Vatican News
Promoted by the Episcopal Commission for Communication of the CNBB (National Conference of Bishops of Brazil), with the counsel of Father Tiago Síbula and Osnilda Lima, the meeting in the Brazilian capital sought to provide further input for a truly creative and evangelizing presence of religious in digital networks.
The Church is not a company
On the first day of the meeting, participants heard reflections from Monsignor Jaime Spengler, president of the CNBB; from the Apostolic Nuncio in Brazil, Monsignor Giambattista Diquattro; and from Monsignor Valdir José de Castro, president of the Communication Commission of the CNBB. In his speech, the nuncio recalled Pope Leo XIV’s words in the Apostolic Exhortation Dilexi te, emphasizing the importance of letting ourselves be evangelized by the poor and recognizing the wisdom that emerges from their experiences: “Only by confronting our complaints with their sufferings and privations is it possible to receive a ‘reproach’ inviting us to simplify life.”
Monsignor Spengler stressed that evangelizing means participating in divine communication. The CNBB president also observed that it is important to build bridges and promote unity, without confusing unity with uniformity. “We cannot think of the Church in terms of functionality or as a company. We are a community of baptized persons and disciples with the same mission, even if with different paths and vocations.” He further noted that the “digital continent” is a new missionary space that challenges the Church: “Boundaries have been overcome. How can one be evangelizers today in an urban and digital culture? How to foster the ‘we’ in a society marked by individualism?”
Promoters of communion listening to the most fragile
Dom Valdir José de Castro, president of the Commission, emphasized that communication is, above all, a human reality, which requires communion and fraternal relationships: “We are aware of the importance of communication media, but before being technical instruments we must be promoters of communion.” He underscored the need to walk together in the diversity of gifts, recalling Pope Leo XIV’s message for the Jubilee of Digital Missionaries and Catholic Influencers, which invited communicators to work for God’s network: “Networks of love that repair what is broken and heal loneliness. Networks that give space to the other more than to ourselves, where no ‘filter bubble’ can silence the voice of the weakest.”
Paolo Ruffini, Prefect of the Dicastery for Communication, spoke via video with reflections on priests in digital mission at the service of communion. There was interactive time with the priests. What truly unites us, he emphasized, is far greater than us and the networks we build. Because it transcends us. Because it does not come from us, but from God. This is what makes all of us baptized missionary disciples. This is the secret of the Church: a network of people, not of algorithms — much less of chatbots. A network in which no one is at the center, and rather, as Pope Leo XIV reminded us — he stressed — everyone should wish to disappear so that Christ remains, the desire to become small so that it is He, not us, who is known and glorified.
Healing the virus of division
He also pointed out how the data show that while trust in traditional media has greatly decreased, trust in alternative sources (influencers, podcasters…) has increased. People now chiefly get information online (on mobile phones): from social networks (51% in Brazil), then television, and only a small percentage still from print — in Brazil only 11%. The prefect explored some of the dynamics that govern social media, often terrain for hate speech. He recalled a message Pope Francis left a few months before his departure, almost a spiritual testament: How do we sow hope amid so much despair that touches and challenges us? How do we heal the virus of division, which also threatens our communities? Is our communication accompanied by prayer? Or do we end up communicating the Church by perhaps adopting the rules of corporate marketing? “I believe Pope Francis, with these questions, wanted to tell us that it is up to us, all of us together, to empty ourselves of ourselves and let ourselves be filled by God, to testify that this drift can be avoided. Not to be dragged into it.” It is up to us to cast the net to the other side. And also to repair the nets, as Pope Leo invited us. The risk, he added, is turning community into an audience, and the audience into merchandise, ending up making ourselves merchandise. If the Church does not offer a unifying narrative, who will? The true leaders of humanity are those who unite, not those who divide. One must work hard, be creative. This is our mission, Ruffini emphasized.
The authenticity of the digital presence
During the meeting, Father Joãozinho also stressed the importance of generating communion as the essence of communication. Reflecting on the meaning of an authentic and evangelizing digital presence, Father Joãozinho recalled Benedict XVI’s invitation for the Church to recognize the virtual environment as a new missionary continent. In that same perspective, Friar Gilson referred to the figure of John the Baptist, who ultimately was only a servant of the message. True authenticity lies in keeping attention fixed on Christ. Father Júlio Lancellotti emphasized that more than gathering is it important that everyone be united, because all are servants, followers of Jesus.
