For the 57th World Day of Social Communications 2023, Pope Francis chose the theme Speaking with the heart: “The truth in love” (Eph 4:15). It is his third reflection on the conditions for good communication which started in 2021 with “Come and see” (Jn 1:46). Communicating by encountering people where and as they are, and continued last year with Listening with the ear of the heart.
The Vatican explained that this is still based on the preparation of the Church for the upcoming Synod on Synodality. Bishops and other Church officials will gather in Rome for the Synod’s first session in October 2023, with another session in October 2024.
“Speaking with the heart means giving ‘a reason for your hope’ and doing so gently, ‘using the gift of communication as a bridge and not as a wall.’ In a time characterized [even in the Church] by polarization and contrasting ideas, we are invited to “go against the current,” the Vatican statement said.
The Holy Father insisted that the believer must learn to stand by the truth based on the Gospel. Christians must not be afraid of proclaiming it even in unexpected and inconvenient times, but of doing so without charity and mercy in our hearts. We must not separate this proclamation from genuinely participating in the joys and sufferings of people of our time.
Pope Francis emphasized that in the present context of wars in different parts of the world caused by conflict and misunderstanding, it is important to promote non-hostile communication. This way of communicating is open to dialogue with the other, fosters “integral disarmament,” and strives to undo the “psychosis of war” that lurks in our hearts, as Pope St. John XXIII prophetically expressed sixty years ago in Pacem in Terris, his encyclical on the rights and obligations of people and their states. It is an effort that is required of everyone, but, in particular, of communication workers called upon to exercise their profession as a mission for building a more just, more fraternal and more human future.
In recent times, the Pope has called for dialogue in troubled countries such as Ukraine, Russia, Nicaragua, Myanmar, Yemen, Sudan, Afghanistan and others to intensify peace talks to achieve social harmony and peace for the people.
Jonas Lardizabal
