Even his critics concede that Pope Benedict XVI is an uncommonly clear and forceful writer. But like any busy leader, a pontiff must often lend his name to official documents written by members of his bureaucracy, with all the limitations that bureaucratic documents typically display.

One such text seems to be this year’s papal message for World Communications Day. The closest it comes to fresh or striking language is coinage of the term “info-ethics,” presented as the equivalent of bio-ethics for the media.

Now, most journalists could undoubtedly benefit from a lesson in ethics; but the vague language released by the Vatican today is unlikely to inspire much moral reflection in practitioners of any profession.