On 27 - 29 January 2025, the Pontifical Urbaniana University in Rome hosted a conference organised by the Vatican's Dicastery for Communication. It brought together the directors of communication of Bishops' Conferences and Religious Congregations from all over the world. Three communicators from the Hospitaller Order of St. John of God from France, Spain and Portugal attended it, to debate with their opposite numbers and reflect on a global communication strategy.

During the audience for the participants, Pope Francis urged communicators to be builders of hope and dialogue in a divided world. He warned against purely marketing communication, ‘which manipulates or fuels fear’, calling for an authentic and fraternal approach. ‘When we communicate, we are creators of languages, of bridges’, he emphasised, urging us to base our communication strategies on two words: “together” and “network”.

The conference addressed such key topics such as the digital transformation, the rise of artificial intelligence, the role of influencers and the importance of well-structured communication. Among the speakers, Nobel Peace Prize winner Maria Ressa, writer Colum McCann and Cardinal Luis Antonio Tagle emphasised the urgency for the Church to be present in contemporary cultural realities. ‘Communication is a challenge for all of us, to transmit a message of hope to the world,’ recalled the Filipino Cardinal.

In his conclusions, Archbishop Lucio Ruiz, secretary of the Dicastery, stressed the mission of communicators as bearers of hope. 'There is great optimism about the role of the Church faced with the new culture of our world. Let us continue to be missionaries, stepping out of our comfort zone to reach out to our wounded brothers and sisters,' he said.

For the communicators of the Hospitaller Order of St. John of God, this conference reinforced the importance of communication at the service of communion and spreading the charism of hospitality. ‘Let us return with the desire to build a global communication that reflects what we experience on the ground and brings hope,’ said Rodrigo Martinez, Director of Communication for the Spanish Province.