June 1, 2025 | Share With Gentleness The Hope that Is In Your Heart
World Day of Communications To Be Celebrated Worldwide. In Rome, 2000 Journalists Receive Thanks of Pope Leo XIV
The 59th World Day of Social Communications, celebrated annually by the Catholic Church, will be held on June 1, 2025, the Sunday before Pentecost. The theme for this year is Share with Gentleness the Hope that is in Your Hearts. It is focused on the idea of "disarm[ing] communication of all prejudice and resentment, fanaticism and even hatred; let us free it from aggression." The message for the upcoming World Comunications Day was released on January 24, 2025, the feast of St. Francis DeSales.
The theme of the message, according to the Press Office of the Holy See, “draws attention to the fact that today too often communication is violent, aimed at striking and not at establishing the conditions for dialogue. It is therefore necessary to disarm communication, to cleanse it of aggression. From television talk shows to verbal wars on social networks, there is a risk that the prevailing paradigm is that of competition, opposition, and the will to dominate."
Pope Leo XIV expressed his appreciation for the world press by holding an audience for over 2000 members who reported from Rome following the death of Pope Francis through his own election. He called for them to be faithful to their vocation, whatever their particular role in media. In his first audience with journalists as the pontiff, Leo renewed pleas for a more peaceful world. He also expressed solidarity with journalists who were jailed "for seeking and reporting the truth" and said their suffering "challenges the conscience of nations and the international community." The Committee to Protect Journalists said 361 journalists were in jail in 2024. Reporters Without Borders puts the number at 550 as of December 2024.
The Dicastery for Communications led the Church in its Jubilee celebration of Communications during one the first Jubilee celebrations in January. The celebrations included all those who work in the field of communication, especially journalists and media professionals. The three days of celebration, at which communications directors from the Order participated, took place January 24-26, 2025. These days were some of the last public appearances of Pope Francis prior to his hospitalization on February 14. The Dicastery also invited communications leaders from the religious orders and congregations as well as those of the Church's conferences of bishops to a separate three-day conference on the future of the Church's communications work. The sessions began with a private meeting with Pope Francis at the Vatican.
World Communications Day was established by Pope St. Paul VI in 1967 following the Second Vatican Council as an annual celebration that encourages reflection on the opportunities and challenges that the media offer and how the Church can better communicate the Gospel message.
Papal Message for 59th World Day of Social Communications
Released January 24, 2025
Pope Leo Message to the Journalists on May 12, 2025
Text of Message in English | Video: Pope begins speaking at the 8:00 minute mark
For more information on the Jubilee Celebration of Communications ...
Papal Address to Dicastery Discussion of Future of Church Communications
January 27, 2025 - Clementine Hall
