Two of the Pope's recommendations for the Church mediaOn May 21, 2023, the Church will celebrate the 57th World Communications Day. The Spanish Episcopal Conference has launched, through the Episcopal Commission for Social Communications, a message from the bishops. The episcopate points out that "in times of loneliness, communication unites hearts".
At the beginning of its message, the Commission recalls the motto of this year's Day: "Speaking with the heart, 'in truth and love'". The bishops point out that "these three words, heart, truth and love, bring into play the principles of speaking between people, the basis of human communication, mediated by word and gesture".
The heart
The Bishops' Conference warns that "we are living in times of disengagement, individualism and loneliness. This situation makes communication and encounter difficult to achieve. "Communication is realized when it generates links with the other, with reality and with the truth".
For this reason, they believe it is important to return to "speaking from the heart". Since "communication with the heart is not for the passion that divides but for the passion that unites, that binds, for the compassion that puts oneself in the place of the other and not in front of him", a model of encounter is realized that does not "pass over the truth, over the dignity of persons, over human wisdom".
The truth
On the other hand, "only the communication of the truth allows society to move forward and is truly communication". At this point, the bishops put the focus on social networks and on the negative environment and misinformation that reigns in them. "It remains urgent that all those who participate in social networks have among their motivations to make possible an encounter and a dialogue that can better illuminate the truth of things and people. The story cannot construct the truth, but rather show it so that it can be recognized".
The episcopate encourages better communication training and stresses that "telling the truth is an expression of love".
Love
The Bishops' Conference recalls the Pope Francis' message published for this day in January 2023. "Only love generates authentic happiness in man: to love and to be loved. The Pope says that communication in love, as content and as a way of communicating, can make people's lives better. This makes it necessary, before communicating content, to establish a bond of affection with the person who will receive it, to be in tune with the other, to use the same vibration. Make it visible that you are united with them, that you seek their good".
Filling the soul
With all this in mind, the bishops emphasize that authentic communication can do much good to the person. But for this "communication can never be an artifice but must reflect one's own spirit and seek to animate, to fill with soul, passion and content".
However, this task is not entrusted to just a few. "We are all called to communicate in this way, not only communication professionals, but every single person who creates links with words."
Artificial intelligence
Not to mention technical advances such as the artificial intelligence is impossible when it comes to communication. The Commission warns that "this artificial intelligence, which is just another medium, must be humanized in its design and its results so as not to harm communication and the people involved in it".
But one cannot look at these tools only with a pessimistic perspective. "This artificial intelligence and its limitations are an opportunity to revalue human communication, for what it brings of humanity, heart, love and truth".
Communication that humanizes
Although the communication environment is highly polarized, it should not be forgotten that "the importance that authentic, quality communication can have in shaping a new society that builds bridges and bonds" is growing.
For this reason, and to conclude their message, the Episcopal Commission encourages "each and every one to carry out a communication that relates heart, truth and love that can serve this time for a more humane society. A communication from the heart, truth and love humanizes us".
