On Jan. 24, the feast of St. Francis de Sales, Pope Leo XIV released the 60th annual message for World Communications Day, celebrated on the Solemnity of the Ascension. This document is one of the major annual papal messages. Its prominence testifies to the growing importance of social communications in the contemporary world.

Pope Leo’s message “Preserving Human Faces and Voices” complements his Lenten message, “Listening and Fasting.” To be human means using one’s voice and listening well. Some with physical handicaps cannot listen or speak, but many can make their perspectives heard and hear those of others in other ways. Indeed, speaking and listening are among the highest human abilities, requiring reason and will to be exercised properly.

Our use of language is integral to both speaking and listening. We might well regard a person who speaks but never listens, or who listens but never speaks, as deficient in some way. Two-way communication gives us a public face and enables us to deepen our very selves.

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Modern communication enables us to speak to a wider audience and to listen to informed sources to whom we had no access in earlier times. These are wonderful blessings. However, Pope Leo warns that digital technology threatens to interfere with human information ecosystems. Algorithms are designed to reward quick emotions and penalize reflection and understanding. As such, they can heighten social polarization.

“Do not renounce your ability to think,” the Pope urges. He points to the importance of responsibility and education. To avoid becoming reactive beings, we need education that helps us improve our critical thinking skills and grow in freedom of spirit.

In doing so, we may become less self-centred and raise our voices in defence of human persons. “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.”

Two people recently in the news who have used their voices and faces for the good of those in distress are the Rev. Jesse Jackson and French rape survivor Gisele Pelicot. The attention given to Jackson following his death highlighted his unflagging efforts to be a voice for the poor, coloured people and others marginalized in our society. Jackson was a flawed person who, nevertheless, was fearless in speaking with and on behalf of society’s victims. His urging to young people from economically deprived backgrounds to shout out, “I am somebody,” will ring through the ages.

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Pelicot, drugged and horribly abused by her husband and dozens of other men, refused to be a victim. Deciding that the shame in sexual assault lay not with her but with the perpetrators, she allowed herself to be named publicly. In doing so, she led numerous other survivors to reclaim their lives and personal respect.

We have a constant need for such faces and voices who eloquently proclaim the depths of human dignity.

In his Lenten message, Pope Leo wrote of how conversion comes when we welcome God’s word with a docile spirit and allow it to touch our hearts. Too often today, we are so self-focused that we fail to let outside voices, especially God's, penetrate our shells.

Our willingness to listen shows another person that we want to enter into a relationship with them. People who only speak might be great entertainers but may not be such good friends. However, a listening heart indicates a willingness to enter into a relationship of mutual sharing. Such a heart offers the foundation for friendship and love.

To prevent the polarization the Pope mentions in his Communications Day message, he urges us to disarm our language. “Let us strive to measure our words and cultivate kindness and respect in our families, among our friends, at work, on social media, in political debates, in the media and in Christian communities.”

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Kindness and respect do not draw as much attention as bombastic language. But if we are keen on building a better world, we should speak in ways that create space for dialogue. Revolutionary violence causes immediate upheavals and long-lasting harm, but building a culture of respect is the work of several lifetimes. 

Early Christians drew attention by loving each other. Over the centuries, the effect of kindness and love became palpable. Ours is a better world because of the gentler approach that began to grow 2,000 years ago. The respectful use of language is one essential aspect in building such a culture of peace.