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About three centuries after the concept of a free press was first postulated, the Vatican got around to endorsing it last week. A 20,000-word "pastoral instruction," circulated to Roman Catholic bishops throughout the world, condemned censorship in mass communications (except as a "last extremity") and decreed that "freedom of speech for individuals and groups must be permitted so long as the common good and public morality be not endangered." The document, which was approved by Pope Paul, also contended that the relationship between the church and the press should "be distinguished by integrity, truth and openness." There should be "a steady two-way flow of information between the ecclesiastical authorities at all levels and the faithful as individuals and as organized groups." Newsmen in Rome, who have long suffered under the Vatican's own restrictive information policy, now hope that the Holy See will practice what it preaches.

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