Participants of World Congress of the Catholic Press discuss differences in Catholic and secular press

The Ukrainian delegation is taking an active part in the World Congress of the Catholic Press, which takes place in Rome from October 4 to 7, 2010. The Ukrainian delegation’s suggestion that both the church and secular mass media are needed for spreading the Gospel was added to the final resolution. For this the church needs to conduct special work with journalists of the secular media. In addition, the journalistic skills of the church need to be constantly improved so that their material could be published in the secular media. On the second day of work the participants of the congress searched for ways so that freedom of speech, joint communion, and service in communication work of the church may coexist. “The Catholic press must not differ in any way from the secular one, unless by its honored attitude toward truth. We work in a competitive field in secularized countries and that is why we must care for the quality of our publications, the professionalism of the material,” said Bishop Stanislas Laleyn from France at the plenary meeting of the congress. “The church has to be honest in this what it says. There is good and bad news, but the church has to talk about them. People have to see that there are both saints and sinners in the making of the church,” said John Davis, director of the Roman department of the CNS news agency. “The truth needs to be said. The truth has to be argued for and clear for all. Truth is the truth, regardless of who says it,” Bishop Marcello Semeraro, president of Avvenire Nuova Editoriale, said.

Information Department of the UGCC