Information service of the Pontifical Mission Societies since 1927
Vatican City (Agenzia Fides) - "Learning to communicate is learning to listen and contemplate as well as speak, and this is especially important for those engaged in the task of evangelization: both silence and word are essential elements, integral to the Church’s work of communication for the sake of a renewed proclamation of Christ in today’s world". This is the exhortation contained in the Holy Father Benedict XVI’s message for the 46th World of Social Communications Day, on the theme "Silence and Word: the path of evangelization", which will be held on May 20, the Solemnity of the Ascension, or other date established by the Episcopal Conferences.
Silence and word are "two aspects of communication which need to be kept in balance, to alternate and to be integrated with one another if authentic dialogue and deep closeness between people are to be achieved". In fact without silence "there are no words rich in content". In our days when messages and information are plentiful, "silence becomes essential if we are to distinguish what is important from what is insignificant or secondary". The message stresses that "amid the complexity and diversity of the world of communications, however, many people find themselves confronted with the ultimate questions of human existence: Who am I? What can I know? What should I do? What may I hope? It is important to affirm those who ask these questions, and to open up the possibility of a profound dialogue, by means of words and interchange, but also through the call to silent reflection".
In many religious traditions, solitude and silence are "privileged states which help people to rediscover themselves and that Truth which gives meaning to all things ... If God speaks to man even in silence, even man discovers in silence the possibility of speaking with God and about God. "Since human language is inadequate to talk about the God’s grandeur, one must make space for silent contemplation. "Out of contemplation springs forth, with all its inner power, the urgent sense of mission, the urgent need to 'communicate what we have seen and heard' that all may be in communion with God. Silent contemplation immerses us in the source of that Love who directs us towards our neighbours so that we may feel their suffering and offer them the light of Christ, his message of life and his saving gift of the fullness of love" (SL) (Agenzia Fides 24/01/2012)
