CHAPTER I

3. the Catholic Church was founded by Christ our Lord to bring salvation to all men. It feels obliged, therefore, to preach the gospel. In the same way, it believe that its task involves employing the means of social communication to announce the good news of salvation and to teach men how to use them properly.

It is the Church's birthright to use and own any of these media which are necessary or useful for the formation of Christians and for pastoral activity. Pastors of souls have the task of instructing and directing the faithful how to use these media in a way that will ensure their own salvation and perfection and that of all mankind.

For the rest, it will be principally for laymen to animate these media with a Christian and human spirit and to ensure that they live up to humanity's hopes for them, in accordance with God's design.

4. If the media are to be correctly employed, it is essential that all who use them know the principles of the moral order and apply them faithfully in this domain. They should take into account, first of all, the subject-matter, or content, which each medium communicates in its own way. They should also take account of the circumstances in which the content is communicated --- the purpose, that is to say, the people, the place, the time, etc. The circumstances can modify and even totally alter the morality of a production. In this regard, particular importance may attach to the manner in which any given medium achieves its effect. Its impact may be such that people, especially if they are insufficiently prepared, will only with difficulty advert to it, control it, or, if need be, reject it.

5. It is essential that all those involved should form a correct conscience on the use of the media, especially with regard to certain issues which are particularly controversial today.

The first of these issues is information, or the search for news and its publication. Because of the progress of modern society and the increasing interdependence of its members on one another, it is obvious that information is very useful and, for the most part, essential. If news or facts and happenings is communicated publicly and without delay, every individual will have permanent access to sufficient information and thus will be enabled to contribute effectively to the common good. Further, all of them will more easily be able to contribute in unison to the prosperity and the progress of society as a whole.

There exists therefore in human society a right to information on the subjects that are of concern to men either as individuals or as members of society, according to each man's circumstances. The proper exercise of this right demands that the content of the communication be true and --- within the limits set by justice and charity --- complete. Further, it should be communicated honestly and properly. This means that in the gathering and in the publication of news the moral law and the legitimate rights and dignity of man should be upheld. All knowledge is not profitable, but on the other hand "love builds" (1 Cor. 8:1).

6. The second question bears on the relation between the rights of art --- to use a current expression --- and the moral law. The controversies to which this problem increasingly gives rise frequently trace their origin to an erroneous understanding either of ethics of aesthetics. The Council proclaims that all must accept the absolute primacy of the objective moral order. It alone is superior to and is capable of harmonizing all forms of human activity, not excepting art, no matter how noble in themselves. Only the moral order touches man in the totality of his being as God's rational creature, called to a supernatural destiny. If the moral order is fully and faithfully observed, it leads man to full perfection and happiness.

7. Lastly, the chronicling, the description or the representation of moral evil can, with the help of the means of social communication and with suitable dramatization, lead to a deeper knowledge and analysis of man and to a manifestation of the true and the good in all their splendour. If, however, this is to be more profitable than harmful to souls, the moral law must be rigorously observed, especially when dealing with matters deserving of respect or with matters that lead all to easily to base desires in man wounded by original sin.

8. Public opinion exercises enormous influence nowadays over the live, private or public, of all citizens, no matter what their walk in life. It is therefore necessary that all members of society meet the demands of justice and charity in this domain. They should help, through the means of social communication, in the formation and diffusion of sound public opinion.

9. Those who receive the means of social communication --- readers, viewers, audiences --- do so of their own free choice. Special obligations rest on them in consequence. A properly motivated selectivity would be wholly in favour of whatever excels in virtue, culture and art. Likewise, it would avoid whatever might be a cause or occasion of spiritual harm to the recipients or might be a source of danger to others through bad example; it would avoid whatever might hinder the communication of the good and facilitate the communication of what is evil. This last usually occurs when financial help is given to those who exploit the media solely for profit.

If they are to obey the moral law, those who use the media ought to keep themselves informed in good time about assessments arrived at by the authorities with competence in this sphere and to conform to them as a right conscience would dictate. They should take appropriate steps to direct and form their consciences so that they may more readily resist less wholesome influences and profit more fully from the good.

10. Those who are at the receiving end of the media, and especially the young, should learn moderation and discipline in their use of them. The should aim to understand fully what they see, hear and read. The should discuss them with their teachers and with experts in such matters and should learn to reach correct judgments. Parents on their part should remember that it is their duty to see that entertainments and publications which might endanger faith and morals do not enter their houses and that their children are not exposed to them elsewhere.

11. A special responsibility for the proper use of the means of social communication rests on journalists, writers, actors, designers, producers, exhibitors, distributors, operators, sellers critics --- all those, in a word, who are involved in the making and transmission of communications in any way whatever. It is clear that a very great responsibility rests on all of these people in today's world: they have the power to direct mankind along a good path or an evil path by the information they impart and the pressure they exert.

It will be for them to regulate economic, political and artistic values in a way that will not conflict with the common good. To achieve this result more surely, they will do well to form professional organizations capable of imposing on their members --- if necessary by a formal pledge to observe a moral code --- a respect for the moral law in the problems they encounter and in their activities.

They should always be mindful of the fact that a very large proportion of their readership and audience are young people who are in need of publication and entertainments for wholesome amusement and inspiration. They should ensure that religious features are entrusted to serious and competent persons and are handled with proper respect.

12. Civil authorities have particular responsibilities in this field because of the common good, toward which these media are oriented. It is for the civil authority, in its own domain, to defend and safeguard --- especially in relation to the press --- a true and just freedom of information, for the progress of modern society demands it.

The civil authority should foster religious, cultural and artistic values. It should guarantee to those who use the media the free exercise of their lawful rights. It is, further, the duty of the civil authorities to give assistance to those projects which, although very useful, especially for the young, could not succeed otherwise.

Finally, the civil authorities, which rightly regard the well-being of the citizens as their concern, are also bound to ensure, equitably and vigilantly, that public morality and social progress are not gravely endangered through the misuse of the media. This they can achieve by promulgating laws and tirelessly enforcing them. The liberty of individuals and groups is not in the least compromised by such vigilance, especially where serious guarantees cannot be given by those who use these media professionally.

Special measures should be taken to protect adolescents from publications and entertainments harmful to them.