Silence and World

Silence and Word
Path of Evangelization

This summary of the papal message for WCD 2012 was published Jan. 24 by ANS:

The centrality of the human person in the processes of communication and the balance necessary between the word and silence: these are the themes in Pope Benedict XVI’s message for the 46th World Communications Day. According to custom, the Holy Father issued his message on January 24, feast of St. Francis de Sales, patron of journalists. The message was presented at a press conference by Abp. Claudio Maria Celli, president of the Pontifical Council for Social Communication, and other officials of the Pontifical Council.

Each year in his message the Pope analyses the culture of communication in order to offer relevant suggestions to people and to guide the Church’s pastoral activity. In recent years Pope Benedict has given a great deal of attention to the processes and dynamics of communication, especially in the context of the cultural transformation brought about by technological development. In his message for 2012 the Holy Father turns his attention to a “classic” element of communication: the link between silence and word. Even though a classical one, this aspect is becoming ever more important in the context of the digital culture.

In his messages during the last three years, Benedict XVI has considered the dimensions and the potentials of the new technologies and the digital world. This year he goes to a deeper level in regard to communication, recalling the need for silence to be integrated with words “if authentic dialog and deep closeness between people are to be achieved.” Silence and word are “two aspects of communication which need to be kept in balance, to alternate and be integrated with each other.” Expression, in which a person says something about himself, cannot be the only thing that matters, since it is only in moments of silence that a person listens to another and allows a full human relationship to exist.

In man’s heart there is a constant restlessness, the Pope observes – a search that is expressed through questions about meaning: “Men and women cannot rest content with a superficial and unquestioning exchange of skeptical opinions and experiences of life. All of us are in search of truth.” Today through social networks and new technologies the continuous exchange of ideas between individuals is encouraged, but “people today are frequently bombarded with answers to questions they have never asked and to needs of which they were unaware. If we are to recognize and focus upon the truly important questions, then silence is a precious commodity that enables us to exercise proper discernment in the face of the surcharge of stimuli and data that we receive.” Silence “helps people to rediscover themselves and that Truth which gives meaning to all things,” i.e., God.

“For this to happen, it is necessary to develop an appropriate environment, a kind of ‘eco-system’ that maintains a just equilibrium between silence, words, images, and sounds.” In this area the Pope is well aware of the opportunities offered by digital technologies, when he seems to make a clear reference to Twitter: “In concise phrases, often no longer than a verse from the Bible, profound thoughts can be communicated, as long as those taking part in the conversation do not neglect to cultivate their own inner lives.” Perhaps this is also a reference to the comments made by bishops and theologians about their use of social media to encourage reflection by the public.

The final part of the Pope’s message is devoted to education in communication, a task to which those who use communication are called: “Learning to communicate is learning to listen and contemplate as well as to speak. This is especially important for those engaged in the task of evangelization: both silence and word are essential elements, integral to the Church’s work of communication for the sake of a renewed proclamation of Christ in today’s world.”

Abp. Celli made the point that this message finds its place between two synods, that on the Word held October 5-26, 2008, and that on evangelization, planned for October 7-28, 2012. In addition, Pope Benedict’s words direct people’s attention to the issue of the clamor of modern-day communication.

World Communications Day is the only world celebration for which Vatican Council II expressed its desire (in the decree Inter mirifica, 1963). It’s celebrated in almost all countries according to a decision of the bishops on the Sunday before Pentecost.