Archbishop Foley: Advertising Must Contribute to Well-Being of Individuals


(This update courtesy of Vatican Information Service.)



VATICAN CITY, DEC 11, 2002 (VIS) – Archbishop John P. Foley, president of

the Pontifical Council for Social Communications, spoke yesterday afternoon

at the Monaco World Summit in Montecarlo on “Corporate Responsibility,

Dignity and Human Rights.”

The archbishop recalled that his dicastery has published various

documents in the last few years on ethics in advertising, communications

and in Internet. These documents have stressed the “three principles for

ethics in all types of communication: truth, the dignity of the human

person and the common good.”

“The dignity of the human person can be enhanced or harmed by advertising

and indeed by all means of communication. How often have we seen

advertisements which treat individuals – especially women – as objects,

very often sex objects? How often have we perceived that advertising seeks

not a positive contribution to an individual's well-being but a greater

contribution to the bottom line? Individuals come to be viewed as numbers

to be delivered, not as human beings to be served.”

“The human person and the human community are the end and the measure of

the use of the communications media; communication should be by persons to

persons for the integral development of persons. Integral development …

requires attention to the 'inner dimension', a dimension which is at least

moral if not religious and spiritual. … Individuals have irreducible

dignity and importance, and they may never be sacrificed to collective

interests.”

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