Scottish Catholic Observer

Pope Benedict XVI has asked media professionals and viewers, listeners and readers to embrace silence.

Announcing that the Holy Father had chosen ‘Silence and Word: Path of Evangelisation’ as the theme for World Communications Day 2012, the Vatican acknowledged it might initially appear strange to ask professional communicators to focus on silence, but it said silence is essential for really processing the words people hear or read.

Pope Benedict (right) is associating World Communications Day with the theme of the synod of bishops to be held in October, which will focus on the new evangelisation.

World Communications Day

The Catholic celebration of World Communications Day is marked in most dioceses on the Sunday before Pentecost, which in 2012 will be May 20. A Papal message for the occasion usually is released on the feast of St Francis de Sales, patron of writers, January 24.

“The extraordinarily varied nature of the contribution of modern communications to society highlights the need for a value which, on first consideration, might seem to stand in contra-distinction to it,” the Vatican statement noted. “In the thought of Pope Benedict XVI, silence is not presented simply as an antidote to the constant and unstoppable flow of information that characterises society today but rather as a factor that is necessary for its integration. Silence, precisely because it favours habits of discernment and reflection, can in fact be seen primarily as a means of welcoming the Word.” The Vatican message discouraged a ‘dualism’ in considering the elements of silence and communication, instead highlighting their complementary nature ‘two elements which when they are held in balance serve to enrich the value of communication and which make it a key factor that can serve the new evangelisation.’

History

World Communications Day is the only worldwide celebration called for by the Second Vatican Council. The theme of the Pope’s message for last year’s World Communications day was Truth, proclamation and authenticity of life in the digital age.

The Holy Father then praised social media for contributing to ‘a new appreciation of communication itself, which is seen first of all as dialogue, exchange, solidarity and the creation of positive relations.’

The Pope also warned Catholics of the limitations and dangers of internet communication and social media.

He spoke of the ‘the one-sidedness of the interaction’ saying: “The tendency to communicate only some parts of one’s interior world, the risk of constructing a false image of oneself, which can become a form of self-indulgence.”

Addressing young people, the Holy Father encouraged them to ‘act properly’ and to be true to ‘the authenticity of one’s own being.’

The Holy Father said Catholics had to find the correct balance when using digital technology.

“Entering cyberspace can be a sign of an authentic search for personal encounters with others, provided that attention is paid to avoiding dangers such as enclosing oneself in a sort of parallel existence, or excessive exposure to the virtual world,” he said. “In the search for sharing, for ‘friends,’ there is the challenge to be authentic and faithful, and not to give in to the illusion of constructing an artificial public profile for oneself.”