The Evangelical Pope | Social Communications in Service of Human Freedom

Each week we let Saint Pope John Paul II share meaningful signposts to spark socio-economic resolves through justice and righteousness combined with mercy and compassion; in short, love.

               ⁶⁴ The earth is filled with your love, LORD;
               Teach me your decrees.

               __ Psalm 119: 64 (New International Version)

The Vatican – 31 May 1981 | The XV World Communications Day is dedicated to the theme: "Social Communications in the service of responsible human freedom."

The Potential of Mass Media

The continual growth and advancement of mass media represent a remarkable sign of the times, offering immense opportunities for promoting universal understanding, peace, and brotherhood among nations.

While the media can persuade, individuals must exercise their freedom and responsibility to think critically, rather than passively accepting information.

Human Freedom: A Divine and Human Necessity

Throughout my ministry, I emphasized each person's vision as a free being—rooted in divine revelation and affirmed by human nature. Today, this is more urgent as people respond to threats and fears that challenge their freedom.

• Freedom is a key foundation for peace—something that matters to individuals, groups, families, communities, and minorities of all kinds.
• True freedom means becoming your most whole self, requiring choices made with dignity, conviction, and responsibility, rather than impulsive actions or external pressures. Even well-meaning psychological suggestions can threaten this freedom if misused.
• Social communication should support responsible human freedom. While we are all born free, it’s an ongoing journey of growth and overcoming obstacles to attain true freedom.

The Role and Responsibility of Mass Media

Mass media play a crucial role in fostering responsible human freedom. It's essential to determine if the press genuinely supports this goal and contributes to responsible freedom.

• Often, the media shape reality on their terms, making it hard for individuals to separate themselves from these influences.
• The media often serve as tools of power, sometimes oppressing when pluralism is ignored.
• This happens not only under dictatorships but also in societies with freedom, where powerful interests pressure the media.

Communicators must respect their audience's freedom and dignity, recognizing their right to make choices. It’s my duty to remind them to base their work on love, justice, truth, and freedom. Twisting truth or ignoring justice breeds bias and unjust control. The Church advocates honesty and transparency, even on challenging issues, aiming to inspire rather than scandalize.

Challenges Within Mass Media

• Mass media often display aggressive information and imagery across entertainment, politics, advertising, and culture, sometimes leading to indoctrination.
• Communicators should stay objective and avoid becoming "hidden persuaders" driven by personal interest, conformity, or profit.
• Media users face dangers, especially when content exploits sexuality, causing pornography and dignity loss. This isn't a call for censorship but a defense of true freedom, which shouldn't be subjected to such controls.
• Misuse of communication tools can cause social harm, such as addiction and degeneration.
• The media’s ability to portray violence, often framed as condemnation, can provoke aggressive feelings and divert attention from positive involvement.

The Impact on Young People and Families

The impact of mass media is powerful on children and young people, as they are still developing and highly sensitive to media messages. Their growth should be nurtured carefully to prevent unnecessary trauma. The Church urges both communicators and families to act responsibly.

In many societies, families neglect their educational responsibilities, allowing children to spend excessive time watching television and reading print media. This highlights the need to help youth develop responsible freedom. Believers and all who value freedom must protect the young from the negative influences of the media. No one should ignore this duty.

Pastoral Responsibility and the Church’s Role

My pastoral ministry, the spirit of the Council, and my personal convictions all inspire me to highlight the extraordinary potential and artistic beauty of media. At the same time, I recognize the importance of being mindful of the risks associated with their misuse for profit or power. It's essential to carefully assess and strive for media that truly empower people rather than controls or manipulates them, nurturing freedom, growth, and maturity.

With these heartfelt intentions, I warmly invoke God’s fullest grace upon everyone who reads these words and shares in this pastoral care. Please accept my Apostolic Blessing as a symbol of that grace, and may it bring you comfort and blessings.

Excerpted from:

MESSAGE OF THE HOLY FATHER JOHN PAUL II FOR THE 15th WORLD COMMUNICATIONS DAY, "Social Communications in the Service of Responsible Human Freedom,” Sunday, 31 May 1981.

https://www.vatican.va/content/john-paul-ii/en/messages/communications/documents/hf_jp-ii_mes_10051981_world-communications-day.html

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Editor’s Note | I aim to clarify misunderstandings and expand your viewpoints. As I have often highlighted, our purpose is to create bridges that link you to diverse narratives, rather than confirm your biases.

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JACQUES BAUD: EUROPE PANICS AS U.S. PULLS BACK FROM UKRAINE WAR

Prof. Glenn Diesen’s conversation with Col. Jacques Baud delves deeper into Col. Baud's insightful critique of Western and European policies regarding the Ukraine conflict.

• He emphasizes how longstanding stories and perceptions—rather than balanced, objective analysis—often influence decisions and prolong the war.
• Baud sheds light on the role of Eastern European countries within NATO and the EU, highlights the neglect of inconvenient facts, and discusses the importance of genuine political solutions, such as the Minsk agreements.
• He gently reminds us that without honest reflection and thoughtful, rational policies, Europe could face further escalation.

Baud advocates for approaches rooted in intelligence and facts, steering away from politically driven narratives, to foster a safer and more constructive path forward.

Watch the Video Here (1 hour, 7 minutes, 51 seconds)

Host Prof. Glenn Diesen
Substack.com
26 September 2025

Europe, Ukraine, and Shifting Narratives: A Conversation with Col. Jacques Baud

Today, we welcome Jacques Baud, a retired Swiss intelligence colonel, to discuss Europe's current situation. With extensive experience in NATO and strategic intelligence, Baud provides insights into the complexities, contradictions, and narratives influencing European politics and security.

Recent Events and Atmosphere in Europe

Recently, Europe has faced considerable turmoil. From Brussels, it is clear that events like supposed Russian drones crossing into Poland and Russian jets entering Estonian airspace are alarming. Europeans are calling on the US to take a stronger stance against Russia and are frustrated when the US falls short of these expectations.

President Trump has openly shared his views, saying Russia is weak and that Ukraine is making progress. He suggests Ukraine might even reclaim some of its territory, possibly gaining more. At the same time, he encourages Europeans to take more decisive military action, like shooting down Russian jets, while also saying the US should stay out of direct involvement—except for providing arms. This has made Europeans feel a mix of hope, believing the US supports their efforts, and worry, thinking the US might be shifting responsibility for Ukraine onto Europe.

European leaders, such as Donald Tusk, along with recent reports from the Financial Times, suggest that there is growing concern that the US might be trying to shift the blame to Europe if things go wrong in Ukraine. This has created considerable confusion and worry across the continent.

The American and European Strategic Posture

There's a lot of uncertainty surrounding the US strategy at the moment. While Trump may aim to pull the US out of the conflict and set the stage for resolving it, there's little sign of a well-organized plan—just a list of goals. Similarly, Baud notes that the Europeans also seem to lack clear objectives and a solid strategy.

In April, the US indicated that it would cease funding Ukraine. By early September, reports suggested that it would also stop supporting the defense costs of frontline countries, such as the Baltic states and Poland. This move has caused alarm, especially among Eastern European nations that rely heavily on EU and US financial aid for their economies and defense needs.

The recent NATO decision to increase European defense spending to 5% of GDP has been seen by the US as a reason to cut back on its financial support. However, this change highlights the challenges faced by both European and American forces in covering defense gaps, especially since much military equipment has already been sent to Ukraine and other areas like Israel.

This challenge in defense support highlights a notable shift. The US, focusing on its own interests and competing with China, is pulling back from areas like Ukraine, which it sees as a “black hole” for resources with limited benefits. At the same time, the US is facing significant financial constraints, including a massive national debt of $37 trillion and yearly interest costs that exceed its spending on health and defense.

European Dependency and Internal Challenges

European economies, particularly those of Germany, the UK, France, Italy, and Spain, are facing significant challenges. This hampers their capacity to support the ongoing war in Ukraine or to increase defense budgets as planned. Consequently, European nations aim to keep the US actively involved in regional security, often exaggerating security incidents—whether actual or perceived, like drone violations or airspace breaches—to justify persistent American engagement.

Incidents such as the claimed Polish airspace violation by Russian drones or the reported airspace breaches by Russian jets in Estonia are often blown out of proportion or misunderstood. Baud points out that many of these drones are actually unarmed decoys, sometimes recovered and reused by Ukrainians. These events are likely used to foster a sense of increased threat, aiming to motivate European countries to provide more military support, such as establishing a no-fly zone over Ukraine.

Similarly, reports of airspace violations by Russian jets are sometimes based on broader definitions of airspace and identification zones used by countries like Estonia, rather than actual incursions into their territory. Incidents in Denmark and Norway have also been exaggerated, with investigations often revealing ordinary explanations rather than Russian military activity.

The Role of Intelligence and Policy Narratives

Baud highlights concerns about how strategic intelligence isn't always utilized effectively in European and American decision-making. He notes that there's often a gap between intelligence reports—showing no signs of hostile actions by Russia or other adversaries—and the political choices that tend to increase tensions. This trend is also observed in different regions, such as Iran and Venezuela, where policies often fail to align with intelligence insights.

In Europe, intelligence reports often rely on information directly from Ukrainian leadership without independent analysis. As a result, actions and decisions are increasingly influenced by political narratives rather than factual assessments, leading to a precarious situation where policies become disconnected from reality.

The standard narrative portrays Russia as the aggressor, but Baud points out that Russia's actions over the last 25 years have mainly been rational and cautious, designed to prevent escalation. Manufactured incidents and exaggerated threats are exploited to influence public opinion, justify higher defense budgets, and sustain political backing for existing policies—despite limited resources and public support.

The Trap of Narratives and Historical Context

Baud reminds us that Europe and the West are entangled in their own narratives. The popular belief that Ukraine is winning the war persists, despite skepticism from many and growing evidence that challenges this notion. The way we define “victory” for Ukraine is also changing—moving from full territorial recovery to a more modest goal, such as a "functional" defeat of Russia—showing how these stories are evolving.

Eastern European countries have become increasingly influential within NATO and EU policymaking, often leading to a more assertive stance towards Russia. Sometimes, these actions are based on claims that lack solid proof. Baud’s time at NATO during the 2014 Maidan events showed that reports about Russian arms and intervention in Donbas weren’t backed by concrete evidence but were instead pushed by some countries' intelligence agencies to serve political purposes.

He remembers that the defection of Ukrainian military forces, especially in Crimea, was mainly caused by internal issues rather than external Russian interference—a fact highlighted in Ukrainian media but often overlooked in Western stories. The decision by the new Ukrainian government in 2014 to eliminate Russian as an official language made many people feel even more disconnected, which helped fuel the rebellion in the southern and eastern regions of the country.

The Consequences of Policy Based on Narratives

Baud suggests that Western actions, like supporting regime change in Ukraine and backing the government in its conflict with eastern regions, have played a role in setting the stage for the current war. Efforts at political settlement, such as the Minsk agreements, faced challenges due to actions by Western and Ukrainian leaders, which made military intervention appear to be the only option for Russia, at least from their viewpoint.

Today, Europe’s leadership struggles to acknowledge past mistakes, often sticking to a “sunk cost' mindset. This means they continue to invest in policies that aren’t working, simply because of previous decisions, rather than reevaluating the facts. The hesitation to change direction has deepened the ongoing conflict and the stories that support it.

Conclusion: The Need for Rationality and Honest Assessment

Baud highlights that the current European and Western stance is often shaped more by stories and political convenience than by careful analysis of facts. He emphasizes the importance of being open to rethinking and adjusting policies based on real-world evidence. Without this willingness, the risk of things escalating further stays relatively high. Baud encourages a return to rational, intelligence-based decisions and cautions against adhering to a path driven by ongoing, self-reinforcing narratives.

Jacques Baud is a prolific writer and expert in military and strategic topics, with many of his books available in different languages. Although he doesn't run a personal channel, you can find his works easily on platforms like Amazon. He's also a frequent guest commentator on various media outlets, sharing his insights with a broad audience.