Pope Francis praises the mission of the Catholic journalist: to make the Heart of Jesus known

During an audience in the Vatican with members of the Dicastery for Communication, Pope Francis gave Catholic journalists the keys to fulfilling the “great and exciting” vocation of “making the Heart of Jesus known to the world.”

At the beginning of his speech to the communicators, the Holy Father recalled the exhortation of Saint Paul: “Stand firm, then: around your hips, the truth; clothes, the breastplate of righteousness; feet, shod and ready to spread the Gospel of peace.” This, for the Holy Father, could also be “the identikit of the good communicator.”

He identikit It is a term used in some countries such as Uruguay, Argentina or Ecuador that refers to the reconstruction of a person based on the physical features defined by another.

The “great and exciting” task of the Catholic journalist

He then highlighted the value of Catholic journalism, a vocation and at the same time a mission: “With your work and your creativity, with the intelligent use of the means that technology puts at your disposal, but above all with your heart, you are called “to a great and exciting task.”

The Pontiff stressed that this task is based on “building bridges, when so many build walls; favor communion, when so many encourage division; “Let yourself be involved in the dramas of our time, when so many prefer indifference.”

Along these lines, he stressed that in every expression of our community life, “we are called to reverberate that divine love that in Christ attracted us and attracts us.”

“And this is what characterizes ecclesial belonging: if we reasoned and acted according to political or corporatist categories, we would not be the Church. If we applied worldly criteria or reduced our structures to bureaucracy, we would not be the Church.”

Being Church, Pope Francis explained, “means living aware that the Lord loves us first, calls us first, forgives us first. And we are witnesses of this infinite mercy, which has been freely poured out on us, changing our lives.”

What type of communication does Pope Francis dream of?

“Now you may wonder: but what does this have to do with our work as communicators, as journalists? It has to do with it, a lot! Precisely as communicators, in fact, you are called to weave ecclesial communion with truth around your hips, justice as armor, feet shod and ready to spread the Gospel of peace,” he noted.

Pope Francis then revealed the type of communication he dreams of: “A communication capable of connecting people and cultures. I dream of a communication capable of telling and valuing stories and testimonies that happen in all corners of the world, putting them into circulation and offering them to everyone.”

“I dream of heart-to-heart communication, letting ourselves be touched by what is human, letting ourselves be hurt by the dramas that so many of our brothers experience. That is why I invite you to go out more, to dare more, to risk more, not to spread your ideas, but to tell reality with honesty and passion.”

I dream of a communication, the Pontiff continued, “that knows how to go beyond slogans and keep the focus on the poor, the last, the emigrants, the victims of war. A communication that promotes inclusion, dialogue, and the search for peace. How urgent it is to give space to the architects of peace! Let us not tire of telling their testimonies, in all parts of the world.”

“I dream of communication that educates people to give up a little of themselves to make room for the other; a passionate, curious and competent communication, that knows how to immerse itself in reality to be able to tell it. It does us good to listen to stories with an evangelical flavor, which today, like two thousand years ago, tell us about God as Jesus, his Son, revealed him to the world,” he indicated.

“Don’t be afraid”

He also urged communicators not to be afraid to get involved, “to change, to learn new languages, to travel new paths, to inhabit the digital environment”, although without replacing “real, concrete human relationships, from person to person” with the online meeting.

In this sense, he stressed that “the Gospel is a story of encounters, of gestures, of looks, of dialogues in the street and at the table. I dream of a communication that knows how to bear witness today to the beauty of the encounters with the Samaritan woman, with Nicodemus, with the adulteress, with the blind Bartimaeus…”, he added.

“Make the Heart of Jesus known to the world”

“Please help me to make the Heart of Jesus known to the world, through compassion for this wounded land. Help me, through communication, so that the world, which survives between wars, socioeconomic imbalances, consumerism and the anti-human use of technology, recovers what is most important and necessary: ​​the heart (He loved us31). Help me make communication an instrument of communion,” he added.

Although the world is shaken by “terrible” violence, Christians, according to the Holy Father, “know how to look at the many flames of hope, the many small and great stories of good.”

“We are sure that evil will not win, because it is God who guides history and saves our lives. The Jubilee, which we will begin in a few weeks, is a great opportunity to witness to the world our faith and our hope,” he expressed.

Likewise, Pope Francis informed the members of the Vatican dicastery that from now on they will have to be “a little more disciplined with money,” because “the Holy See cannot continue helping you as now.” “I know it’s bad news, but it’s also good news because it moves the creativity of all of you,” he concluded.