The Archbishop of Armagh and Primate of All Ireland, Dr Seán Brady, has urged Christians and others of religious faith to review buying newspapers which offend their moral values and religious ideals.
Archbishop Brady maintained that some major Sunday newspapers were almost exclusively secular in their interests and in the range of opinion they conveyed.
However, speaking at the publication of the annual report of the Catholic Communications Office in Maynooth last night, Archbishop Brady said that he was not advocating a boycott of particular newspapers.
Writing in the foreword to the report, Archbishop Brady asked if Christians and others of religious faith were to review their purchasing habits, "would not this lead to a fairer and more representative secular Sunday media in Ireland?"
He said that it was important for every Christian to bear in mind that the decision to buy a particular newspaper, to listen to or watch a particular programme, was an important act of conscience which should be consistent with one's moral values and Christian ideals.
"In Ireland, where many are deeply committed to marriage, family, religious faith, religious practice, and community, as key values which sustain the common good, it is peculiar that not more people in the media and not more opinion writers, in particular, reflect the values of such a large section of their readership," he wrote.
Archbishop Brady said that some major Sunday newspapers gave very little space to the religious interests of their readership, many of whom would have attended Mass or some other form of religious worship that day.
"Some will argue that the content of such newspapers simply reflect the interests and values of those who freely choose to buy them. This, however, is only true where genuine choice exists in the market place.
"While the secular media in Ireland quite legitimately claims to be motivated by the noble ideals of freedom of expression, objectivity, investigation and diversity of opinion, the notable absence of those providing opinion and analysis from a specifically religious perspective suggests that no such choice really exists," he said.
Archbishop Brady said that in a highly competitive world where profit margins were so critical, conscientious Christians or persons of religious faith were not without power in seeking to alter the choices available to them in the newspaper industry.
The chairman of the Communications Commission of the Irish Bishops' Conference, Dr Joseph Duffy of Clogher, said that it was "odd" that the content of faith matters in some newspapers was effectively negligible.
Dr Duffy said relations between the church and the media have been particularly difficult in recent times. He said that to improve this relationship would involve both sides seeking a healthy respect for their very different missions.
