.
30. Cooperation. Cooperation involves sharing resources
among conferences and/or dioceses and between dioceses and other institutions,
such as religious communities, universities and health-care facilities.
A pastoral plan for social communications should be designed:
a) To enhance relations and encourage mutual consultation
between Church representatives and media professionals, who have much
to teach the Church about the use of media.
b) To explore cooperative productions through regional
and national centers and to encourage the development of joint promotion,
marketing and distribution networks.
c) To promote cooperation with religious congregations
working in social communications.
d) To collaborate with ecumenical organizations and with
other churches and religious groups regarding ways of securing and guaranteeing
access to the media by religion, and to collaborate in "the more
recently developed media: especially in regard to the common use of satellites,
data banks and cable networks, and in informatics generally, beginning
with system compatibility "(34)
e) To cooperate with secular media, especially in regard
to common concerns on religious, moral, ethical, cultural, educational
and social issues.
31. Public relations. Public relations by the Church means
active communication with the community through both secular and religious
media. Involving readiness to communicate Gospel values and to publicize
the ministries and programs of the Church, it requires that the Church
do all in its power to ensure that its own true image reflects Christ.
A pastoral plan for social communications should seek:
a) To maintain public relations offices with adequate
human and material resources to make possible effective communication
between the Church and the community as a whole.
b) To produce publications and radio, television and video
programs of excellent quality which give high visibility to the message
of the Gospel and the mission of the Church.
c) To promote media awards and other means of recognition
in order to encourage and support media professionals.
d) To celebrate World Communications Day as a means of
fostering awareness of the importance of social communications and supporting
the communications initiatives of the Church.
32. Research. The Church's strategies in the field of
social communications must be based on the results of sound media research
which have been subjected to informed analysis and evaluation. It is important
that communications research include topics and issues of particular relevance
to the mission of the Church in the particular nation and region involved.
A pastoral plan for social communications should be designed:
a) To encourage institutes of higher studies, research
centers, and universities to engage in both applied and fundamental research
related to communications needs and concerns of the Church and society.
b) To identify practical ways of interpreting current
communication research and applying it to the mission of the Church.
c) To support ongoing theological reflection upon the
processes and instruments of social communication and their role in the
Church and society.
33. Communications and development of peoples. Accessible
point-to-point communication and mass media offer many people a more adequate
opportunity to participate in the modern world economy, to experience
freedom of expression, and to contribute to the emergence of peace and
justice in the world. A pastoral plan for social communications should
be designed:
a) To bring Gospel values to bear upon the broad range
of contemporary media activities—from book publishing to satellite
communications—so as to contribute to the growth of international
solidarity.
b) To defend the public interest and to safeguard religious
access to the media by taking informed, responsible positions on matters
of communications law and policy, and on the development of communications
systems.
c) To analyze the social impact of advanced communications
technology and to help prevent undue social disruption and cultural destabilization.
d) To assist professional communicators in articulating
and observing ethical standards, especially in regard to the issues of
fairness, accuracy, justice, decency and respect for life.
e) To develop strategies for encouraging more widespread,
representative, responsible access to the media.
f) To exercise a prophetic role by speaking out in timely
fashion from a Gospel perspective concerning the moral dimensions of significant
public issues.
Vatican City, February 22, 1992, Feast of the Chair of
St. Peter the Apostle.
John P. Foley
President
Mons. Pierfranco Pastore
Secretary
NOTES
1. Cf. John Paul II, Centesimus Annus, nn. 12-13, in Acta
Apostolicae Sedis, 1991, pp. 807-821.
2. Ibid., Redemptoris Missio, n. 37, in A.A.S., 1991, p. 285.
3. Communio et Progressio, n. 187, in A.A.S. 1971, pp. 655-656.
4. John Paul Il, Message for 1990 World Communications Day, L'Osservatore
Romano, Jan. 25, l990, p. 6; cf. Gaudium et Spes, n. 5.
5. Ibid.
6. Pontifical Council for Social Communications, "Criteria for Ecumenical
and Interreligious Cooperation in Communications," n.1, Vatican City,
1989.
7. Inter Mirifica, n. 4.
8. Communio et Progressio, n. 11.
9. Rom. 1:20.
10. Jn. 1:14.
11. Eph. 3:23; 4:10.
12. 1 Cor. 15:28; Communio et Progressio, n. 11.
13. Pontifical Council for Social Communications, "Pornography and
Violence in the Media: A Pastoral Response," n. 7, Vatican City,
1989.
14. John Paul II, Sollicitudo Rei Socialis, n. 46, in A.A.S., 1988,
p. 579.
15. Gaudium et Spes, n. 11.
16. Cf. Paul VI, Evangelii Nuntiandi, n. 20, in A.A.S., 1976, pp.
18-19.
17. Cf. Inter Mirifica, n. 3.
18. Lumen Gentium, n. 1.
19. Cf. Communio et Progressio, n. 12.
20. Ibid., 114-121.
21. Cf. Canon 212.2.
22. Cf. Canon 212.3.
23. Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, "Instruction on the
Ecclesial Vocation of the Theologian," n. 30, in A.A.S., 1990,
p. 1562.
24. Cf. ibid., n. 35.
25. Evangelii Nuntiandi, n. 45.
26. Redemptoris Missio, n. 37.
27. Centesimus Annus, n. 41.
28. John Paul II, Christifideles Laici, in A.A.S., 1989, p. 480.
29. Ibid., p. 481.
30. Cf. Congregation for Catholic Education, "Guide to the Training
of Future Priests Concerning the Instruments of Social Communications,"
Vatican City, 1986.
31. Cf. Redemptoris Missio, n. 37.
32. Ibid.
33. Communio et Progressio, n. 2.
34. "Criteria for Ecumenical and Interreligious Cooperation in Communications,"
n. 14.
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