Digital missionaries continue journey to proclaim the Gospel online

By Edoardo Giribaldi

Digital missionaries met online on Sunday afternoon, gathering virtually and in person around the tomb of the Apostle Peter.

The event was held on World Mission Sunday in the Clementine Chapel beneath St. Peter's Basilica and bore the theme: "Whoever has ears, let them hear what the Spirit says to the Churches" (Rev 2:29).

Dr. Paolo Ruffini and Msgr. Lucio Ruiz, Prefect and Secretary of the Dicastery for Communication, respectively, were joined by Bishop Luis Marín de San Martín, Undersecretary of the Secretariat for the Synod.

Together in the digital mission

Msgr. Ruiz, Secretary of the Dicastery for Communication (our parent organization), announced the upcoming Jubilee for Missionaries and Catholic Digital Influencers, which he said will be held on July 28-29, 2025, just ahead of the Jubilee for Youth.

He praised the work done by the Digital Synod and the listening process that emerged from it, and noted that significant progress has been made.

As the initiative comes to an end, said Msgr. Ruiz, "The Church Listens to You" project will continue its mission in digital spaces, always guided by unity.

He noted that a "Church that goes forth" is made up of disciples who seek out others to encounter, heal, and proclaim.

"Let us continue to dream together," Msgr. Ruiz concluded, "and to do beautiful things that show God's joy in a world that needs hope."

Missionary 'pioneers' of a new world

Bishop Marín De San Martín then recalled that Jesus is not a simple avatar or digital identity but a "living person."

He urged digital missionaries to embrace the theme of World Mission Sunday, which is to "Go and invite everyone to the banquet," and to abandon their own comfort zones in order to bear witness to Christian joy.

Their mission, he noted, should never seek to create cliques but rather to engage with "the dust of the road and the mud of history."

Testimony of digital influencers

During the event, several young influencers shared their prayer intentions in various languages.

Two Lebanese young people who are twins explained to participants how their lives had been touched by the work of digital missionaries, saying they are now commited to sharing "the beauty of Christianity" online in the Middle East.

Participants were invited to write down a few words that have characterized their missionary work, with examples including fraternity, listening, joy, pain, happiness, thirst, and need for God.

A mission to be carried out with humility

Later in the event, Dr. Ruffini invited Catholic missionaries serving on digital platforms to draw inspiration from the life of St. Paul.

He urged them to take responsibility for the wounds afflicting our modern society and to do their part to heal them.

"May the Lord help us to be the salt and leaven of our time, with the same humility as salt and leaven," he said.

The Apostle to the Gentiles, noted the Prefect, truly became "all things to all people" by being among the people, "exactly the opposite of a functionary, a bureaucrat, or a clever planner."

Dr. Ruffini noted that St. Paul served the Lord with humility and tears. He invited young missionaries to follow a similar path by setting aside personal interests, rejecting the desire for power, and always choosing "communion over distinction."

Msgr. Ruiz concluded the Digital Synod event with a final prayer and a missionary mandate: "Go, even unto the ends of the earth!"