VATICAN CITY, JUN 4, 2000 (VIS) - After praying the Regina Coeli, the Pope moved to the Paul VI Hall where he received in audience the 7,000 participants in the Jubilee of Journalists, which concludes today.
At the beginning of his talk, John Paul II said that one of the purposes of the meeting was to pay a debt of gratitude he felt towards the many journalists who, throughout his pontificate, "have striven to make the words and acts of my ministry known. I am deeply grateful for all this commitment, for the objectivity and courtesy that have marked a large part of this service, and I ask the Lord to give each their adequate reward."
The Holy Father affirmed that the question of ethics cannot be separated from journalistic work. "With its immense and direct influence on public opinion, journalism cannot only be guided by economic forces, by profits and partisan interests." He recalled that "the powerful communications media" are entrusted to journalists "for the good of all and especially for the good of the weakest groups, from children to the poor, from the sick to people who are marginalized and discriminated against."
"One cannot write or broadcast," he continued, "solely on the basis of audience ratings and to the detriment of a truly informative service. Nor can one appeal indiscriminately to the right to know, without taking into account the other rights of the person. No freedom, including freedom of expression, is absolute; indeed, its limits lie in the duty to respect the dignity and legitimate freedom of others. Nothing, however fascinating it may be, can be written, produced or transmitted if it damages truth, I am thinking here not just of the truth of the events you report but also of the 'truth of man', of the dignity of the human person in all its dimensions."
After his address, the Pope greeted those present in French, English, Spanish, German, Portuguese and Polish.
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