Share Good News through technology, urges Pope Benedict XVI
(11 Oct. 2006): - The Church must not be afraid to use technology to spread the good
news, said Pope Benedict XVI to the World Congress for Catholic TV in Madrid. In a
message sent by Vatican secretary of state, Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone, the Pontiff
said that Catholics can use television to better fulfil Christ's missionary mandate
and. respond in a solicitous manner to the needs of our times. The Pope's message
addressed to Archbishop John Foley, president of the Pontifical Council for Social
Communications, was read to about 300 participants and 100 journalists at the congress,
representing approximately 50 countries. The Congress is reflecting on late Pope John
Paul II's letter "The Rapid Development." The purpose of the meeting is to encourage
dialogue and cooperation between the many Church organizations that produce or broadcast
television programs in various parts of the world," said Cardinal Bertone in the papal
message. The note added that "the multiplicity of initiatives today requires greater
mutual collaboration, so as to facilitate a more spirited dialogue between the Church
and the world. And, as every organization brings its own particular contribution to
the encounter of the Catholic voice and the world of the media, a great unity is
necessary between the Holy See and the local hierarchies, in order to inspire and
support the various television companies, and those that will develop in the future,
helping them to remain faithful to their Catholic identity, while preserving their
diverse styles." The message also said - "The new forms of communication offer a
highly favourable framework for more active participation of the public together with
the media, promoting the inclusion of less fortunate sectors of the public, and adapting
themselves in a particular way to the experience of communion that is at the very
heart of the Church." To accomplish this, added the message, "it is necessary, without
fear of technology, to promote a joyful, creative and professional presence in television,
being co-workers of the truth, so as to offer the good news of our Lord in the multiple
formats of audiovisual media, while also witnessing to the beauty of creation."