Next Communications Day's Goal: "Truth, Proclamation, and Authenticity of Life"

Keeping with Vatican custom on this feast of the Archangels, earlier today the Holy See announced B16's chosen theme for the global church's next World Communications Day -- the 45th such observance -- to be celebrated, as ever, on the Seventh Sunday of Easter (now marked in most of the Catholic world as Ascension Day), 5 June 2011.

Following on the heels of a remarkable 2010 message which, in unprecedented depth, dealt with the obligation of the church to engage in the world of new media, the next WCD will have as its focus: "Truth, proclamation and authenticity of life in the digital age."

Here, the Holy See's explanation of the topic:

The theme chosen by Pope Benedict XVI for World Communications Day 2011 is to be understood as focusing on the human person who is at the heart of all communicative processes. Even in an age that is largely dominated, and at times conditioned, by new technologies, the value of personal witness remains essential. To approach the truth and to take on the task of sharing it requires the "guarantee" of an authenticity of life from those who work in the media, and especially from Catholic journalists; an authenticity of life that is no less required in a digital age.

Technology, on its own, cannot establish or enhance a communicator’s credibility, nor can it serve as a source of the values which guide communication. The truth must remain the firm and unchanging point of reference of new media and the digital world, opening up new horizons of information and knowledge. Ideally, it is the pursuit of truth which constitutes the fundamental objective of all those who work in the media.

Again in keeping with Vatican practice, the traditional papal message for the next WCD will be released next 24 January, the feast of Saint Francis De Sales, patron of journalists.

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