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I. THE CONTEXT OF SOCIAL COMMUNICATIONS
A. Cultural and social context
4. As more than just a technological revolution,
today's revolution in social communications involves a fundamental reshaping of
the elements by which people comprehend the world about them, and verify and
express what they comprehend. The constant availability of images and ideas,
and their rapid transmission even from continent to continent, have profound
consequences, both positive and negative, for the psychological, moral and
social development of persons, the structure and functioning of societies,
intercultural communications, and the perception and transmission of values,
world views, ideologies, and religious beliefs. The communications revolution
affects perceptions even of the Church, and has a significant impact on the
Church's own structures and modes of functioning.
All
this has striking pastoral implications. The media can be used to proclaim the
Gospel or to reduce it to silence in human hearts. As media become ever more
intertwined with people's daily lives, they influence how people understand the
meaning of life itself.
Indeed,
the power of media extends to defining not only what people will think but even
what they will think about. Reality, for many, is what the media recognize as
real; what media do not acknowledge seems of little importance. Thus de facto
silence can be imposed upon individuals and groups whom the media ignore; and
even the voice of the Gospel can be muted, though not entirely stilled, in this
way.
It
is important therefore that Christians find ways to furnish the missing
information to those deprived of it and also to give a voice to the voiceless.
The
power of media either to reinforce or override the traditional reference points
of religion, culture, and family underlines the continued relevance of the
Council's words: "If the media are to be correctly employed, it is
essential that all who use them know the principles of the moral order and
apply them faithfully in this domain". 7
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