1. Introduction.
          Today, the Catholic World celebrates WORLD COMMUNICATIONS DAY. This celebration was started in 1967, soon after the Second Vatican Council, by St Pope Paul VI. It is celebrated on the 7th Sunday of Easter, that is, Sunday before Pentecost.
          The Catholic Church recognizes the work of journalists and media practitioners who educate the public about events and issues and how they affect their lives. We are always happy to work with you, dear friends, gentlemen and ladies of the press.
          The Church understands the importance of the instruments of mass communication. The Vatican radio set up in 1931, has today its programs offered in 47 languages, and are sent out on short wave (also DRM), medium wave, FM, satellite and the Internet. L’Osservatore Romano, the official newspaper of the Holy See is translated into several languages and it has worldwide circulation. The Vatican Television Centre is very active. There is too the powerful and super-active and super-highway Vatican website.
          On a day like this, through his message, the Pope draws the attention of the world to the achievements of the Communications media and he focuses on how the Church can best use them to promote Gospel values.
 
2. The Theme of the Pope’s 2019 World Communications Day Message.
          This year, 2019, the 53rd celebration of the World Communications Day, the theme of the message of Pope Francis is «We are members one of another» (Eph 4,25). From network community to human communities. All of you who are listening to me, I invite you to take out time to read this special message of the Holy Father. Nothing replaces reading the message itself.
 
3. Reason for the theme of the message.
          Every normal person wants to be free, to relate with others, to be understood, to be loved, to be assessed and recommended positively. Most human beings, for many reasons, do not want to be left isolated and alone. In our time, the modern means of communication, the internet and its derivatives, offer to facilitate the fulfilment of this human desire.
          In the cyberspace, there are no signposts to give clear direction, no geographical boundaries to set up check points, no specific language to interpret the code of conduct, no defined culture to provide the background, and no age limit to identify membership. To some extent, the road to be trodden by all who are looking for ways to reach out to the other through this modern human invention is not properly charted.
          This year, the Holy Father wants to provide a guide to help women and men of this age to navigate through this complicated web of connections. We have, on the one hand, the virtual community (network community) and, on the other hand, the real, physical human community.
 
4. Human Being in-Relation: Positive Aspects of the Net.
          The Holy Father invites all “to reflect on the foundation and importance of our being in relation” and “to rediscover the desire of every human person to relate to others. The internet creates an extraordinary possibility to access knowledge, promote solidarity and help human persons to better connect, rediscover and assist one another. But, what the Net offers is a virtual community. Some people take this as real community. It is here that we immediately notice areas of concern.
 
5. Individualism : Negative Aspects of the Internet.
          There is absence of central control of the contents of the cyber world. The digital environment “nourishes unbridled individualism” which sometimes foments “spirals of hatred”. Some people while trapped in the virtual world, live in “self-isolation in the midst of others.” Young people are often vulnerable. Some of them become “social hermits who risk alienating themselves completely from the society.” In family circles, some members take solace in their communication with virtual neighbours and often do not show interest in the company of the immediate family members in the same room. A family six stay in one room, each member is chatting away with somebody hundreds of kilometres away. They are together, but they are distant from one another.
 
6. The Holy Father’s Guide.
          Taking the image of the body from St Paul’s letter to the Ephesians, the Holy Father underlines the synergy existing between different parts of a human body. Each part has different role to play, but they must work together in harmony for the overall well-being of a person. It is a “reciprocal relationship…based on the organism that unites them.” Each part has a contribution, a responsibility to promote the good of the whole.
          With the modern instruments of communication, dissemination of information is no longer the exclusive domain of the professional journalists and media practitioners. Any person who is able to send out messages from a mobile phone or any device that is connected to the internet web is invited to be responsible partner in making the cyberspace a safe environment for human interaction, where mutual listening and dialogue, and responsible use of language prevail. Manipulation of personal data “aimed at obtaining political or economic advantages, without due respect for the person and his or her rights, cyberbullying, etc., are areas of concern in the use of net.
 
7. Wrong way to go: promoting issues that separate us.
          Here in Nigeria, the challenge and the negative impact of the internet are well-known to us. We are more familiar with the Whatsapp, Facebook, Twitter, and Linkedin. When we go through these social media, what we see and read sometimes frighten us. In a large country likes ours, issues that separate us are often highlighted in the social media, especially with reference to religious beliefs, ethnic identity, political affiliation, educational inequality, lifestyle, and so on. As the cyberspace has no boundaries, it provides easy platform for highlighting the issues that divide us. It becomes easy means to spread hatred, injustice, suppression and oppression, false alarms, misinformation, calumny, etc. When such issues that separate us are highlighted, there is always tension, and mistrust. People are afraid. They are threatened. No wonder, some feel that they must carry guns and they nurse the desire and interest to kill opponents even without clear provocation. Indeed, many have been killed because they were perceived as enemies.
 
8. Right way to go: Emphasizing our Shared Common Values.
          We must affirm the interpersonal nature of our humanity. The Holy Father affirms that “(o)ur life becomes more human insofar as its nature becomes less individual and more personal; we see this authentic path of becoming more human in one who moves from being an individual who perceives the other as a rival, to a person who recognizes others as travelling companions.”
          Here in Nigeria, we must consider the importance of promoting the common values we share: our humanity, love for life, justice as fairness, true peace, respect, progress of every section of the society, family, freedom, equality, etc.
 
9. The supreme value of physical human encounter.
          The Holy Father in this year’s message wants to emphasize the importance of real human community as opposed to virtual web community. Nothing replaces human encounter in flesh – “body, heart, eyes, gaze, breath of the other”. The social web (WhatsApp, Twitter, Facebook, etc.) community can be valuable only as an “extension or expectation” of physical human meeting and interaction.
          We are invited to use the internet freely, justly, judiciously, and responsibly to build up human community. Virtual meeting over the net is complimentary: it does not replace the supreme value of physical human encounter and engagement. 
 
10. A Prayer.
          Our Lord today prays for his disciples. He prays for those who will through his disciples become followers too. Lord, let us always appreciate the value of the neighbour just beside us. Quoniam sumus invicem membra (Eph 4,25).