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                               VIS-Press releases

DECIPHER REALITY FROM AN EVANGELICAL STANDPOINT

VATICAN CITY, 26 NOV 2010 (VIS) - The Holy Father today received three hundred
representatives from the Italian Federation of Catholic Weeklies a body which,
since 1966, has represented all diocesan and Catholic-inspired weekly
publications in the country.

In his address to them the Pope affirmed that creating channels of
communication between the various organs of the local press "was a response to
the need to promote collaboration ... so as to increase the efficiency and
incisiveness of the announcement of the evangelical message. The specific
function of Catholic-inspired newspapers", he said, "is to
announce the Good
News by recounting the concrete events that Christian communities experience in
the real situations in which they live".

"One of the most important cultural challenges in our own post-modern world
involves the way we understand truth. The dominant culture, the culture
propagated by the areopagus of the media, adopts a sceptical and relativist
attitude towards truth, considering it as equivalent to mere opinion and,
consequently, believing that many truths can legitimately coexist. But the
desire that lies in the heart of man testifies to the impossibility of resting
content with partial truths. ... The truth for which man thirsts is a person:
the Lord Jesus. By encountering this Truth ... we find peace and true
happiness. The Church's mission consists in creating the conditions that make
this meeting between man and Christ possible.

"Collaborating in this task", he added, "the communications
media are called to
serve the truth with courage so as to help public opinion contemplate and
decipher reality from an evangelical standpoint. This means presenting the
reasons for the faith which, as such, surpass any ideological vision and have
the full right to exist in public debate. From here arises your constant
commitment to give voice to a point of view that reflects Catholic thought in
all ethical and social questions".

"Continue to be newspapers of the people", Benedict XVI
concluded. "Seek to
favour true dialogue between the various elements of social life, be arenas for
confrontation and debate between contrasting opinions. By doing this, the
Catholic press, while undertaking the vital task of informing, will also play
an indispensable formational role, promoting evangelical knowledge of complex
reality, and educating critical minds and Christian consciences".
AC/VIS 20101126 (380)

SUMMARY

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