The Vatican Dicastery for Communication wrote “Towards Full Presence” in 2023. Years earlier, Fr. Robert Prevost, as head of the Augustinian Order, discussed his presentation to the Synod of Bishops about the “new evangelization” with the Catholic News Service. Fr. Prevost became Pope Leo XIV in 2025, and his reflections on modern media carry even greater weight today. Both the formal document from the Vatican and the informal interview reflections from the future Pope share three guiding ideas in common with regard to how modern media should be implemented at the local parish level.
Towards Full Presence opens with a profound opinion that even in 2026, may cause some active Catholics to bristle. “The question is no longer whether to engage with the digital world, but how.” Local parishes no longer have the option to not engage in modern media such as websites, social media pages, YouTube channels, and email newsletters. Fr. Prevost and the Dicastery for Communication both acknowledge that modern media channels have risks that local parish leaders need to address. Towards Full Presence warns that social media channels and platforms have “traps” such as algorithms that force users into information “bubbles”; it can foster misinformation; and social platforms have clear profit models that do conflict with unbiased information sharing (paragraphs 12-16). Fr. Prevost called for “formation” to be promoted to help faithful Catholics learn how best to use modern media platforms. He said that people should learn not to take media at “face value” because without discernment it can often be misleading.
After acknowledging the true risks that modern media platforms, particularly social media, can pose in the lives of average Catholic parishioners, both the Dicastery for Communication and Fr. Prevost, now Pope Leo XIV, presents the tremendous benefits that modern media can offer. Fr. Prevost expressly states that churches should be using social media as a way to invite people to parish life.
He says that a short reflection or thoughtful invitation posted on social media could bring someone back to their local parish, especially if they have drifted away. Using the Dicastery’s guidelines, social posts should end with an invitation to join an activity or Liturgy in person at the local parish. Towards Full Presence says that liturgy on Livestream can support the community, but never replace the true value of worship and community life in person.
Finally, both the Dicastery for Communication and Fr. Prevost emphasize that modern media is an invitation to an encounter with Jesus Christ and His Church. Modern media is never to be a spectacle and should not appear to be a sales pitch for churches. Fr. Prevost remarks that media can be a starting point for a real, personal encounter with Jesus, but it should not be reduced to a superficial spectacle. Towards Full Presence encourages the use of modern media as part of a larger strategy that begins with an online connection, which leads to an in person encounter with Jesus and His Church in the local parish. “This is our witness: to vouch, with our words and our lives, for what someone else [Jesus] has done. This includes our engagement with social media. Faith means above all bearing witness to the joy that the Lord gives to us. Following the logic of the Gospel, all we have to do is to provoke a question to awaken the search. The rest is the hidden work of God” (paragraph 80).
If this reflection has raised a question about your own parish’s communications, I would be happy to help you. Knowing that a parish should be online is the easy part. Knowing how to do it well and faithfully, with the time and people you have, is harder.
Through Creative Church Communications, I help parishes use social media and email newsletters to invite people from the screen to the pew: to Mass, to the sacraments and to the life of the parish. I invite you to schedule a free discovery call with me. We will talk about where your parish is today, and what you hope your communications can do in the future. Together we will see whether my services are a good fit. Either way, I hope you leave our conversation with a few helpful tips that will enable your parish’s digital communication to grow.
To Schedule a Free Discovery Call, CLICK HERE: https://calendly.com/drcarlyyork/discovery-call
