Social Networks- new spaces for evangelisation: Pope
January 24, 2013: Pope Benedict’s message for World Communications Day 2013 was released
at a press conference in the Vatican on Thursday, the feast day of St Francis de Sales,
patron saint of journalists and writers. The message focuses on the importance of
social networking sites as “portals of truth and faith”, and “new spaces for evangelisation”.
Pope Benedict, who opened his own Twitter account at the end of last year,
invites people to appreciate the potential of social media sites and urges believers,
in this Year of Faith, to consider how their presence on these networks can help spread
the Gospel message of God’s love for all people.
(Full text of the message)
Dear
Brothers and Sisters,
As the 2013 World Communications Day draws near, I would
like to offer you some reflections on an increasingly important reality regarding
the way in which people today communicate among themselves. I wish to consider the
development of digital social networks which are helping to create a new “agora”,
an open public square in which people share ideas, information and opinions, and in
which new relationships and forms of community can come into being.
These
spaces, when engaged in a wise and balanced way, help to foster forms of dialogue
and debate which, if conducted respectfully and with concern for privacy, responsibility
and truthfulness, can reinforce the bonds of unity between individuals and effectively
promote the harmony of the human family. The exchange of information can become true
communication, links ripen into friendships, and connections facilitate communion.
If the networks are called to realize this great potential, the people involved in
them must make an effort to be authentic since, in these spaces, it is not only ideas
and information that are shared, but ultimately our very selves.
The development
of social networks calls for commitment: people are engaged in building relationships
and making friends, in looking for answers to their questions and being entertained,
but also in finding intellectual stimulation and sharing knowledge and know-how.
The networks are increasingly becoming part of the very fabric of society, inasmuch
as they bring people together on the basis of these fundamental needs. Social networks
are thus nourished by aspirations rooted in the human heart.
The culture of
social networks and the changes in the means and styles of communication pose demanding
challenges to those who want to speak about truth and values. Often, as is also the
case with other means of social communication, the significance and effectiveness
of the various forms of expression appear to be determined more by their popularity
than by their intrinsic importance and value. Popularity, for its part, is often
linked to celebrity or to strategies of persuasion rather than to the logic of argumentation.
At times the gentle voice of reason can be overwhelmed by the din of excessive information
and it fails to attract attention which is given instead to those who express themselves
in a more persuasive manner. The social media thus need the commitment of all who
are conscious of the value of dialogue, reasoned debate and logical argumentation;
of people who strive to cultivate forms of discourse and expression which appeal to
the noblest aspirations of those engaged in the communication process. Dialogue and
debate can also flourish and grow when we converse with and take seriously people
whose ideas are different from our own. “Given the reality of cultural diversity,
people need not only to accept the existence of the culture of others, but also to
aspire to be enriched by it and to offer to it whatever they possess that is good,
true and beautiful” (Address at the Meeting with the World of Culture, Bélem, Lisbon,
12 May 2010).
The challenge facing social networks is how to be truly inclusive:
thus they will benefit from the full participation of believers who desire to share
the message of Jesus and the values of human dignity which his teaching promotes.
Believers are increasingly aware that, unless the Good News is made known also in
the digital world, it may be absent in the experience of many people for whom this
existential space is important. The digital environment is not a parallel or purely
virtual world, but is part of the daily experience of many people, especially the
young. Social networks are the result of human interaction, but for their part they
also reshape the dynamics of communication which builds relationships: a considered
understanding of this environment is therefore the prerequisite for a significant
presence there.
The ability to employ the new languages is required, not just
to keep up with the times, but precisely in order to enable the infinite richness
of the Gospel to find forms of expression capable of reaching the minds and hearts
of all. In the digital environment the written word is often accompanied by images
and sounds. Effective communication, as in the parables of Jesus, must involve the
imagination and the affectivity of those we wish to invite to an encounter with the
mystery of God’s love. Besides, we know that Christian tradition has always been
rich in signs and symbols: I think for example of the Cross, icons, images of the
Virgin Mary, Christmas cribs, stained-glass windows and pictures in our churches.
A significant part of mankind’s artistic heritage has been created by artists and
musicians who sought to express the truths of the faith.
In social networks,
believers show their authenticity by sharing the profound source of their hope and
joy: faith in the merciful and loving God revealed in Christ Jesus. This sharing
consists not only in the explicit expression of their faith, but also in their witness,
in the way in which they communicate “choices, preferences and judgements that are
fully consistent with the Gospel, even when it is not spoken of specifically” (Message
for the 2011 World Communications Day). A particularly significant way of offering
such witness will be through a willingness to give oneself to others by patiently
and respectfully engaging their questions and their doubts as they advance in their
search for the truth and the meaning of human existence. The growing dialogue in
social networks about faith and belief confirms the importance and relevance of religion
in public debate and in the life of society.
For those who have accepted the
gift of faith with an open heart, the most radical response to mankind’s questions
about love, truth and the meaning of life – questions certainly not absent from social
networks – are found in the person of Jesus Christ. It is natural for those who have
faith to desire to share it, respectfully and tactfully, with those they meet in the
digital forum. Ultimately, however, if our efforts to share the Gospel bring forth
good fruit, it is always because of the power of the word of God itself to touch hearts,
prior to any of our own efforts. Trust in the power of God’s work must always be
greater than any confidence we place in human means. In the digital environment,
too, where it is easy for heated and divisive voices to be raised and where sensationalism
can at times prevail, we are called to attentive discernment. Let us recall in this
regard that Elijah recognized the voice of God not in the great and strong wind, not
in the earthquake or the fire, but in “a still, small voice” (1 Kg 19:11-12). We
need to trust in the fact that the basic human desire to love and to be loved, and
to find meaning and truth – a desire which God himself has placed in the heart of
every man and woman – keeps our contemporaries ever open to what Blessed Cardinal
Newman called the “kindly light” of faith.
Social networks, as well as being
a means of evangelization, can also be a factor in human development. As an example,
in some geographical and cultural contexts where Christians feel isolated, social
networks can reinforce their sense of real unity with the worldwide community of believers.
The networks facilitate the sharing of spiritual and liturgical resources, helping
people to pray with a greater sense of closeness to those who share the same faith.
An authentic and interactive engagement with the questions and the doubts of those
who are distant from the faith should make us feel the need to nourish, by prayer
and reflection, our faith in the presence of God as well as our practical charity:
“If I speak in the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I am a noisy gong
or a clanging cymbal” (1 Cor 13:1).
In the digital world there are social
networks which offer our contemporaries opportunities for prayer, meditation and sharing
the word of God. But these networks can also open the door to other dimensions of
faith. Many people are actually discovering, precisely thanks to a contact initially
made online, the importance of direct encounters, experiences of community and even
pilgrimage, elements which are always important in the journey of faith. In our effort
to make the Gospel present in the digital world, we can invite people to come together
for prayer or liturgical celebrations in specific places such as churches and chapels.
There should be no lack of coherence or unity in the expression of our faith and witness
to the Gospel in whatever reality we are called to live, whether physical or digital.
When we are present to others, in any way at all, we are called to make known the
love of God to the furthest ends of the earth.
I pray that God’s Spirit will
accompany you and enlighten you always, and I cordially impart my blessing to all
of you, that you may be true heralds and witnesses of the Gospel. “Go into all the
world and preach the Gospel to the whole creation” (Mk 16:15).
From the Vatican,
24 January 2013, Feast of Saint Francis de Sales.