In his message for the 55th World Communication Day, says Pope Francis, Jesus’ invitation to ‘come and see’ is the way the Christian faith is communicated.
By Vatican News staff reporter
“The call to ‘come and see’ … is the method of every authentic human communication,” says Pope Francis Message for the 55th World Communication Day. The Vatican announced the text of the pope’s message on Saturday, ahead of the celebration of Saint Francis de Sales, the patron saint of journalists.
“This year,” says Pope Francis, “I would like to dedicate this message to the invitation to ‘come and see’, which can serve as inspiration for all communication that strives to be clear and honest in the press, on the Internet, in the Church’s daily preaching and in political or social communication. “This theme is reminiscent of the Gospel account of the first encounters with the first disciples with Jesus, who invited them to ‘come and see’, to enter into relationship with Him. Later, one of the disciples, St. Philip, spoke to his friend Nathaniel and invited him to ‘see the Messiah he found.
“This is how the Christian faith begins, and how it is communicated: as direct knowledge, born from experience, and not from hearsay. says Pope Francis. He explains that seeing something for yourself is the best way to understand the truth of things, and “the most honest test of every message, because to know, we must let the person speak before me, to his or her testimony to to let me come. ”
Save the streets
Pope Francis is sharply critical of the tendency to reduce news to pre-packaged, self-referential audio bites, reflecting only the concerns and views of the ‘powers’.
This leads to a stream of information ‘created in newsrooms’, which does not accurately reflect reality on the ground. On the contrary, he says, we should rather ‘go on the street’ to see things we would not otherwise know, share knowledge that would not otherwise spread, and have encounters that would not otherwise take place.
The courage of journalists
In particular, journalists, says Pope Francis, must be willing to go where no one is going; they must have a desire to see things for themselves – a ‘curiosity, an openness, a passion’. He praised the courage of journalists who faced serious risks to share the stories of the oppressed, the suffering of the poor and the creation, of forgotten wars. “It would be a loss not only for news reports, but also for society and for democracy as a whole, the votes would disappear,” he says. “Our whole human family will be impoverished.”
Pope Francis notes that many situations today require someone to “come and see” things as they really are. Too often, he says, we dare to see things only through the eyes of the richer world. This can lead to a difference between the news we receive and what really happens.
Opportunity and risks of the internet
Pope Francis also notes the importance of modern means of communication, especially the Internet. “The Internet, with its countless social media expressions, can enhance the ability to report and share, with many more eyes on the world and a constant flood of images and testimonies.” It enables many more people to share their stories and witness what they see and hear.
At the same time, however, Pope Francis warns of ‘the risk of misinformation being spread on social media’, which has now ‘become clear to everyone’. The internet is a ‘powerful tool’ that the pope says, which requires from us, as well as producers and consumers of information, a lot of care and responsible care for how we use it. “All of us are responsible for the communication we make, for the information we share, for the control we can exercise over fake news by exposing it,” he says. “All of us must be witnesses of the truth: go, see and share.”
No substitute to see with our own eyes
Pope Francis emphasizes that “nothing in communication can ever completely replace seeing things in person.” Some things, he maintains, “can only be learned through first-hand experience.”
The message of Jesus was inseparable from the personal encounter with Him. “Indeed in Him – the incarnate Logos – the Word got a face; the invisible God lets Him see, hear and touch. ”
This applies to all communication, which can only be effective if it involves others in a meeting, an experience, a dialogue, says Pope Francis. The gospel is spread through personal encounters, as seen in the experience of those who have met Jesus, or who have heard the message of Paul. “The Gospel also comes alive on our own day when we accept the compelling testimony of people whose lives have been changed by their encounter with Jesus.”
“For two millennia, a chain of such encounters has conveyed the appeal of the Christian adventure,” says Pope Francis. “So the challenge that awaits us is to communicate by meeting people, where they are and how they are.”
The pope’s message concludes with a prayer:
Lord, teach us to move beyond ourselves,
and to go in search of truth.
Teach us to go and see,
teaches us to listen,
not to alleviate prejudice
or draw hasty conclusions.
Teach us to go where no one else is going,
to take the necessary time to understand,
to pay attention to the essential,
not to be distracted by the superfluous,
to distinguish deceptive appearance from the truth.
Grant us the grace to recognize your dwellings in our world
and the honesty needed to tell others what we have seen.