Pope to Communications Dicastery:
Be Christian witnesses to Truth
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| Pope Francis meeting members of the Dicastery for Communication (Vatican Media) |
Pope Francis meets with members of the Vatican Dicastery for
Communications on the occasion of their Plenary Assembly and gives them a
series of examples of what communication should, and should not, be.
By Vatican News
Pope Francis is known to be a great communicator. But on
Monday morning in the Vatican he gave an example of communication skills that
surprised even those whose job it is to communicate him and his message
throughout the world.
Communicating from the heart
The Pope began by playfully suggesting that his “seven-page
discourse” (which was really only three) risked putting his audience to sleep.
Which is why he preferred to talk to them informally about communication, in
terms of what was “in his heart”.
Communicating without holding back
Pope Francis reminded members of the Dicastery that
communication begins with an attitude: that of God who communicates Himself to
us. In the same way, true communicators give of themselves, he said, “putting
all your irons on the fire”, and holding back nothing.
Communicating holistically
The Pope stressed the need to communicate “all that is true,
just, good, and beautiful”. This must be done, he said, using “mind and heart,
heads and hands – everything”. It is in love, he added, that we see the
fullness of communication.
Communicating not proselytizing
Pope Francis was firm about not engaging in a “commercial”
style of communication that sets out to proselytize, or forcibly convert
people. He quoted Pope emeritus Benedict XVI who once said, “the Church does
not grow by proselytizing, but through witnessing”.
Communicating by witnessing
Communicating the Truth, means witnessing with your own
life, said the Pope. “Being Christian means being witnesses, being martyrs”. He
recalled the words of Saint Francis of Assisi, who said: “Preach the Gospel at
all times. And when necessary, use words”. Witness, said the Pope, must always
come first. Ours is a Church of martyrs, he added.
Communication not resignation
Pope Francis also warned against the temptation of
“resignation”. Resignation, he said, does not reflect love for God. It exists
in the pagan world, and Jesus Himself warns His disciples against the danger of
“worldliness”. Do not fear “a Church of the few”, said the Pope, as long as we
are like “salt, like yeast”.
Communicating using nouns
Pope Francis called for a communication that uses “nouns
rather than adjectives”. Nouns identify people and things. Rather than using an
adjective to describe a person as “this or that”, nouns communicate “the
reality of people”, said the Pope, and this is what Christian communicators are
called to do.
Communicating beautifully
The Pope suggested a style of communication that is “austere
but beautiful”. Not a “Rococo” kind of beauty, he said, but a beauty that
expresses itself “through nouns”, through “witness”, through involving oneself
in communication.
Communicating the joy of the Gospel
Pope Francis concluded his off-the-cuff remarks saying
communicators should learn the language of the martyrs and the Apostles by
rereading the Acts of the Apostles and the writings of the early Christian
community. “Communicate the joy of the Gospel”, said the Pope, because “that is
what God is asking you to do”.
Then he stood up and personally greeted each and every
member of the Vatican Dicastery for Communications present at the audience.
All 500 of us.
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