Share with gentleness the hope that is in your hearts”

 

Pope Francis has announced the theme for next year’s, 2025, World Communication Day (WCD). The theme is, “Share with gentleness the hope that is in your hearts” (cf. 1Pt 3:15-16). With this theme for the the 59th WCD celebration, scheduled for Sunday 1 June, the Holy Father calls on Christians and non-Christians alike, to re-examine the way they communicate with one other.

According to Vatican News, by this theme, Pope Francis desires to draw attention to the violence currently prevalent in communication. He said that, “too often communication is violent, aimed at striking and not at establishing the conditions for dialogue.” In view of this, the Bishop of Rome rallies efforts “to disarm communication, (and) to cleanse it of aggression.”

Furthermore, this theme aims at correcting the falling standard of communication which the Holy Father describes as largely absorbed in competition, opposition, and domination. This, he said, is evident in television talk shows and verbal wars on social media. Additionally, it the theme should remind Christians that “hope is a person, and He is Christ,” and that this hope is not just an individual experience, but is tied to community, since “when we speak of Christian hope we cannot disregard a community that lives the message of Jesus in such a credible way as to give a glimpse of the hope that it brings, and is capable of communicating the hope of Christ with deeds and words even today.”

World Communications Day was established by Pope Paul VI in 1967, and it is usually celebrated on the Sunday before Pentecost. It is an annual celebration that encourages reflection on the opportunities and challenges that the media offers and how the Church can better engage the tools to communicate the Gospel message un every age.

In Nigeria, the Catholic Bishops Conference of Nigeria (CBCN), has elaborated this WCD celebration to a week-long media literacy programme – Communications Week (Comweek) programme. It begins on the Sunday prior to WCD and concludes on WCD Sunday. The 2025, edition which will begin on Sunday, May 25, will conclude with the WCD celebration on Sunday, June1. This will be the 4th edition of the programme.

During this programme, participants, including parishes, pastoral units, seminaries, convents, and Catholic families, are encouraged to engage with the teachings provided in the manual from the National Directorate of Social Communications.