The Jubilee Celebration for the World of Communication opened on Friday, January 24, 2025, with the celebration of Holy Mass presided over by Card. Baldassare Reina, Vicar General for the diocese of Rome. The gathering was open to all professional figures in the world of communication: not only to journalists, media operators and newspaper publishers, but also to those who use social media to create video content, audio and video technicians, writers, and computer programers.
Pope Francis has had much to say during this Jubilee year on the issue of communications, a sign of the importance he sees in these topics for the Church of today. In his Message for the 59th World Communications Day, the Holy Father highlighted the need to put “our collective and personal responsibility to others" at the center of what is communicated. In a world “marked by disinformation and polarization,” he called for media content which generates hope instead of fear or desperation in those who access it.
On Saturday the 25th, during a meeting held in Pope Paul VI Audience Hall with those involved in the world of communication, the Pontiff highlighted the importance of coming together with others. “Communicating,” he said, “means stepping outside of oneself to make room for the other. Communication is not only producing something, but also encountering the other. The truly wise know how to communicate!”
In his speech, the Holy Father saluted those who put their lives at risk to communicate the truth. He called for “free, responsible and accurate” information, specifying that being a journalist is not simply a profession, but “a vocation.” It means having a “mission to instill hope and peace in others, without rousing them to violence.”
The Pope's speech was preceded by a cultural meeting moderated by Mario Calabresi, an Italian journalist and writer, who, before giving the floor to the guests, shared some questions with the audience of his colleagues: “Is it still possible to communicate the truth with hope? What kind of information are we seeking to provide for people? […] The narrative of evil cannot be the only story worth reporting, it cannot be the engine that drives our gathering of information. Even in evil stories, we must search for the good, though some have, perhaps, become incapable of doing this. Giving spotlight to only the negative will chip away at our hope. Instead, let us become catalysts of change: those who read what we write must be able to find the best part of themselves.”
Attention then passed to Maria Ressa, a Filipino born journalist from the United States, awarded the 2021 Nobel Peace Prize for her efforts to safeguard freedom of expression. In her speech, she recalled the arrests and punishments she suffered for having denounced the actions of Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte and his so-called “war on drugs.” She grew in her tenacity from these experiences realizing that one cannot remain silent in the face of lies, for “the pain of one is the pain of all.” This founder of the Rappler information website did not mince words in lashing out against Big Tech companies that try to transform social media “from a tool to connect people to a weapon of controlling the masses.” She said, “These social media platforms are not neutral; they are sophisticated systems designed to exploit our deepest psychological vulnerabilities. They monetize our indignation and our hatred; they amplify our divisions; and they systematically erode our capacity for nuanced thinking, as well as our capacity for empathy.”
This was followed by words from Colum McCann, an American writer of Irish origin and best-selling author, who focused on the power of stories: “When we stop listening to each other's stories, everything bad that can happen will happen. Telling stories and listening to stories are what call us to action. But how do we listen to the stories of others? We don’t have to love or even like everyone for this to happen. The call to listen to another’s story is simply a call to try to understand the other. And we must try to understand each other, we must be pilgrims of repair in a world torn apart and so wounded by hatred.”
The Jubilee Celebration for the World of Communication ended peacefully on Sunday, January 26, celebrating the Word of God.
For further information please read:
The full text of "Share with meekness the hope that is in your hearts", Message for the LIX World Communications Day.
For the journalists and communicators that participated here: Italiano - English - Español
