“Whisper Jesus in Asia,” Archbishop Garcera Tells Asian Digital Missionaries at Manila Assembly

Catholic digital missionaries across Asia were urged to “whisper Jesus” through their communication by listening to people, respecting cultures and bringing truth and hope to the digital world.

Archbishop Gilbert Garcera, president of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines (CBCP), made the appeal during the opening Mass of the First Asian Catholic Digital Missionary Assembly on Sept. 11 at the Pope John Paul II Auditorium on the Radio Veritas Asia (RVA) campus in Quezon City.

The four-day assembly, held Sept. 10–13, brings together more than 100 Catholic digital missionaries, communicators and influencers from across Asia under the theme, “Influencers to Witnesses: Synodal Way for Digital Mission in Asia.” It is hosted by RVA in collaboration with the FABC Office of Social Communication.

Archbishop Garcera presided at the Mass, which was attended by Bishop Marcelino Antonio “Junie” Maralit Jr., chairman of the FABC Office of Social Communication; Fr. John Mi Shen, executive secretary of the FABC Office of Social Communication; and other clergy.

Recalling his own connection with RVA, Archbishop Garcera said he accepted the invitation to preside at the Mass because the place holds special memories for him. After the 1986 People Power Revolution, the late Jaime Cardinal Sin appointed him administrative director of RVA, a position he held for seven years.

He recalled how RVA’s language services and shortwave broadcasts carried the Catholic faith across Asia, reaching communities that missionaries could not easily access.

While technology has moved from shortwave radio to social media, podcasts, livestreams and artificial intelligence, he said RVA’s mission remains the same: bringing truth, hope and the Gospel to the peoples of Asia.

Using the image of “whispering Jesus in Asia,” Archbishop Garcera called for an approach that draws close to people rather than shouting over them.

“We bring Jesus, not by shouting over Asia, but by drawing close to Asia, listening to its people, walking with our people, serving them, and gently making the love of Jesus heard and experienced,” he said.

He reminded digital missionaries that they are not simply content creators but witnesses with a moral responsibility.

“Every headline, photograph, video, post, and story makes a choice,” he said, challenging communicators to ask whose voices are being highlighted and whose remain unheard.

He warned against allowing clicks, likes and followers to replace truth, particularly amid misinformation and AI-generated falsehoods.

“Verify before you publish, listen before you judge, understand before you interpret, give context before you condemn,” he said.

Archbishop Garcera urged digital missionaries to listen especially to the poor, migrants, Indigenous peoples, young people and other marginalized communities.

“Before we speak about people, learn to listen to people,” he said.

He also called on communicators to become bridge-builders in a diverse Asia by speaking truth without hatred, denouncing injustice without dehumanizing others and criticizing without destroying human dignity.

Every digital platform, he said, can become a modern transmitter of the Gospel.

“May each one of you continue to be a voice that speaks to Asia, a voice that listens to Asia, and a voice that gives hope to Asia,” he said.

The Mass included symbolic offerings and prayers of the faithful in different Asian languages, reflecting the cultural and linguistic diversity of the participants.

“Ultimately, we are not called simply to communicate information. We are called to be witnesses of the truth. And the truth is no other than Jesus Christ,” Archbishop Garcera said.