Leo XIV A Catholic influencers: Evangelize in networks is more than winning followers

Pope Leo XIV participated on Tuesday in the Mass held in the Basilica of San Pedro on the occasion of the jubilee of the digital missionaries and influencers Catholics, whom he encouraged to create meetings “between hearts” regardless of the number of followers.

The Holy Father arrived at the Vatican Basilica at the end of the Eucharistic celebration, chaired by Cardinal Luis Antonio Tagle, proprephic of the Dicastery for Evangelization.

More than a thousand Catholics from different countries participated in the ceremony, all committed to the mission of announcing the Gospel and transmitting the Word of God through the Internet and social networks. This jubilee also coincides with that of young people, which filled the basilica of youth and enthusiastic faces.

In his speech – pronounced in Italian, English and Spanish – Pope Leo XIV shared three missions or challenges when evangelizing on the networks:

1. Announce peace to the world

For Pope León, La Paz “needs to be sought, announced and shared everywhere; both in the dramatic places of war, and in the empty hearts of those who have lost the meaning of existence and taste for interiority, spiritual life.”

Therefore, he remarked that “today, more than ever”, “missionary disciples who bring the world of the risen” are needed and that they give voice to the hope that Jesus gives us alive “to the confines of the earth” and even “the existential limits where there is no hope.”

2. Look for the suffering flesh of every brother they find

The Holy Father asked the influencers Catholics always seek “the suffering flesh of Christ” in every brother who “find online.”

In the context of a new culture, formed by technology, he appealed to the responsibility of digital missionaries that the culture “remains human.”

“Nothing that comes from man and his creativity must be used to undermine the dignity of others. Our mission – his mission – is to cultivate a culture of Christian humanism, and do it together. This is the beauty of the ‘network’ for us,” he said.

Faced with cultural changes throughout history, the Pope stressed that “the Church has never remained passive; he has always sought to illuminate every era with the light and hope of Christ, discerning the good of evil and what is good of what should be changed, transforming and purifying himself.”

Given the challenge of artificial intelligence, he reiterated that one must reflect on the authenticity of our testimony, “our ability to listen and speak, and our ability to understand and be understood. We have the duty to work together to develop a way of thinking and a language, typical of our time, that gives voice to love,” he said.

“It is not simply to generate content, but to create a encounter between hearts. This implies looking for those who suffer and need to know the Lord, so that they can heal their wounds, raise and find meaning to their lives,” added the pontiff.

To achieve this, he advised “to accept our own poverty, to put aside all appearance and recognize our inherent need for the Gospel”, a “community” task.

3. “They will repair the networks”

Like Jesus, he called his first apostles while repairing their fishermen networks, Pope Leo XIV said that “he also asks us.”

Specifically, he said that “he asks us today to build other networks: relationships of relationships, love networks, free exchange networks, in which friendship is deep.”

“Networks where you can repair what has been broken, where loneliness can be remedied, regardless of the number of followers (followers), but experiencing in each encounter the infinite greatness of love, ”he said.

In short, the pontiff encouraged them to create “networks that release, that save. Networks where no ‘filter bubble’ can turn off the voice of the weakest. Networks that make us rediscover the beauty of looking into us in the eyes. Real nets. In this way, each story of good shared will be the knot of a unique and immense network: the network of networks, the network of God”.

He also invited them to be “communion agents” and avoid individualism. Finally, he thanked them for their commitment and the help they offer to those who suffer, “on their way to digital streets.”