The Holy Father Francis, in his Message for the 59th World Day of Social Communications, titled “Share with meekness the hope that is in your hearts”, makes a call to “disarm communication, to purify it from aggressiveness”. The document was presented at the Jubilee of the World of Communication.

Message from His Holiness Pope Francis for the 59th World Day of Social Communications:

Share with meekness the hope that is in your hearts (cf. 1 Pet 3:15-16)

Dear brothers and sisters:

In our time, marked by misinformation and polarization, where few centers of power control an unprecedented volume of data and information, I address you convinced of how necessary — now more than ever — is your work as journalists and communicators. Your courageous commitment is essential to place personal and collective responsibility towards others at the center of communication.

Thinking of the Jubilee we celebrate this year as a time of grace in such turbulent times, I would like, through this Message, to invite you to be messengers of hope, beginning with a renewal of your work and mission according to the spirit of the Gospel.

Disarm communication

Today, very often, communication does not generate hope but fear and despair, prejudice and rancor, fanaticism and even hatred. Reality is often simplified to provoke instinctive reactions; words are used as a dagger; false or distorted information is skillfully employed to send messages aimed at inciting passions, provoking, hurting. I have repeatedly emphasized the need to “disarm” communication, to purify it from aggressiveness. Reducing reality to a slogan never bears good fruit. We all see how — from interview programs to verbal wars on social media — the paradigm of competition, opposition, the will to dominate and possess, and manipulation of public opinion threaten to prevail.

There is also another worrying phenomenon, which we could define as the “programmed dispersion of attention” through digital systems, which, by profiling us according to market logic, alter our perception of reality. In this way, we often witness, helplessly, a kind of atomization of interests, which ultimately undermines the foundations of our being as a community, our capacity to work together for the common good, to listen to each other, to understand the reasons of others. It then seems that identifying an “enemy” against whom to launch verbal attacks is indispensable for self-assertion. And when the other becomes an “enemy,” when their face and dignity are darkened to humiliate and mock them, the possibility of generating hope is also lost. As Don Tonino Bello taught us, all conflicts “find their root in the dissolution of faces”[1]. We cannot give in to this logic.

Waiting, in truth, is not easy at all. Georges Bernanos said that “only those who have had the courage to despair of illusions and lies in which they found a false security that they mistakenly took for hope, wait.” […] Hope is a risk to be run. It is even the risk of risks”[2]. Hope is a hidden, constant, and patient virtue. However, for Christians, hope is not an optional choice but an essential condition. As Benedict XVI reminded us in the Encyclical Spe salvi, hope is not passive optimism but, on the contrary, a “performative” virtue, capable of changing lives: “Whoever has hope lives differently; they have been given a new life” (n. 2).

Give a reasoned and meek account of the hope within us

In the First Letter of Peter (cf. 3:15-16), we find an admirable synthesis where hope is related to testimony and Christian communication: “Sanctify Christ as Lord in your hearts. Always be ready to give an explanation to anyone who asks you for a reason for the hope that is in you. But do it with gentleness and respect.” I would like to focus on three messages we can derive from these words.

“Sanctify Christ as Lord in your hearts”: the hope of Christians has a face, the face of the risen Lord. His promise to be always with us through the gift of the Holy Spirit allows us to hope against all hope and to see traces of good hidden, even when everything seems lost.

The second message asks us to be prepared to give an account of the hope that is in us. It is interesting to note that the Apostle invites us to give an account of hope “to anyone who asks you for a reason.” Christians, above all, are not those who “talk” about God but those who reflect the beauty of His love, a new way of living all things. It is love lived that prompts the question and demands the answer: why do you live this way? Why are you like this?

Finally, in the expression of Saint Peter, we find a third message: that the answer to this question be given “with gentleness and respect.” Christian communication — but I would also say communication in general — should be woven with meekness, proximity, in the style of the companions on the road, following the greatest Communicator of all times, Jesus of Nazareth, who throughout the journey dialogued with the two disciples of Emmaus, making their hearts burn with the way He interpreted events in the light of the Scriptures.

Therefore, I dream of a communication that knows how to make us fellow travelers of many brothers and sisters, to rekindle in them hope in such troubled times. A communication capable of speaking to the heart, not to provoke passionate reactions of isolation and rage, but attitudes of openness and friendship; capable of betting on beauty and hope even in seemingly most desperate situations; capable of generating commitment, empathy, interest in others. A communication that helps us to “recognize the dignity of every human being and [to] care for our common home together” (Encyclical Letter Dilexit Nos, 217).

I dream of a communication that does not sell illusions or fears but is capable of giving reasons to hope. Martin Luther King said: “If I can help someone along the way, if I can cheer someone with a word or a song, […] then my life will not have been in vain”[3]. To do this, we must heal from the “diseases” of protagonism and self-reference, avoid the risk of useless speeches. What makes a good communicator is that the listener, reader, or viewer can participate, feel included, find the best part of themselves, and enter with these attitudes into the stories told. Communicating in this way helps to become “pilgrims of hope,” as the motto of the Jubilee states.

Hope together

Hope is always a community project. Let us think for a moment about the greatness of this year’s message of grace: we are all invited — truly everyone! — to restart, to allow God to lift us up, to let ourselves be embraced and flooded with mercy. In all this, the personal and communal dimensions are intertwined: we undertake a journey together, peregrinate with many brothers and sisters, and cross the Holy Door together.

The Jubilee has many social implications. For example, consider the message of mercy and hope for those living in prisons, or the call for closeness and tenderness towards those who suffer and are marginalized. The Jubilee reminds us that those who work for peace “will be called children of God” (Mt 5:9). It thus opens us to hope, indicates the need for attentive, calm, reflective communication capable of guiding dialogue. I encourage you, therefore, to discover and share numerous stories of good hidden within the folds of history; to imitate gold prospectors, who tirelessly sift sand in search of tiny nuggets. It is beautiful to find these seeds of hope and share them. It helps the world to be a little less deaf to the cry of the last, a little less indifferent, a little less closed. Always seek out the flashes of goodness that allow us to hope. This communication can contribute to weaving communion, making us feel less alone, and discovering the importance of walking together.

Never forget the heart

Dear brothers and sisters, faced with the dizzying advances of technology, I invite you to care for your hearts, that is, your inner life. What does this mean? I leave you some clues.

Be meek and never forget the face of the other; speak to the heart of women and men to whom your work is directed.

Do not allow instinctive reactions to guide communication. Sow hope always, even when it is difficult, even when it costs, even when it seems fruitless.

Try to practice a communication that knows how to heal the wounds of our humanity.

Give space to the trust of the heart, which, like a fragile but resilient flower, does not succumb to the inclemencies of life but blooms and grows in the most unexpected places: in the hope of mothers who pray every day to see their children return from the trenches of conflict; in the hope of parents who migrate amid a thousand risks and adventures in search of a better future; in the hope of children who manage to play, smile, and believe in life even among the rubble of wars and in the poor streets of favelas.

Be witnesses and promoters of non-hostile communication, which spreads a culture of care, builds bridges, and crosses the visible and invisible walls of our time.

Tell stories full of hope, considering our common destiny and writing together the story of our future.

All this you can and should do with God’s grace, which the Jubilee helps us to receive in abundance. I pray for this and bless each of you and your work.

Rome, Saint John Lateran, January 24, 2025, feast of Saint Francis de Sales.

Languages

MESSAGE OF HIS HOLINESS POPE FRANCIS FOR THE 59th WORLD DAY OF SOCIAL COMMUNICATIONS

MESSAGE OF HIS HOLINESS POPE FRANCIS FOR THE 59th WORLD DAY OF SOCIAL COMMUNICATIONS

BOTSCHAFT VON PAPST FRANZISKUS ZUM 59. WELTTAG DER SOZIALEN KOMMUNIKATIONSMITTEL

MENSAGEM DE SUA SANTIDADE PAPA FRANCISCO PARA O DIA MUNDIAL DAS COMUNICAÇÕES SOCIAIS