VATICAN: Pope Francis Announces Centenary Anniversary of St. Francis de Sales, Patron of Journalists
Centenary of Proclamation of St. Francis de Sales as Patron of Journalists
Sr. Jecinter Antoinette Okoth, FSSA
As Catholic Communicators prepare for the 57th World Day of Social Communications, Pope Francis has announced the 100th anniversary of St. Francis de Sales who was declared a Doctor of the Church and patron of Catholic journalists by Pius XI with the Encyclical, Rerum Omnium Perturbationem in 1923.
“I would like to mention another anniversary that takes place in 2023: the centenary of proclamation as patron of Catholic journalists by Pius XI, St. Francis de Sales,” the Pope disclosed and described the Patron Saint of Catholic journalists, “A brilliant intellectual, fruitful writer and profound theologian, Francis de Sales was Bishop of Geneva at the beginning of the XVII century during difficult years marked by heated disputes with Calvinists.”
Relating the life of St. Francis de Sales to the 57th theme of World Day of Social Communications of “Speak with the heart: Veritatem Facientes in Caritate” (Doing the Truth in Charity), the Pope said that the Saint is “One of the brightest and still fascinating examples of “speaking with the heart.”
“His meek attitude, humanity and willingness to dialogue patiently with everyone, especially with those who disagreed with him, made him an extraordinary witness of God’s merciful love,” reads part of the Pontiff’s message and continues in relation to the book of Sirach, “One could say about him: “A pleasant voice multiplies friends, and a gracious tongue multiplies courtesies.”
The Pope disclosed that one of the most famous statements of St. Francis de Sales was “heart speaks to heart” and his convictions was, “In order to speak well, it is enough to love well.”
This he said, “Shows that for him (St. Francis de Sales), communication should never be reduced to something artificial, to a marketing strategy, as we might say nowadays, but is rather a reflection of the soul, the visible surface of a nucleus of love that is invisible to the eye.”
In this way, for Saint Francis de Sales, precisely “in the heart and through the heart, there comes about a subtle, intense and unifying process in which we come to know God.”
According to Pope Francis in his published message on Tuesday, January 24, for the 57th World Day of Social Communication, it is from the “criterion of love” that, through St. Francis de Sales writings and witness of life that the Saint reminds us that “we are what we communicate.”
“This goes against the grain today, at a time when as we experience especially on social media communication is often exploited so that the world may see us as we would like to be and not as we are,” the Pope said adding that St. Francis de Sales’ “journalistic intuition earned him a reputation that quickly went beyond the confines of his diocese and still endures to this day.”
St. Francis de Sales writings as Saint Paul VI observed, “Provide for a “highly enjoyable, instructive and moving” reading,” which Pope Francis highlights are the characteristics which should be looked for today in the field of communications in an “article, a report, a television or radio programme or a social media post.”
“May people who work in communications feel inspired by this saint of tenderness, seeking and telling the truth with courage and freedom and rejecting the temptation to use sensational and combative expressions,” he added.
Connecting “speaking with the heart” to the ongoing synodal process the Pope narrated that “there is a great need to listen to and to hear one another in the Church, as this is the most precious and life-giving gift we can offer each other.”
“Listening without prejudice, attentively and openly, gives rise to speaking according to God’s style, nurtured by closeness, compassion and tenderness,” reads part of the Tuesday message as the Pontiff continues, “We have a pressing need in the Church for communication that kindles hearts, that is balm on wounds and that shines light on the journey of our brothers and sisters.”
“I dream of an ecclesial communication that knows how to let itself be guided by the Holy Spirit, gentle and at the same time, prophetic, that knows how to find new ways and means for the wonderful proclamation it is called to deliver in the third millennium,” he added.
Pope Francis further calls communication which puts the relationship with God and one’s neighbour, especially the neediest, at the centre and which knows how to light the fire of faith rather than preserve the ashes of a self-referential identity. A form of communication founded on humility in listening and parrhesia in speaking, which never separates truth from charity.
