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Pope's Message for World Communications Day - 28th May 2017

Pope's Message for World Communications Day - 28th May 2017

World Communications Day will be celebrated on Sunday 28 May 2017 – the Solemnity of the Ascension of the Lord – the Sunday before Pentecost Sunday. Pope Francis has chosen the theme 'Fear not, for I am with you (Is 43:5): Communicating Hope and Trust in our Time' for this year's message.

In his message Pope Francis is encourages individuals and communities to engage in constructive forms of communication that reject prejudice towards others, and to foster a culture of encounter, helping all of us to view the world around us with realism and trust.

Pope Francis says that he is convinced that we have to break the vicious circle of anxiety and stem the spiral of fear resulting from a constant focus on "bad news" (wars, terrorism, scandals and all sorts of human failure). This has nothing to do with spreading misinformation that would ignore the tragedy of human suffering, nor is it about a naive optimism blind to the scandal of evil. Rather, he proposes that all of us work at overcoming that feeling of growing discontent and resignation that can at times generate apathy, fear or the idea that evil has no limits. Moreover, in a communications industry which thinks that good news does not sell, and where the tragedy of human suffering and the mystery of evil easily turn into entertainment, there is always the temptation that our consciences can be dulled or slip into pessimism.

Pope Francis goes on to say that he would like, then, to contribute to the search for an open and creative style of communication that never seeks to glamourise evil but instead to concentrate on solutions and to inspire a positive and responsible approach on the part of its recipients. He asks everyone to offer the people of our time storylines that are at heart "good news". 

See link to the full text on www.catholicbishops.ie

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