Friar Alfonso Davila reflects on two recent interventions of Pope Leo XIV that show the importance of communication in the Church: a challenge that is also a great opportunity to grow in communion and presence in the digital continent.
Communication as a pending subject
I believe, I will believe and I will defend that communication is one of the most important matters we have as a Church. And last week the Pope made this clear in two moments that, in my opinion, were very significant.
First moment: the new bishops
The first was at the meeting with the new bishops, in the course that some media call “Baby Bishop”. There, the newly appointed bishops meet to receive formation. Because yes: no one is born a bishop, nor is there a subject in the seminary that teaches it.
In this context, Pope Leo XIV asked them for prudence in the use of social networks, where the risk – he said – is that “everyone feels authorized to say what they want, even false things”.
And he added a sentence that deserves to be underlined:
“There are times when reaching for the truth is painful, but necessary.”
His advice was clear: “Calm, a good head and the help of a professional”. Good will is not enough. We need training, criteria and prepared people to accompany us in the task of communicating well.
Second moment: the theology symposium
The second moment came in his meeting with theologians, participants in the symposium promoted by the Pontifical Academy of Theology.
There the Pope recalled that the Social Doctrine of the Church is a knowledge of faith at the service of man in all his dimensions -personal, social and political- and that today it is called to give wise answers also to the digital challenges.
Theology, he said, cannot be limited to an ethical approach to artificial intelligence. It is necessary to return to the big question:
“Who is the human being and what is his infinite dignity, which is not reducible to any digital android?”
The Pope invited us to cultivate a theology founded on a personal and transforming encounter with Christ, capable of becoming incarnate in the concrete realities of today. And he encouraged dialogue with other sciences-physics, biology, economics, law, literature, music-to enrich and be enriched, bringing the leaven of the Gospel to different cultures, in dialogue with believers of other religions and also with non-believers.
Communication: challenge and opportunity
All this confirms to me that communication is still a pending subject in the Church. We have made progress, yes. We walk better, with more communion and with more presence in the digital continent. But there is still a long way to go.
Not only to accompany bishops, superiors or ecclesial leaders, but also religious men and women, priests and lay people who live their faith every day in the network.
Theology and communication, a necessary pairing
Theology itself needs to integrate communication as a space for reflection. Not only to study how God communicates with humanity throughout history, but also to recognize how we are part of that history and how our word and our witness can bring others closer to goodness, goodness and beauty.
A great opportunity
That is why I believe, will believe and will continue to defend that communication, calmly and with the help of professionals, is an essential path and a great opportunity for today’s Church.