Each January on the Feast of St. Francis de Sales, patron saint of journalists and writers, the pope issues a message in anticipation of the annual World Day of Communications (which this year celebrates its 48th anniversary on June 1). Pope Francis’s theme for this year’s message is “Communication at the Service of an Authentic Culture of Encounter.” This message, like other recent messages for the World Day of Communications, emphasizes the revolutionary role that digital communications are playing in all our lives. But it would be wrong to understand the message only in terms of the Internet and social networks. “Social communication” or “media” in the mind of the Church comprises pretty much all noble activities involving human speech. Thus this document has great relevance for us as writers, critics, scholars, and old and new media lovers, apart from our use of digital technology. That being said, even if the primary medium of our work is not, or not exclusively, digital, we are nonetheless deeply immersed in the Internet and social networks, whether for news or for marketing purposes, the creation of intellectual or creative communities like this one at The Comic Muse, or simply for the sake of developing online friendships. So Pope Francis’s message for the 48th annual World Day of Communications has relevance for us both in terms of our art and in terms of our digital presence. The document itself is not very long and well worth taking the time to read, but I thought I would provide a digest here of the 5 key takeaways from the message.
1. The Church is not afraid of, nor does she despise, the new digital technologies.
“Let us boldly become citizens of the digital world. The Church needs to be concerned for, and present in, the world of communication, in order to dialogue with people today and to help them encounter Christ. She needs to be a Church at the side of others, capable of accompanying everyone along the way.”
2. Good communication is essentially neighborliness.
“Good communication helps us to grow closer, to know one another better, and ultimately, to grow in unity.” The whole point of the digital environment, or any other form of communication, is “to grow in humanity and mutual understanding.” This is what Pope Francis means by the need for us to create “a culture of encounter.”
3. The online world presents real dangers:
a. Lack of calmness and reflection: “The speed with which information is communicated exceeds our capacity for reflection and judgement, and this does not make for more balanced and proper forms of self-expression….We need, for example, to recover a certain sense of deliberateness and calm. This calls for time and the ability to be silent and to listen.”
b. Fortress mentality: “The variety of opinions being aired can be seen as helpful, but it also enables people to barricade themselves behind sources of information which only confirm their own wishes and ideas, or political and economic interests.”
c. Isolation from those closest to us: “The desire for digital connectivity can have the effect of isolating us from our neighbours, from those closest to us.
4. A Christian presence in the world of communications does not mean bombarding others with a constant stream of Christian messages.
Rather, the Christian understanding of communication is about “our willingness to be available to others ‘by patiently and respectfully engaging their questions and their doubts as they advance in their search for the truth and the meaning of human existence.’”
5. The world of media is called to show tenderness and acceptance.
“Jesus shifts our understanding: it is not just about seeing the other as someone like myself, but of the ability to make myself like the other. Communication is really about realizing that we are all human beings, children of God.”
“It is not enough to be passersby on the digital highways, simply “connected”; connections need to grow into true encounters. We cannot live apart, closed in on ourselves. We need to love and to be loved. We need tenderness.”
“We need also to be patient if we want to understand those who are different from us. People only express themselves fully when they are not merely tolerated, but know that they are truly accepted.”
What inspires you in the pope’s message?
How will it impact your writing or your presence on the Internet and social networks?
For further reflection on Pope Francis’s message, see this reflection on Aleteia by Dr. Eugene Gan, professor of interactive media, communications, and fine art at Franciscan University of Steubenville.
You might also be interested in a piece of mine on Aleteia on the Church’s understanding of social communications, “The Church as a Social Network.”
The photograph above is reproduced courtesy of Dave Fayram at Flickr Creative Commons under the following license.
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