Pope encourages media professors to teach skepticism, not cynicism

Published: 2008-05-23

VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- Students preparing for a career in communications must learn to be skeptical, especially when the public good is at stake, but they also must be helped to avoid becoming cynical, Pope Benedict XVI told communications professors. "Nourish and reward that passion for truth and goodness that is always strong in the young. Help them give themselves fully to the search for truth," the pope said in a May 23 address to participants in a meeting sponsored by the Pontifical Council for Social Communications. The meeting brought together professors and staff members from communications departments at Catholic universities and institutes from around the world to discuss the specifically Catholic mission of their educational programs, the best ways to respond to rapid changes in the field of communications and how to educate future media professionals in ethical values. Pope Benedict told the professors that every form of communication -- from teaching to prayer -- using every means from the human voice to a computer is a reflection of the fact that human beings were created to communicate, to create relationships and to grow "in knowledge, wisdom and love."

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