2013-10-18 16:55:15

Pope urges Vatican television to bring Church close to people


October 18, 2013 - Pope Francis on Friday sent a message to the Vatican Television Centre (CTV) on the occasion of its 30th anniversary, urging it to bring the Church to the people saying an encounter with the Lord Jesus can transform the heart and history of man. The main services of the Vatican Television Center, created in 1983, are broadcasts, production, archiving, and daily assistance to other broadcasters of papal and Vatican events. In his message, the Pope recalled “Inter Mirifica”, the Second Vatican Council decree on social communications, saying like salt and light that enriches and illumines the world, the media carry the light of Jesus Christ and contribute to the progress of humanity. Recalling Pope Benedict XVI’s exhortation to CTV he said “you relay relevant news quickly on the life and teaching of the Church in today's world, at the service of the dignity of the human person, justice, dialogue and peace.” “Hence don’t forget that yours is an ecclesial service, within the evangelizing mission of the Church.” He reminded the staff of the Vatican Television Centre that in presenting events their outlook should never be worldly but ecclesial. He said special responsibility and strong capacity are need to read realities in a spiritual light. Church events, as different from political or economic events, have a special feature that does not readily correspond to the “worldly” categories that we are used to, and so it is not easy to interpret and communicate them to a wider and more varied public. The Church is certainly a human and historical institution with all that that entails, yet her nature is not essentially political but spiritual. The Pope thanked the CTV staff for their capacity to forge relations with different realities of the entire world, in order to build bridges, overcoming walls and chasms, carrying the light of the Gospel. This requires oneness of mind and effort. Convergence rather than competition is the strategy of the Catholic Church’s media initiatives. Finally the Pope urged CTV to avoid being purely documental, of indifferent events, but to help in bringing the Church close to the world, closing gaps and helping the Word of God reach millions of Catholics, also in places where they profess their faith in challenging situations. (Source: Vatican)








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