Pope, Catholic media workers strategize on how to best use new media

Published: 2007-03-09

VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- Taking advantage of new media to spread the Gospel, the Catholic Church also has an obligation to point out areas where the media has a harmful effect, especially on children, Pope Benedict XVI said. The pope called on media operators "to safeguard the common good, to uphold the truth, to protect individual human dignity and promote respect for the needs of the family." Meeting March 9 with members of the Pontifical Council for Social Communications, Pope Benedict spoke of the benefits of greater access to quality entertainment, information and educational opportunities through the media. But he also expressed concern about the "increasing concentration" of the media in the hands of a few multinational conglomerates and said that "much of what is transmitted in various forms to the homes of millions of families around the world is destructive." Strategies for using new technology to communicate the Gospel message and for counteracting the negative impact of the media dominated the council's March 5-9 meeting at the Vatican.

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