Catholic digital missionaries should look beyond follower counts and focus on building relationships, listening to others and fostering communion online, Cardinal Pablo Virgilio David of Kalookan said Sunday.
“Your mission is not simply to gather followers. It is to build relationships, create spaces of encounter, and help people journey together,” David said during the closing Mass of the first Asian Catholic Digital Missionary Assembly at Novaliches Cathedral.
The vice president of the Federation of Asian Bishops’ Conferences said digital missionaries should enter online spaces not merely as content creators but as disciples willing to listen, accompany and encounter others.
“Perhaps your first ministry in the digital world is not speaking but listening. Listen before you react. Listen before you judge,” David said.
He urged missionaries to listen especially to voices often ignored, including the poor, wounded, lonely, young people and those who have given up on the Church.
A mission field online
David said the digital world has become a culture where people meet, suffer, hope and search for God, making it a genuine mission territory for the Church.
But he warned that digital platforms can connect millions while leaving people lonely and can deepen divisions by grouping users into hostile camps.
“Every screen opens onto a human life,” David said, reminding digital missionaries to see the hopes, fears, wounds and dignity of the people behind online interactions.
“Before you answer a comment, share a story or enter a debate, remember: the person on the other side is not an enemy to defeat, but a brother or sister to encounter,” he said.
Building bridges
David urged Catholic communicators to speak the truth with charity and defend what is right without denying the humanity of those who disagree.
“When others spread anger, answer with courage. When others spread contempt, answer with dignity. When others close the door, become a bridge,” he said.
He said Christians must recognize as brothers and sisters even those who disagree with, disappoint or hurt them.
“The person who thinks differently from you is still your brother or sister,” David said. “Even the person who wounds you remains a child of the same Father.”
David said forgiveness can break cycles of resentment and violence and open the way to reconciliation.
He challenged digital missionaries to examine whether their online presence merely adds to the noise or shows that reconciliation and communion are possible.
“Go into the digital world not merely as influencers, but as missionary disciples — listeners, companions, bridge-builders and witnesses to hope,” David said.
The Sept. 10–13 assembly at the Radio Veritas Asia headquarters in Fairview, Quezon City, gathered more than 100 Catholic digital missionaries, communicators and content creators from across Asia.
