COMMUNICATION MUST never lose sight of the human behind social media profiles amid a digital world consumed by speed, visibility, and endless content, Caceres Archbishop Rex Andrew Alarcon said on the 60th World Day of Social Communications on Sunday, May 18.
Alarcon, chairperson of the Episcopal Commission on Social Communications of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines, emphasized that technology is not a danger in itself, but is meant to serve humanity.
“Behind every profile is a face. Behind every account is a story. Behind every post, reaction, silence, or cry for attention is a human heart longing to be seen, heard, understood, and loved,” Alarcon said in a message posted by the commission on Facebook.
The Thomasian prelate also challenged Catholic communicators and media professionals to see their vocation as more than content creation but to propagate truth, dialogue, and healing through online spaces.
“As Catholic communicators, you are called not merely to produce content, but to foster encounters,” he said. “Not simply to gain attention, but to lead others toward truth, goodness, compassion, and ultimately towards Christ himself.”
Pointing to Christ as the model communicator, Alarcon stressed that genuine communication is rooted not in performance, but in presence.
“Christ did not communicate from a distance. But people face to face, He called them by name, He walked with them,” he added.
Preserving human voices and faces
In his World Communication Day message, Pope Leo XIV warned that artificial intelligence (AI) and algorithm-driven platforms risked weakening authentic human relationships and critical thinking.
“Faces and voices are sacred. Safeguarding faces and voices ultimately means safeguarding ourselves. Embracing the opportunities offered by digital technology and artificial intelligence with courage, determination and discernment does not mean turning a blind eye to critical issues, complexities and risks,” Pope Leo said in his message released on Jan. 24, coinciding with the Feast of St. Francis de Sales, patron of communicators and writers.
READ: https://varsitarian.net/pope-leo-warns-of-ai-dangers-stresses-media-literacy/
Waiving creativity, mental capacities and imagination to machines would mean burying God-given talents, the pontiff said, warning that it “would mean hiding our faces and silencing our voices.”
The pope emphasized that technology can still become an instrument for evangelization and authentic human encounter when guided by truth and ethical responsibility.
“We need faces and voices to speak for people again. We need to cherish the gift of communication as the deepest truth of humanity, to which all technological innovation should also be oriented,” he concluded.
Established by Pope St. Paul VI in 1967, World Communication Day is an annual global observance by the Church to recognize and celebrate the achievements of media and journalists, and to acknowledge the power of the press, television, radio, and cinema to spread the Gospel.
The celebration, celebrated on Ascension Sunday, was inspired by the Second Vatican Council’s decree on Social Communications, Inter Mirifica.
