May 3
A day observed to raise awareness of the importance of freedom of the press and to celebrate the fundamental principles of press freedom enshrined under Article 19 of the 1948 Universal Declaration of Human Rights and marking the anniversary of the Windhoek Declaration, a statement of free press principles put together by African newspaper journalists in 1991.
From an open letter from Catholic journalists to Pope Francis on the occasion of the canonization of Carmelite Titus Brandsma, May 15, 2022.
Your Holiness,
In 2018 you asked us, journalists, loud and clear, “to promote a journalism of peace”, a “journalism that is truthful and opposed to falsehoods, rhetorical slogans, and sensational headlines. A journalism created by people for people, one that is at the service of all, (…) a journalism committed to pointing out alternatives to the escalation of shouting matches and verbal violence” (“The truth will set you free” (Jn. 8:32), Fake news and journalism for peace. Message of His Holiness Pope Francis for World Communications Day, 24 January 2018).
We wholeheartedly endorse your call to action and in it we recognize a mission statement for the whole of the journalistic enterprise: for old and new media, for editors of newspapers, magazines, radio and television stations, and internet platforms - and not only for journalists of Catholic origin, but for all journalists of good will.
Titus Brandsma has meant a lot to the Catholic community in the Low Countries, but his journalistic work stands out among all his other activities. He was editor-in-chief of a newspaper, devoted himself to the modernization and professionalization of the Catholic daily press in the Netherlands, and strove for better working conditions and the establishment of a professional training for journalists.
Father Brandsma did his work in the context of the rise of fascism and Nazism in Europe. In word and deed he opposed the language of hatred and division that was becoming common at the time. In his view, what we now describe as ‘fake news' was not to be tolerated in the Catholic press; he successfully argued for an episcopal ban on the printing of National Socialist propaganda in Catholic newspapers.
[St. Titus Brandsma] paid with his life for his courageous actions.
According to the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ), 99 journalists were killed in 2023, 72 in the Palestinian-Israeli conflict alone.
Link to Article 19 of the 1948 Universal Declaration of Human Rights (1948)
Link to the Windhoek Declaration (1991)
Link to full letter of the Catholic journalists to Pope Francis (May 2022)
Publications by or about St. Titus Brandsma, include the Collected Works of Titus Brandsma in English (4 of 7 volumes completed); Un Frate Pericoloso, a play in Italian; biographies in English, Spanish, and Italian; a RAI Radiotelevisione Italiana-Tiber Cinematografica produced movie, Le Due Croci (DVD, in Italian with subtitles available in English and Spanish); and many other excellent offerings.
