VATICAN CITY — The theme for the 55th World Day of Social Communications, to be held in May 2021 was released on Tuesday. The theme is:
“Come and see” (Jn 1,46). Communicating, encountering people as and where they are.
The words “Come and see” are central to the Gospel. Before the Gospel is proclaimed, prior to words, there are “looks, testimonies, experiences, encounters and closeness. In a word, life.”
These words, from the Gospel of John (1, 43-46) were chosen by Pope Francis, with the subtitle “Communicating, encountering people as and where they are”.
Here is the full Gospel passage: “The next day, after Jesus had decided to leave for Galilee, He met Philip and said, ‘Follow me’. Philip came from the same town, Bethsaida, as Andrew and Peter. Philip found Nathanael and said to him, ‘We have found Him of whom Moses in the Law and the prophets wrote, Jesus son of Joseph, from Nazareth’. Nathanael said to him, ‘From Nazareth? Can anything good come from that place?’ Philip replied, ‘Come and see’”.
A message accompanying the theme’s announcement states:
“In the epochal change we are experiencing, in a time that obliges us to social distance due to the pandemic, communication can enable the closeness that is necessary to recognise what is essential, and to truly understand the meaning of things.
“We do not know the truth if we do not experience it, if we do not meet people, if we do not participate in their joys and sorrows. The old saying “God meets you where you are” can be a guide for those engaged in media or communications work in the Church. In the call of the first disciples, with Jesus who went to encounter them and to invite them to follow Him, we also see the invitation to use all media, in all their forms, to reach people as they are and where they live.”
