Make social media a genuinely human culture says Pope

Pope Leo XIV greets participants in the Jubilee of Digital Missionaries and Catholic Influencers after Cardinal Luis Antonio Tagle celebrated Mass in St. Peter’s Basilica at the Vatican on July 29, 2025. (CNS photo/Lola Gomez)

Pope Leo XIV has challenged users of social media to promote a genuinely human culture. Source: Vatican News.

The Pope spoke at the end of a Mass on July 29 as part of the Jubilee for Digital Missionaries and Catholic Influencers. At the Mass celebrated at St Peter’s Basilica were 1700 Catholic creators from 75 countries who came to the Vatican for the two-day event coinciding with the Jubilee of Youth.

Pope Leo XIV addressed the young people present in the Basilica in three languages: Spanish, English, and Italian.

In his message, he said that it was important to always look for the “suffering flesh of Christ” in every person met online.

In a technological society and culture, the Pope challenged the influencers: “It is up to us – to each one of you – to ensure that this culture remains human.”

Even though science and technology play an essential role in daily lives, nothing made by humans “should be used to undermine the dignity of others”. The mission of Catholics and influencers and digital missionaries was to promote “Christian humanism” in culture.

Throughout history, there have been many moments of change and, the Pope stressed, the Church has never remained passive. In today’s culture, so saturated with technology, the challenge is to “work together to develop a way of thinking and a language of our time, that gives voice to love”.

More than simply creating content, Pope Leo urged the digital missionaries to create encounters among hearts. This, he continued, leads to another call — to mend nets. In this case, it is nets of relationships, of love, of free exchange, where friendships run deep.

The Pope also called for an end to violence, emphasising “how much we need peace in these times torn apart by enmity and war”.

FULL STORY

Pope at Mass: Creators should promote encounters between hearts – Vatican News (By Kielcie Gussie/Vatican News)

Cardinal Tagle at influencers jubilee: ‘Love cannot be generated by an algorithm’ (EWTN)

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