In his message for the 59th World Day of Social Communications, released on January 24, 2025, on the memorial of St. Francis de Sales, late Pope Francis urged journalists, media professionals, and communicators around the world to be “communicators of hope” in an era marked by disinformation, polarisation, and digital distraction. The message, entitled “Share with gentleness the hope that is in your hearts” (cf. 1 Pet 3:15- 16), reflected deeply on the role of communication in today’s troubled world and invited media practitioners to rediscover the heart of their vocation through a lens of compassion, truth, and the Gospel spirit.
Speaking as a spiritual leader acutely aware of the power of words, late Pope Francis cautioned against the spread of fear, hatred, and misinformation. He decried what he described as the “programmed dispersion of attention” caused by digital profiling and market-driven algorithms, which fragment social bonds and erode community life. “Too often today, communication generates not hope, but fear and despair,” the late Supreme Pontiff lamented. “It never helps to reduce reality to slogans.” He warned against manipulative media practices that simplify complex realities to provoke instinctive reactions and aggression, calling instead for a purification of communication.
The late Holy Father urged communicators to imitate Jesus Christ, the “greatest communicator of all time,” who walked alongside his disciples, listening and explaining with gentleness. In this spirit, late Pope Francis highlighted three key insights from 1 Peter 3:15- 16: Sanctifying Christ in our hearts, being ready to explain the hope within us, and doing so with gentleness and reverence. “I dream of a communication capable of making us fellow travelers,” he said, “walking alongside our brothers and sisters and encouraging them to hope in these troubled times.” In line with the ongoing Jubilee Year, themed “Pilgrims of Hope,” late Pope Francis emphasised that hope must be at the heart of all communication.
He urged media professionals to seek out and share “seeds of hope” buried in the folds of daily news — the untold stories of love, courage, and resilience. He spoke movingly of hope as a “tenacious and patient” virtue, pointing to the quiet strength found in struggling families, migrants, and children living in war-torn or impoverished regions who still manage to laugh, play, and believe in life. “Make room for the heartfelt trust that… blossoms and grows in the most unexpected places,” the Pope encouraged. In a world overwhelmed by noise and superficiality, the Pope’s final communications message tasked communicators of their sacred duty to speak to the heart, heal divisions, and foster human dignity.
“Tell stories steeped in hope,” the late Holy Father concluded. “Be concerned about our common destiny and strive to write together the history of our future.” As the Church and the world remember his remarkable legacy, late Pope Francis’s message stands as a timeless call to elevate the moral and spiritual responsibility of communication and to be, above all, gentle heralds of hope.
