May 2008



P R A Y I N G    W I T H    T H E    C H U R C H    

INTENTION : That Christians may use literature, art and the mass-media to greater advantage in order to favour a culture which defends and promotes the values of the human person.

The power of the media, literature and art to influence human society cannot be under-estimated. Technological advances in the media particularly, have conquered time and space and have made communication between people, both instantaneous and direct.This communication culture presents an enormous potential for service of the common good.

Shaping the thinking of individuals and informing their consciences is never a neutral task. While the media facilitates the exchange of information, ideas and views, it also taints them with ambiguity and subtlety thereby devaluing cultural practices and religious belief. These are distortions that occur when the media industry becomes self-serving or solely profit-driven and thus losing the sense of accountability to the common good.

Authentic communication demands principled courage and resolve. It requires a determination of those working in the media neither to wilt under the weight of so much information nor even to be content with partial or provisional truths. Instead it necessitates both seeking and transmitting what is the ultimate foundation and meaning of human, personal and social existence. In this way the media can contribute constructively to the propagation of all that is good and true.



- END -



© Copyright Shalom 2008. All rights reserved.