The "tasks" of those involved in social communication include speaking freely, without submissions to politics or economics; choosing the "path of understanding" the whole of reality; and avoiding attention-grabbing the user. "Genuine communication is not concerned with attention-grabbing. Alternating catastrophic alarmism and consolatory detachment - two extremes that we see continually in today's communication - are not a good service media offer to people."

Vatican City (AsiaNews) - Pope Francis met today with the managers and workers of TV2000, an Italian Church television broadcasting company. During the audience, he spoke to them about the tasks people working in the social communications field, in particular Catholic communicators, have to perform.

In his view, they must speak "with frankness and freedom" to the "whole person, both mind and heart" in order to give concrete expression to a "culture of the encounter," which is "so necessary today," thus avoiding "the sins of the media: disinformation, slander and defamation" as well as the "quick fix," i.e. communicating "without making an effort to represent the complexity of real life."

In his address, the pope highlighted three "tasks": speaking freely, without submissiveness towards politics or economics; choosing the "path of understanding" all reality; and avoiding attention-grabbing the user.

In view of this, "Catholic media have a very challenging mission in terms of social communications, which is to try to preserve it from all that twists and bends it for other purposes," he said.

"Oftentimes, [social] communication is subject to propaganda, ideologies, politics, economics or technology. The first thing that is beneficial to communication is parrhesia, i.e. the courage to speak directly, frankly and freely. If we are really convinced of what we have to say, words will come out. If instead we are concerned about tactical aspects, our words will be unnatural, uncommunicative, and tasteless.

"Freedom means freedom from fashions, clichés, pre-packaged formulas, which end up erasing the capacity to communicate. Re-awakening words is the first task of the communicator."

"Communication should avoid 'filling' and 'closing'. It is 'filling' when it crams our perception with an excess of slogans, which, instead of activating thinking, erases it. It is 'closing' when, instead of taking the long path towards understanding, it prefers to present individuals as if they could solve every problem, or as scapegoats on whom fall all responsibilities."

"Seeking a quick fix, without making an effort to represent the complexity of real life, is a common mistake in a communication world that is ever faster and inadequately reflective. Opening rather closing is the second task of communicators, all the more fruitful if we let ourselves be led by the action of the Holy Spirit, the only one that can build unity and harmony."

 "Speaking to the whole person is the third task of communication, i.e. avoiding what I already called the sins of the media: misinformation, slander and defamation."

"Disinformation, in particular, leads us to say half of things, and this does not help people come up with an accurate opinion about reality. Genuine communication is not concerned with attention-grabbing. Alternating catastrophic alarmism and consolatory detachment - two extremes that we continually see in today's communication - are not a good service media offer to people. It is necessary to speak to the whole person, both mind and heart, so that he or she knows how to see beyond the immediate, beyond a present that might be forgetful and fearful of the future".

"Awakening words, opening rather than closing, speaking to the whole person," the pope said in concluding, "means giving concrete expression to the culture of encounter, so necessary in an increasingly pluralistic context." In turn, "This requires giving to others as well as receiving from them."

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