Ruffini: ‘We need a communication based on humanity not algorithms’

Vatican News

The key to rediscovering “the path to fully human communication” is the “wisdom of the heart.” Pope Francis’ words on the occasion of this year’s World Communications Day are at the heart of the video message that the prefect of the Vatican’s dicastery for communication, Paolo Ruffini, sent Monday to participants in the Second Assembly of the Ecclesial Conference of the Amazon (CEAMA), which concluded in Manaus, Brazil.

Uniting what is divided

The message in Spanish underlines the crucial importance of communication as a means of fostering unity among peoples, while preserving their cultural differences. Communication, Mr. Ruffini emphasizes, serves to “unite what is divided” and is therefore a with meansthat is, a “mutual gift” that arises from the relationship that is established “by talking, listening, and understanding the other.” This shared gift “intertwines our differences, makes us members of each other, reflects the way everything is interconnected.”

Human communication inspired by the wisdom of the heart

Human communication, Ruffini said, is needed to counter the colonizing invasion of mass media, criticized by Pope Francis, in order to “build a better world.” We need a new narrative that does not give in to evil and a communication system based “on humanity,” rather than on technology or algorithms, that encourages dialogue, cultural encounter and care for the “common home,” the prefect said.

A spiritual look

Faced with the “exponential advance” of digital systems and artificial intelligence, he once again called for providing communication with a “spiritual outlook”, “capable of bringing back to unity what we have divided through selfishness”, for lifelong education and collective responsibility.

CEAMA Assembly

CEAMA was created in 2020 following the Special Synod of Bishops for the Pan-Amazon Region, held at the Vatican in October 2019. The body acts as a “bridge” between the various ecclesial and socio-environmental initiatives at the continental and international level, thus contributing to the implementation of the many proposals arising from the Synod.

The meeting in Manaus brought together representatives of the Church of Brazil, Bolivia, Colombia, Ecuador, Guyana, Peru, Suriname, Venezuela and the French Amazon, who discussed the theme “Christ points to the Amazon: communion, mission and participation”, in view of the upcoming second session of the XVI Ordinary General Assembly of the Synod of Bishops, scheduled for October 2-27 at the Vatican.

During the four days of debates, participants focused on the current situation in the Amazon, listened to testimonies and shared moments of spiritual conversation.