Archbishop Foley on Media

Foley brought a friend of mine into the Catholic Church, confirmed several others and figured prominently in another friend's thesis. And I hear he really knows good places to eat. Here's what he's got to say about the media.


Archbishop Foley: Truth Is a Right
Encourages Youth to Participate in the Media

MESSINA, Sicily, MARCH 20, 2007 (Zenit.org).- Youth have a right to demand truth and respect from the media, says the president of the Pontifical Council for Social Communications.

Archbishop John Foley made these comments Monday in an address to a youth gathering at the Church of the Annunciation in Messina. The event was convoked by the Sicilian Press Association and the Italian Catholic Union of the Press.

"It is never too early to become involved in media, not only as consumers but also as participants," he said. Archbishop Foley continued: "You have the right to the truth. The media have an obligation to report the truth and only the truth; you have the right to demand it of them. You have the right to your dignity. The media have an obligation to treat you with respect, and you have a right to demand it. They should never seek to exploit you, to offer you temptation instead of sound intellectual and spiritual nourishment." The prelate added: "You have a right to demand from the media which serve you the protection of the common good -- the right to demand justice, to oppose violence, to condemn corruption."

Quoting Benedict XVI, Archbishop Foley asked "communicators and young people to be positive -- not to be paralyzed by complaining -- but to contribute to the transformation of society by making known the good news of Jesus Christ and of so many people and institutions in the world that do wonderful work in his name."