Prompting thinking

The 17th Assembly of the European Broadcasting Union (UER-EBU – www.ebu.ch) an association of broadcasters representing 75 public service broadcasters from 56 European Countries and those bordering on the Mediterranean took place on April 28-29 in Rome. This year’s meeting, attended by some 150 officers and directors of major radio networks in Europe and their delegates was hosted by the Vatican Radio, a founding UER member, actively involved in the initiative. The meeting closed on April 30 with a private audience with the Pope, who conveyed his encouragement and esteem in recognition of the commitment of the communication media. The radio and the Popes in the course of history. Fr Federico Lombardi, Director of the Vatican Radio, Chair of the Vatican Press Office, delivered the opening remarks of the EBU Assembly. In his speech Fr Lombardi mentioned the special days experienced by the city of Rome for the beatification of John Paul II. “You will experience Rome and the Vatican on an exceptional occasional, a major event involving radio and television broadcasters in Europe and in the rest of the world thus providing a better understanding of the task of the Vatican Radio in the fulfilment of her mission to the service of our fellow broadcasting networks”. Fr Lombardi recalled the Popes’ historical bond with the Radio, which since its establishment was aimed at providing “words of comfort and hope in the most difficult and dramatic circumstances, in times of armed conflicts and totalitarian oppression, speaking to those who want to hear about the Christian faith, offering spiritual direction and acting as a source of inspiration for a life that is worthy of the human person”. A promising future. Also the President of the Pontifical Council for Social Communications Msgr. Claudio Maria Celli underlined that the Radio “has long been a key medium of communication in the life of the Church”. “I have no doubt that a promising future lies ahead for the Radio even in the context of the extra-ordinary developments that are occurring in the so-called “new media”, he said. Msgr. Celli referred to the emerging digital technologies: “which have stepped up its potential thus allowing it to reach ever wider audiences, in an increased range of formats and without the traditional limitations of time and space”. So nowadays radios may use computers, mp3 players, mobile phones and social media networks which offer “universal access”. What are these new media called to offer in the ongoing information flow? “The radio has the capacity to stimulate thought and reflection, to inform and educate”, within the framework of contemporary “relativism that is so prevalent in Western culture”, “the refutation of which has been a key element in the teaching of Pope Benedict”. “If there is no such thing as truth, as right or wrong answers, then dialogue becomes meaningless”. He concludes his speech with an invitation: “Public broadcasters must try to give expression to the widest possible range of voices and opinion but should seek also to foster dialogue where people of different views work together to form a consensus about those values and attitudes that best promote human well-being and society. The Church, also, wishes to be present in this dialogue”. To the service of peace. In his discourse to the EBU General Assembly Pope Benedict XVI said: “Yours is a ‘public service’, a service to the people, to help them each day to know and understand better what is happening and why it is happening, and to communicate actively so as to accompany them in society’s journey together. I am well aware that this service meets with difficulties that take on different features and proportions in different countries”. “But the challenges of the modern world on which you have to report are too great and too urgent to let yourselves become discouraged or tempted to give up in the face of such difficulties”. The Pope thus pointed out that “the new forms of communication continue to play a role of some significance” in the framework of the “processes unfolding in certain countries of the Mediterranean and the Middle East”. “I urge you – continued the Holy Father – to place your international contacts and activities to the service of reflection and commitment aimed at ensuring that the instruments of social communication promote dialogue, peace and development of peoples in solidarity, overcoming cultural separation, uncertainties and fears”.