THE new Pontifical Commission for Mass Media, set up by last week's In Fructibus decree to implement Vatican II's Constitution on modern communications, is to prepare for the Pope's approval a pastoral instruction to help the bishop's pastoral activities in this sector.
It stresses the importance of co-operation with laymen, and the Commission itself includes Prince Carlo Pacelli, Count Enrico Galeazzi and Vittorino Veronese. Lay experts from all over the world are likely to be asked to join or to advise.
The scope of the Commission extends, not only to the press, but also to the theatre, films, television, radio, recordings, and other forms of communication.
A Commission spokesman has stated that there will now have to be an international consultation with clergy and lay experts in the press in particular. The Conciliar Constitution. in its second chapter, not only dealt with the formation of a good Catholic press, but mentioned the need to organise schools to train newsmen and script writers which would combine technical competence with a Christian and moral critical sense.