On Friday, Pope Francis shared a message for Christian communicators to mark the Memorial of Saint Frances de Sales and the 59th World Day of Social Communications. His message was one of both encouragement and conviction for those who attempt to change the world through communication.
The Holy Father began by addressing our present times which are “characterized by disinformation and polarization, as a few centers of power control an unprecedented mass of data and information.” He said that, in this context, the work of Christian communicators is critical.
He went on to explain that communicators are responsible for the impact of their work on others. Because of this, they have obligations which include creating content that kindles hope by rejecting fearmongering, hatred, oversimplification, untruths and the weaponization of language. The work that communicators do must heal and nurture human relationships.
The Holy Father recognized that the task of Christian communicators is not easy. In fact, it requires us to care for our own souls and nurture hope within ourselves. To this end, he referenced Pope Benedict XVI, saying,
“Hope is not passive optimism but, on the contrary, a ‘performative’ virtue capable of changing our lives.”
He then recognized the cost of hope, quoting Georges Bernanos,
“Only those are capable of hope, who have had the courage to despair of the illusions and lies in which they once found security and which they falsely mistook for hope.”
While nurturing the virtue of hope is difficult, Pope Francis reminded readers that our hope “has a face, the face of the risen Lord.” He explained that it is through our hope in Christ that we find our own lives and work transformed. Because of the Holy Spirit, we can “hope against hope” and see “hidden goodness quietly present even when all else seems lost.” This new way of being causes people to ask why we live as we do and, as the Apostle Peter wrote, we must be ready to explain our transformative hope to those who ask.
Pope Francis explained that our work as Christian communicators “should be steeped in gentleness and closeness, like the talk of companions on the road.” He shared his desire for our work to encourage one another, to kindle community and empathy, and to magnify what is good.
For us to be able to create this kind of healing content, we must ourselves “be healed of our ‘diseases’ of self-promotion and self-absorption.” We need to recognize that we are the servants of those who consume our work and our job is to help them to find what is best in themselves as they participate more fully in community. Pope Francis reminded communicators that the spiritual life is not solitary. Instead, we are called to journey together and our work should reflect and promote fellowship with one another. When we do our work well, we communicate the goodness that exists within our world and we help each other to be “a little less deaf to the cry of the poor, a little less indifferent, a little less closed in.”
Image: “Journalists on duty” (CC BY-SA 2.0) by Yan Arief
Ariane Sroubek is a writer, school psychologist and mother to two children here on earth. Prior to converting to Catholicism, she completed undergraduate studies in Bible and Theology at Gordon College in Wenham, MA. She then went on to obtain her doctorate in School and Child Clinical Psychology. Ariane’s writing is inspired by her faith, daily life experiences and education. More of her work can be found at medium.com/@sroubek.ariane and at https://mysustaininggrace.com.
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