Pope Benedict XVI Address to participants of the Plenary Assembly of the Pontifical
Council for Social Communications
(October 29, 2009) “The Pontifical Council for Social Communications for some time
has been following this amazing and fast evolution of media, to use it in communicating
the Teaching of the Church,” said Pope Benedict XVI. In fact, modern culture is
the result of the existence of new ways to communicate, using new languages, new techniques
and creating a new atmosphere. All this poses a challenge for the Church which is
called to proclaim the Gospel to the people in the third millennium, he said. The
Holy Father was addressing the members of the first plenary session of the Pontifical
Council for Social Communication in Rome on Thursday, 29th of October.
The Pontifical Council for Social Communications is a dicastery of the Roman Curia,
established by Pope Pius XII in 1948 and is responsible for using the various forms
of the media in spreading the Gospel. The Pontiff continued saying that the structural
character of multimedia and interactivity of each new media has in some way inter-twined,
gradually creating a sort of global system of communication, which, while maintaining
its unique character of each medium, requires a synthesis to meet the challenges of
evangelisation. Referring to his message for the World Communications Day this year,
the Pope said that he stressed the importance of new technologies, encouraged the
leaders of communication processes at all levels to promote a culture of respect for
the dignity and worth of the human person, a need for dialogue rooted in sincere search
for truth, all to be at the service of human community. In this way the Church carries
the service of culture in today's digital world necessary to proclaim the Gospel,
the only word that can save mankind. The Pope then thanked them for the contribution
they offer to the Church in an area of social communications, and assured them his
prayers that the action of the Pontifical Council continues to bear much fruit.