Suspicion or Development? The Operative Hermeneutics in Two Church Documents on the Media of Communication

Abstract

This essay is influenced greatly by Lonergan's insights on communication as found in his "Method in Theology" as well as some readings in contemporary hermeneutics, particularly that of Paul Ricoeur.But even if Lonergan figures prominently in the reflection, the idea of "communication" as developed in this paper is not limited to the functional specialty in Theology that Lonergan conceived it to be. Rather, it is considered in a broader way: as a function of the Church to whom is entrusted the communication of the christian message; and of every christian who, even if not a theologian, takes his mission to proclaim the Gospel seriously.The basic theme that underlies the whole reflection is: Communication is essentially correlative to Interpretation. Hence, every critique of the distortions in communication must be complemented by a critique of the distortions in interpretation.The practical aspect of this work is the examination of two documents of the Church on the media of social communication in view of determining the different frameworks of interpretation operative in both.2"The concrete is the real, not under this or that aspect but under its every aspect in its every instance." Ibid., p. 36.3/bid., p. 78.