Media Competencies in the Communication of Faith in Pope Francis' Messages for World Communications Day (2014–2025)
Part One: Cognitive and Ethical Competencies
Mirosław Chmielewski
The John Paul II Catholic University of Lublin , Polandhttps://orcid.org/0000-0002-6903-479X
Abstract
The article offers partial results of research on media competencies in the communication of faith, reconstructed on the basis of Pope Francis’ Messages for the World Communications Day (2014–2025). The research problem focuses on identifying the competencies deemed essential for the Christian proclamation within the digital culture and on analysing their theological and anthropological grounds in the face of such contemporary challenges as disinformation, social polarisation, and the development of artificial intelligence. A three-stage qualitative content analysis (exploration— categorisation—interpretation) was supported by contextual validation through comparison with the relevant literature and the teaching of the Church. The analysis helped to define five equivalent categories of media competencies: cognitive, ethical, relational, technical, and spiritual (each with four subcategories). This article discusses the first two of them, i.e. cognitive competencies (related to the search for truth, critical discernment, and reflection) and ethical competencies (responsibility, the culture of encounter, the ethics of technology, resistance to disinformation). Their mutual complementarity and deep grounding in Christian anthropology and Francis’ theology of communication were demonstrated. The messages show communication of the faith as an act of love, witness, and community-building, in which cognition and ethics constitute two inseparable dimensions of the mature presence of Christians in the media. The article concludes with seven findings and formative recommendations for media education and pastoral ministry in the context of digital culture. The remaining categories (relational, technical, and spiritual) will be discussed in a separate publication.
Keywords:
communication of faith, disinformation, media and digital competencies, media literacy, Pope Francis, World Communications DayReferences
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The John Paul II Catholic University of Lublin
Fr. Mirosław Chmielewski CSsR , PhD, assistant professor; Faculty of Theology, John Paul II Catholic University of Lublin. Research interests: pastoral theology, media theology, social media and AI, religious communication in digital culture, media education, catechetical didactics, adult education, pedagogical bibliography. Consultant to the Council for Social Communication of the Polish Episcopal Conference; member of the Media Commission of the Conference of Major Superiors of Religious Orders in Poland, the Polish Society for Social Communication, Polish Society for Media Education; co-founder of the Association of Polish Catechists, co-founder and member of the Board (2007-2016) of the NATAN Teachers' Association.
Selected Publications: Chmielewski, Mirosław. 2020. “Media Education and the New Evangelization. Part One: Media Components and Challenges.” Verbum Vitae 37 (2): 407–25. https://doi.org/10.31743/vv.8346; Chmielewski Mirosław and Drożak, Łukasz. 2024. “Defence of the cross in Miętne in the American press”. In The study of Love, Courage and the Cross, 40th Anniversary of the Defence of the Cross at the Agricultural School Complex in Miętne, edited by Andrzej Kiciński, 143–176. Kielce: Wydawnictwo Jedność; Chmielewski, Mirosław. 2024. „Edukacja medialna w szkolnym nauczaniu religii”. In Nie służymy sprawie przegranej, edited by Helena Słotwińska and Paweł Mąkosa, 375–385. Tarnów: Biblos.
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