MESSAGE
OF THE HOLY FATHER
FOR THE XV WORLD COMMUNICATIONS DAY
OF THE HOLY FATHER
FOR THE XV WORLD COMMUNICATIONS DAY
Theme: Social Communications and Responsible human Freedom
Beloved Brothers and Sisters,
The XV World Communications Day has as its theme: "Social Communications in the service of responsible human freedom". Tho this important subject I intend to devote this message, which I address lovingly to the sons of the Catholic Church and to all men of good will.
1. In the continual expansion and progress of the mass media we can discern a sign of the times, which constitutes an immense potential for universal understanding and a strengthening of the grounds for peace and brotherhood among the nations.
Pius XII, of venerable memory, very rightly spoke, in the Encyclical Miranda Prorsus, of 8 September 1957, of these media, classifying them as "wonderful inventions of which our age is proud", and seeing in them a gift of God. The Decree lnter Mirifica of the II Vatican Ecumenical Council, confirming this view, stressed the possibilities of these media, which "by their very nature are able to reach and move not only individuals, but even multitudes and the whole of human society".
