As conclave rumors swirl, Pope Francis’s jubilee address to journalists offers Catholics a blueprint for proclaiming hope in the public square.
The Holy Father skipped his originally planned address for a far shorter impromptu speech on January 25 in which he encouraged media professionals in the human importance of their craft.
“To communicate is to come out of oneself, to give what is mine to the other,” Francis said. “And communication is not only going outwards, but also the encounter with the other. Knowing how to communicate is a great wisdom, a great wisdom!”
In the wake of the pope’s passing, while the faithful await the decision of the conclave, all eyes are on the Catholic Church. The solemnity of the papal funeral, incredible aesthetics of recent Vatican photojournalism, and intuition of the pope’s importance on a global scale have awakened a great curiosity in the Church from her own members and outsiders alike. Now more than ever, we must be what Francis termed “communicators of hope”: representing the truth of the Catholic Church to the public with enthusiasm and charity.
The sheer volume of media we encounter every day can easily diminish our sense of responsibility for the manner in which we communicate in public life. It’s all too easy to send off an email, tweet, or Substack post without thinking twice.
Yet Francis tells us the “precious task” of communication demands our “study and reflection, the capacity to see and listen . . . to revive in the hearts of those who read, listen and look at you, the meaning of good and evil.”
Catholics are called to be warriors for the truth but not in a careless or bludgeoning way.
Francis was careful to emphasize that the tone, not just the content, of our communication matters.
“We know that the language, attitude and tones can be decisive and make the difference between communication that rekindles hope, builds bridges and opens doors, and communication that instead increases divisions, polarizations, and simplifications of reality,” Francis wrote in his original address.
Catholics are called to be warriors for the truth but not in a careless or bludgeoning way. Too often, well-intentioned commentators convey objective truths without attention to their delivery, or even with spite and vindictiveness that repels instead of attracting. The world is desperate for the food the Catholic Church offers her children. We must not drive the hungry away by giving good food a bad scent.
Francis emphasized the possibility of conversion through communication.
“The power to set out on a path of transformative change is always generated by direct communication between people,” Francis wrote. “Think of how much power for change is potentially hidden in your work every time you bring together realities that—through ignorance or prejudice—are in opposition! . . . Your work too can provide this service: finding the right words for those rays of light that succeed in touching the heart and making us see things differently.”
The Holy Father’s words challenge all of us to approach even mundane communication with a kind of awe, aware of the way God desires to work through our words.
In light of the Jubilee Year of Hope, Francis appealed to his audience members to make their “storytelling also be hopetelling” and to look out at the world with sight informed by the Resurrection.
“Telling of hope means seeing the crumbs of good hidden even in what appears to be lost; it means allowing hope against all hope,” Francis wrote. “When you report on evil, leave space for the possibility of mending what has been torn, for the dynamism of good that can repair what is broken.”
While the transition between popes draws the Church into the limelight, Catholics have a special opportunity to evangelize in the public square. The way Catholics speak about their Church easily creates lasting impressions of Catholicism to the non-Catholic observer. We cannot lie about or dishonestly minimize the very real faults of past and present members of the Church—whether in the clergy or the laity. But inspired by Francis’s words, we must witness to the world our hope and faith that God works through her members.
“Your work is a work that builds: it builds society, it builds the Church, it makes everyone go forward, provided it is true,” Francis said. He added, “Thank you for what you do.”