Monday, October 03, 2011

Pope: World Day for Social Communications on "Silence and Word: path of evangelization"

"Silence and Word: path of evangelization” is the theme chosen by Benedict XVI for the upcoming 46th World Communications Day, which will be celebrated in many countries around the world on the Sunday before Pentecost (in 2012, May 20).

Commenting on today's theme chosen by the Pope, the Pontifical Council for Social Communications highlights " to associate the theme of the next World Communications Day with the celebration of the forthcoming Synod of Bishops which will have as its own theme: The New Evangelization for the Transmission of the Christian Faith”.

"The extra-ordinarily varied nature of the contribution of modern communications to society - adds the Pontifical Council - highlights the need for a value which, on first consideration, might seem to stand in contradistinction to it. Silence, in fact, is the central theme for the next World Communications Day Message: Silence and Word: path of evangelization".

"In the thought of Pope Benedict XVI, silence is not presented simply as an antidote to the constant and unstoppable flow of information that characterizes society today but rather as a factor that is necessary for its integration. Silence, precisely because it favors habits of discernment and reflection, can in fact be seen primarily as a means of welcoming the word. We ought not to think in terms of a dualism, but of the complementary nature of two elements which when they are held in balance serve to enrich the value of communication and which make it a key factor that can serve the new evangelization”.

World Communications Day is the only worldwide celebration called for Vatican II (Inter Mirifica, 1963). 

The Pope's message for the Day is traditionally published on the occasion of the anniversary of St. Francis de Sales, Patron Saint of Journalists (January 24).