CHAPTER IV

EQUIPMENT, PERSONNEL AND ORGANIZATION

162. The place of the instruments of social communication in human destiny, the opportunities and the problems that they set before the Christian conscience: all this makes it essential that a way be found for a pastoral approach to this field. Trained and experienced men must be found for this work. The proper pastoral structures, with all the necessary funding, rights and resources should also be set up. Finally, special organizations should be devoted to the apostolate of each of the media.

163. This modern mission of the Church will mean a great deal to the faithful. They will offer their prayers and support so that she will be adequately equipped to fulfill it. The latest media of social communication are indispensable means for evangelization, and enlightening the minds and heart of men. They also contribute towards cooperation in furthering human progress by a Christian leavening of the social order.

164. The official Catholic organizations and enterprises that work in social communications with a pastoral end in view, should be able to call upon trained personnel. The training of laymen, priests and religious is to be given a high priority by those responsible for this work in the Church.

165. A careful appraisal of the entire range of the communications media, a prudent and well-informed planning for pastoral work and in every apostolic enterprise, all this is the rightful province of the ecclesiastical authorities. They, in their turn, should depend upon the advice of experienced experts in the different branches of communication. According to the ground rules laid down in Inter Mirifica this duty devolves upon every Bishops in every diocese, ⁶⁵ upon a special commission of Bishops or a Bishop-Delegate in each country ⁶⁶ and, for the Universal Church, upon the Pontifical Commission for Social Communications. ⁶⁷

166. The different sorts of projects and organizations for the specialized apostolate in social communications should everywhere be promoted and coordinated one with another. ⁶⁸ The ecclesiastical authorities should encourage the free flowering of Catholic initiative in this, but they should retain guidance over those works which properly belong to the priestly ministry, and over those which - according to the circumstances of time and place - demand a commitment on the part of the hierarchy on behalf of the faithful.

167. The competent ecclesiastical authorities at all levels (mentioned in para. 165) will lend their full support to the preparation and celebration of World Communications Day. This day has been designed specially to honour the professionals in the media and to encourage their cooperation. ⁶⁹ The ecclesiastical authorities will present regularly to the episcopal conferences projects for financing pastoral activity in the field of social communications.

168. The local hierarchies will take a keen interest in the apostolate of social communications. They will seek the advice of their priests and laity. Wherever possible, diocesan, or at least, interdiocesan offices will be set up. One of the chief tasks of these is to organize this pastoral apostolate within the diocese, penetrating right down to parish level. Another task is to prepare for the celebration of World Communications Day mentioned above within the diocese.

169. A national office for the communications media should be set up in every country. It can be divided into specialized and reasonably autonomous departments for each of the separate media. Or it can have separate offices for the press, motion pictures and broadcasting that work closely together. ⁷⁰ In any case, the whole of this apostolate should be placed under a single, overall direction.

170. It is the mission of the national and diocesan offices to stimulate, promote and harmonize Catholic activities in the field of social communications. They will take particular pains about the training of the faithful, clerical and lay, by means of organized courses, conferences, study sessions and critical assessments prepared by their experts. So, the public will be enabled to make wise decisions. The Offices will also be ready to give advice to producers engaged on films, performance or broadcasts that concern religious subjects.

171. The National and Diocesan Offices will maintain these contacts with the professional world of social communications. They will furnish the documentary material, the advice and the pastoral assistance that professional communicators may require. They also are to organize World Communications Day on the national level and organize the collection of funds that the Decree of the Council suggests should be made on that day. ⁷¹

172. The national espiscopal commission for social communications or the delegated bishop are in charge of the direction of all the activities of the national offices. They are to lay down general guidelines for the development of the apostolate of social communications on the national level. They will keep in touch with the other national episcopal commissions and collaborate with the Pontifical Commission for Social Communications. The status of this Commission is described in the Conciliar Decree, Inter Mirifica⁷² and in the Apostolic Letter, In Fructibus multis. ⁷³

173. On continents or in regions where an episcopal conference exists that embraces several countries, this episcopal conference will have an office for social communications under the overall direction of a bishop or a number of bishops.

174. Every bishop, all episcopal conferences or bishops' assemblies and the Holy See itself should each have their own official and permanent spokesman or press officer to issue the news and give clear explanations of the documents of the Church so that people can grasp precisely what is intended. These spokesmen will give, in full and without delay, information on the life and work of the Church in that area for which they are responsible. It is highly recommended that individual dioceses and the more weighty Catholic organizations also have their own permanent spokesmen with the sort of duties explained above. All these officials and, indeed, all those who are identified with the Church in the mind of the public, should take into account the principles of public relations. They should consider the sort of audience they are, at various times, addressing and establish a relationship that is based on mutual trust and understanding. This can only be maintained as long as people have a genuine regard and consideration for one another and a scrupulous respect for the truth.

175. It is not enough to have a public spokesman. There must be a continual two-way flow of news and information. On the one hand, this aims to present a true image of the Church in a way that makes it visible to all. On the other, this exchange reveals to the ecclesiastical authorities the surges, currents and ideas that stir the world of men. Clearly this calls for the cultivation of friendly relations based on mutual reverence between the Church, people and groups. In this way continual exchanges can be fostered, with each side both giving and receiving. ⁷⁴

176. To make sure of an effective dialogue, both within the Church and with the outside world, on the subject of recent events and their religious significance, official news bulletins are indispensable. These will publicize relevant news items as quickly as possible. The public, in this way, will get their information in good time. Needless to say, all the necessary means are to be used to make these bulletins absolutely accurate and so avoid the necessity for subsequent corrections. News flashes, telex, all the latest techniques will be used to convey precise meanings in the most dependable way.

177. Religious orders and congregations will give thought to the many pressing tasks of the Church in the field of social communications and consider what they themselves can do to fulfill them under their constitutions. Their own specialized institutions for social communications will collaborate with one another and they will keep abreast of the overall pastoral planning of the diocesan offices, and of the national, continental or regional offices since these are, usually, the competent bodies for the aspostolate of social communications.

178. The national offices⁷⁵ and the corresponding central offices of the religious congregations will cooperate with the international organizations for the press, (U.C.I.P.), for motion pictures, (O.C.I.C.), and for radio and television, (UNDA). This will be done in accord with the statutes of these international organizations as approved by the Holy See. ⁷⁶

179. These international Catholic organizations for social communications - each in its own sphere and in a way that fits its statutes - will help professionals and the national professional bodies of Catholics who have given themselves to these tasks. The way to do this is to keep abreast of research and development in the media. They will foster mutual aid and international cooperation. They will keep themselves informed on Catholic activity in the field. They will prepare the coordination of international programmes and projects. They will continually seek advice on the best ways to help developing countries. They will encourage fresh initiatives. They will produce and distribute films and recorded broadcasts and every sort of audiovisual material, including the printed word. They will do all this for the advancement of social progress and for the betterment of Catholic life. These international Catholic organizations are exhorted to undertake and to coordinate research for the solution of their common problems.

180. The episcopal conferences, through their specialized offices, and the Catholic professional associations, will assure for the international catholic organization the funds necessary for doing this work.

Cf . Inter Mirifica, 20.

Cf . ibid., 21.

Cf . ibid., 19.

Cf . Apostolicam Actuositatem, 19 and 21.

Cf Inter Mirifica, 18.

Cf . ibid., 21.

Cf . ibid., 18.

Cf . ibid., 19.

Cf In Fructibus Multis. A.A.S., LVI (1964), pp. 289-292.

Cf. paragraphs 138-141 above.

Cf. paragraph 169 above.

Cf . Inter Mirifica, 22.