By Marco Baratto
Greeting to Digital Influencers and Missionary Creators – Rome, July 29, 2025
Inside St. Peter's Basilica, filled with young people and adults from around the world, Pope Leo XIV welcomed influencers and digital missionaries on the occasion of their Jubilee, delivering a powerful message of responsibility and hope for the Church in the digital age.
The Holy Father spoke in simple, direct words, showing his pastoral attention to those who inhabit the virtual spaces of our time.
"In this mission there is a second challenge," he said,
"in digital spaces, always seek the suffering flesh of Christ in every brother and sister."
It is a call to live the Gospel even in the immaterial world of social media—among notifications, algorithms, and artificial intelligence.
A Technological Culture to Humanize
Leo XIV described our contemporary reality as a new culture, profoundly shaped by technology. Science and technology, he reminded everyone, are not merely tools but transform the way we exist, influencing our understanding of ourselves, our relationships with others, and our relationship with God.
"Nothing that comes from human ingenuity," he warned,
"should ever be bent to the point of degrading the dignity of another."
For the Pope, the true mission of the Church and of Christians today is to nurture a culture of Christian humanism, capable of protecting the human person even in a world that feels increasingly digitalized and automated.
He invited those present not to think of the web as just a place for creating content but as a space for authentic encounter:
"It is not simply about generating content,
but about meeting hearts—
seeking out those who suffer,
who have lost their sense of purpose,
who need to heal their wounds."
He emphasized that such encounters require personal honesty: to truly meet others, we must first recognize our own poverty, let our masks fall, and allow ourselves to be reached by the Gospel.
"Go and Mend the Nets"
One of the most striking moments of his speech was the Pope's concrete invitation:
"Go and mend the nets."
Referring to the Gospel of Matthew (4:21-22), Leo XIV recalled how Jesus called his first apostles as they were mending their fishing nets. Today, he said, the Church must do the same—but in a new sense:
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mend the broken digital nets,
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build networks of relationships,
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weave networks of love and generous sharing.
Leo XIV described these new networks as spaces of true friendship, where loneliness can be healed and where numbers do not outweigh the quality of encounter.
"Do not count your followers," he warned,
"but seek to meet the other in truth."
Digital networks, he explained, must become places where what has been broken can be mended, where no "bubble" prevents us from hearing the most vulnerable voices.
He called these "networks that liberate, networks that save, networks of truth", all ultimately part of one great net: the net of God.
Agents of Communion in the Digital World
The Pope then addressed those who operate in the digital realm, calling them to become agents of communion, breaking through the logic of division and polarization that often marks online spaces.
The digital world, he observed, amplifies the temptations of individualism and self-centeredness. Christians, therefore, are called to be centers of light and peace, countering fake news, superficiality, and online hatred with the beauty of Truth (cf. John 8:31-32).
Peace, he insisted, must be sought, proclaimed, and shared, not only in places of war but also in the empty hearts of those who have lost their sense of purpose and the joy of spiritual life.
"We need digital missionary disciples," he said,
"able to bring the gift of the Risen Lord to the ends of the earth and to the existential frontiers where hope seems lost."
Toward a New Digital Social Doctrine
During his greeting, Leo XIV also announced that his first encyclical will focus on new technologies and human dignity, as an extension of the Church's Social Doctrine first inaugurated by Leo XIII with Rerum Novarum.
If, at the end of the 19th century, the Church faced the challenges of the Industrial Revolution, today it must discern the challenges of the Digital Revolution, including:
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artificial intelligence,
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the data economy,
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privacy and personal freedom,
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cultural manipulation,
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opportunities for evangelization and social justice.
This new chapter in Catholic social teaching, he said, will be a "digital social doctrine", offering ethical and spiritual guidance to humanize technology and to make the web a place of encounter and hope.
A Digital Jubilee of Hope
Leo XIV concluded his address with a blessing for all present and, symbolically, for everyone living in digital spaces:
"Go to your channels and your platforms," he urged,
"and bring the Living Christ into every pixel.
Build networks that save, networks of light, networks of love."
This message perfectly embodies the spirit of the Jubilee: a Church that does not fear the challenges of the present but embraces them as opportunities for evangelization and communion.
In an era marked by artificial intelligence, social networks, and global communication, Leo XIV has drawn the path for a Christianity that does not retreat but illuminates the digital continent with the light of the Gospel.
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