VATICAN CITY (Reuters) – If he were alive today, even St. Paul would send text messages, tweet and email to receive the news, Pope Francis said on Saturday in his World Social Communication Day message. Roman Catholic Church.
St. Paul, who lived in the first century of the Christian era, spread the new faith in Europe and Asia Minor and is believed to have written much of the New Testament.
“Each instrument has its value and that great communicator who was Paul of Tarsus would certainly have used e-mail and social messaging,” the pope said in the message, entitled “Come and see.”
However, Francis said that Paul had the best time preaching in person, saying that journalists and other communicators today should do more “hitting the streets … meeting people face to face to research stories or to check certain situations directly ”.
He said that too often investigative reports have been replaced by a “standard, often biased” narrative that is unable to capture basic issues and aspirations.
“In communications, nothing can completely replace seeing things in person,” he said.
The world has 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 different parts of the world, many cases of oppression and injustice caused to the poor and the environment, and many wars that would otherwise have been overlooked. ,” he said.
Reporting by Philip Pullella; Montage by Helen Popper