Pope Francis: How To Be A Neighbor On The Internet

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Pope Francis: How To Be A Neighbor On The Internet

The Vatican released today its customary Message of the Pope for World Communications Day. We celebrate World Communications Day this year on Sunday, June 1, 2014. The message—which contains the pope’s annual teaching on how to inhabit the world of communications with faith—is always released on the Memorial of St. Francis de Sales, January 23rd. This allows us time each year to reflect on the words of the Pope and incorporate them into our lives.

Here’s a few pointers from the message. Pope Francis, true to his “papal style,” is leading us to a spirit of neighborliness on the internet and the new environment created by digital technology, whether we're commenting on blog posts, posting on Facebook, tweeting, pinning on Pinterest, connecting on LinkedIn, or plain old emailing someone for business or pleasure.

First, where does the image of “neighborliness” come from? Pope Francis uses the story of the Good Samaritan. He says: “Those who communicate, in effect, become neighbors. The Good Samaritan not only draws nearer to the man he finds half dead on the side of the road; he takes responsibility for him. Jesus shifts our understanding: it is not just about seeing the other as someone like myself, but of the ability to make myself like the other. Communication is really about realizing that we are all human beings, children of God. I like seeing this power of communication as ‘neighborliness.’”
Based on the World Communications Day Message, here are 3 ways of showing neighborliness in a digital environment:

1. “Let our communication be a balm which relieves pain and a fine wine which gladdens hearts.” The digital world is a world of connections…wire connections certainly, but for a Christian it is a world of human connections. Read more >>http://pauline.org/blog/ArticleID/442