Pope anticipates Bagnasco's
opening address tomorrow
to CEI Permanent Council
by SALVATORE IZZO
CASTEL GANDOLFO, Sept. 20 (Translated from AGI) - Pope Benedict XVI today expressed solidarity with the Italian military who mourn six colleagues killed in Afghanistan, where "international contingents work to promote peace and the development of institutions that are so necessary to human coexistence", and he invited politicians and the media to "reject lies and violent intentions, in words and deeds, carefully cultivating sentiments of respect, understanding and esteem for others".
At the Angelus today, Benedict XVi anticipated at least two subjects of the opening address by Cardinal Angelo Bagnasco when he opens the weeklong autumn session of the Permanent Council of the Italian bishops' conference (CEI) tomorrow: Italian presence in international crisis spots, with firm condemnation of facts like the massacre in Kabul "which give rise to profound reproach as well as uneasiness on societies which have at heart the good of peace and civil coexistence"; and a subject that may not be as tragic but is equally painful for the bishops, "the barbarization of politics and the media", after the Boffo case caused a serious fallout on the equilibrium that had been consolidated in the Italian Catholic world, pushing part of it to what outsiders see as a defensive posture by a Church that will not forget the offensive against it by media outlets considered, rightly or wrongly, to be the instruments of Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi.
With his words today, Papa Ratzinger seemed to call for a reasoning other than an understandable desire for revenge that is also accompanied by a search for 'accomplices' within the Church itself in the recent offensive, thus risking new victims and unleashing new poisons.
"In our day, perhaps due as well to certain dynamics inherent in mass societies, one observes not rarely," the Pope said, "a lack of respect for the truth and for one's given word, along with a widespread tendency to aggressiveness, hate and revenge."
On the other hand, the Pope spells out the alternative: "If each one, in his own field, succeeds in rejecting lies and violent intentions, in words and deeds, carefully cultivating sentiments of respect, understanding and esteem towards others, it will not perhaps resolve all the problems of daily life but they can be faced more serenely and effectively."
Later, addressing Polish-speaking pilgrims, the Pope recalled that Poland observes today the Day for Social Communications, and referring to the theme of ethics in media, he called on "all workers in the field of social communications to propagate a culture of respect, friendship and dialog". A message that the incoming editor of
Avvenire, whoever he will be, must put into practice.
Likewise, the Pope's words two Saturdays ago at the ordination of five new Curial archbishops may also apply to the not-too-easy choice for the CEI of a replacement for Boffo at
Avvenire after his traumatic departure.
In his homily, the Pope spelled out the virtues that must characterize whoever exercises authority in the Church: faithfulness (which in this case also means renouncing 'personalism'), prudence (the bishops, in choosing a replacement for Boffo, must avoid new risks, embarrassments and even more problems from internal jealousies), and goodness (which should inspire making Catholic media into instruments for humanization and evangelization).
"
Avvenire is not taking to the public square," said a recent
Avvenire editorial on information challenges, "it is simply on the news stands", addressing the factions at daggers drawn in the political arena and asking them to respect the 'super partes' [above the fray] character of the Church and its organs.
"No one," said the editorial, "is going to push us. We are not going to be enlisted by anyone, nor will we be intimidated.
Avvenire is a newspaper of Catholic inspiration and will not renounce its autonomy and its independence."
[Modificato da TERESA BENEDETTA 26/04/2010 23:46]