Yes to the internet, but…

It was a year ago since we experience in our lifetime the liturgical celebrations during Holy Week only online and on radio. This was true to most if not all countries of the world due to the lockdowns brought about by the COVID-19 pandemic.

In the Message of His Holiness Pope Francis for the 2021 World Communications Sunday, he writes, “We owe a word of gratitude for the courage and commitment of all those professionals – journalists, camera operators, editors, directors – who often risk their lives in carrying out their work.”

Since most people, especially the elderly, children and the immune-compromised, are exhorted to go out of their homes only for the essentials, many have recourse only from the internet for information. This even includes celebration of the liturgy. That is why, Pope Francis is aware that, “Journalism too, as an account of reality, calls for an ability to go where no one else thinks of going: a readiness to set out and a desire to see. Curiosity, openness, passion.”

Pope Francis expresses his gratitude, “Thanks to the internet we have the opportunity to report what we see, what is taking place before our eyes, and to share it with others.”

However, in using the internet, the Pope is aware that, “it is necessary to move beyond the complacent attitude that we “already know” certain things. Instead, we need to go and see them for ourselves, to spend time with people, to listen to their stories and to confront reality, which always in some way surprises us.”

This is the challenge for each of us. “At the same time, the risk of misinformation being spread on social media has become evident to everyone. We have known for some time that news and even images can be easily manipulated, for any number of reasons, at times simply for sheer narcissism. Being critical in this regard is not about demonizing the internet, but is rather an incentive to greater discernment and responsibility for contents both sent and received.”

The way of Jesus is the way of inviting his disciples to “come and see”. “Nathaniel did go and see, and from that moment his life was changed. That is how Christian faith begins, and how it is communicated: as direct knowledge, born of experience, and not of hearsay.”

So, the Pope, based his reflections on “Come and See” (Jn 1:46). Communicating by Encountering People Where and as They Are. “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.”