Vatican official to Catholic journalists: Be ‘disciples before influencers’

Archbishop Fortunatus Nwachukwu reflected on the importance of communicating the truth in a digital age of trends.

Editor’s Note: The following is the keynote address delivered by Archbishop Fortunatus Nwachukwu, secretary of the Dicastery for Evangelization, to young Catholic media professionals and guests during the closing dinner of the 2026 EWTN Summer Academy on July 1 in Rome.

Gratitude and hope

Allow me to begin by expressing my heartfelt gratitude for the invitation to address you at the Summer Academy 2026. This gathering fills me with much hope and joy. It gladdens my heart to see young Catholic photographers, writers, filmmakers, reporters, editors, broadcasters, content creators, storytellers, and media influencers coming together, not merely to improve their technical and professional skills in media and journalism but to discern how they can use their talents and gifts to serve Christ and his Church. The concept note you shared with me clearly reflects your desire to uphold the truth, promote human dignity, and proclaim the Gospel.

The digital highway and the importance of Catholic journalists

We live in an age where communication shapes public opinion, forms worldviews, influences values, and even determines how many people understand themselves. The internet has collapsed geographical boundaries and made the world a global village. A young journalist in Nairobi can influence someone in São Paulo and shape the imagination of another young person thousands of miles away. A podcast recorded in Manila can inspire a student in Rome. A short video uploaded in Lagos can be watched in Sydney within minutes.

Your generation has been entrusted with something unprecedented. Never before has a generation possessed such extraordinary power to shape minds, influence culture, and connect people across the world. A smartphone today is more than a device; it is a newsroom, a publishing house, a television studio, a camera, a library, and a doorway into the lives of millions. That is a remarkable gift. It is also a profound responsibility. That is why the Church needs grounded and properly formed Catholic journalists. The Church needs communicators who are competent, credible, courageous, creative, and rooted in Christ.

Disciples first: Communicating truth in a digital age of trends

For this keynote, I would like to invite us to reflect on the theme, “Disciples Before Influencers: Communicating Truth in a Digital Age of Trends.” I can think of no more fitting place to begin than with the final commission of the risen Lord: “Go therefore and make disciples of all nations” (Mt 28:19). These words were never intended only for priests, bishops, religious, or catechists. They express the missionary vocation of the whole Church. Every baptized Christian is sent to bear witness to Christ. More than 2,000 years have passed since Jesus entrusted the Church with this mission, yet those words have lost none of their urgency, none of their relevance, and none of their power.

The mission has not changed. What has changed is not the mission but the roads that lead to the nations. In the first century, the apostles traveled by foot and by sea. Today, “all nations” are also found on the digital highway. They gather on Instagram, TikTok, Facebook, YouTube, X, podcasts, blogs, news platforms, and countless online communities. The digital world has become one of the great mission fields of our time, where ideas are exchanged, cultures are shaped, public opinion is formed, and millions of people search each day for truth, hope, meaning, and belonging. If this is where people gather, then this is where the disciples of Christ must also be present, not merely to attract attention but to bear witness to the Gospel with wisdom, integrity, and love.

Our greatest challenge today is not technology. It is truth. We live in a culture fascinated by what is trending. Every day we ask what is going viral, what is gaining attention, what everyone is talking about. These are not unimportant questions, but they are not the most important question. The Christian disciple must ask a deeper question: Is it true? Trends come and go. They change with every season, every algorithm, and every generation. Truth does not.

Jesus prayed to the Father: “Sanctify them in the truth; your word is truth” (Jn 17:17). Truth is not simply what receives the most likes or the loudest applause. Truth is that which corresponds to God’s reality and reflects God’s character. Because God is faithful, truth remains faithful. Because God is just, truth remains just. Because God is merciful, truth is never separated from compassion. Christians therefore do not choose between truth and love. We speak the truth in love because both have their source in God.

This is why your vocation as young Catholic journalists and communicators matters so deeply. Your task is not merely to produce content but to cultivate trust; not merely to report events but to help people see reality clearly; not merely to increase traffic but to increase understanding. The world does not simply need faster news. It needs wiser voices. It needs communicators whose credibility is rooted not only in professional competence but also in moral integrity. Before the Church asks us to become communicators, she asks us to become disciples. Discipleship always comes before influence.

Moses and the digital age: When we sit, walk, lie down, and rise

Moses understood this long before the invention of the internet. In Deuteronomy, he tells Israel: “You shall teach them diligently … and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, when you walk by the way, when you lie down, and when you rise” (Dt 6:7). He was describing a life in which God’s truth fills every ordinary moment. Today we still sit, walk, lie down, and rise, but often with a screen in our hands. We sit before our laptops, walk with our phones, lie down after scrolling, and wake up to notifications. The platforms have changed; the mission has not. We are still called to carry God’s truth into every space where people live, search, question, and communicate. The digital world is not outside the mission of the Church; it has become one of its principal frontiers.

4 frontiers for the digital disciple

As you prepare to enter this world, allow me to leave you with four fraternal invitations. First, build your mind before you build your platform. Read Scripture before you scroll. Study deeply. Learn continuously. A shallow mind cannot communicate a profound Gospel. Second, let every digital road become a road to Christ. Every article, photograph, interview, or documentary can defend human dignity, inspire hope, and serve the common good. Third, protect your interior life. Do not allow constant connectivity to rob you of silence, prayer, and reflection. A communicator who never listens to God will eventually have little of worth to say to the world. Finally, begin each day as a disciple before you become a journalist, a content creator, or an influencer. Your identity is not determined by followers, algorithms, or statistics. It is rooted in your baptism and your friendship with Jesus Christ.

Disciples first before influencers

Dear friends, the future of Catholic communication will not be decided by technology alone. It will be decided by the kind of people we become. The world does not need more noise. It needs more light. It does not need more influencers; it needs credible witnesses. Go, therefore, into the digital world with professional excellence, intellectual honesty, moral courage, and living faith. But above all, go as disciples. For when disciples communicate with truth, humility, and love, they do more than inform minds: They open hearts to an encounter with Jesus Christ, who is “the way, and the truth, and the life” (Jn 14:6).

Finally, a word about artificial intelligence. It is one of the greatest technological developments of our time, and like every great tool, it should be welcomed with wisdom and used responsibly. Let it assist your work, but never replace your thinking. Let it expand your research, but never substitute your judgment. Above all, never outsource your memory, your conscience, your imagination or your capacity for wonder. Machines can process information, but they cannot love. They can generate text, but they cannot bear witness. They can imitate intelligence, but they cannot become disciples. Use artificial intelligence as a tool, but never surrender your agency, your gifts, your creativity, or your responsibility. Place every technology at the service of truth, humanity, and the Gospel.

Above all, remember that Catholic is not a label; it is an identity you embody. And a disciple is a living example and indeed a sample of Christ. May others encounter Christ through you, dear Catholic journalists and communicators.