Someone calls them Catholic influencers. Others, Creator. Still others, digital missionaries. THEL 28 and 29 July meet in Rome to live their Jubilee, also born from an idea of Pope Francisand share their (delicate) mission in the world of the network and social media that John Paul II, with prophetic intuition, defined the “Sixth continent”. Not to escape but to live, first of all, and obviously evangelize.
They are often priests and religious, but not only. Young people in research, music enthusiasts, people who have had a particular life path, religion teachers. As Emanuele Magli, 27 years, who takes care of the project “Religion 2.0” On social media (over 36 thousand followers on Instagram) and teaches religion in two middle schools in Bologna: “It is also easy to wear masks for pleasure and please others”, he says, “but The Gospel asks us truth, not to be used. And on social media, in the end, whoever has the courage to be authentic wins».
Teaching (history and philosophy in high schools) is also the profession of Pietro Calorewho writes books and recently launched the blog “Catholic science fiction” To explain faith starting from science and philosophy without disdaining some ironic memes and comic actors to “comment” some songs of the Gospel, in particular the parables: “San Pietro in his first letter suggests respect and straight consciousness to relate to everyone, including haters. As Jesus did who had the haters too. “
Fra Antonio d’Errico, Itinerant missionary, originally from Naples, says he is on social media to “turn on the desire of God in people and shout the Gospel”. And remember that «John Paul II considered the sixth continent and there is no continent where a missionary is not present».
The singer -songwriter of Calabrian origin arrives from the world of Christian music Romilda CozzolinOr, winner, in 2021, of J-Factor, the Talent of Christian Music: “On social media I found a creative way to talk about faith”, he explains, “and weave important relationships”. Alessandro Gallo He is part of the real, a band of Christian music, and has started his musical adventure in the Supper community of Mother Elvira: “Evangelizing is playing the bell of the heart strong,” he says, “social media are a sea where many drown. We, on the other hand, must fish these people ».
But who is (and what he does) exactly a digital missionary? Premise: the distinction between real and virtual no longer exists and is also wrong as an approach: “Digital”, he writes Valentina Angelucci in the book Identikit of the digital missionary – Evangelizing at the time of social media (St. Paul), “has become an integral part of our daily life and our relationships. What happens online has repercussions on the off-line world and vice versa. The mission of the digital Christian cannot be limited to considering the web as a simple tool, but must recognize it as a real meeting, dialogue and testimony space. The digital missionary must be aware, as well as all the missionaries who preceded it, that the Gospel remains immutable, but the ways of communicating it evolve. If in the first millennium the transmission of faith occurred especially orally, in the second through manuscripts and the press, in the third millennium it also passes through social media, podcasts, videos and online interactions ».
Angelucci also traces analogies and differences between the “traditional” and digital missionary: “Both”, he writes, “respond to a missionary call, warning the urgency to spread the Gospel. They are animated by the desire to bring Christ to others, testifying with their own life and words. They must have a solid theological and spiritual formation to correctly announce the Christian message. They live the mission with a spirit of sacrifice and dedication, often facing difficulties and misunderstandings. They need to discern the signs of the times to respond effectively to the needs of the people from whom the spirit pushes them ».
And the differences? There are many, starting with the place of the mission: «The traditional missionary physically goes to the mission places, often facing cultural travel and adaptations, while the digital missionary operates through online platforms, reaching people in every part of the world even without physically moving physically».
Then there is personal interaction: the traditional missionary meets people face to face, developing direct and personal relationships, while the digital missionary must know how to communicate effectively also through texts, images, videos and virtual interactions, which then become an opportunity to combine relationships as he told Don Cosimo Schena, 46 years old, parish priest of the church of San Francesco di Brindisi, half a million followers only on Instagram and author of the book God is my coach (Piemme): «Social channels serve to bring more and more people closer to faith, even those who do not believe. Many atheists also write to me. Every day I receive a thousand messages between emails and “direct”. I try to answer everyone but it’s not easy ».
The obstacles and challenges between traditional and digital missionaries are also different: «The traditional missionary faces difficulties such as geographical distance, linguistic barriers and difficult social and political contexts. The digital missionary, on the other hand, must deal with changing algorithms, the disinformation, the superficiality of online content and the risk of impersonal communication». And on the impact Angelucci is clear: “The traditional missionary can immediately see the effects of his work in the communities that serves, while the digital missionary often sows without knowing who will collect, relying on providence alone”. They also partially change the tools of evangelization: “The first uses face dialogue to you, concrete gestures and direct testimony; the second uses the new means of communication with their languages, Their symbols, their ways of creating interactions ».
The two days (Monday 28 and Tuesday 29 July) of the Jubilee of digital missionaries and Catholic influencers (click here for the complete program) tries to reflect on these aspects with the help of experts and through various initiatives.
It starts on Monday 28 in the‘Auditorium in via della Conciliazione For the inauguration, at 9 am, of the event in the presence of the Cardinal Secretary of State Pietro Parolinby Monsignor Rino Fisichellapro-prefect of the Dicastery for evangelization, and of Paolo Ruffini, Prefect of the Dicastery for communication.
Then it’s up to Monsignor Lucio Ruiz Welcome to the pilgrims, to whom a reflection of the Jesuit will be offered David McCallum, executive director of Discorning Leadership Program, that the catalyst of being connected today will make the Word of God. The conference can be followed live on the portal and on the YouTube channel of Vatican News. The Jesuit will also intervene Antonio Spadaro, Undersecretary of the Dicastery for culture and education, underlining the contribution of theology on the mission at the time of the networks and algorithms. Some prospects of the Synod Study Group on synodality will also be shared. The study groups will work trying to identify the sense of being fully present as a church in digital culture.
On Monday afternoon there are two round tables: the first, at 3 pm (in presence and online), for an exchange of experiences on digital missionaries, with international representatives. The second, at 5.30 pm, on “Holy influencers of God”. At the end of each there will be a time of about an hour for sharing in the working groups. To close, the prayer led by the cardinal Óscar Rodríguez Maradiagaemeritus archbishop of Teguucigalpa. At 9.30 pm it will be the Cardinal José Cobo CanoMetropolitan Archbishop of Madrid, to preside over Eucharistic adoration and the penitential liturgy in the Basilica of San Pietro.
Tuesday 29, in the morning, Missionariu and Influencer find themselves in Piazza Pia for the Pilgrimage along Via della Conciliation to the Basilica of San Pietro to cross the Holy Door. At 10 the Eucharistic celebration chaired by the Cardinal is scheduled Louis Antonio Taglepro-prefect of the Dicastery for evangelization, at the end of which Pope Leo XIV could arrive for a greeting. At the Auditorium Conciliation we will return for the collective lunch and a moment of rest, before immersing, at 2 pm, in the ecumenical encounter Together for Hope (in presence and online, through Vatican News), animated by Community of Taizé. It will be a space for meeting, communion and mission shared with those who, from several corners of the world, announce hope in digital. A playful hour, then, to express the hope, faith and joy in digital networks through the creativity of a game, will be prelude to the visit to the Vatican gardens which will be sealed by the consecration of the digital mission, during which the projects will be entrusted to Mary, “The influencer of God”, As Pope Francis had defined it during the World Youth Day of Lisbon from 2023asking her to guide the presence in the digital world with its maternal tenderness.
On Tuesday evening, all influencers are invited to participate in the Festival They dedicated them (the first edition took place two years ago in Lisbon in the GMG area) in Piazza Risorgimento for an evening of music and testimonies from different cultures and countries, with which the mission of bringing hope to the digital world will be celebrated together.
