Jubilee of the World of Communications was celebrated by conducting seminar for two days with one hundred participants each in two different places with the help of Bishop Maurice Nyunt Wai and Mr Aung Phyo Mon as resource persons.

It was the joint celebration of office of social communications (CBCM/Archdiocese of Yangon) and Radio Veritas Asia Sagaw Karen Service.

Date: : January 24, 2025, Day 1

Place:          : Novitiate of The Sisters of St. Francis Xavier Congregation, Mayanchaung, Pathein Diocese, Myanmar

Programs of the Day

6:00 am:      : Holy Sacrifice of the Mass presided by His Excellency Bp Maurice Nyunt Wai

  8:00 am:    : Ethics in Communication by Bp Maurice Nyunt Wai

10:00 am:    : Lecture on Social Media

01:30 pm:    : End of the Programs of the Day

The detail of the Lecture of Bishop Maurice Nyunt Wai on the Ethics in Communication

God is the Source of Communication. God the Father, God the Son, God the Holy Spirit communicate each other (one another) especially in the salvation history of humankind. It is the Communication Theology.
How God communicates?
The word of the song of God is His Son. And another word is Holy Spirit. It brings about the Cord or harmony. (Bishop Maurice compared the harmonious action of the Trinity with the Cord in Music.

In many and various ways, God spoke of old---------

There are various kinds of communication, such as-
1. Verbal communication
2. Non-verbal communication
3. Listening communication
4. Visual communication TV News Paper, Journal,
5. Written communication
Now all is available in our hands, which means, in the technical devices which we use every day.
RVA turns or changes to online services. (Migration of RVA Short Wave Program to Online Programs).

With all these changes, the whole becomes a village, said Bishop Maurice. 

He continued telling about the goal of technological progress.
Technological progress should be supportive to the humanity. It should be the witness of truth about life, about humanity, about the true meaning of freedom and mutual inter dependence, cited the Pope John Paul II. Message for the 33rd World Communication Day).
People hate the truth, said the Prelate.

“I am the way the truth and the life” = God is the truth.

We have to be careful about miss information which means false information.
Disinformation
Post truth is related to the circumstances in which people respond more to feeling and----
Fake news is created deliberately .
Let what you say yes means yes, ...... (Mt 5:37)

Communication must always be truthful since truth is essential.
The truth shall set you free.  (Jn 8: 32)

Communication in truth should serve for the common good and
ought to govern all areas of social life.

Communication in truth is to build and sustain humanity.

The three areas,
The fundamental ethical principle
Message
the human person and the human community

Communio et progressio make it clear that The media are called to serve  human dignity by helping people live well and function as person in community.

Human Bee = Although we are neighbors, we are imprisoned in our own room with no communication to outside world. (negative impact of social media).

We are to serve human person through Social Media.
We are to build community grounded on solidarity, justice and love.
We (People) are in need of Media Education.

Questions:
How can we be able to convey the message?
Hope = How can we bring Hope to others through Social Media?
We are to be alive in the Spirit.

The detail Lecture on Social Media by Mr Aung Pyo Mon

(Digital media advisor for 7 Day News Journal in 2008)

First, he speaks about Content Creation.

Types of digital contents

Content producers should understand their audience

Content Strategy

Audience Survey, Content survey

Content Calendar

Plan for Social Media

To be careful about the qualities of different components of the Programs

Content Creation Tools

It is very necessary to write the Effective Contents.

Publishing and Promoting Content

Other Message of Resource Person to the Audience especially to the Content Creators

Digital Rights Management

Engagement Strategies for Content

Utilizing Social Media for Promotion

It is very important to educate the working team.

It is good to conduct regular training sessions for the team.  To instruct staff on best practice for strong password creation. To ensure all staff are familiar with your organization’s security policies. To provide ongoing updates about emerging security threats and practices. To teach team members how to identify phishing attempts efficiently. To educate employees on safeguarding sensitive data during usage. To train team members on procedures for reporting security incidents.

The Second Day of celebration of the World of Communications took place in St Joseph’s Catholic Major Seminary, Yangon on January 25, 2025.

The occasion started with the Holy Mass followed by the lecture of His Excellency Bishop Nyunt Wai and The Lecture on Social Media by Mr Aung Pyo Mon.

The third Day of celebration of the World of Communications took place in St Mary’s Cathedral, Yangon on Sunday, January 26, 2025.

It was the Jubilee Holy Mass, presided by His Eminence Cardinal Charles Bo, with the Auxiliary bishops, Msgr. Andreas Ferrantte (Chargé d'affaires of Vatican to Myanmar), directors of National and Archdiocesan Social Communication office, Priests and Religious and the Faithful.

The Holy Mass began with the entry into the Cathedral passing through the threshold of the Holy Door of the Jubilee Year.

In His Homily, His Excellency Bishop Maurice Nyunt Wai said that Communication should for the community. Citing the word of Pope Francis, he said that Communication should give us hope. Media destroys many things. Media should not be the cause of misunderstanding. We have to heal ourselves first.

Before the final blessing, Msgr Andreas Ferrante, Charge de Affairre of Vatican to Myanmar, delivered the speech and afterwards it was translated into Burmese.

He said that, it was the first Eucharistic celebration dedicated to the Jubilee of the World of Communication, which has as its motto “Pilgrims of Hope.” January 24 commemorates St. Francis de Sales, patron saint of journalists. St. Francis de Sales, more than four centuries ago, was an innovative communicator, but always in the sign of dialogue, peace and courage, said Msgr Andreas. 

He said that, Communication plays a very important role in building social relationships and understanding past, present and future history. When asked “what role the Church should play in terms of the practical means of communication at its disposal”, Pope Francis replies: “In every situation, the goal is to understand how to enter into dialogue with the men and women of today, in a special way with young people, in order to appreciate their desires, their doubts and their hopes, said Msgr. Andreas. 

“In the age of globalization, a growing sense of disorientation and isolation; we see, increasingly, a loss of meaning to life, a struggle to build meaningful relationships. It is important to know how to dialogue and, with discernment, to use modern technologies and social networks in such a way as to reveal a presence that listens, converses and encourages,” said Msgr. Andreas Ferrante, Charge de affairre of Vatican to Myanmar. 

“Allow yourselves, without fear, to be this presence, expressing your Christian identity as you become citizens of this environment. A Church that follows this path learns how to walk with everyone,” he said, citing Pope Francis’ Address to the participants in the plenary assembly of the Pontifical Council for Social Communications, 21.09.2013.

“The Jubilee offers an opportunity to start reflecting on our life to understand where we are going and our role as communicators,” added Msgr Andreas.

He continued to say that, the Jubilee pilgrimage helps us understand and remember that we are not alone, that we were created to walk together! Through our work we can help develop the creativity to communicate hope, to create ways to know and spread it.

In a world dominated by the power of the digital, of the virtual, we are not to be afraid to witness to the truth, to tell of the power of forgiveness that comes from an encounter with Jesus and one's neighbor; to tell of the beauty of life as a gift; to educate about the true meaning of freedom and love; upholding the authentic value of marriage, the family and family life, the foundation of every culture and society; educating children and young people in beauty, truth and goodness; promoting respect for human dignity and promoting care for the environment. Our work will always be more fruitful if we are well rooted in the Gospel, the teaching of Pope Francis, the Social Doctrine of the Church and your own experience of faith, hope and charity, he said.

In these times characterized by disinformation and polarization, in which a few power centers control an unprecedented mass of data and information, it is important to live responsibly our task in the service of humanity, he said.

Msgr. Andreas invite us to be 'communicators of hope,' beginning with a renewal of our work and mission in the spirit of the Gospel.

He encourages all to courageously continue to spread a culture of solidarity, dialogue and fraternity, to build bridges and break down the visible and invisible barriers of the present time. To tell stories imbued with hope and to strive to write the story of our future.