Pope Urges Church to Rethink Its Attitude Toward Media

The Pope is right. And it is time,again, for the faithful to be faithful.

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There is no doubt that the potential presented by these new technologies can be used for good or for evil. That is where the human person - and our extraordinary capacity for freedom- is so integral to the task. This medium will be used as a tool by human persons. It will either be used by those who proclaim the liberating truth of the Gospel or those who use it to enslave others in the chains of sin and the delusion of evil. The choice is ours. The Pope writes:

“The world of mass media also has need of Christ's redemption. To analyze with the eyes of faith the processes and value of communications, the deeper appreciation of Sacred Scripture can undoubtedly help as a "great code" of communication of a message which is not ephemeral, but fundamental for its saving value. Salvation History recounts and documents the communication of God with man, a communication which uses all forms and ways of communicating. The human being is created in the image and likeness of God in order to embrace divine revelation and to enter into loving dialogue with Him. Because of sin, this capacity for dialogue at both the personal and social level has been altered, and humanity has had to suffer, and will continue to suffer, the bitter experience of incomprehension and separation. God, however, did not abandon the human race, but sent his own Son (Cf. Mk 12:1-11). In the Word made flesh communication itself takes on its most profound saving meaning: thus, in the Holy Spirit, the human being is given the capacity to receive salvation, and to proclaim and give witness to it before the world. (par. 4)”