COUNCIL PONDERS DOCUMENT ON ETHICS AND THE INTERNET

VATICAN CITY, MAR 16, 2001 (VIS) - This morning in the Clementine Hall, John Paul II welcomed the participants in the plenary assembly of the Pontifical Council for Social Communications. After remarks by council president, Archbishop John Foley, the Pope thanked the members "for all you are doing in support of the Church's diversified presence in the world of the media."

He also expressed his gratitude for the "specific contribution to the Great Jubilee of the Year 2000. ... The pontifical council rendered invaluable service by coordinating worldwide telecasts of many of the Holy Year ceremonies, and by offering professional and pastoral assistance to the thousands of men and women working in the fields of radio, television, the print media and photography."

"Over the years," the Pope went on, "the Pontifical Council for Social Communications has acquired a very positive experience of cooperation with the international media in bringing the important events of the Church's life to people in all parts of the world."

The Holy Father then commented on the council's document of June 2000, "Ethics in Communication," saying that it "sought to offer moral guidance regarding the use of the media, a varied and complex human reality in which ethical concerns are often subordinated to commercial interests. I am pleased that in these days you have been considering a similar document on the theme of 'Ethics in the Internet', which would indeed be timely, given the rapid spread of cyber-communications and the many moral questions involved. The Church cannot be a mere spectator of the social results of technological advances."

In concluding remarks, he affirmed that "the problems and opportunities created by new technology, by the process of globalization, by deregulation and privatization of the media present new ethical and indeed spiritual challenges to those who work in social communications. These challenges will be met effectively by those who accept that 'serving the human person, building up community, grounded in solidarity and justice and love, and speaking the truth about human life and its final fulfillment in God were, are and will remain at the heart of ethics in the media'."

At the end of the audience, Pope John Paul prayed the angelus with the participants. In an off-the-cuff remark, he said that "the angelus is the first communication, the most important communication in the history of mankind."

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POPE TO CONFER EPISCOPAL ORDINATION UPON NINE PRIESTS

VATICAN CITY, MAR 16, 2001 (VIS) - According to a communique made public today by the Office of Liturgical Celebrations of the Supreme Pontiff, on Monday, March 19, Solemnity of St. Joseph, at 9:30 a.m. in the Vatican Basilica, John Paul II will confer episcopal ordination upon the following nine priests:

1. Msgr. Fernando Filoni, titular archbishop-elect of Volturno, and appointed apostolic nuncio in Iraq and Jordan.

2. Msgr. Henryk Jozef Nowacki, titular archbishop-elect of Blera, and appointed apostolic nuncio in Slovakia.

3. Msgr. Timothy Paul Andrew Broglio, titular archbishop-elect of Amiterno, and appointed apostolic nuncio in the Dominican Republic and apostolic delegate in Puerto Rico.

4. Msgr. Domenico Sorrentino, archbishop-prelate-elect of Pompeii, Italy, and appointed pontifical delegate of the Shrine of Our Lady of the Rosary.

5. Msgr. Tomasz Peta, apostolic administrator in Astana, Kazakhstan, and titular bishop-elect of Brenda.

6. Msgr. Marcelo Sanchez Sorondo, chancellor of the Pontifical Academy of Sciences and of the Pontifical Academy of Social Sciences, and titular bishop-elect of Vescovio.

7. Msgr. Marc Ouellet, P.S.S., titular bishop-elect of Agropoli, and appointed secretary of the Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity.

8. Msgr. Giampaolo Crepaldi, titular bishop-elect of Bisarcio, and appointed secretary of the Pontifical Council for Justice and Peace.

9. Msgr. Djura Dzudzar, titular bishop-elect of Acrasso, and appointed auxiliary of the eparchy of Mukacheve in Transcarpathia, Ukraine.

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AUDIENCES

VATICAN CITY, MAR 16, 2001 (VIS) - The Holy Father received today in separate audiences:

- Janos Martonyi, foreign minister of Hungary, accompanied by his wife and entourage.
- Two prelates of the Conference of Latin Bishops of the Arab Regions (C.E.L.R.A.), on the occasion of their "ad limina" visit.
- Fr. Umberto Barato, O.F.M., patriarchal vicar for Cyprus of the Latins.
- Fr. Giorgio Bertin, O.F.M., apostolic administrator "ad nutum Sanctae Sedis" of Mogadishu, Somalia.
- Javier Luis Egana Baraona, ambassador of Chile, accompanied by his wife, on a farewell visit.
- Cardinal Giovanni Battista Re and Bishop Cipriano Calderon Polo, respectively president and vice-president of the Pontifical Commission for Latin America.

This evening he is scheduled to receive Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger, prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith.

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