MESSAGE OF HIS HOLINESS
JOHN PAUL II
FOR THE 13TH WORLD COMMUNICATIONS DAY
"Social Communications for the Development of the Child"
Dearest Brothers and Children of the Holy Church,
With the same sentiments of sincere trust and living hope which have marked my pastoral service in the Chair of Peter from its beginning, I turn to you, especially to those among you who are engaged in social communications, on the day which is consecrated to this important subject by the wish of the Second Vatican Council (cf. Decree Inter Mirifica, 18).
The theme for which I wish to claim your attention contains, in fact, an implicit invitation to trust and hope because it deals with childhood, and I discuss it all the more willingly because it was already selected by my beloved predecessor Paul VI. It is opportune to reflect, in this year declared by the United Nations Organization the "Year of the Child", on the particular needs of this vast band of "receivers"—the children—and on the consequent responsibilities of the adults, particularly those who work in communications and who can and do exercise such great influence on the formation—or unfortunately the malformation—of the young generations. Here is contained the seriousness and the complexity of the subject: ''Social Communications: protecting the child and promoting his best Interests in the family and in society."
