Information service of the Pontifical Mission Societies since 1927
Vatican City (Agenzia Fides) - The 5th General Conference of the Bishops' Conferences of Latin America and the Caribbean and the Church's World Communications Day were the two themes of the midday address given by Pope Benedict XVI on Sunday 20 May from the window of his study overlooking St Peter's Square.
The Pope began by thanking God for his recent apostolic journey to Brazil, and thanking those who accompanied him with their prayers. “The purpose of that pastoral visit was to inaugurate 5th General Conference of the Bishops' Conferences of Latin America and the Caribbean. However before that important ecclesial event, I had an opportunity to meet the local Catholic community” said Pope Benedict XVI adding that he would speak more at length on the Visit during his weekly audience this Wednesday and he asked those present “to continue to pray for the Conference taking place in Aparecida and for the pilgrim people of God in Latin America.”
The second motive of reflection and prayer was the Church's annual World Communications Day this year on the theme: "Children and the media: a challenge for education". The Pope recalled that “the challenges to education in the world today are often connected with the influence of the media, which rivals that of the school, the Church and even the family”. Hence the need for adequate training to a correct use of the media “to educate children and young people to be selective and to develop a critical attitude... but the media must also help in this task of education promoting the dignity of the human person, marriage and the family, the conquests and goals of civilisation”. Pope Benedict XVI then appealed to “the leaders of the media industry and media operators to safeguard the common good, to respect the truth and to defend the dignity of the person and the family ”.
After the Marian prayer the Pope expressed his sympathy to the people of Palestine and Israel underlining the urgent need to return to the peace process: “Fighting between factions in the Gaza Strip, rockets launched on people in nearby Israeli cities and the reaction of armed intervention, are causing a bloody deterioration of the situation which is appalling. Once again in the name of God I beg for an end to this tragic violence, and to the sorely tried people of Palestine and Israel I wish to express my closeness and sympathy and assure them that I remember them in my prayers. I appeal to the sense of responsibility of all the Palestinian Authorities to resume with dialogue and resoluteness the arduous path to agreement, thus neutralising the violent. I call on the Israeli government to exercise moderation and I urge the international community to intensify efforts to re-launch negotiations. May the Lord inspire and sustain builders of peace!” (S.L.) (Agenzia Fides 21/5/2007; righe 34, parole 468)
