Pope to teachers of communication

(23 May, 2008) “The art of communication is by its nature linked to an ethical value, to the virtues that are the foundation of morality,” said Pope Benedict XVI on Friday. “A communicator can attempt to inform, to educate, to entertain, to convince, to comfort; but the final worth of any communication lies in its truthfulness,” he told some 200 communication professors and teachers from 43 countries participating in the First Congress of Faculties of Communication of Catholic Universities. The 3-day congress that concludes on Saturday in Rome is organized by the Vatican’s Pontifical Council for Social Communications. Participants from 45 Catholic universities and 13 communications institutions are discussing the theme, "The identity and mission of a communications faculty in a Catholic University.” Pope Benedict encouraged educators to nourish the young people’ innate passion for truth and goodness, saying this quest must not be distorted to become a relativistic cynicism in which all claims to truth and beauty are routinely rejected or ignored. Rather than merely imparting technical education or providing information, education in communication should help promote truth and build a better world. This, he said, is done by promoting justice, solidarity and respect for the value and dignity of every person, who has the right of not being hurt in private life. Pope Benedict urged that the benefits of new means of communications are accessible to the economically and socially marginalized. He also urged that the media preserve and nurture traditional customs and local cultures, especially those that have managed to strengthen social and family values, love, solidarity and respect for life.