THE Pope has accused "some elements in the media", especially in the entertainment sectors, of seeming to wish to portray religious believers "in the worst possible light".
In his message for World Communications day yesterday, Pope John Paul II said it was not easy to remain optimistic about the positive influence of the mass media "when they appear to either ignore the vital role of religion in people's lives or when the treatment that religious belief receives seems consistently negative and unsympathetic".
He said public opinion has been shocked at how easily the advanced communication technologies can be exploited by those whose intentions are evil.
"At the same time, can we not observe a relative slowness on the part of those who wish to do good to use the same opportunities?" he asked.
He felt that the amount of media programmes which deal with religious and spiritual aspirations, programmes which are morally uplifting and help people live better lives", was apparently decreasing.
The fact was, he said, that it was increasingly difficult "to protect one's eyes and ears from images and sounds which arrive through the media unexpectedly and uninvited". It was particularly hard for parents to guard their children from unwholesome messages and to ensure their education in human relations and their learning about the world came about in a way that was "appropriate to their age and sensibility, and to their developing sense of right and wrong", he felt.
"Media products," he said, "are seen as in some way representing values that the West holds dear and, by implication, they supposedly present Christian values.
He believed "the truth of the matter" might well be "that the foremost value they genuinely represent is commercial profit".
. The Minister of State for European Affairs, Mr Gay Mitchell, has called for a synod of Catholic laity and religious leaders in this country.
There were many Catholics who held the Church in high esteem, he said, "but who do not share the expressed views of the leadership of the Church in relation to, for example, women and married priests".
