Displaying items by tag: Papa Leone XIV

June 1, 2025 | Share With Gentleness The Hope that Is In Your Heart
World Day of Communications To Be Celebrated Worldwide. In Rome, 2000 Journalists Receive Thanks of Pope Leo XIV

The 59th World Day of Social Communications, celebrated annually by the Catholic Church, will be held on June 1, 2025, the Sunday before Pentecost. The theme for this year is Share with Gentleness the Hope that is in Your Hearts. It is focused on the idea of "disarm[ing] communication of all prejudice and resentment, fanaticism and even hatred; let us free it from aggression." The message for the upcoming World Comunications Day was released on January 24, 2025, the feast of St. Francis DeSales. 

The theme of the message, according to the Press Office of the Holy See, “draws attention to the fact that today too often communication is violent, aimed at striking and not at establishing the conditions for dialogue. It is therefore necessary to disarm communication, to cleanse it of aggression. From television talk shows to verbal wars on social networks, there is a risk that the prevailing paradigm is that of competition, opposition, and the will to dominate."

Pope Leo XIV expressed his appreciation for the world press by holding an audience for over 2000 members who reported from Rome following the death of Pope Francis through his own election. He called for them to be faithful to their vocation, whatever their particular role in media. In his first audience with journalists as the pontiff, Leo renewed pleas for a more peaceful world. He also expressed solidarity with journalists who were jailed "for seeking and reporting the truth" and said their suffering "challenges the conscience of nations and the international community." The Committee to Protect Journalists said 361 journalists were in jail in 2024. Reporters Without Borders puts the number at 550 as of December 2024.

The Dicastery for Communications led the Church in its Jubilee celebration of Communications during one the first Jubilee celebrations in January. The celebrations included all those who work in the field of communication, especially journalists and media professionals. The three days of celebration, at which communications directors from the Order participated, took place January 24-26, 2025. These days were some of the last public appearances of Pope Francis prior to his hospitalization on February 14. The Dicastery also invited communications leaders from the religious orders and congregations as well as those of the Church's conferences of bishops to a separate three-day conference on the future of the Church's communications work. The sessions began with a private meeting with Pope Francis at the Vatican.

World Communications Day was established by Pope St. Paul VI in 1967 following the Second Vatican Council as an annual celebration that encourages reflection on the opportunities and challenges that the media offer and how the Church can better communicate the Gospel message.

Papal Message for 59th World Day of Social Communications
Released January 24, 2025

Pope Leo Message to the Journalists on May 12, 2025
Text of Message in English | Video: Pope begins speaking at the 8:00 minute mark

For more information on the Jubilee Celebration of Communications ...

Papal Address to Dicastery Discussion of Future of Church Communications
January 27, 2025 - Clementine Hall

Pope Leo XIV Meets With Journalists Emphasizing the Role of Communications in Promoting Peace

In one of the first audiences of his young pontificate, Pope Leo XIV met with the international media in Aula Paulo VI. He thanked journalists for their service to the truth and stressed the role of communications in promoting peace.

“We are living in times that are both difficult to navigate and to recount. They present a challenge for all of us, but it is one that we should not run away from,” the pope said to approximately ____ journalists on May 12. “On the contrary, they demand that each one of us, in our different roles and services, never give in to mediocrity.”

“Thank you, dear friends, for your service to the truth,” he said, also underlining the importance of preserving free speech and the free press.

Using St. Augustine, the pope highlighted the place of communications: “The Church must face the challenges posed by the times. In the same way, communication and journalism do not exist outside of time and history. St. Augustine reminds of this when he said, ‘Let us live well, and the times will be good. We are the times’ (Discourse 311).”

Using the Sermon on the Mount, the pope stressed the important role communications plays in promoting peace: “Jesus proclaimed, ‘Blessed are the peacemakers’ (Mt 5:9). This is a beatitude that challenges all of us, but it is particularly relevant to you, calling each one of you to strive for a different kind of communication, one that does not seek consensus at all costs, does not use aggressive words, does not follow the culture of competition, and never separates the search for truth from the love with which we must humbly seek it.”

“Peace,” he continued, “begins with each one of us: in the way we look at others, listen to others, and speak about others. In this sense, the way we communicate is of fundamental importance: We must say ‘no’ to the war of words and images, we must reject the paradigm of war.”

The pope raised up the responsibility and discernment needed in the use of artificial intelligence. He earlier explained his choice of the regnant name Leo being influenced by the challenges AI presents.

On the topic of truth, Leo XIV reiterated the Church’s solidarity with journalists who have been imprisoned “for seeking and reporting the truth” and said their suffering "challenges the conscience of nations and the international community." He appealed for their release. The Committee to Protect Journalists said 361 journalists were in jail in 2024.

The Order’s leadership in communications gathered in Rome for a three-part meeting of on-going formation, Jubilee celebration, and discussion among themselves of how to serve the Order and the faithful in the future. A two-part follow-up online meeting is scheduled for May 21st.

The pope began the audience speaking in English. He thanked the journalists for the warm reception and then said, “They say when they clap at the beginning it doesn’t matter much… If you are still awake at the end, and still want to applaud, … Thank you very much!”

To read the full address, go here