- Pope Assesses Social Media Positively in Message for the World Communications Day 2013
- Pope’s Message for World Communications Day 2013: "Social Networks: Portals of Truth and Faith; New Spaces for Evangelization"
- World Communications Day 2013 to Focus on Social Media
- Benedict XVI Stresses Value of Silence in Message for World Communications Day 2012
- Pope’s Message for World Communications Day 2012: "Silence and Word: Path of Evangelization"
- Emergence of Internet a "Revolution", Says Pope in his Message for World Communications Day 2011
- Pope’s message for World Communications Day 2011: "Truth, Proclamation and Authenticity of Life in the Digital Age"
- H2ONews: Priests and the digital world
- Pope’s Message for World Communications Day 2010: "New Media at the Service of the Word"
- Catholic Communicators Back Pope’s Call for Priests to Use Digital Media
- Pope Urges Priests to Use Communications Media on Releasing the Theme of WCD 2010
- Vatican to Prepare New Document on Media
- Archbishop Celli Urges Use of Technology to Spread Message of Word
- Theology and Communications Conference in St John’s University, New York
- H2Onews: The Media, a Means of Evangelization
- Archbishop Celli Adresses European Communication Summit
- Communication and Theology in Conversation
- Communications Media: Common Good before Profit
- ’Go Tell Everyone’: A Vision for Evangelisation in a Modern Culture
- Pontiff Sees Media as Vital for the Gospel
- ’The Media: A Network for Communication, Communion and Cooperation’
Emergence of Internet a "Revolution", Says Pope in his Message for World Communications Day 2011
Vatican City, January 24, 2011 (Zenit.org/SIGNIS) - On January 24, feast of St. Francis de Sales, Pope Benedict XVI released his message for the 45th World Communications Day, which will be observed June 5 on the theme "Truth, Proclamation and Authenticity of Life in the Digital Age".
In line with his messages from the last few years, the Holy Father emphasized the development of communication as something positive, and he urged Christians "to join the network of relationships which the digital era has made possible."
He reflected that more and more, the advent of Internet communication is compared with the Industrial Revolution, noting that "the radical changes taking place in communications are guiding significant cultural and social developments."
"The new technologies are not only changing the way we communicate, but communication itself, so much so that it could be said that we are living through a period of vast cultural transformation," the Pontiff said. "This means of spreading information and knowledge is giving birth to a new way of learning and thinking, with unprecedented opportunities for establishing relationships and building fellowship."
But as with "every other fruit of human ingenuity," Benedict XVI affirmed, "the new communications technologies must be placed at the service of the integral good of the individual and of the whole of humanity."
Identity and Responsability
According to the archbishop Claudio Celli, president of the Pontifical Council for Social Communications, the papal message links "three important human aspects of today’s life: digital communication, image of oneself and coherence of life."
"The communicative dynamics in the digital world trigger new ways of building one’s identity, and it is here that the Pope’s call comes for coherence, for authenticity," he explained.
According to the archbishop, the Pontiff stressed "our profound personal responsibility, both in the building of our ’I’ as well as in encounters with others."
The prelate also noted the message’s reference to a Christian style of Internet presence. "More than ever," Archbishop Celli said, "the need to make the Gospel known in its integrity must be manifested as a distinct ’sign’ of the digital era."