A listening ear and an understanding heart is the core of Pope Francis message to the Christian world in yesterday’s celebration of the 48th World Communications Day, Fr. Felix Pasquin, rector of the San Sebastian Cathedral in Bacolod City and Diocesan Mass Media director said.

In his homily during the mass at the cathedral, Pasquin emphasized the Pope’s call to the world of media to use the digital highway in reaching out to those who are hurting and are looking for salvation and hope.

Gadgets, Pasquin said, connect people but do not establish an “authentic culture of encounter” among them.

He added that in using the various gadgets, one must be conscious of their relationship to their neighbors especially those who are marginalized and are suffering.

A summary of Pope Francis’s message from the Catholic Bishops Conference of the Philippiens, given to the local media yesterday, stressed that despite the technological advancement, divisions still run deep around the globe.

“The world suffers from exclusion, marginalization, and poverty that borders around the combination of economic, political, ideological and even religious motives,” the Pope said.

According to the Holy Father, the parable of the Good Samaritan provides the key to the very heart of communications with the question: “Who is my neighbor?”

The Pope also encourages all Catholics to practice neighborliness to all even in the vast world of social networks.

In the Diocese of Bacolod, Pasquin said the church and the media have a “very excellent relationship” saying that the media always respond positively to various invitations from the church.

He added that every media practitioner has the capacity and the facility to bring Christ’s message to the people in exercise of their duty as a baptized Christian.*NAB

back to top