Bishop Joseph Duffy welcomes Pope Benedict XVI’s message for World Communications Day 2008

24 Jan 2008

PRESS RELEASE

24th January 2008

Bishop Joseph Duffy welcomes Pope Benedict XVI’s message for World Communications Day 2008

 

“The Media: At the Crossroads between Self-Promotion and Service.

Searching for the Truth in order to Share it with Others”

The Chair of the Communications Commission of the Irish Bishops’ Conference, Bishop Joseph Duffy, today welcomed Pope Benedict XVI’s message for the 42nd World Communications Day.

Bishop Duffy said: “The theme of this year’s World Communications Day is ´The Media: At the Crossroads between Self-Promotion and Service. Searching for the Truth in order to share it with others.’ Appropriately this message is published today, the feast of St Francis de Sales, the patron saint of writers, editors and journalists.

“Because of their influence on society, those who work in the media have a special duty, as exercised in their day-to-day employment, to seek out the truth and to accurately report the facts to their audiences.”

Bishop Duffy continued: “World Communications Day is an important date in the calendar of the Catholic Church and it was the only worldwide celebration called for by the Second Vatican Council. Whether as media producers or media end-users, we are all stakeholders in this important and powerful sector. We should therefore be proactive when it comes to supporting or challenging positions taken in, or via, the media, especially when such positions have implications for the mission of the Catholic Church.”

Bishop Duffy concluded: “This is Pope Benedict’s third message for World Communications Day and it builds on last year’s theme: ‘Children and the Media: a Challenge for Education.’ While today’s message is published for the benefit of all, it will be marked in most countries on World Communications Day – the Sunday before Pentecost, which in 2008 is the 4th May next.”

Ends

Click here for the full text of Pope Benedict XVI’s Message for World Communications Day.

Further information:
Brenda Drumm, Communications Officer (087 233 7797)
Kathy Tynan, Communications Officer (086 817 5674)