Why Catholics must stay informed on news

* "I didn't keep up with the news for two weeks, and nothing changed. There's always a war somewhere; politicians are always bickering. What's the point of reading the newspaper when it's always the same?"

If you've made either of those remarks in the past few weeks, you're not alone. With news coverage more continuous than ever, Catholics can easily feel inundated by news.

Why keep up with current events? For some answers, The Evangelist turned to history professor Tom Kelly of Siena College in Loudonville and Tom Cordaro, chair of the national council of Pax Christi USA, which advocates for Christian nonviolence.

Changes definite

The teacher chose some recent news developments as examples of why it's important to watch the news:

* Labor secretary nominee Linda Chavez withdrawing her name from the list of appointees as the FBI investigated her for once harboring an undocumented immigrant; and

* the uproar over former Sen. John Ashcroft's nomination for attorney general by President-elect George W. Bush.

"If you look at what's going on now with the withdrawal of Ms. Chavez -- if you're not watching the news, you don't know what kinds of issues are involved," Mr. Kelly explained. "One reason the assault is going forward [against former Sen. Ashcroft] is because he's pro-life." He noted that Catholics in particular might be concerned that an appointee could be dropped because he has pro-life views.

Having an opinion

In another example, he noted that the costs of "Star Wars" defense plans "are very significant, and the benefits are potentially very significant. If you're not `au courant' with that, you're in no position to suggest to your [elected official] how he should vote and why he should vote."

The bottom line, said Mr. Kelly, is that "there are elements of a civic duty here. We don't necessarily have to enjoy the news, any more than you had to enjoy spinach as a kid -- but it's good for you."

Responsibility

"Catholic social teaching [states] it's the moral responsibility of every Catholic to know what's going on in the world -- reading the signs of the times," he said. "It is our task to always pop up our head over our immediate concerns to what's happening in our nations, our states and our world."

To follow Jesus' dictates, Mr. Cordaro believes we must obey the words of the Lord's Prayer by doing God's will on earth -- including paying attention to the world around us.

"Catholics should have the newspaper in one hand, and the Bible and Catholic social teaching in the other," he declared.

Many sources

For those who complain that the news is often unchanging, Mr. Cordaro had a message: "The sower of seed often doesn't see the harvest. Catholics are called in faith, working as best they can, to change the world. It may not fall to us to see the fruits of our labors, but that doesn't excuse us from the work."

Through peace education and advocacy, he said, Pax Christi does that work. He invited interested Catholics to get involved not just in watching the news, but in his organization: "We're looking for kingdom-builders."

(Contact Pax Christi USA at paxchristiusa.org or call 814-453-4955.)

(01-18-01) [[In-content Ad]]