(SE): The Vatican has announced the theme for the 61st World Communications Day as “A New Gaze: Paying Attention in the Age of Clickbait,” highlighting the growing challenges of meaningful communication in today’s digital age, Vatican News reported on September 29.
In a statement released on September 29 by the Holy See’s Dicastery for Communication, authorities urged Christians to embrace “a conversion of our gaze: to look again, with attention and with love.”
The press release cautioned that the “attention economy”, driven by the “struggle for a few moments of interest amid the rapid and endless flow of content,” is not only reshaping cognitive abilities but also undermining the depth of interpersonal relationships.
The dicastery’s message emphasised, “Only by paying attention to others with love can we see the world, others, even ourselves, as Christ sees us: called by name and loved.” The statement added, “Our communication changes when our gaze chooses to encounter others rather than judge them.”
Noting the impact of digital culture, the dicastery observed that people are “inundated with expectations of rapid reactions and superficial relationships,” resulting in a lack of genuine attention.
“Yet attention is a precious form of generosity: the word ‘attention’ comes from ad-tendere—to reach out toward the other and toward the truth,” the press release affirmed. “Christian communication can rediscover attention as both a gift and a way of seeing—the gaze of Jesus, who saw and allowed himself to be touched.”
Rather than simply seeking to capture attention, the statement called on communicators to safeguard attention “as a precious resource for relationships.”
“In our modern age of ‘clickbait’, Christians are invited to pay attention and rediscover a healthy form of attention to one another,” the dicastery advised.
“Communication is not just about words,” the statement concluded. “It involves the entire person and asks us to look, hear, and feel again in order to answer Christ’s call.”
World Communications Day 2027 takes place on May 9 in many regions, with the date varying elsewhere according to local bishops’ conferences.
