Pope Benedict XVI says Christian living
most effective way to proclaim the Gospel
Pope Benedict XVI on Saturday met with participants of the Plenary Assembly of the Pontifical Council for Culture, who met this week on the theme "The Culture of Communication and New Languages."
The Holy Father spoke to them about the technological transformations in the modern world, and how they have caused difficulties in communicating the Gospel Message.
He said the Church must learn to use the new methods of communication in proclaiming the Gospel of salvation.
He said that from the liturgy and its beauty, the Church can draw on an extraordinary wealth of symbols, images, and rituals – which can touch both the heart and the intellect.
However, Pope Benedict said what is even more striking is the beauty of Christian living.
In the end, he said, only love is trustworthy and credible. The lives of the saints and martyrs present a unique beauty that fascinates and attracts.
Pope Benedict said the world needs men and women who speak with their lives, and who can communicate the Gospel with the joyful passion of love.
Christian tradition can purify
new forms of communication,
Pope tells Cultural Council
Vatican City, Nov 13, 2010 (CNA/EWTN News).- New forms of communication must be humanizing or they will increase “confusion and solitude” among their users, Pope Benedict XVI has said. The Church is not indifferent to these innovations but seeks to purify and use them “with critical sense.”
His comments came in a Nov. 13 audience at the Vatican with participants in the four-day conference of the pontifical Council for Culture on the topic "Culture of communications and new languages."
This year's discussions were unique for their venue: the Capitoline Hill, Rome’s historic center of culture, government and history.
The president of the Council, Cardinal-designate Gianfranco Ravasi, explained at a press conference that the choice of venue aimed to bring their work out of the Vatican and into the city among the people.
Discussions ranged from the effects of the Internet on modern communications and interpersonal relations, to the way people communicate through food.
In his audience with the participants, the Pope said that "speaking of communications and language means ... not only touching one of the crucial junctions of our world and its cultures, but for us believers, it means getting closer to the very mystery of God who, in his goodness and wisdom, wished to reveal himself and show his will to men."
He spoke of the "profound cultural transformation" taking place due to the great changes in forms of communication. The Church, he said, is not "indifferent" to these changes, but "on the contrary, seeks to avail itself with renewed creative commitment, but also with critical sense and attentive discernment, of new languages and ways of communication."
The Church wishes to enter into dialogue with all people in the world, he said. But, to reach people today, especially young people, it must "tune in" to the same frequency.
"Today not a few young people, stunned by the infinite possibilities offered by information networks or by other technologies, establish forms of communication that do not contribute to growth in humanity, but risk rather to increase the sense of solitude and confusion," the Pontiff warned.
He explained that education is needed to promote a "humanizing communication."
The Church can turn to the Gospel and Christian tradition to "guide, purify, clean and elevate" new forms of communications, he explained. "In particular the rich and dense symbolism of the liturgy must shine in all its force as a communicative element, until it touches the human conscience, the heart and the intellect profoundly".
Here is a full translation of the Holy Father's words:
Eminent Cardinals,
Venerated brothers in the EPiscopate and Priesthood,
Dear brothers and sisters:
I am happy to meet you at the end of the Plenary Assembly of the Pontifical Council for Culture, during which you examined the topic, "The culture of communications and new languages".
I thank your President, Mons. Gianfranco Ravasi, for his beautiful words, and a I greet all the participants, thankful for the contribution you offer to the study of this topic which is very relevant for the mission of the Church.
To speak of communication and language means, in fact, not only to touch on one of the crucial aspects of our world and its cultures, but for us believers, it also means approaching the mystery of God himself who, in his goodness and wisdom, revealed himself and manifested his will to men (Vatican Council II, Dogmatic Const. Dei Verbum, 2).
In Christ, God revealed himself to us as Logos, who communicates with us, interpellates us,establishing the bond that establishes our identity and dignity as human beings, loved as children of the only Father (cfr Post-Synodal Ap. Ech. Verbum Domini, 6.22.23).
Communication and language are likewise essential dimensions of human culture, made up of information and ideas, of beliefs and lifestyles, but also of rules, without which it would be difficult for man to progress in his humanity and sociability.
I appreciated the original choice of inaugurating the Plenary at the Salla della Prometeca at the Campidoglio [Rome's historic City Hall], civic and institutional heart of Rome, with a roundtable session on "Listening to the language of the soul in the city".
Int his way, the dicastery intended to express one of its essential tasks: to listens to the men adn women of our time in order to promote new opportunitie for announcing the Gospel. Therefore, by listening to the voices of the globalized world, we realize that a profound cultural transformation is under way, with new languages and new forms of communication, which also lead to new and problematic anthropological models.
In this context, pastors and the faithful have become greatly concerned by difficulties in conveying the message of the Gospel and in the transmission of the faith within the ecclesial community itself.
As I wrote in the post-Synodal Apostolic Exhortation Verbum Domini: "A great many Christians who need to have the word of God once more persuasively proclaimed to them, so that they can concretely experience the power of the Gospel" (No. 96).
The problems seem to increase when the Church turns to the men and women who are distant or indifferent to an experience of faith, whom the evangelical message reaches in a way that is hardly effective nor engaging.
In a world where communication has become the winning strategy, the Church - repository of the mission to communicate the Gospel of salvation to all men, cannot remain indifferent or estranged. On teh contrary, it seeks to avail of the new languages communications modalities with renewed creative commitment, but also with a critical sense and attentive discernment.
The inability of language to communicate the profound sense and beauty of the experience of faith can contribute to the indifference of many, especially young people. It an become a reason for alienating them, as the Vatican-II Constitution Gaudium et spes anticipated, underscoring how an inadequate presentation of the Christian message would hide rather than present the genuine face of God and of religion (cfr No. 19).
The Church wishes to dialog with everyone, in the search for truth. But in order that dialog and communications can be effective and fruitful, it may be necessary for everyone to tune in on the same frequency, in teh context of friendly and sincere encounters, int hat ideal Court of the Gentiles that I proposed to the Roman Curia a year ago, and which your dicastery is realizing in various places that are emblematic of European culture.
Today, not a few young people, stunned by the infinite possibilities offered by the information we or other technologies, are establishing forms of communication that do not contribute to the growth of mankind but instead risk increasing the individual sense of solitude and of rootlessness.
In the face of such phenomena, I have spoken several times of an educational emergency, a challenge to which we must and can respond with creative intelligence, committed to promote a humanizing communication that stimulates the critical sens and the capacity for valuation and discernment.
Even in today's technological culture, there is the permanent paradigm of inculturating the Gospel to make it the guide, purifying it, healing and elevating the better elements of the new languages and the new forms of communication.
For this task which is difficult and fascinating, the Church can draw from the extraordinary patrimony of symbols, images, rites and gestures of its tradition. In particular, the rich and dense symbolism of liturgy should shine forth in all its power as an communicative element, until it can profoundly touch man's consciousness, his heart and intellect.
Christian tradition, after all, has always closely bound the language of art to the liturgy, whose beauty has a particular communicative power. We experienced it last Sunday in Barcelona, at the Basilica of La Sagrada Familia, the work of Antoni Gaudi who with his genius, united the sense of the sacred and of liturgy with artistic forms that are as modern as they are also in tune with the best architectural traditions.
Still, even more incisive than art and images in communicating the evangelical message is the beauty of Christian living. In the end, only love is worthy of faith and remains credible.
The lives of saints and martyrs demonstrate a singular beauty that fascinates and attracts, because a Christian life lived in fullness speaks without words.
We need men adn women who speak with their lives, who know how to communicate the Gospel, with clarity and courage, with the transparency of their actions, with the joyous passion of charity.
After having been a pilgrim to Santiago de Compostela and having admired in thousands of persons, mostly young, the engaging power of witness, the joy of being together in search of truth and beauty, I hope that many of our contemporaries can say, upon hearing once again the voice of the Lord - as the disciples at Emmaus said, "Were not our hearts burning (within us) while he spoke to us on the way and opened the scriptures to us?" (Lk 24,32).
Dear friends, I thank you for what you do daily with competence and dedication, and as I entrust you all to the maternal protection of the Most Blessed Mary, I impart the Apostolic Blessing to all from my heart.
[Modificato da TERESA BENEDETTA 14/11/2010 23:49]