The means of social communication (especially the mass media) can give rise to a certain passivity among users, making them less than vigilant consumers of what is said or shown. Users should practice moderation and discipline in their approach to the mass media. They will want to form enlightened and correct consciences the more easily to resist unwholesome influences.
Christian purity requires a purification of the social climate. It requires of the communications media that their presentations show concern for respect and restraint. Purity of heart brings freedom from widespread eroticism and avoids entertainment inclined to voyeurism and illusion.
In the promotion of an authentic culture, the laity will place great importance on mass media, examining above all the contents of the countless choices that people make. These choices, while varying from group to group and from individual to individual, all have a moral weight and should be evaluated in this light. In order to choose correctly, one must know the norms of the moral order and apply them faithfully.Cf. Second Vatican Ecumenical Council, Decree Inter Mirifica, 4: AAS — Acta Apostolicae Sedis (official gazette of the Holy See)Volume 56 (1964) at vatican.va — scanned PDF (1964), 146. The Church offers a long tradition of wisdom, rooted in divine Revelation and human reflection,Cf. John Paul II, Encyclical Letter Fides et Ratio, 36-48: AAS — Acta Apostolicae Sedis (official gazette of the Holy See)Volume 91 (1999) at vatican.va — scanned PDF (1999), 33-34. the theological orientation of which provides an important corrective function to both “the ‘atheistic' solution which deprives man of one of his basic dimensions, namely the spiritual one, and to permissive and consumerist solutions, which under various pretexts seek to convince man that he is free from every law and from God himself”John Paul II, Encyclical Letter Centesimus Annus, 55: AAS — Acta Apostolicae Sedis (official gazette of the Holy See)Volume 83 (1991) at vatican.va — scanned PDF (1991), 861.. Rather than judging the means of social communication, this tradition is placed at their service: “The Church's culture of wisdom can save the media culture of information from becoming a meaningless accumulation of facts”John Paul II, Message for the 1999 World Day of Social Communications, 3: L'Osservatore Romano, English edition, 3 February 1999, pp. 1-2..
The lay faithful will look upon the media as possible and powerful instruments of solidarity: “Solidarity is a consequence of genuine and right communication and the free circulation of ideas that further knowledge and respect for others”Catechism of the Catholic Church, 2495.. This is not the case if the media are used to build and sustain economic systems that serve greed and covetousness. Faced with grave injustices, the decision to ignore completely certain aspects of human suffering reflects an indefensible selectivityCf. Pontifical Council for Social Communications, Ethics in Communications (4 June 2000), 14, Libreria Editrice Vaticana, Vatican City 2000, pp. 14-16.. Communication structures and policies, and the distribution of technology are factors that help to make some people “information rich” and others “information poor” at a time when prosperity, and even survival, depend on information. In this way, the media often contribute to the injustices and imbalances that give rise to the very suffering that they report. Communications and information technology, along with training in its use, must aim at eliminating such injustices and imbalances.
Professionals in the field of media are not the only people with ethical duties. Those who make use of the media also have obligations. Media operators who try to meet their responsibilities deserve audiences who are aware of their own responsibilities. The first duty of media users is to be discerning and selective. Parents, families and the Church have precise responsibilities they cannot renounce. For those who work, in various capacities, in the area of social communications, the warning of St. Paul rings out loud and clear: “Therefore, putting away falsehood, let every one speak the truth with his neighbour, for we are members one of another ... Let no evil talk come out of your mouths, but only such as is good for edifying, as fits the occasion, that it may impart grace to those who hear” (Eph 4:25, 29). Serving the human person through the building up of a human community based on solidarity, justice and love, and spreading the truth about human life and its final fulfilment in God remain at the heart of ethics in the mediaCf. Pontifical Council for Social Communications, Ethics in Communications, 4 June 2000, 33, Libreria Editrice Vaticana, Vatican City 2000, p. 40.. In the light of faith, human communication can be seen as a journey from Babel to Pentecost, or rather, as the personal and social commitment to overcome the collapse of communication (cf.Gen 11:4-8), opening people to the gift of tongues (cf. Acts 2:5-11), to communication as restored by the power of the Spirit sent by the Son.
In the promotion of an authentic culture, the laity will place great importance on mass media, examining above all the contents of the countless choices that people make. These choices, while varying from group to group and from individual to individual, all have a moral weight and should be evaluated in this light. In order to choose correctly, one must know the norms of the moral order and apply them faithfully. Cf. Second Vatican Ecumenical Council, Decree Inter Mirifica, 4: AAS — Acta Apostolicae Sedis (official gazette of the Holy See)Volume 56 (1964) at vatican.va — scanned PDF (1964), 146. The Church offers a long tradition of wisdom, rooted in divine Revelation and human reflection, Cf. John Paul II, Encyclical Letter Fides et Ratio, 36-48: AAS — Acta Apostolicae Sedis (official gazette of the Holy See)Volume 91 (1999) at vatican.va — scanned PDF (1999), 33-34. the theological orientation of which provides an important corrective function to both “the ‘atheistic' solution which deprives man of one of his basic dimensions, namely the spiritual one, and to permissive and consumerist solutions, which under various pretexts seek to convince man that he is free from every law and from God himself” John Paul II, Encyclical Letter Centesimus Annus, 55: AAS — Acta Apostolicae Sedis (official gazette of the Holy See)Volume 83 (1991) at vatican.va — scanned PDF (1991), 861.. Rather than judging the means of social communication, this tradition is placed at their service: “The Church's culture of wisdom can save the media culture of information from becoming a meaningless accumulation of facts” John Paul II, Message for the 1999 World Day of Social Communications, 3: L'Osservatore Romano, English edition, 3 February 1999, pp. 1-2..
The lay faithful will look upon the media as possible and powerful instruments of solidarity: “Solidarity is a consequence of genuine and right communication and the free circulation of ideas that further knowledge and respect for others” Catechism of the Catholic Church, 2495.. This is not the case if the media are used to build and sustain economic systems that serve greed and covetousness. Faced with grave injustices, the decision to ignore completely certain aspects of human suffering reflects an indefensible selectivity Cf. Pontifical Council for Social Communications, Ethics in Communications (4 June 2000), 14, Libreria Editrice Vaticana, Vatican City 2000, pp. 14-16.. Communication structures and policies, and the distribution of technology are factors that help to make some people “information rich” and others “information poor” at a time when prosperity, and even survival, depend on information. In this way, the media often contribute to the injustices and imbalances that give rise to the very suffering that they report. Communications and information technology, along with training in its use, must aim at eliminating such injustices and imbalances.
Professionals in the field of media are not the only people with ethical duties. Those who make use of the media also have obligations. Media operators who try to meet their responsibilities deserve audiences who are aware of their own responsibilities. The first duty of media users is to be discerning and selective. Parents, families and the Church have precise responsibilities they cannot renounce. For those who work, in various capacities, in the area of social communications, the warning of St. Paul rings out loud and clear: “Therefore, putting away falsehood, let every one speak the truth with his neighbour, for we are members one of another ... Let no evil talk come out of your mouths, but only such as is good for edifying, as fits the occasion, that it may impart grace to those who hear” (Eph 4:25, 29). Serving the human person through the building up of a human community based on solidarity, justice and love, and spreading the truth about human life and its final fulfilment in God remain at the heart of ethics in the media Cf. Pontifical Council for Social Communications, Ethics in Communications, 4 June 2000, 33, Libreria Editrice Vaticana, Vatican City 2000, p. 40.. In the light of faith, human communication can be seen as a journey from Babel to Pentecost, or rather, as the personal and social commitment to overcome the collapse of communication (cf. Gen 11:4-8), opening people to the gift of tongues (cf. Acts 2:5-11), to communication as restored by the power of the Spirit sent by the Son.