‘Highlight the Instinct of LIFE & Not Instinct of DEATH – Bishop Saldanha tells Journos
- ‘Highlight the Instinct of LIFE & Not Instinct of Death’- Bishop Peter Paul Saldanha of Mangaluru diocese tells Journos during an Interaction Meet hosted by Sandesha Foundation for Culture & Education, Mangaluru
Mangaluru: A day after the newly appointed Bishop Peter Paul Saldanha had taken up an initiative named ‘Bandutva’ for better harmony in society, where religious leaders from different religions, political and community leaders, administrators, intellectuals and heads of Institutions and media houses participated and discussed openly about bringing about change in society to promote humanity, on Wednesday 26 September, the Bishop interacted the media persons during a meet hosted by Sandesha Foundation for Culture & Education, Mangaluru.
Rev Fr Nelson Dalmeida, the Director of Sandesha welcomed the gathering and introduced each media person present for the meet, and on behalf of all the media personnel Ravi Posavanike of TOI handed over a plant/sapling to Bishop as a memento. Addressing the journos, Bishop Dr Peter Paul Saldanha said, “On 15 September during my Episcopal ordination I had raised the banner of humanity, and wanted to invite the DC, Police Commissioner, Superintendent of Police, MLA’s, Head of different administrations and educational institutions, religious leaders and others for a “Bandutva” gathering, and I was happy that many showed up to make a difference in the society. Yes, Mangaluru has become an education hub, and it was possible due to a few people with a vision, and now it’s time others join and take the step forward and to greater heights”.
“The coverage given to the “Bandutva” programme by the media was enormous, for which I want to thank you all. Media persons also need compassion and dedication to carry on with their work. We are in the process of making this city a Smart City, and surely, for us, ‘Smart’ would mean different things. The role of media in making this Smart project a reality is very much needed. Media is an important part of our life now, it is playing a very important role in every way of life. It connects us with the scenarios in the world and informs us of many things like news, history, entertainment etc. Which helps us lot in being an upgraded personality. Media helps in bringing the true facts and information of the world in front of our eyes. If there were no media, then there was life but without any information and knowledge,” added Bishop.
He further said, “There was a time when man used to know nothing about the happenings in this world, his outer knowledge was just up to his backyard or village. But as time passed, things were discovered and new ideas and thoughts invented things like Camera, Satellite, Microphone, Machinery etc. These things made life easy for every single individual living in this world. Man was being updated day by day and minute by minute from each and every news. Now in this time, media is so vast that we just need to turn on our televisions by pressing a button and we get all the knowledge that we want or even just by searching on search engines on the internet we get each and every information regarding, news, history, geography, music and entertainment and many more and for this the good and common example we have is google.com. We can find each and everything or any kind of news and updates by just writing the name on this search engine and on the next second we can see the news and information about that particular subject .”
“If there was no news or photos to be published the newspaper or the web portal will be empty-therefore the role of media people is very much needed in this regard. But at the same time, Media should be careful as to what they publish and as to what photos they incorporate. Through the media the message is reached to everyone in the nation and the world. Media should concentrate only on highlighting the goodness and restrict from the false and fake news. Quoting Sigmund Freud, “We should have an instinct for life and not instinct for death”, similarly media should Highlight the Instinct of LIFE & Not Instinct of DEATH so that we can have peace and harmony in the community,” said Bishop Saldanha.
He further said, “Mass media have a powerful influence in shaping a persons’ lives. However, mass media can have both positive and negative impact on the lives and on the minds of the people. It depends on the mindset of the people, as to which side they look for. Media can help to create awareness among the people faster than any other thing. In fact, mass media can have a great impact on peoples’ lifestyles and culture also. Not just covering the happenings in the City, media people should also visit villages and remote areas, and make them known through your publication. But you should be very careful when writing or including photos in your publication. Be a change and bring a change in the community, and you media persons can do it, and make a difference. Thank you for your support since I took over as Bishop of Mangaluru diocese, and I look forward to your unstinted support in future also”.
Speaking on “Synodality”, the Bishop said, “The Catholic Church has a unique process for confirming Church teaching and setting pastoral guidance. “Synodality” is the process that has been used by Catholic bishops for centuries. Pope Francis has taken this ancient Church ritual and, building on the efforts of his predecessors, expanded “Synodality” to help answer the call to evangelization and pastoral accompaniment laid out in the Papal exhortation, Amoris Laetitia. The Pope has opened the door for new and greater opportunities for pastoral care in the Catholic Church today and in the future. The word “Synodality” refers to “coming together” or, more technically, “journeying together.” It has historically been used to denote gatherings of bishops describing their pastoral walking together to confirm already expressed teaching and pastoral practice and to explore and apply Church teaching and practice in terms of the circumstances of the day. The word takes on new emphasis today as Pope Francis applies it in order to express the concept of the whole Church, pastors and flock, walking and working together to explore the needed pastoral responses to the challenges of today “.