CAMDEN (March 22, 2006) – Seeing both challenges and opportunities, Most Rev. Joseph Galante, Bishop of Camden, called on the Church to use new technology to “communicate the beauty of the faith in new and compelling ways.”
He delivered the remarks last week in Rome at the Plenary Assembly of the Pontifical Council for Social Communications, of which he is a member. This year’s meeting of the Council focused on implementing the final pastoral letter of the late Pope John Paul II, The Rapid Development (of Technology).
Taking note of the “exponential and explosive growth” of new technological innovations, Bishop Galante said, “God has entrusted to us the great gift of the communications media, not to be buried or left to others, but to be nurtured, to be used faithfully, and to be grown responsibly for His glory and the good of humanity.”
Noting the many ways that new technology has improved the flow of news, information and entertainment and opened up new possibilities for evangelization by the Church, Bishop Galante also sounded cautionary notes. In addition to the struggle of the Church to obtain the resources to access and implement the technology, Bishop Galante spoke about unintended consequences of the new technology.
“I wonder sometimes whether these new technologies have brought us closer together or accomplished something else. Even as great segments of society are now linked together via a digital network, I, for one, sense a growing loss of connectedness, an increasing isolation of people, of individuals from their families, of families from their communities, even communities from the world around them, seemingly cocooned in a media-driven world.”
“This media-driven world—which is increasingly owned and overseen by the powerful few—too often exaggerates differences, exploits conflict, and degrades human dignity in the name of profit. Easy access to Internet and email has made young people—and even adults—vulnerable right in their own homes.” With this in mind, Bishop Galante called on those in the media to exercise their freedom responsibly.
“[F]reedom, as we know, does not mean simply to do as one pleases. Rather, we are truly free when our acts are directed toward God. The media must be free, then, to the extent that its use draws men and women to the highest truths, while promoting justice and unity among God’s people.”
He also expressed concern about the growing “digital divide,” as new technological advancements have increasingly bypassed the poor and disadvantaged. “New technology must be able to be shared by everyone,” he said.
He concluded by calling on the media to place new technological developments at the service of the common good and exhorted the Church to commit itself to the use of new technology to further the Gospel. Echoing the words of Inter Mirifica, the Church’s Decree on Social Communications, he urged the Church to put the media to use “without delay and as energetically as possible.”