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)