Pope attacks media for 'distorted morals' (praises Internet)

Times Online ^ | January 24, 2008 | Richard Owen

[NYer]

Pope Benedict XVI today said the media were too often used irresponsibly to spread "violence and vulgarity" and impose "distorted models" of social and family life. He urged the world's communicators instead to adopt what he called "info-ethics".

In a message for the Roman Catholic Church's World Communications Day, Pope Benedict said the media often sought to create reality rather than report it, with agendas dictated by "the dominant interests" of the day. "This is what happens when communication is used for ideological purposes or for the aggressive advertising of consumer products. When communication loses its ethical underpinning and eludes society's control, it ends up no longer taking into account the centrality and inviolable dignity of the human person" he said.

He added "For this reason it is essential that social communications should assiduously defend the person and fully respect human dignity. Many people now think there is a need, in this sphere, for 'info-ethics', just as we have bioethics in the field of medicine and in scientific research linked to life." He said the media "in order to attract listeners and increase the size of audiences, do not hesitate at times to have recourse to vulgarity and violence and overstep the mark".

He praised new media such as the internet, which were "changing the very face of communications", but said they were often misused. A new "info-ethics" would help to prevent the media from becoming "spokesmen for economic materialism and ethical relativism, the true scourges of our time", and from being "exploited for indiscriminate self-promotion or ending up in the hands of those who use them to manipulate consciences".

He concluded that "Man thirsts for truth, he seeks truth; this fact is illustrated by the attention and the success achieved by so many publications, programmes or quality fiction in which the truth, beauty and greatness of the person, including the religious dimension of the person, are acknowledged and favourably presented. Jesus said: 'You will know the truth and the truth will make you free' (John 8:32). The truth which makes us free is Christ, because only he can respond fully to the thirst for life and love that is present in the human heart".

[Slapshot68]

Pope gets it.

[NYer]

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[frogjerk]

God Bless Pope Benedict XVI!

[littlehouse36]

Papa!

[Dutchguy]

The pope might look a little old, but the new media are his thing!

[Constitutions Grandchild]

Well said, thou good and faithful servant. You, too, NYer. ;-) Thanks for posting it.

[joebuck]

I agree with the Pope on this but, lets be honest, this is the world we’re dealing with here and it’s not going to change. At least for the better. Stay gold.

[icwhatudo]

"Pope Benedict said the media often sought to create reality rather than report it, with agendas dictated by "the dominant interests" of the day. "This is what happens when communication is used for ideological purposes..."

Yep, he gets it....

[pgyanke]

I love my German Shepherd!

[kitkat]

***I agree with the Pope on this but, lets be honest, this is the world we’re dealing with here and it’s not going to change. At least for the better.***

It would help if read from every Christian pulpit next Sunday. And if it were preached on EVERY Sunday until TV, movies, and publishers were inundated with requests for Christian thinking.

GO Papa!

[kitkat]

Thanks for the ping.

[Syncro]

WTG Pope!

[Romulus]

Pope attacks media...

This is where I stopped reading.

[onedoug]

God and science: Vatican Observatory

[Niuhuru]

Viva Il Papa!

[SuziQ]

Pope Benedict said the media often sought to create reality rather than report it, with agendas dictated by "the dominant interests" of the day. "This is what happens when communication is used for ideological purposes or for the aggressive advertising of consumer products. When communication loses its ethical underpinning and eludes society's control, it ends up no longer taking into account the centrality and inviolable dignity of the human person" he said.

Yep, he's nailed it!

[Wiz]

Well, I expect he knows how evil the MSM is. Could it be Free Republic that he thought about the good sides of Internet?

[CitizenM]

How proud we can be that our Pope is “with it,” and aware of things outside the Vatican. What a burden he carries considering the evil in the world today with so much on air and accessible through the Internet that is focused on immorality and pointed to challenge the faithful and tear at the morals of society. God Bless Pope Benedict XVI!

[RichardMoore]

The largest problem that we all face today is the distortion of morals and truth by the media and TV is the main culprit. If we turn off-our TV’s and stop giving money to the likes of Ted Turner and his ilk then we may not stop them right away but we will no longer have our own thinking clouded by the non-sense that passes for news. Just the other night I spent one hour researching Obama’s connection to Odinga and his anti-American pro-islamosfacist ranting. And yet there is nothing in the MSM. We are force fed “candidates” by the controlled media. It’s hard to even have a sensible conversation with the average person who has been hypnotized by the flickering screen. Turn it off and disconnect your cable if you want a Christian world. The first Christians were willing to die for the faith, are we even willing to be inconvenienced?