Bishops of America call on media to support “humanization” of society

Feb 17, 2005 / 22:00 pm

During their meeting in the Colombian capital to prepare for the 50^th anniversary of the Latin American Bishops Conference (CELAM), bishops from 24 episcopal conferences of America called on the media to “contribute to the development of the human person and not to his dehumanization.”

The bishops, reflecting on the theme, “Secularization in society, evangelization and the communications media,” called on the media to give pride of place to the value of human dignity and reaffirmed that “the media and the Church should work together to make the world a better place.”

The president of the United States Catholic Conference, Bishop William Skylstad, explained that the media should daily seek out the truth, a principle which, in the case of his country, led to the Vietnam War being “lost at home” due to the lack of support from the US public.

Likewise, the president of CELAM and Archbishop of Santiago, Chile, Cardinal Francisco Javier Errazuriz, said, “We are concerned very much about the media and their commitment to the truth.”

The cardinal underscored that the lack of rigor is a threat for the media, which have “so much social responsibility.”  “Sometimes fact is confused with fiction,” he added.

The president of the Canadian Bishops Conference, Archbishop Brendan O’Brien of St. John’s Newfoundland, recalled that objectivity in the media “is a moral issue of great importance” and he added that it is better for the public if “different points of view are shown in an objective manner.”

The 50^th anniversary celebrations of CELAM will take place in Lima, Peru, in May.