Do not glamorize evil, but communicate hope, Pope says in message
January 24, 2017
On January 24—the memorial of St. Francis de Sales, the patron of journalists—the Holy See Press Office released the Pope’s message for the 51st World Communications Day, which takes place on the Sunday before Pentecost.
In the message—entitled “Fear not, for I am with you (Is. 43:5): Communicating Hope and Trust in our Time”—Pope Francis writes that “we have to break the vicious circle of anxiety and stem the spiral of fear resulting from a constant focus on ‘bad news.’”
The Pope instead called for “an open and creative style of communication that never seeks to glamorize evil but instead to concentrate on solutions and to inspire a positive and responsible approach on the part of its recipients.”
The message has three sections:
- Good news
- Confidence in the seed of the Kingdom
- The horizons of the Spirit
The Pope concluded:
Those who, in faith, entrust themselves to the guidance of the Holy Spirit come to realize how God is present and at work in every moment of our lives and history, patiently bringing to pass a history of salvation … Today too, the Spirit continues to sow in us a desire for the Kingdom, thanks to all those who, drawing inspiration from the Good News amid the dramatic events of our time, shine like beacons in the darkness of this world, shedding light along the way and opening ever new paths of confidence and hope.
For all current news, visit our News home page.
Further information:
All comments are moderated. To lighten our editing burden, only current donors are allowed to Sound Off. If you are a current donor, log in to see the comment form; otherwise please support our work, and Sound Off!
-
Posted by: feedback -
Jan. 25, 2017 12:33 AM ET USA
The Good News of the Gospel gives hope because of it contains eternal Truth, and not because it sounds warm and fuzzy. When it comes to communications, the major plague of our times is a growing level of falsehoods in reporting by monopolized media. Journalism, which - by its very nature - should be independent, more and more frequently serves one-sided political manipulation on a mass scale. One prime example of it were the pre-election "opinion polls."
