El Salvador - Announcing the Gospel through new social communication technologies
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24 July 2018

(ANS - San Salvador) - We talk about social networks and we run the risk of understanding them only as a means of transmitting information. But with them, a new way of learning and thinking is created, creating opportunities to establish relationships and create bonds.

They are not neutral instruments. Their impact on people and on the whole of humanity is extremely profound.

When using social networks, the Christian must be responsible and adopt ethical sensitivity. If they are wisely used, social networks offer a valid response to that desire for truth and unity typical of human beings. Transmitting information to the world goes beyond simple data exchange. Rather it means entering a social network, through interpersonal exchanges. New technologies, used responsibly, enhance communication, dialogue, exchange, solidarity and the creation of positive relationships.


Digital communication, however, can also become impoverished if used in a distorted way, or only aimed at creating a self-referential image. The Christian style, in the digital world, must be characterized by a frank and open communication, responsible and respectful of the other.

Communicating the Gospel through new media does not just mean putting religious contents on the various platforms. In one's profile, one must give consistent testimonies, communicate preferences, opinions and judgments, which are in line with the Gospel. One must realize that the value of what one shares is beyond the popularity or the number of "likes" received. The Truth contained in the Gospel cannot be transformed into an object of easy consumption. On the contrary, it should be understood as a gift which can be freely enjoyed.

Christians must therefore unite with trust and creativity to this network of relationships that the digital era has made possible, not to satisfy a simple desire to be present, but because this network is now an integral part of daily life.

The proclamation of the Gospel presupposes a form of respectful and discreet communication, which stimulates the heart and moves the conscience; a form that recalls the style of the risen Jesus.

Truth, which is Christ, is ultimately the full and authentic response to that human desire for relationship, communion and meaning, which also manifests itself in the massive participation in various social 

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ANS - “Agenzia iNfo Salesiana” is a on-line almost daily publication, the communication agency of the Salesian Congregation enrolled in the Press Register of the Tibunal of Rome as n 153/2007.

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