VATICAN CITY – As the Roman Catholic Church observed World Day of Social Communication on Saturday, Pope Francis said in his message that if St. Paul were alive today he too would be texting, Tweeting and firing off emails to get the news out.
St. Paul who is believed to have written a great part of the New Testament, lived in the first century of the Christian era and is known to have spread the new faith into Europe and Asia Minor.
“Every tool has its value, and that great communicator who was Paul of Tarsus would certainly have made use of email and social messaging,” the pope said in the message, titled “Come and See”.
Francis went onto say that journalists and other communicators today should do more “hitting the streets … meeting people face to face to research stories or to verify certain situations first-hand”.
He said too often investigative reporting was being replaced by a “standard, often tendentious narrative” not capable of grasping problems and aspirations at the grassroots level.
“In communications, nothing can ever completely replace seeing things in person,” he said.
The world owes a debt of gratitude to journalists, camera operators, photographers and others who often risk their lives to seek the truth, he added.
“Thanks to their efforts, we now know, for example, about the hardships endured by persecuted minorities in various parts of the world, numerous cases of oppression and injustice inflicted on the poor and on the environment, and many wars that otherwise would be overlooked,” he said.