Message
for World Day of Communications: Communicating the Family
(Vatican Radio) The Vatican has issued Pope Francis’ Message for
the 49THWorld Day of Social Communications, the only
worldwide celebration called for by the Second Vatican Council (Inter mirifica,
1963). The theme of this year’s message: “Communicating the Family – a
Privileged Place of Encounter with the Gift of Love.”
The World Day of
Social Communications is celebrated in almost all countries on the Sunday
before Pentecost. The announcement comes on the eve of 24 January, the feast of
St. Francis de Sales, patron of journalists, and the day on which the message
traditionally is released.
This year’s message
calls on the faithful to see families as “a resource rather than as a
problem for society” and invites families to be examples of Christ’s love,
kindness and fellowship.
“In a world where
people often curse, use foul language, speak badly of others, sow discord and
poison our human environment by gossip, the family can teach us to understand communication as a blessing,” the Pope
writes. “In situations apparently dominated by hatred and violence, where
families are separated by stone walls or the no less impenetrable walls of
prejudice and resentment, where there seem to be good reasons for saying
“enough is enough”, it is only by blessing rather than cursing, by visiting
rather than repelling, and by accepting rather than fighting, that we can break
the spiral of evil, show that goodness is always possible, and educate our
children to fellowship.”
Below please find the complete
text of Pope Francis’ Message for the 49th World Day of Social
Communications:
Communicating
the Family: A Privileged Place of Encounter with the Gift of Love
The family is a
subject of profound reflection by the Church and of a process involving two
Synods: the recent extraordinary assembly and the ordinary assembly scheduled
for next October. So I thought it appropriate that the theme for the next
World Communications Day should have the family as its point of
reference. After all, it is in the context of the
family that we first learn how to communicate. Focusing on
this context can help to make our communication more authentic and humane,
while helping us to view the family in a new perspective.
We can draw
inspiration from the Gospel passage which relates the visit of Mary to
Elizabeth (Lk 1:39-56). “When Elizabeth heard Mary’s greeting, the
infant leaped in her womb, and Elizabeth, filled with the Holy Spirit cried out
in a loud voice and said, ‘Most blessed are you among women, and blessed is the
fruit of your womb’.” (vv. 41-42)
This episode first
shows us how communication is a
dialogue intertwined with the language of the body. The first
response to Mary’s greeting is given by the child, who leaps for joy in the
womb of Elizabeth. Joy at meeting others, which is something we learn
even before being born, is, in one sense, the archetype and symbol of every
other form of communication. The womb which hosts us is the first
“school” of communication, a place of listening and physical contact where we
begin to familiarize ourselves with the outside world within a protected
environment, with the reassuring sound of the mother’s heartbeat. This
encounter between two persons, so intimately related while still distinct from
each other, an encounter so full of promise, is our first experience of
communication. It is an experience which we all share, since each of us
was born of a mother.
Even after we have
come into the world, in some sense we are still in a “womb”, which is the
family. A
womb made up of various interrelated persons: the family is “where we learn to live
with others despite our differences” (Evangelii Gaudium, 66).
Notwithstanding the differences of gender and age between them, family members
accept one another because there is a bond between them. The wider the
range of these relationships and the greater the differences of age, the richer
will be our living environment. It is this bond which is at the root of language, which in turn
strengthens the bond. We do not create our language; we can use it
because we have received it. It is in the family that we learn to speak
our “mother tongue”, the language of those who have gone before us. (cf. 2 Macc 7:25,27). In the family we realize that others have
preceded us, they made it possible for us to exist and in our turn to generate
life and to do something good and beautiful. We can give because we have
received. This virtuous circle is at the heart of the family’s ability to
communicate among its members and with others. More generally, it is the
model for all communication.
The experience of this
relationship which “precedes” us enables the family to become the setting in
which the most basic
form of communication, which isprayer, is handed
down. When parents put their newborn children to sleep, they frequently
entrust them to God, asking that he watch over them. When the children
are a little older, parents help them to recite some simple prayers, thinking
with affection of other people, such as grandparents, relatives, the sick and
suffering, and all those in need of God’s help. It was in our families
that the majority of us learned the religious
dimension of communication,
which in the case of Christianity is permeated with love, the love that God
bestows upon us and which we then offer to others.
In the family, we
learn to embrace and support one another, to discern the meaning of facial
expressions and moments of silence, to laugh and cry together with people who
did not choose one other yet are so important to each other. This greatly
helps us to understand the meaning of communication as recognizing and creating
closeness. When we lessen distances by growing closer and accepting
one another, we experience gratitude and joy. Mary’s greeting and the
stirring of her child are a blessing for Elizabeth; they are followed by the
beautiful canticle of the Magnificat, in which Mary
praises God’s loving plan for her and for her people. A “yes” spoken with
faith can have effects that go well beyond ourselves and our place in the
world. To “visit” is to open doors, not remaining closed in our little
world, but rather going out to others. So too the family comes alive as
it reaches beyond itself; families who do so communicate their message of life
and communion, giving comfort and hope to more fragile families, and thus build
up the Church herself, which is the family of families.
More than anywhere
else, the family is where we daily experience our ownlimits and those of others, the problems great and small entailed in
living peacefully with others. A perfect family does not exist. We
should not be fearful of imperfections, weakness or even conflict, but rather
learn how to deal with them constructively. The family, where we keep
loving one another despite our limits and sins, thus becomes a school of forgiveness. Forgiveness is
itself a
process of communication. When contrition is expressed and accepted, it becomes
possible to restore and rebuild the communication which broke down. A
child who has learned in the family to listen to others, to speak respectfully
and to express his or her view without negating that of others, will be a force
for dialogue and reconciliation in society.
When it comes to the challenges
of communication, families
who have children with one or more disabilities have much to teach us. A motor, sensory or mental limitation can be a reason for closing in on ourselves, but it can also
become, thanks to the love of parents, siblings, and friends, an incentive to openness, sharing
and ready communication with all. It can also help schools, parishes and associations to
become more welcoming and inclusive of everyone.
In a world where
people often curse, use foul language, speak badly of others, sow discord and
poison our human environment by gossip, the family can teach us to understand communication as a blessing. In situations
apparently dominated by hatred and violence, where families are separated by
stone walls or the no less impenetrable walls of prejudice and resentment,
where there seem to be good reasons for saying “enough is enough”, it is only
by blessing rather than cursing, by visiting rather than repelling, and by
accepting rather than fighting, that we can break the spiral of evil, show that
goodness is always possible, and educate our children to fellowship.
Today the modern media, which are an
essential part of life for young people in particular, can be both a help and a
hindrance to communication in
and between families. The media can be a hindrance if they become a way to avoid listening to others, to evade
physical contact, to fill up every moment of silence and rest, so that we
forget that “silence is an integral element of communication; in its absence,
words rich in content cannot exist.” (BENEDICT XVI, Message for the 2012 World
Communications Day). The media can helpcommunication when
they enable people to share their stories, to stay in contact with distant
friends, to thank others or to seek their forgiveness, and to open the door to
new encounters. By growing daily in our awareness of the vital importance
of encountering others, these “new possibilities”, we will employ technology
wisely, rather than letting ourselves be dominated by it. Here too,
parents are the primary educators, but they cannot be left to their own
devices. The Christian community is called to help them in teaching
children how to live in a media environment in a way consonant with the dignity
of the human person and service of the common good.
The great challenge
facing us today is to learn
once again how to talk to one another, not simply how to generate and consume information. The
latter is a tendency which our important and influential modern communications
media can encourage. Information is important, but it is not
enough. All too often things get simplified, different positions and
viewpoints are pitted against one another, and people are invited to take
sides, rather than to see things as a whole.
The family, in
conclusion, is not a subject of debate or a terrain for ideological
skirmishes. Rather, it is an
environment in which we learn to communicate in an experience of closeness, a setting where communication
takes place, a“communicating community”. The family is
a community which provides help, which celebrates life and is fruitful.
Once we realize this, we will once more be able to see how the family continues
to be a rich human resource, as opposed to a problem or an institution in
crisis. At times the media can tend to present the family as a kind of abstract model which
has to be accepted or rejected, defended or attacked, rather than as a living
reality. Or else a grounds for ideological clashes rather than as a
setting where we can all learn what it means to communicate in a love received
and returned. Relating our experiences means realizing that our lives are
bound together as a single reality, that our voices are many, and that each is
unique.
Families should be
seen as a resource rather than as a problem for society. Families at
their best actively communicate by their witness the beauty and the richness of the relationship between man and
woman, and between parents and children. We are not fighting to defend
the past. Rather, with patience and trust, we are working to build a
better future for the world in which we live.
From the Vatican, 23
January 2015
Vigil of the Memorial of Saint Francis de Sales
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