The Face of Mercy / Daniel Conway

Pope reminds us nothing replaces seeing things firsthand

(En Espanol)

“The invitation to ‘come and see,’ which was part of those first moving encounters of Jesus with the disciples, is also the method for all authentic human communication” (Pope Francis, message for World Day of Communications 2021).

Pope Francis has more than 20 million followers on Twitter and other social media platforms. He takes full advantage of this opportunity to connect with people throughout the world by bringing his reflections on the Gospel message to those who otherwise might never hear them.

On the World Day of Communications, Sunday, May 16, the Holy Father (@Pontifex) posted this message on Twitter:

“All of us are responsible for the communications we make, for the information we share, for the control that we can exert over fake news by exposing it. All of us are to be witnesses of the truth: to go, to see and to share.”

The pope’s message serves as an important reminder in this digital age that the truth must be told responsibly and that each of us will be held accountable for “the communications we make”—whether spoken, written or nonverbal. We are also responsible for preventing the spread of “fake news” by always telling the truth as Jesus did—in love and humility—without gossiping or distorting the message by undue embellishments or exaggeration.

In his Message for World Day of Communications 2021, Pope Francis addresses the challenges facing journalism today, especially the difficulty of accurate news reporting. The Holy Father writes:

“Insightful voices have long expressed concern about the risk that original investigative reporting in newspapers and television, radio and web newscasts is being replaced by a reportage that adheres to a standard, often tendentious narrative. This approach is less and less capable of grasping the truth of things and the concrete lives of people, much less the more serious social phenomena or positive movements at the grassroots level. The crisis of the publishing industry risks leading to a reportage created in newsrooms, in front of personal or company computers and on social networks, without ever ‘hitting the streets,’ meeting people face to face to research stories or to verify certain situations first hand.

“Unless we open ourselves to this kind of encounter, we remain mere spectators, for all the technical innovations that enable us to feel immersed in a larger and more immediate reality. Any instrument proves useful and valuable only to the extent that it motivates us to go out and see things that otherwise we would not know about, to post on the internet news that would not be available elsewhere, to allow for encounters that otherwise would never happen.”

A “standard, often tendentious, narrative” can be used to reinforce any ideology—on the right or the left—and today there are media of every type wholly dedicated to communicating a standard narrative or preferred point of view regardless of the facts at hand.

Pope Francis cites examples from the Gospel According to St. John, who writes as an eyewitness to the events he is reporting, to illustrate the importance of firsthand knowledge.

“ ‘Come and see’ [Jn 1:39] were the first words that Jesus spoke to the disciples who were curious about him following his baptism in the Jordan river,” the pope writes. “He invited them to enter into a relationship with him.”

The Holy Father continues, “The next day, Philip told Nathaniel about his encounter with the Messiah. His friend is skeptical and asks: ‘Can anything good come out of Nazareth?’ [Jn 1:46] Philip does not try to win him over with good reasons, but simply tells him: ‘Come and see’ ” [Jn 1:46].

Nothing can replace firsthand knowledge, the pope tells communications professionals, and all of us. This requires a willingness to “go out and see things that otherwise we would not know about.” It means that we have to listen attentively and to be open to ideas and opinions that challenge the “standard narrative” that we too often accept as the truth.

Life inside a bubble may seem safe, secure and comfortable, but it poses a grave risk that we will only see what we want to see and hear what we want to hear without regard for the way things truly are. Pope Francis warns against this form of psychological or spiritual myopia, and he invites us to come and see what is really present in our world today.

Let’s take the Holy Father’s warning seriously. Let’s open our eyes and ears and always speak the truth with love.
 

(Daniel Conway is a member of The Criterion’s editorial committee.) †