The media and Church teaching

Reading and rereading some of the latest documents of the Holy See and of a few European Bishops' Conferences, one is pleased to note that these documents go straight to the point, avoiding any unnecessary length. This also applies to documents published by the ecclesiastical authorities in Malta and Gozo.

When documents are made public one has always to consider how the media handle them. The media, more than before, have a great impact on the public. Admittedly, not all media people are able to discern the essential, nor the ability to think and speak beyond standard opinions.

Our memory easily goes back to that very important Encyclical Letter of Pope Paul VI Humanae Vitae (On Human Life). It is an excellent document on life, as the title itself indicates. But very regrettably the international media simply preferred to present it to the general public as the "encyclical on the Pill".

In his book I Call You Friends (1999), Timothy Radcliffe, Master General of the Dominicans, writes: "Reading the British press, I am often struck by its strident indignation; people are denounced as evil in the name of morality.

"In such an atmosphere, it is not surprising that any pronouncement by the Church on moral issues is perceived as an accusation. That puts an enormous responsibility on the Church for how it expresses its teaching, but also an enormous responsibility on the media for how they give an account of it.

"If the Pope makes a speech about poverty and adds a sentence on contraception, it's just that one sentence that will be then up by the press. The press often distorts Church teaching by presenting it within its own framework of accusation."

Unfortunately this sometimes happens also in Malta. Some media people lack the capacity to suspend prejudice and bias while assessing documents and information.

On its part the Church must always be clear and appear to be human in its statements, especially on important issues. If we wish our teaching to be credible, in the first place, we should not be afraid of the Church being seen to be a community in which there is a debate, where we look for the truth together. We should also not to be afraid of sometimes saying that we don't have the answer.

At this point it is proper to ask: "Why did the late Cardinal Basil Hume enjoy such respect and authority in England, way beyond the Catholic world?" Partly it was because when he dld not know the answer to a question, he had no hesitation in saying so.

No doubt our bishops are fully conscious that they have to build a relationship of trust with those who work in the media. The media have to be treated as intelligent people; the Church must work with them, take time to explain, to answer questions, to face objections.

Media people, in Malta and abroad, have their faults and their shortcomings, which have to be taken into consideration. The dialogue requires a real effort by the Church. Many Church officials may feel that the press distorts, ridicules or renders the Church's teaching banal. That may be an understandable reaction, but we cannot afford to cut ourselves off.

Church authorities always need to ask themselves how their teaching will be understood. They need to put themselves in the place of those who are going to hear it. Very often, the main problem with a teaching is not its content but the language used to formulate it. One obviously realises that this is immensely difficult, when the Church's teaching is presented to the whole world in a press release!