Pope Francis began, “I greet the journalists and media workers who have taken part in their Jubilee in these days: I urge them to be narrators of hope, always.”
Thousands of journalists and communicators have come from around the world to participate in the first big event of the holy year 2025: the Jubilee of the World of Communications.
Hope is the recurring theme in Pope Francis’ pontificate.
Pilgrims featured on the new EWTN Travel Jubilee App share why they have come to Rome for the Catholic Church’s Jubilee Year:
“It’s an opportunity to grow in our hope, in our faith and in our love for the Church,” one shared.
Another, “Jubilee of Hope for me means really looking towards the future, how can we better convey our message of hope to the world.”
And another, “This Jubilee year is a real good opportunity to meet Jesus to rediscover our faith, to go to the essence of our Christianity.”
The pope intended to remind everyone of the power and responsibility the media holds. But the whole year, the jubilee, bears the motto: pilgrims of hope.
Also, Archbishop Rino Fisichella, Pro-Prefect of the Dicastery for Evangelization, reminds us that media professionals have a delicate task. As the main organizer of the jubilee 2025, he is pleased that the first big event of the holy year is focused on communication:
“But first of all, I would say, communication should not be in a hurry. I understand that times are changed, but communication needs reflection, it needs research, it also needs to be substantiated. And so where, above all, people are involved more than the issues, then communication needs to feel the deep responsibility it possesses.”
In the immediate run-up to this Jubilee of the World of Communications, several events and conferences invited journalists to reflect on their role and tasks. The EWTN-sponsored professional seminar “Communication and Evangelization,” gathered more than 600 communicators from more than 100 countries at the Pontifical University of the Holy Cross in Rome.
Montse Alvarado, President and COO of EWTN News, speaking on the use of media, said, “It’s a very simple message. It’s Mother Angelica’s message, which is: ‘Get me one of those.’ Go out there and be on every platform, the digital continent needs for us to engage confidently and to share the message of our Lord with everyone, everywhere we can.”
Prof. Daniel Arasa, Consultor at the Dicastery for Communication of the Holy See, noted, “The core of this professional seminar for church communicators, is precisely that of the Jubilee. The Jubilee asks us for conversion and the title of the seminar is called ‘Communication and Evangelization,’ because there is no real conversion without encountering the word of God.”
On Saturday, after the attending journalists had crossed the holy door into Saint Peter’s Basilica, Pope Francis invited them into Paul VI Hall in the Vatican. Instead of reading his prepared speech, he made very brief off the cuff remarks. He reminded the journalists to remain anchored in truth. He said:
“Knowing how to communicate is great wisdom. I am glad for this Jubilee of communicators. Your work is work that builds, builds society, builds the Church. It keeps everyone going. As long as it is true. Father, but I always say the true things. But are you true? Not just the things you say, but are you in your interior, in your life true?”
The Jubilee of the World of Communications ended with a festive Holy Mass in St. Peter’s Basilica on the 6th Sunday of the Word of God. Pope Francis established this special Sunday in 2019 to strengthen our connection with Sacred Scripture. He also drew the parallel with the journalists and communicators present. We are all called to be “witnesses, to evangelize and at all times.”
Adapted by Jacob Stein
