33 Years Ago Today – Papa Luciani and Social Communication

On this day in 1978, only days after being elected pope, Papa Luciani spoke with the representatives of the international press corps in the Hall of Benediction at the Vatican.  Here is what he said, in part:

“… the means of social communications assume in the life of modern man a function that becomes ever more important. We are mindful of the risks of ‘massing’ and ‘levelling’ that the ‘mass media’ contain, the consequent threats to the interiority of the individual, to his capacity for personal reflection, and to his objectivity in judgment. But we also are aware of the new and joyous possibility that they offer to the man of today – the possibility of better knowing and of drawing closer together, the possibility of more closely understanding the desire for justice, for peace, for brotherhood, indeed for building up with one another deeper bonds of sharing,of understanding, of solidarity in view of a  more just and humane world…. We wish to arrive through ‘communication’ at a true and satisfying ‘communion’. As you well know, this a a goal towards which the heart of the Vicar of him who taught us to call God the unique and loving Father of every human being aspires….. at times you will have to comment on our humble ministry. We are confident that you will do so with a love of truth and with a respect for human dignity, because such is the scope of every social communications. We would also ask you to be willing to contribute to the safeguarding in today’s society of a deep respect for the things of God and for the mysterious relationship between God and each of us. It is this that constitutes the sacred dimension of human reality….”

I just love how Luciani speaks of how his “heart” aspired to use communication to accomplish a “true and satisfying ‘communion'”. If you listen to his talks, you clearly get a glimpse of this, i.e., his way of communicating with his listeners accomplished a communion, a union, with him. His style of communication was both verbal and non-verbal, and it beckoned us to be united as one, just as he had said the day before to the diplomats that his total energy would be spent to maintain and deepen the unity of all people.

Of interest to me also is his warning, which seems to be playing itself out thirty years later, that modern mass media and social communication (e.g. technology) threatens the interiority of the human person and his/her capacity for personal reflection and objectivity. There is little doubt in my mind that indeed this disturbance of the interiority of men and women, and the rise of subjectivity rather than objectivity, is on the rise with the increased use of the internet, cell phones and other forms of communication so prevalent in most people’s lives today.

Finally, on this day in 1978, Pope John Paul I officially proclaimed Our Lady of Good Journey as patroness of the city of Itabario, Brazil, and he elevated the shrine of Our Lady of Consolation in Piacenza, Italy to a minor basilica. In my days in Italy, I never had the chance to go there. On my next visit, I hope to do so.

Papa Luciani, pray for us!