MANILA (LiCAS News): “We’re building a network of Catholic influencers and digital missionaries with a particular focus on Asia,” said Stephany Sun, global communications manager of the Committee for Communications of the Archdiocese of Seoul, during the Asian Catholic Digital Missionary Assembly 2026 in Manila on September 12.
She noted that most young Catholics in Asia would remain in their home countries during World Youth Day 2027, regardless of how many pilgrims attend the gathering in August 2027.
Sun explained that digital missionaries could provide accompaniment in ways livestreams and official coverage cannot.
“A livestream can stream a holy Mass. It cannot sit with a struggling teenager late at night. It cannot answer them in their own language. You can,” Sun said.
“That is the difference between reach and witness,” she added, reminding the audience that an “influencer is followed” but a “witness is trusted.”
A livestream can stream a holy Mass. It cannot sit with a struggling teenager late at night. It cannot answer them in their own language. You can
Stephany Sun
Sun said the organisers of World Youth Day in Seoul want Asian digital missionaries involved in developing the strategy, rather than simply distributing materials prepared in Korea.
“We’re not arriving from Korea with a finished strategy looking for someone to carry it out for us. We’re asking you to help design it,” she said.
The network could help organisers identify voices they might otherwise miss and gain insight into what works in different countries and communities across Asia. By sharing local-language content and identifying key digital voices, it can help shape how World Youth Day Seoul 2027 engages with communities far beyond those attending in person.
Sun said organisers hope to begin meeting online early next year.
The initiative follows recent efforts at major Church gatherings to give Catholic digital creators a role beyond conventional media coverage.
At World Youth Day in Lisbon in 2023, a Mass was celebrated specifically for Catholic influencers and digital missionaries, with time set aside for them to meet. The Jubilee of Catholic Influencers and Digital Missionaries in Rome later held its own programme and festival.
The network could help organisers identify voices they might otherwise miss and gain insight into what works in different countries and communities across Asia
“This was no longer simply about a media role. The Church was recognising a mission,” Sun said.
World Youth Day Seoul 2027 plans a dedicated gathering for digital missionaries and a festival during World Youth Day week, although Sun said organisers were still working on the date and venue.
The Federation of Asian Bishops Conferences [FABC] is also looking to World Youth Day as a concrete mission for the emerging network of Asian digital missionaries.
Father John Mi Shen, executive secretary of the FABC Office of Social Communication and programme director of Radio Veritas Asia, said there are plans to bring 40 digital influencers to the gathering.
He described them as “40 pairs of eyes” who would move beyond covering major Masses and formal events, documenting encounters in local communities, classrooms, gyms, streets, and homes hosting pilgrims.
Father Mi Shen said the digital missionaries could connect people in their own countries with the experiences of young people gathering in Korea.
He also described the participants as “40 pairs of windows” through which Catholics in Korea and elsewhere could encounter the realities of communities across Asia.
Father Mi Shen said the digital missionaries could connect people in their own countries with the experiences of young people gathering in Korea
He linked the initiative to the FABC’s emphasis on dialogue with cultures, religions, and people on the margins.
Registration for World Youth Day Seoul 2027 will open in October.
According to Sun, Seoul will also be the first World Youth Day hosted in a culture where Christianity has never been the majority. It has the theme,
“Take courage, I have overcome the world,” from the Gospel of John.
Sun said the Church in Korea has drawn three forms of courage from the passage: seeking truth, practising love, and building peace.
Father Mi Shen said the work of Asian digital missionaries should begin well before pilgrims gather in Korea. “Mission does not really start next year during World Youth Day. Mission starts here and now,” he said.
