Sections 484 through 490 will address the issues involved with the Pastoral Ministry Of Social Communications.” Let’s begin with two brief paragraphs which include the insight of a recent pope:
484. The technology revolution and globalization processes shape the contemporary world as a vast media culture. This entails an ability to recognize the new languages which can be helpful for a greater global humanization. These new languages constitute a connection point to the changes in society.
This is the positive side of modern communications, of which some Catholics have taken full advantage. We need to do this, according to Pope John Paul II:
485. “Our century is characterized by the mass media or means of social communication, and the first proclamation, catechesis or the further deepening of faith cannot do without these means.”
When they are put at the service of the Gospel, they are capable of increasing almost indefinitely the area in which the Word of God is heard; they enable the Good News to reach millions of people. The Church would feel guilty before the Lord if she did not utilize these powerful means that human skill is daily rendering more perfect. It is through them that she proclaims “from the housetops” (cf. Matthew 10:27; Luke 12:3) the message of which she is the depositary. In them she finds a modern and effective version of the pulpit. Thanks to them she succeeds in speaking to the multitudes.(Evangelium Vitae 45)
Fulton Sheen was the first–some would say patron saint–of modern communications media. I wonder what reaction he would have to the internet. And to his successors.
For deeper examination, an English translation of the 2007 document from the Aparecida Conference.
