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FAITH AND RELIGION

Pope tells media to be inspire hope, peace and unity

File photo of Argentine Pope Francis from CBCP News.

1/27/25, 10:22 AM

By Tracy Cabrera

VATICAN CITY, Rome — Asserting his view regarding the important role of the media in promoting global peace and unity, Pope Francis is urging communicators around the work to veer away from their aggressiveness in reporting the news and instead use their platforms to inspire hope by rejecting rhetoric that dehumanizes others.

In a written message to celebrate the World Day of Communications, the pope shared that "(he) dream(s) of a communication capable of making fellow travelers, walking alongside (their) brothers and sisters and encouraging them to hope in these troubled times."

Francis described his dream particularly for Catholic communicators, stressing thzt theirs should be "a communication capable of speaking to the heart, arousing not passionate reactions of defensiveness and anger, but attitudes of openness and friendship."

And with the Holy Year 2025 being focused on hope, the pontiff cited that communications should be "capable of focusing on beauty and hope even in the midst of apparently desperate situations, and generating commitment, empathy and concern for others."

"A Christian form of communication does not peddle illusions or fears, but is able to give reasons for hope," he pointed out.

He added to mention this year's theme for the church's 59th celebration of World Day of Communications, 'Share with gentleness the hope that is in your hearts', which is taken from the First Letter of St. Peter.

"We chose th(is) theme because modern communication is increasingly characterized by disinformation and polarization, as a few centers of power control an unprecedented mass of data and information," he noted.

"Too often today communication generates not hope, but fear and despair, prejudice and resentment, fanaticism and even hatred," he wrote in the message. "All too often it simplifies reality in order to provoke instinctive reactions; it uses words like a razor; it even uses false or artfully distorted information to send messages designed to agitate, provoke or hurt," he further stated.

In ending, the 88-year-old pope from Argentina asked Catholic communicators "to discover and make known the many stories of goodness hidden in the folds of the news, imitating those gold prospectors who tirelessly sift the sand in search of a tiny nugget."

"Seeking out those 'seeds of hope' and sharing them, helps our world to be a little less deaf to the cry of the poor, a little less indifferent, a little less closed in on itself. (Let us) be witnesses and promoters of a nonaggressive communication; help to spread a culture of care, build bridges and break down the visible and invisible barriers of the present time," he concluded.

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