Unlock your heart before unlocking your phone

In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Peace be with you!

Dear brothers and sisters, we have begun with this greeting: Peace be with you!

How much we need peace in these times marked by hostility and war, which in turn calls us to give witness to the greeting of the Risen Lord: “Peace be with you!” (Jn 20:19). May his peace be with all of us, in our hearts and in our actions.

This is the mission of the Church: to proclaim peace to the world! The peace that comes from the Lord, who conquered death, brings us God’s forgiveness, gives us the life of the Father, and shows us the way of Love!

Peace is not an ethereal sentiment or an emotion that visits us from time to time. True peace has a name: Jesus. And his greeting ("Peace be with you") is a personal invitation to let Him enter into the place where you store your fears, your haste, and your wounds.

We live high-speed lives, often connected to everything except for what really matters. Maybe that's why we find it so hard to feel that promised peace. There's an unspoken question in the Pope's greeting: have you ever thought about how often you look for peace without finding it? Sometimes we try to disconnect from notifications, but still find our minds and hearts racing. Real peace comes when there's space inside you, when you turn down the noise and let God work: He brings peace when we don't know where to look for it. 

If you don't care for your heart, your presence on social media will be an extension of the noise "outside." But if you let Christ give you his peace, even scrolling can lead you to Him.

Evangelising without realising it

This is the mission that the Church entrusts to each of you who have come to Rome for your Jubilee. You are here to renew your commitment to nourish Christian hope in social networks and online spaces. Peace needs to be sought, proclaimed, and shared everywhere, both in the places where we see the tragedy of war and in the empty hearts of those who have lost the meaning of life and the desire for introspection and the spiritual life. Perhaps, today more than ever, we need missionary disciples who convey the gift of the Risen Lord to the world; who voice to the ends of the earth the hope that Jesus gives us (cf. Acts 1:3-8); and who go wherever there is a heart that waits, seeks, and is in need. Yes, to the ends of the earth, to the farthest reaches, where there is no hope.

The Pope doesn't beat around the bush: we need to bring hope to the ends of the earth… and of the internet.

Your social media accounts aren't "window displays" of your life: you don't have to prove or sell anything. People are looking for sparks of meaning. Sometimes they're desperate for them. And how can offer that spark without doing anything crazy, by sharing a quote that lifts people up, replying kindly to comments, or recommending other accounts.

Many young people live without direction, meaning, or knowing what they're looking for. And you (yes, you) can be the bridge to something more. When you share something good, when you spread joy, and when you don't join in the easy criticism… you might not realise it, but you're evangelising. 

Hope is contagious. So here's the key question: what kind of footprint does your digital presence leave?  

See the person behind the screen

There is a second challenge in this mission: always look for the “suffering flesh of Christ” in every brother and sister you encounter online. Today we find ourselves in a new culture, deeply characterized and formed by technology. It is up to us – it is up to each one of you – to ensure that this culture remains human.

Science and technology influence the way we live in the world, even affecting how we understand ourselves and how we relate to God, how we relate to one another. But nothing that comes from man and his creativity should be used to undermine the dignity of others. Our mission – your mission – is to nurture a culture of Christian humanism, and to do so together. This is the beauty of the “network” for all of us.

Faced with cultural changes throughout history, the Church has never remained passive; she has always sought to illuminate every age with the light and hope of Christ by discerning good from evil and what was good from what needed to be changed, transformed, and purified.

Today we are in a culture where the technological dimension is present in almost everything, especially as the widespread adoption of artificial intelligence will mark a new era in the lives of individuals and society as a whole. This is a challenge that we must face: reflecting on the authenticity of our witness, on our ability to listen and speak, and on our capacity to understand and to be understood. We have a duty to work together to develop a way of thinking, to develop a language, of our time, that gives voice to Love.

It is not simply a matter of generating content, but of creating an encounter of hearts. This will entail seeking out those who suffer, those who need to know the Lord, so that they may heal their wounds, get back on their feet and find meaning in their lives. Above all, this process begins with accepting our own poverty, letting go of all pretense and recognizing our own inherent need for the Gospel. And this process is a communal endeavor.

Our digital world runs the risk of becoming a place where people disappears behind personas, where we show others what we think they want to see, give opinions without really thinking about them, and hurt others without realising.

Looking for "the suffering flesh of Christ" means daring to look beyond what we see on the surface. There's a story behind every comments, and we all know that perfect photos can hide wounds and silence can hide exhaustion. What little gestures can you make to recognise other people's dignity online?

Don't forget that you'll never heal digital wounds if you don't let God heal yours. The mission begins by recognising your fragility, not hiding it.

Turn followers into friends

This brings us to the third invitation in this mission, which I extend to all of you: “go and mend the nets.” Jesus called his first apostles while they were mending their fishing nets (cf. Mt 4:21-22). He asks the same of us today. Indeed, he asks us to weave other nets: networks of relationships, of love, of gratuitous sharing where friendship is profound and authentic; networks where we can mend what has been broken, heal from loneliness, not focus on the number of followers, but experience the greatness of infinite Love in every encounter; networks that give space to others more than to ourselves, where no “bubble” can silence the voices of the weakest; networks that liberate and save; networks that help us rediscover the beauty of looking into each other’s eyes; networks of truth. In this way, every story of shared goodness will be a knot in a single, immense network: the network of networks, the network of God.

Be agents of communion, capable of breaking down the logic of division and polarization, of individualism and egocentrism. Centre yourselves on Christ, so as to overcome the logic of the world, of fake news, of frivolity, with the beauty and light of Truth (cf. Jn 8:31-32).

Before concluding with a blessing and commending your witness to the Lord, I would like to thank you for all the good you have done and continue to do in your lives: for pursuing your dreams, for your love for the Lord Jesus and your love for the Church, for the help you give to those who suffer, and for your journey along the virtual highways.

Jesus called his disciples while mending nets, and He's calling you to do something similar. Mending networks means putting the logic of love before the algorithm. How can you open space for dialogue where others close doors? How can you fight the impulse to let polarisation label people?

The Pope asks you to build communities woven together by real friendship, listening, and care for others. He reminds us that the way to break through superficiality, gossip, and lies is with the beauty of authenticity. Have the courage to share your faith and the humility to find joy even when no one likes your posts.

We're not spectators in the online world, because God entrusted it to us as stewards. The whole world is ours, and building it is part of our call to holiness. What do you have to offer today?