1991 - 25th World Communications Day

MESSAGE
OF THE HOLY FATHER
FOR THE XXV WORLD COMMUNICATIONS DAY

Theme: The Communications media and the unity and progress of the human family

Dear Brothers and Sisters,

For the celebration of this World Communications Day, we return to the theme which formed the central message of the Pastoral Instruction Communio et Progressio, approved by Pope Paul VI in 1971, regarding the application of the Decree of the Second Vatican Council on the Means of Social Communication. Prepared in obedience to the Council Fathers wishes, that Instruction saw the chief aims of social communication and all the means it uses as the unity and progress of the human family. On the Twentieth Anniversary of this important Document, I wish to return to that basic consideration in order to invite the members of the Church to reflect once more on the serious problems and rich new opportunities occasioned by continuing developments in the communications media, especially in relation to the unity and progress of peoples everywhere.

The Church has long held the conviction that the media (press, radio, television, film and cinema) are to be regarded as "gifts of God" (cf. Pius XII, Encyclical Letter Miranda Prorsus, AAS, 24 [1957], p. 765). The list of the "gifts" which comprise the communications media has continued to lengthen since the Pastoral Instruction was published. Such contemporary items as satellites, computers, home video recorders and ever improving methods for the transmission of information are now at the disposal of the human family. The purpose of these new gifts is the same as that of the more traditional communications media: to draw us closer together in brotherhood and mutual understanding, and to help us to go forward in the pursuit of our human destiny as God's beloved sons and daughters.

1989 - 24th World Communications Day

MESSAGE
OF THE HOLY FATHER
FOR THE XXIII WORLD COMMUNICATIONS DAY

Theme: Religion in the Mass Media

Brothers and sisters,

my dear friends the communicators,

1. The theme of the World Day of Social Communications this year, "Religion in the Media", underlines the special importance of the Church's presence and of the part it plays in public dialogue. In our days, in fact, religious messages, as well as cultural messages, gain an increased impact from the intervention of the social communications media. The reflection which I would like to share with you on this occasion will illustrate a concern that has been constantly with me throughout my pontificate: what place can religion have in the life of society and, more exactly, what place can religion have in the media?

2. In the course of its pastoral activity, the Church naturally asks itself questions regarding the media's attitude to "religion". The fact is that at the very time the media and the techniques of communication are enjoying such developments, the industrial world which has assisted their extraordinary growth itself shows a "secularism" which is apparently bent on hastening the disappearance of any sense of religion among the people of our day.

1989 - Hari Komunikasi Sedunia Ke 23

AMANAT BAPA SUCI YOHANES PAULUS II,
PADA HARI KOMUNIKASI SEDUNIA KE 23 TAHUN 1989

AGAMA DALAM MEDIA

Saudara saudari, sahabat-sahabat para komunikator :

1. Tema Hari Komunikasi Sosial Sedunia tahun ini adalah Agama dalam media. Tema ini menggarisbawahi betapa pentingnya kehadiran Gereja serta peran yang dimainkannya dalam dialog masyarakat. Pada dasarnya, dalam zaman kita, pesan-pesan religius maupun kebudayaan mempunyai dampak yang semakin besar, akibatnya pemakaian sarana-sarana komunikasi sosial. Refleksi yang ingin saya bagi-bagikan bersama anda pada kesempatan ini, akan menjelaskan suatu minat yang secara tetap menyertai saya sepanjang masa kepausanku; yakni, dimanakah tempat agama dalam kehidupan masyarakat? Atau lebih jelas lagi, dimanakah tempat agama dalam media?

2. Sepanjang karya pastoralnya, Gereja biasa bertanya pada diri sendiri mengenai sikap media terhadap agama, nyatanya pada saat media dan teknik teknik komunikasi mengalami perkembangan sepesat itu, dunia industri yang telah ikut serta dalam perkembangannya yang luar biasa itu, menunjukan suatu gejala sekuralisme, yang agaknya cenderung untuk mempercepat hilangnya setiap rasa keagamaan dalam hati manusia zaman kita.

1988 - 22nd World Communications Day

MESSAGE
OF THE HOLY FATHER
FOR THE XXII WORLD COMMUNICATIONS DAY 

Theme: Social Communications and the Promotion of Solidarity and Fraternity Between Peoples and Nations

Brothers and sisters, 

my dear friends, 

the communicators,

If one day it can be truly said that "to communicate" is the same as "to fraternize", that "communication" signifies human "solidarity", will not this be the most beautiful result of "mass communications"? It is on this theme that I would propose to you that we reflect on the 22nd World Communications Day.

In speaking of fraternity, I use the term in its strict meaning. It is Christ, in effect, "the first-born among many brethren (Rm. 8, 29), who makes us discover in every human person, friend or even enemy, a brother or a sister. Christ who came "not to condemn the world but to save it" (cf. John 3,17), calls all humanity to unity. The Spirit of love which he gives to the world is also a Spirit of unity: St. Paul shows us the same Spirit who grants a variety of gifts, who acts in the different members of Ihe same Body: there are "varieties of gifts... but it is the same God who inspires them all in every one" (1 Cor. 12, 4-6).