|
I
Introduction
1. The Church's interest in the
Internet is a particular expression of her longstanding interest in
the media of social communication. Seeing the media as an outcome of
the historical scientific process by which humankind "advances
further and further in the discovery of the resources and values
contained in the whole of creation",1 the Church often
has declared her conviction that they are, in the words of the Second
Vatican Council, "marvellous technical inventions" 2
that already do much to meet human needs and may yet do even more.
Thus the Church has taken a
fundamentally positive approach to the media.3 Even when
condemning serious abuses, documents of this Pontifical Council for
Social Communications have been at pains to make it clear that "a
merely censorious attitude on the part of the Church...is neither
sufficient nor appropriate".4
Quoting Pope Pius XII's 1957 encyclical
letter Miranda Prorsus, the Pastoral Instruction on the Means
of Social Communication Communio et Progressio, published in
1971, underlined that point: "The Church sees these media as
‘gifts of God' which, in accordance with his providential
design, unite men in brotherhood and so help them to cooperate with
his plan for their salvation".5 This remains our view,
and it is the view we take of the Internet.
2. As the Church understands it, the
history of human communication is something like a long journey,
bringing humanity "from the pride-driven project of Babel and the
collapse into confusion and mutual incomprehension to which it gave
rise (cf. Gen 11:1-9), to Pentecost and the gift of tongues: a
restoration of communication, centered on Jesus, through the action of
the Holy Spirit".6 In the life, death, and
resurrection of Christ, "communication among men found its
highest ideal and supreme example in God who had become man and
brother".7
The modern media of social
communication are cultural factors that play a role in this story. As
the Second Vatican Council remarks, "although we must be careful
to distinguish earthly progress clearly from the increase of the
kingdom of Christ", nevertheless "such progress is of vital
concern to the kingdom of God, insofar as it can contribute to the
better ordering of human society".8 Considering the
media of social communication in this light, we see that they
"contribute greatly to the enlargement and enrichment of men's
minds and to the propagation and consolidation of the kingdom of
God".9
Today this applies in a special way to
the Internet, which is helping bring about revolutionary changes in
commerce, education, politics, journalism, the relationship of nation
to nation and culture to culture—changes not just in how people
communicate but in how they understand their lives. In a companion
document, Ethics in Internet, we discuss these matters in their
ethical dimension.10 Here we consider the Internet's
implications for religion and especially for the Catholic Church.
3. The Church has a two-fold aim in
regard to the media. One aspect is to encourage their right
development and right use for the sake of human development, justice,
and peace—for the upbuilding of society at the local, national,
and community levels in light of the common good and in a spirit of
solidarity. Considering the great importance of social communications,
the Church seeks "honest and respectful dialogue with those
responsible for the communications media"—a dialogue that
relates primarily to the shaping of media policy.11
"On the Church's side this dialogue involves efforts to
understand the media—their purposes, procedures, forms and
genres, internal structures and modalities—and to offer support
and encouragement to those involved in media work. On the basis of
this sympathetic understanding and support, it becomes possible to
offer meaningful proposals for removing obstacles to human progress
and the proclamation of the Gospel".12
But the Church's concern also relates
to communication in and by the Church herself. Such communication is
more than just an exercise in technique, for it "finds its
starting point in the communion of love among the divine Persons and
their communication with us", and in the realization that
Trinitarian communication "reaches out to humankind: The Son is
the Word, eternally ‘spoken' by the Father; and in and through
Jesus Christ, Son and Word made flesh, God communicates himself and
his salvation to women and men".13
God continues to communicate with
humanity through the Church, the bearer and custodian of his
revelation, to whose living teaching office alone he has entrusted the
task of authentically interpreting his word.14 Moreover,
the Church herself is a communio, a communion of persons and
eucharistic communities arising from and mirroring the communion of
the Trinity;15 communication therefore is of the essence of
the Church. This, more than any other reason, is why "the
Church's practice of communication should be exemplary, reflecting the
highest standards of truthfulness, accountability, sensitivity to
human rights, and other relevant principles and norms".16
4. Three decades ago Communio et
Progressio pointed out that "modern media offer new ways of
confronting people with the message of the Gospel".17
Pope Paul VI said the Church "would feel guilty before the
Lord" if it failed to use the media for evangelization.18
Pope John Paul II has called the media "the first Areopagus of
the modern age", and declared that "it is not enough to use
the media simply to spread the Christian message and the Church's
authentic teaching. It is also necessary to integrate that message
into the ‘new culture' created by modern communications".19
Doing that is all the more important today, since not only do the
media now strongly influence what people think about life but also to
a great extent "human experience itself is an experience of
media".20
All this applies to the Internet. And
even though the world of social communications "may at times seem
at odds with the Christian message, it also offers unique
opportunities for proclaiming the saving truth of Christ to the whole
human family. Consider...the positive capacities of the Internet to
carry religious information and teaching beyond all barriers and
frontiers. Such a wide audience would have been beyond the wildest
imaginings of those who preached the Gospel before us...Catholics
should not be afraid to throw open the doors of social communications
to Christ, so that his Good News may be heard from the housetops of
the world".21
II
Opportunities and
Challenges
5. "Communication in and by the
Church is essentially communication of the Good News of Jesus Christ.
It is the proclamation of the Gospel as a prophetic, liberating word
to the men and women of our times; it is testimony, in the face of
radical secularization, to divine truth and to the transcendent
destiny of the human person; it is witness given in solidarity with
all believers against conflict and division, to justice and communion
among peoples, nations, and cultures".22
Since announcing the Good News to
people formed by a media culture requires taking carefully into
account the special characteristics of the media themselves, the
Church now needs to understand the Internet. This is necessary in
order to communicate effectively with people—especially young
people—who are steeped in the experience of this new technology,
and also in order to use it well.
The media offer important benefits and
advantages from a religious perspective: "They carry news and
information about religious events, ideas, and personalities; they
serve as vehicles for evangelization and catechesis. Day in and day
out, they provide inspiration, encouragement, and opportunities for
worship to persons confined to their homes or to institutions".23
But over and above these, there also are benefits more or less
peculiar to the Internet. It offers people direct and immediate access
to important religious and spiritual resources—great libraries
and museums and places of worship, the teaching documents of the
Magisterium, the writings of the Fathers and Doctors of the Church and
the religious wisdom of the ages. It has a remarkable capacity to
overcome distance and isolation, bringing people into contact with
like-minded persons of good will who join in virtual communities of
faith to encourage and support one another. The Church can perform an
important service to Catholics and non-Catholics alike by the
selection and transmission of useful data in this medium.
The Internet is relevant to many
activities and programs of the Church— evangelization, including
both re-evangelization and new evangelization and the traditional
missionary work ad gentes, catechesis and other kinds of
education, news and information, apologetics, governance and
administration, and some forms of pastoral counseling and spiritual
direction. Although the virtual reality of cyberspace cannot
substitute for real interpersonal community, the incarnational reality
of the sacraments and the liturgy, or the immediate and direct
proclamation of the gospel, it can complement them, attract people to
a fuller experience of the life of faith, and enrich the religious
lives of users. It also provides the Church with a means for
communicating with particular groups—young people and young
adults, the elderly and home-bound, persons living in remote areas,
the members of other religious bodies—who otherwise may be
difficult to reach.
A growing number of parishes, dioceses,
religious congregations, and church-related institutions, programs,
and organizations of all kinds now make effective use of the Internet
for these and other purposes. Creative projects under Church
sponsorship exist in some places on the national and regional levels.
The Holy See has been active in this area for several years and is
continuing to expand and develop its Internet presence. Church-related
groups that have not yet taken steps to enter cyberspace are
encouraged to look into the possibility of doing so at an early date.
We strongly recommend the exchange of ideas and information about the
Internet among those with experience in the field and those who are
newcomers.
6. The Church also needs to understand
and use the Internet as a tool of internal communications. This
requires keeping clearly in view its special character as a direct,
immediate, interactive, and participatory medium.
Already, the two-way interactivity of
the Internet is blurring the old distinction between those who
communicate and those who receive what is communicated,24
and creating a situation in which, potentially at least, everyone can
do both. This is not the one-way, top-down communication of the past.
As more and more people become familiar with this characteristic of
the Internet in other areas of their lives, they can be expected also
to look for it in regard to religion and the Church.
The technology is new, but the idea is
not. Vatican Council II said members of the Church should disclose to
their pastors "their needs and desires with that liberty and
confidence which befits children of God and brothers of Christ";
in fact, according to knowledge, competence, or position, the faithful
are not only able but sometimes obliged "to manifest their
opinion on those things which pertain to the good of the Church".25
Communio et Progressio remarked that as a "living
body" the Church "needs public opinion in order to sustain a
giving and taking among her members".26 Although
truths of faith "do not leave room for arbitrary
interpretations", the pastoral instruction noted "an
enormous area where members of the Church can express their
views".27
Similar ideas are expressed in the Code
of Canon Law 28 as well as in more recent documents of the
Pontifical Council for Social Communications.29 Aetatis
Novae calls two-way communication and public opinion "one of
the ways of realizing in a concrete manner the Church's character as communio".30
Ethics in Communications says: "A two-way flow of
information and views between pastors and faithful, freedom of
expression sensitive to the well being of the community and to the
role of the Magisterium in fostering it, and responsible public
opinion all are important expressions of ‘the fundamental right
of dialogue and information within the Church'".31 The
Internet provides an effective technological means of realizing this
vision.
Here, then, is an instrument that can
be put creatively to use for various aspects of administration and
governance. Along with opening up channels for the expression of
public opinion, we have in mind such things as consulting experts,
preparing meetings, and practicing collaboration in and among
particular churches and religious institutes on local, national, and
international levels.
7. Education and training are another
area of opportunity and need. "Today everybody needs some form of
continuing media education, whether by personal study or participation
in an organized program or both. More than just teaching about
techniques, media education helps people form standards of good taste
and truthful moral judgment, an aspect of conscience formation.
Through her schools and formation programs the Church should provide
media education of this kind".32
Education and training regarding the
Internet ought to be part of comprehensive programs of media education
available to members of the Church. As much as possible, pastoral
planning for social communications should make provision for this
training in the formation of seminarians, priests, religious, and lay
pastoral personnel as well as teachers, parents, and students.33
Young people in particular need to be
taught "not only to be good Christians when they are recipients
but also to be active in using all the aids to communication that lie
within the media...So, young people will be true citizens of that age
of social communications which has already begun" 34—an
age in which media are seen to be "part of a still unfolding
culture whose full implications are as yet imperfectly
understood".35 Teaching about the Internet and the new
technology thus involves much more than teaching techniques; young
people need to learn how to function well in the world of cyberspace,
make discerning judgments according to sound moral criteria about what
they find there, and use the new technology for their integral
development and the benefit of others.
8. The Internet also presents some
special problems for the Church, over and above those of a general
nature discussed in Ethics in Internet, the document
accompanying this one.36 While emphasizing what is positive
about the Internet, it is important to be clear about what is not.
At a very deep level, "the world
of the media can sometimes seem indifferent and even hostile to
Christian faith and morality. This is partly because media culture is
so deeply imbued with a typically postmodern sense that the only
absolute truth is that there are no absolute truths or that, if there
were, they would be inaccessible to human reason and therefore
irrelevant".37
Among the specific problems presented
by the Internet is the presence of hate sites devoted to defaming and
attacking religious and ethnic groups. Some of these target the
Catholic Church. Like pornography and violence in the media, Internet
hate sites are "reflections of the dark side of a human nature
marred by sin".38 And while respect for free
expression may require tolerating even voices of hatred up to a point,
industry self-regulation—and, where required, intervention by
public authority—should establish and enforce reasonable limits
to what can be said.
The proliferation of web sites calling
themselves Catholic creates a problem of a different sort. As we have
said, church-related groups should be creatively present on the
Internet; and well-motivated, well-informed individuals and unofficial
groups acting on their own initiative are entitled to be there as
well. But it is confusing, to say the least, not to distinguish
eccentric doctrinal interpretations, idiosyncratic devotional
practices, and ideological advocacy bearing a ‘Catholic' label
from the authentic positions of the Church. We suggest an approach to
this issue below.
9. Certain other matters still require
much reflection. Regarding these, we urge continued research and
study, including "the development of an anthropology and a
theology of communication" 39—now, with specific
reference to the Internet. Along with study and research, of course,
positive pastoral planning for the use of the Internet can and should
go forward.40
One area for research concerns the
suggestion that the wide range of choices regarding consumer products
and services available on the Internet may have a spillover effect in
regard to religion and encourage a ‘consumer' approach to
matters of faith. Data suggest that some visitors to religious web
sites may be on a sort of shopping spree, picking and choosing
elements of customized religious packages to suit their personal
tastes. The "tendency on the part of some Catholics to be
selective in their adherence" to the Church's teaching is a
recognized problem in other contexts;41 more information is
needed about whether and to what extent the problem is exacerbated by
the Internet.
Similarly, as noted above, the virtual
reality of cyberspace has some worrisome implications for religion as
well as for other areas of life. Virtual reality is no substitute for
the Real Presence of Christ in the Eucharist, the sacramental reality
of the other sacraments, and shared worship in a flesh-and-blood human
community. There are no sacraments on the Internet; and even the
religious experiences possible there by the grace of God are
insufficient apart from real-world interaction with other persons of
faith. Here is another aspect of the Internet that calls for study and
reflection. At the same time, pastoral planning should consider how to
lead people from cyberspace to true community and how, through
teaching and catechesis, the Internet might subsequently be used to
sustain and enrich them in their Christian commitment.
III
Recommendations and
Conclusions
10. Religious people, as concerned
members of the larger Internet audience who also have legitimate
particular interests of their own, wish to be part of the process that
guides the future development of this new medium. It goes without
saying that this will sometimes require them to adjust their own
thinking and practice.
It is important, too, that people at
all levels of the Church use the Internet creatively to meet their
responsibilities and help fulfill the Church's mission. Hanging back
timidly from fear of technology or for some other reason is not
acceptable, in view of the very many positive possibilities of the
Internet. "Methods of facilitating communication and dialogue
among her own members can strengthen the bonds of unity between them.
Immediate access to information makes it possible for [the Church] to
deepen her dialogue with the contemporary world...The Church can more
readily inform the world of her beliefs and explain the reasons for
her stance on any given issue or event. She can hear more clearly the
voice of public opinion, and enter into a continuous discussion with
the world around her, thus involving herself more immediately in the
common search for solutions to humanity's many pressing
problems".42
11. In concluding these reflections,
therefore, we offer words of encouragement to several groups in
particular—Church leaders, pastoral personnel, educators,
parents, and especially young people.
To Church leaders: People in
leadership positions in all sectors of the Church need to understand
the media, apply this understanding in formulating pastoral plans for
social communications 43 together with concrete policies
and programs in this area, and make appropriate use of media. Where
necessary, they should receive media education themselves; in fact,
"the Church would be well served if more of those who hold
offices and perform functions in her name received communication
training".44
This applies to the Internet as well as
to the older media. Church leaders are obliged to use "the full
potential of the ‘computer age' to serve the human and
transcendent vocation of every person, and thus to give glory to the
Father from whom all good things come".45 They ought
to employ this remarkable technology in many different aspects of the
Church's mission, while also exploring opportunities for ecumenical
and interreligious cooperation in its use.
A special aspect of the Internet, as we
have seen, concerns the sometimes confusing proliferation of
unofficial web sites labeled ‘Catholic'. A system of voluntary
certification at the local and national levels under the supervision
of representatives of the Magisterium might be helpful in regard to
material of a specifically doctrinal or catechetical nature. The idea
is not to impose censorship but to offer Internet users a reliable
guide to what expresses the authentic position of the Church.
To pastoral personnel. Priests,
deacons, religious, and lay pastoral workers should have media
education to increase their understanding of the impact of social
communications on individuals and society and help them acquire a
manner of communicating that speaks to the sensibilities and interests
of people in a media culture. Today this clearly includes training
regarding the Internet, including how to use it in their work. They
can also profit from websites offering theological updating and
pastoral suggestions.
As for Church personnel directly
involved in media, it hardly needs saying that they must have
professional training. But they also need doctrinal and spiritual
formation, since "in order to witness to Christ it is necessary
to encounter him oneself and foster a personal relationship with him
through prayer, the Eucharist and sacramental reconciliation, reading
and reflection on God's word, the study of Christian doctrine, and
service to others".46
To educators and catechists. The
Pastoral Instruction Communio et Progressio spoke of the
"urgent duty" of Catholic schools to train communicators and
recipients of social communications in relevant Christian principles.47
The same message has been repeated many times. In the age of the
Internet, with its enormous outreach and impact, the need is more
urgent than ever.
Catholic universities, colleges,
schools, and educational programs at all levels should provide courses
for various groups—"seminarians, priests, religious
brothers and sisters, and lay leaders...teachers, parents, and
students" 48—as well as more advanced training
in communications technology, management, ethics, and policy issues
for individuals preparing for professional media work or
decision‑making roles, including those who work in social
communications for the Church. Furthermore, we commend the issues and
questions mentioned above to the attention of scholars and researchers
in relevant disciplines in Catholic institutions of higher learning.
To parents.For the sake of their
children, as well as for their own sakes, parents must "learn and
practice the skills of discerning viewers and listeners and readers,
acting as models of prudent use of media in the home".49
As far as the Internet is concerned, children and young people often
are more familiar with it than their parents are, but parents still
are seriously obliged to guide and supervise their children in its
use.50 If this means learning more about the Internet than
they have up to now, that will be all to good.
Parental supervision should include
making sure that filtering technology is used in computers available
to children when that is financially and technically feasible, in
order to protect them as much as possible from pornography, sexual
predators, and other threats. Unsupervised exposure to the Internet
should not be allowed. Parents and children should dialogue together
about what is seen and experienced in cyberspace; sharing with other
families who have the same values and concerns will also be helpful.
The fundamental parental duty here is to help children become
discriminating, responsible Internet users and not addicts of the
Internet, neglecting contact with their peers and with nature itself.
To children and young people.
The Internet is a door opening on a glamorous and exciting world with
a powerful formative influence; but not everything on the other side
of the door is safe and wholesome and true. "Children and young
people should be open to formation regarding media, resisting the easy
path of uncritical passivity, peer pressure, and commercial
exploitation".51 The young owe it to
themselves—and to their parents and families and friends, their
pastors and teachers, and ultimately to God—to use the Internet
well.
The Internet places in the grasp of
young people at an unusually early age an immense capacity for doing
good and doing harm, to themselves and others. It can enrich their
lives beyond the dreams of earlier generations and empower them to
enrich others' lives in turn. It also can plunge them into
consumerism, pornographic and violent fantasy, and pathological
isolation.
Young people, as has often been said,
are the future of society and the Church. Good use of the Internet can
help prepare them for their responsibilities in both. But this will
not happen automatically. The Internet is not merely a medium of
entertainment and consumer gratification. It is a tool for
accomplishing useful work, and the young must learn to see it and use
it as such. In cyberspace, at least as much as anywhere else, they may
be called on to go against the tide, practice counter-culturalism,
even suffer persecution for the sake of what is true and good.
12. To all persons of good will.
Finally, then, we would suggest some virtues that need to be
cultivated by everyone who wants to make good use of the Internet;
their exercise should be based upon and guided by a realistic
appraisal of its contents.
Prudence is necessary in order clearly
to see the implications—the potential for good and evil—in
this new medium and to respond creatively to its challenges and
opportunities.
Justice is needed, especially justice
in working to close the digital divide—the gap between the
information-rich and the information-poor in today's world.52
This requires a commitment to the international common good, no less
than the "globalization of solidarity".53
Fortitude, courage, is necessary. This
means standing up for truth in the face of religious and moral
relativism, for altruism and generosity in the face of individualistic
consumerism, for decency in the face of sensuality and sin.
And temperance is needed—a
self-disciplined approach to this remarkable technological instrument,
the Internet, so as to use it wisely and only for good.
Reflecting on the Internet, as upon all
the other media of social communications, we recall that Christ is
"the perfect communicator" 54—the norm and
model of the Church's approach to communication, as well as the
content that the Church is obliged to communicate. "May Catholics
involved in the world of social communications preach the truth of
Jesus ever more boldly from the housetops, so that all men and women
may hear about 0the love which is the heart of God's
self-communication in Jesus Christ, the same yesterday, and today, and
for ever".55
Vatican City, February 22, 2002,
Feast of the Chair of St. Peter the Apostle.
John P. Foley
President
Pierfranco Pastore
Secretary
Endnotes
(1) John Paul II, encyclical letter Laborem
Exercens, n. 25; cf. Vatican Council II, Pastoral Constitution on
the Church in the Modern World Gaudium et Spes, n. 34.
(2) Vatican Council II, Decree on the
Means of Social Communication Inter Mirifica, n. 1.
(3) For example, Inter Mirifica;
the Messages of Pope Paul VI and Pope John Paul II on the occasion of
the World Communication Days; Pontifical Council for Social
Communications, Pastoral Instruction Communio et Progressio, Pornography
and Violence in the Communications Media: A Pastoral Response,
Pastoral Instruction Aetatis Novae, Ethics in Advertising,
Ethics in Communications.
(4) Pornography and Violence in the
Communications Media, n. 30.
(5) Communio et Progressio, n.
2.
(6) John Paul II, Message for the 34th
World Communications Day, June 4, 2000.
(7) Communio et Progressio, n.
10.
(8) Vatican Council II, Pastoral
Constitution on the Church in the Modern World Gaudium et Spes,
39.
(9) Inter Mirifica, 2.
(10) Pontifical Council for Social
Communications, Ethics in Internet.
(11) Aetatis Novae, 8.
(12) Ibid.
(13) Ethics in Communications,
n. 3.
(14) Cf. Vatican Council II, Dogmatic
Constitution on Divine Revelation Dei Verbum, n. 10.
(15) Aetatis Novae, n. 10.
(16) Ethics in Communications,
n. 26.
(17) Communio et Progressio,
128.
(18) Apostolic Exhortation Evangelii
Nuntiandi, n. 45.
(19) Encyclical Redemptoris Missio,
n. 37.
(20) Aetatis Novae, n. 2.
(21) John Paul II, Message for the 35th
World Communications Day, n. 3, May 27, 2001.
(22) Aetatis Novae, n. 9.
(23) Ethics in Communications,
n. 11.
(24) Cf. Communio et Progressio,
n. 15.
(25) Dogmatic Constitution on the
Church Lumen Gentium, n. 37.
(26) Communio et Progressio, n.
116.
(27) Ibid., n. 117.
(28) Cf. Canon 212.2, 212.3.
(29) Cf. Aetatis Novae, n. 10; Ethics
in Communications, n. 26.
(30) Aetatis Novae, n. 10.
(31) Ethics in Communications,
n. 26.
(32) Ethics in Communications,
n. 25.
(33) Aetatis Novae, n. 28.
(34) Communio et Progressio, n.
107.
(35) John Paul II, Message for the 24th
World Communications Day, 1990.
(36) Cf. Ethics in Internet.
(37) John Paul II, Message for the 35th
World Communications Day, n. 3.
(38) Pornography and Violence in the
Communications Media, n. 7.
(39) Aetatis Novae, 8.
(40) Cf. John Paul II, Apostolic Letter
Novo Millennio Ineunte, n. 39.
(41) Cf. John Paul II, Address to the
Bishops of the United States, n. 5, Los Angeles, September 16, 1987.
(42) John Paul II, Message for the 24th
World Communications Day, 1990.
(43) Cf. Aetatis Novae, nn.
23-33.
(44) Ethics in Communications,
n. 26.
(45) Message for the 24th World
Communications Day.
(46) Message for the 34th World
Communications Day, 2000.
(47) Communio et Progressio, n.
107.
(48) Aetatis Novae, n. 28.
(49) Ethics in Communications,
n. 25.
(50) Cf. John Paul II, Post-Synodal
Apostolic Exhortation Familiaris Consortio, n. 76.
(51) Ethics in Communications,
n. 25.
(52) Cf. Ethics in Internet, nn.
10, 17.
(53) John Paul II, Address to the UN
Secretary General and to the Administrative Committee on Coordination
of the United Nations, n. 2, April 7, 2000.
(54) Communio et Progressio, n.
11.
(55) Message for the 35th World
Communications Day, n. 4.
|
