COMMUNICATING HOPE and TRUST - COMUNICAR ESPERANZA Y CONFIANZA - HOFFNUNG UND ZUVERSISCHT VERBREITENEN - COMMUNIQUER L'ESPERANCE ET LA CONFIANCE

MESSAGE OF HIS HOLINESS POPE FRANCIS
FOR THE 51st WORLD COMMUNICATIONS DAY
MESSAGE DU PAPE FRANÇOIS
POUR LA 51^ème JOURNÉE MONDIALE
DES COMMUNICATIONS SOCIALES
MENSAJE DEL SANTO PADRE FRANCISCO
PARA LA 51 JORNADA MUNDIAL
DE LAS COMUNICACIONES SOCIALES
BOTSCHAFT VON PAPST FRANZISKUS  ZUM 51. WELTTAG DER SOZIALEN KOMMUNIKATIONSMITTEL 
MESSAGGIO DEL SANTO PADRE FRANCESCO PER LA 51ma GIORNATA MONDIALE  DELLE COMUNICAZIONI SOCIALI
MENSAGEM DO PAPA FRANCISCO  PARA O 51ª DIA MUNDIAL DAS COMUNICAÇÕES SOCIAIS

ORĘDZIE PAPIEŻA FRANCISZKA NA  LI ŚWIATOWY DZIEŃ ŚRODKÓW SPOŁECZNEGO PRZEKAZU

      Access to the media – thanks to technological progress – makes it possible for countless people to share news instantly and spread it widely. That news may be good or bad, true or false. The early Christians compared the human mind to a constantly grinding millstone; it is up to the miller to determine what it will grind: good wheat or worthless weeds. Our minds are always “grinding”, but it is up to us to choose what to feed them (cf. SAINT JOHN CASSIAN, Epistle to Leontius).

     I wish to address this message to all those who, whether in their professional work or personal relationships, are like that mill, daily “grinding out” information with the aim of providing rich fare for those with whom they communicate. I would like to encourage everyone to engage in constructive forms of communication that reject prejudice towards others and foster a culture of encounter, helping all of us to view the world around us with realism and trust.

      I am convinced that we have to break the vicious circle of anxiety and stem the spiral of fear resulting from a constant focus on “bad news” (wars, terrorism, scandals and all sorts of human failure). This has nothing to do with spreading misinformation that would ignore the tragedy of human suffering, nor is it about a naive optimism blind to the scandal of evil. Rather, I propose that all of us work at overcoming that feeling of growing discontent and resignation that can at times generate apathy, fear or the idea that evil has no limits. Moreover, in a communications industry which thinks that good news does not sell, and where the tragedy of human suffering and the mystery of evil easily turn into entertainment, there is always the temptation that our consciences can be dulled or slip into pessimism.

      I would like, then, to contribute to the search for an open and creative style of communication that never seeks to glamourize evil but instead to concentrate on solutions and to inspire a positive and responsible approach on the part of its recipients. I ask everyone to offer the people of our time storylines that are at heart “good news”........

MESSAGE

 AR  - DE  - EN  - ES  - FR  - IT  - PL  - PT