HUMAN AND MORAL IMPLICATIONS OF THE INFORMATION SOCIETY

VATICAN CITY, DEC 13, 2003 (VIS) - Made public today was the speech given in Geneva on December 11 by Archbishop John Foley, head of the Holy See delegation to the United Nations World Summit on the Information Society. He focussed on the role of communication and information technologies in promoting development and human rights.

The archbishop stated that 'the Holy See is most interested in the human and moral implications of the information society.Thus, we are particularly grateful that agreement has been reached on the 'Ethical Dimensions of the Information Society' in the Declaration of Principles.' He added that, 'in our commendable concern to make information and communications technology available to the broadest possible range of persons, I would hope that we might remember three basic moral foundations of communication: the overriding importance of truth, the dignity of the human person and the promotion of the common good.'

'In this context,' remarked Archbishop Foley, 'access to information is essential to the development of a healthy society in which all citizens might be well informed and active participants, in keeping with their dignity and in light of the common good. All of us are committed to avoiding the possibility that information and communications technologies and programs might aggravate any inequalities which already exist.' And, he said, 'development must be understood in a fully human way, concretely enhancing every individual's dignity and creativity.'

Noting the Holy See's interest in the role of the media in preserving and constructing peace, the head of delegation said: 'In these days, we cannot build a lasting peace without the cooperation of media networks. They can serve the culture of dialogue, participation, solidarity and reconciliation without which peace cannot flourish.' To this end, he said, 'a courageous contribution of media, instead of featuring violence, immorality and superficiality' could help 'to build better reciprocal knowledge and respect and to foster reconciliation and a more fruitful relationship among peoples of different cultures, ideologies and religions.'

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