Cardinal Ignatius Suharyo Hardjoatmodjo of Indonesia called for the responsible use of communication technology during a meeting with a government censor this week.
“The Catholic Church sees the advancement of information technology as a miracle of the times,” said the prelate in a report on Radio Veritas Asia.
“The goal is for the common good,” he reportedly said during a meeting with officials of the Film Censorship Institute (LSF) of Indonesia on June 28.
The prelate said that dioceses across the country have their own social communication commissions and lay people are involved with government activities pertaining to technology and communication literacy.
“It is not a large literacy initiative by the Church, but the modest ones can at least serve as a call for more extensive work,” he said.
The head of LSF, Rommy Fibri Hardiyanto, said his organization is open to working with other groups and social institutions. “Nowadays, there is a democratic atmosphere,” he said.
“Censorship is performed digitally by delivering notes instead of physically cutting them out as in the past,” said the official, adding that LSF self-censors only sort and view content based on “age requirements.”
Hardiyanto, however, said there is a lot of improvement needed in the government’s literacy efforts.
“In cinemas, for example, adult films are being screened. Parents who come to watch them should not take their children with them,” he said.
