Jubilee of the World of Communications, the first jubilee celebrated in the Vatican

Vatican City is not just the territory where the Vatican is. It also has four basilicas part of it. Visiting them is seen as travelling to the Vatican too even if they are not nearby.

150 communicators from 70 countries formed part of the Young Communicators group invited to join the celebration events for the Jubilee. This group was selected after over 300 applications were received by Dicastery of Communications.

On our first day, we had a welcome from the Dicastery Team explaining how the selection process was carried out and information about the jubilee branding.

We had a tour around Lateran Palace which gave us the opportunity to see what the principal residence of the popes was before they moved to the nearby Vatican.

After this, we joined the Penitential Liturgy and the International Mass for the Feast of St Francis de Sales at St John Lateran Basilica.

Pilgrims of Hope

An early start with the 7am pilgrimage to the Holy Door at St Peter’s Basilica. We had a blessing and had the chance to see the basilica.

Before meeting the Holy Father, we headed to Paul VI Audience Hall where Nobel Peace Prize Maria Ressa and best-selling author Colum McCann talked to the media professionals about focusing on telling stories of hope.

We had a space reserved to be closer than the rest of the audience which was a privilege because we managed to see Pope Francis from a close distance.

Maria Ressa spoke about the impact of social media in neutrality. She emphasised that "we are living through a profound transformation of our world," one that is unavoidably influenced by contemporary technologies. However, she cautioned that focussing only on making money "destroys people's trust" and can result in a pervasive "epidemic of loneliness." She also commented on the decision of removing fact checkers from Facebook that Mark Zuckerberg, Meta owner took: “Dear Mark, this is not about free speech; this is about safety.”

The Irish author, Colum McCann spoke about the importance of stories and how they have an impact in our society.  “The shortest distance between any people is a story,” McCann said, highlighting how listening and sharing stories help us understand one another.

For the founder of Narrative 4 (a storytelling initiative) stories are a piece that connect us to others. "When we ignore these stories," McCann said, "we reach the critical point of our possible darkness," with the ability of "destroying us completely." Because he has destroyed the other and only himself is left, man is no longer able to love his neighbour.

Pope Francis: “Free, responsible, and accurate information is a treasure of knowledge, experience, and virtue that must be preserved and promoted. Without it, we risk no longer distinguishing truth from falsehood; without it, we expose ourselves to growing prejudices and polarizations that destroy the bonds of civil coexistence and prevent us from rebuilding fraternity.”

"Study and reflection, the ability to see and listen; to stand with the marginalised, those unseen and unheard, and to rekindle—in the hearts of those who read, listen, or watch you—a sense of good and evil and a longing for the good you recount and bear witness to," he added, are all necessary for effective communication.

Pope Francis urged Catholic communicators to "tell stories of hope, that nourish life" as he concluded his speech. According to him, "telling hope” allows people to hope against hope and take gaze and transform things.

Having the opportunity to see the Holy Father was incredible specially because a few people from the group managed to speak to him. An Argentinian girl prepared mate (Argentinian tea) for him and he drank it. Now that mug is a treasure for her. Somebody else gifted the Pope a football shirt as he is a fan.

End of the event

The three-day event ended on January 26th with the “Sunday of the Word of God”  Mass, celebrated by the Holy Father in St. Peter’s Basilica. This event was moving as that same day a group of readers from different countries started their ministry. After the Mass, we congregated in St Peter’s Square for the Angelus.

During our last day in Rome, we had a workshop about the importance of storytelling and how communicators are just a channel to share a story. This is what is important, not us, not how we share it, not the time or difficulty it takes but the story itself because it is something that can change lives.

Celebrating the World of Communications Jubilee was an incredible experience.  Meeting people from all over the globe and different backgrounds was fantastic, but what really struck me was how we all shared the same passion for communications.  Despite our diverse origins, we instantly connected over the unique challenges and rewards of this field.  It was so refreshing to connect with people who just got it – not just in terms of spoken language, but in that shared understanding of storytelling, communicating, and inspiring others.