Asian Digital Missionaries Seek Collaboration, Learning at First Assembly in Manila

Catholic digital missionaries and communicators from different parts of Asia are gathering at Radio Veritas Asia in Fairview Park, Quezon City, for the Asian Catholic Digital Missionary Assembly, being held from September 10 to 13.

The four-day assembly, hosted by Radio Veritas Asia, brings together participants from different Asian countries to discuss the growing role of digital media in the Catholic Church’s mission of evangelization and communication.

The gathering carries the theme “Influencers to Witnesses: Synodal Way for Digital Mission in Asia,” highlighting the call for Catholic digital communicators to move beyond social media influence and become authentic witnesses of the faith in the digital environment.

Among the participants is Fr. Ritchie Vincent of the Archdiocese of Madras and Mylapore, India, who said his interest in the assembly grew from his experience attending an international digital missionary gathering in the Vatican.

Fr. Ritchie said there were very few Asian participants at the Vatican gathering, prompting him to ask where the Asian digital missionaries were.

“That was a burning desire within me,” he said.

He said the Manila assembly provides an opportunity for Asian digital missionaries to meet, collaborate and learn from one another.

Fr. Ritchie currently works with a digital missionary community in India, including Catholic influencers undergoing formation and digital missionaries engaged in deeper Catholic studies.

He said he is looking forward to learning new techniques and technologies and gaining ideas that can strengthen his ministry in India.

For Gie Rhea Jadulco of the Philippines, the assembly is an opportunity to learn how social media and social communication are being used in other Asian countries.

“I just want to learn from other cultures also and how social media, social communications were in other countries in Asia,” she said.

She also expressed her expectation of meeting participants from different countries and building friendships during the gathering.

Meanwhile, Mika Ellah L. Tabada, also from the Philippines, said she is looking forward to the discussions and meeting fellow digital missionaries from across Asia.

Tabada said participants may have different cultures, platforms and practices, but the assembly can provide an opportunity to collaborate and learn from one another.

“Even if we are all Asians, we have different cultures, we have different platforms, we have different practices,” she said.

She also highlighted the Philippines’ hospitality and creativity as among the qualities that Filipino participants can share with other delegates.

Jennifer Odelia Meredith of Indonesia said she is looking forward to meeting fellow participants and discussing ways of strengthening digital mission in their respective countries.

She said the gathering could help participants learn new ways of creating media and content for their communities.

Asked what she would bring from Indonesia to the assembly, Meredith emphasized the importance of “praying for each other.”

The participants are expected to take part in discussions, formation sessions and exchanges on digital evangelization, communication practices and collaboration among Catholic digital missionaries in Asia.

The first day of the assembly opened with a Holy Mass, in which the delegates took part drssed in the9r traditional cultural attire, celebrating the rich diversity and unity of the Catholic Church across Asia.