By Sebastián Sansón Ferrari - Vatican News
A group of 15 young communicators from different parts of the world came together in Rome for an intensive “residential week” of the fifth edition of Faith Communication in the Digital World, a training initiative of the Dicastery for Communication (our parent organization).
From September 12 to 19, 2025, the participants shared a unique experience of hands-on learning and synodal exchange.
Coming from 11 countries—Kenya, Nigeria, Canada, the Philippines, Palestine, Poland, Croatia, Italy, India, Uruguay, and the United States—the young professionals are part of a project that began in May 2025 and will continue through March 2026.
The program combines weekly Zoom meetings and team projects, with the goal of providing tools to communicate the faith in the digital environment.
Along the way, they studied the pastoral reflection Towards Full Presence on social media interaction, as well as the pastoral instruction Communio et Progressio, prepared by special mandate of the Second Vatican Council.
In addition to fostering sound practices of spiritual formation, the initiative aims to inspire new forms of evangelization, encourage the sharing of talents in contexts where the Church faces challenges, and better understand how new generations relate to digital media.
As part of the journey, participants will also develop communication projects for three Catholic institutions.
The week in Rome was a time of listening, formation, and practical application. The group followed a rich program of activities: they attended the General Audience of September 17 with Pope Leo XIV, after which they had the chance to greet him; visited the four papal basilicas, the Vatican Necropolis, and the Dicastery for Communication, including the Vatican Radio museum.
They also celebrated Mass at the Basilica of St. Clement, presided over by Monsignor Lucio Adrián Ruiz, Secretary of the Dicastery for Communication, and met with the Prefect, Dr. Paolo Ruffini.
The young communicators together with Diane Foley, who shared her testimony during a prayer vigil in St. Peter’s Basilica
They also had reflection sessions led by Nataša Govekar, Director of the Dicastery’s Theological-Pastoral Department, which sought to deepen the theology of communication, drawing on the Word of God and sacred art as privileged means of expression.
Guided by key questions, participants dedicated an hour to personal prayer, followed by sharing their insights with the group.
Taking advantage of the overlap with the Jubilee of Consolation, the young communicators also joined the prayer vigil presided by Pope Leo XIV in St. Peter’s Basilica.
For Miral Atik, media manager of the Latin Patriarchate of Jerusalem, the week was an emotional journey.
She admitted that at first she felt “a bit uncomfortable, because I thought I was going at the wrong time.”
Yet soon she discovered a new horizon: “This experience gave me hope that some actions we take today, even if they seem small, can bear fruit in the long term.”
With “an open heart to listen and learn,” she stressed the importance of personal commitment: “For me, being a communicator is not just a job—it is a vocation, a way of life in my land.”
Participants in the training program with the Prefect of the Dicastery for Communication, Dr. Paolo Ruffini, and the Secretary, Monsignor Lucio Adrián Ruiz
Rachel Wong, from the Archdiocese of Vancouver (Canada), reflected on the value of fraternity in a world marked by division.
Inspired by a moment of prayer with the Pope, she noted that despite personal burdens, “fraternity can also be offered to non-Christians I live alongside. Because, in the end, we all need to be consoled.”
In her testimony, she emphasized the urgency of “dissolving bitterness and hatred” that divide people—a path, she said, only possible through love.
This initiative represents a concrete step by the Dicastery for Communication in the Church’s 21st-century mission: to embrace technology not only as a tool but as fertile ground for evangelization and for building communion.
