Asian Digital Missionaries Called to Bring Gospel to Digital Peripheries at Commissioning Mass

Catholic digital communicators from across Asia were commissioned as digital missionaries during a Mass on September 13 that concluded the first Asian Catholic Digital Missionary Assembly, with a call to make the digital world a place of listening, encounter, reconciliation and communion.

The Commissioning Mass was celebrated at Good Shepherd Cathedral of the Diocese of Novaliches in Quezon City, in the Mero Manila region of the Philippines.

The four-day assembly, held September 10–13, brought together Catholic communicators, media practitioners and digital missionaries from across Asia to reflect on the Church’s presence and mission in the digital world.

The assembly was organized by the Federation of Asian Bishops’ Conferences Office of Social Communication (FABC-OSC), in collaboration with Radio Veritas Asia (RVA), the Church’s regional media platform based in Manila. It focused on strengthening digital missionary formation, promoting collaboration among Asian Churches and encouraging participants to bring the Gospel into contemporary digital spaces.

Cardinal Pablo Virgilio “Ambo” David, Bishop of Kalookan and vice president of the Federation of Asian Bishops’ Conferences, presided over the Mass. He was joined by Bishop Marcelino Antonio “Junie” Maralit Jr., chairman of the FABC Office of Social Communication; Fr. Felmar Fiel, SVD, general manager of RVA; Fr. John Mi Shen, program director of RVA; Rev. Fr. Albert N. Delvo, rector of Good Shepherd Cathedral; and other clergy.

In his homily, Cardinal David reflected on Christian forgiveness and the meaning of baptismal fraternity, emphasizing that people who think differently, disappoint or hurt one another remain brothers and sisters in Christ.

He said Baptism created a larger family that crossed ethnic, cultural and national boundaries, a reality particularly important for a Church as diverse as Asia.

Cardinal David connected this message directly with the mission of digital communicators. The digital world, he said, was no longer simply a collection of technological tools but had become a culture and a place where people meet, search, suffer, fall and sometimes search for God.

He urged digital missionaries not to enter this world merely as content creators.

“Go there as missionaries,” he said, urging them to listen before reacting and to pay particular attention to voices that are often ignored, including the poor, wounded, lonely, angry and young, as well as those who have given up on the Church.

He said digital mission should help people move beyond mere connection toward genuine human and spiritual communion.

The internet, he noted, could connect millions of people without necessarily enabling meaningful human encounter. The task of digital missionaries, therefore, was not simply to gather audiences but to build relationships, create spaces for encounter and help people journey together.

Cardinal David also challenged participants to uphold the dignity of people with whom they disagreed.

“The person on the other side is not an enemy to defeat,” he said, urging digital missionaries to speak the truth clearly and defend what is right without denying the humanity of others.

“When others spread anger, answer with courage. When others spread contempt, answer with dignity. When other people close the door, become a bridge,” he said.

He also called on digital missionaries to embody forgiveness rather than resentment, saying forgiveness could break cycles of anger and make new relationships possible.

At the end of the Mass, the participants made a solemn commitment led by Fr. John Mi Shen. In the oath, they pledged to serve as digital missionaries and to be “an authentic witness of faith in Asia.” They committed themselves to “walking the synodal way, listening deeply, collaborating across borders” and transforming digital presence “into a living encounter with Christ.” They also pledged to share “the diverse stories, joys, and challenges of the Asian Church,” bringing the light of the Gospel to “every screen and digital periphery.”

The oath concluded with a prayer for the grace and courage to remain faithful to the mission.

For Mary Hoang Tran Thao Vy of Vietnam, the assembly was an opportunity to listen, learn and discern together with Catholic communicators and digital missionaries from across Asia.

“The Assembly has helped open our hearts to listen, learn, discern, and journey together with Catholic communicators and digital missionaries from across Asia,” she said.

She identified the sharing on World Youth Day 2027 as her favorite part of the assembly, particularly the discussion on how young people can contribute to the next World Youth Day.

The commissioning marked the culmination of the four-day assembly’s call for a more synodal, collaborative and missionary Catholic presence in Asia’s rapidly changing digital environment