Rome (Italy). For the month of April 2025, the Pope’s Video, with the intention of prayer that the Holy Father entrusts to the Catholic Church through the World Prayer Network of the Pope – initiative launched in 2016 – is “for the use of new technologies”.
In the video, Pope Francis – whose voice was recorded before his hospitalization – expresses a desire for a world where relationships are more real and less screen-mediated, where technology is used to unite rather than divide:
How much I would like us to look less at the screens and look more into each other’s eyes!
If we spend more time with the phone than with people, something is wrong. The screen makes us forget that behind it, there are real people who breathe, laugh, and cry.
It’s true, technology is the fruit of the intelligence that God has given us. But it must be used well. It cannot benefit only some, while others remain excluded.
What should we do then? Use technology to unite, not divide. To help the poor. To improve the lives of patients and people with disabilities. Using technology to take care of our common home. To meet as brothers and sisters.
Because when we look into each other’s eyes, we discover what really matters: we are brothers, sisters, children of the same Father.
The Holy Father’s intention for the month of April 2025:
We pray that the use of new technologies does not replace human relations, respects the dignity of people, and helps to face the crises of our time.
The video message, produced for this month in collaboration with the US production company Coronation media and in collaboration with the Dicastery for the Service of Integral Human Development is an invitation to put technology at the service of the human being, as also highlighted by Card. Michael Czerny, Prefect of the Dicastery:
“New technologies are an important resource and tool at the service of the human family. In order for them to serve its development, it is necessary that their use be oriented towards the respect of human dignity and fundamental rights. Let us join the appeal of the Holy Father, so that digital progress is a gift for humanity, respectful of the dignity of every person, justice, and the common good.”
Along the same line are Bill Phillips and Gary Gasse, co-founders of Coronation, who in their daily work try to “combine the authentic expression of the human being with new technologies and media. Concretely, supporting this message gives even more strength to our commitment to the ethical use of new technologies to promote human development.”
The International Director of the Pope’s World Prayer Network, Fr. Cristóbal Fones, S.J., emphasizes that in the video “Pope Francis wishes to remind us that using technology responsibly means putting it at the service of the human person and creation. When used in this way, it also becomes a means to give glory to God, for our abilities and creativity come from Him. Furthermore, the ethical use of new technologies contributes to caring for creation, safeguarding human dignity, and improving the quality of life.”
The words of the Pope’s Video resonate in a very special way in this jubilee year, reinforcing the words of the Message for the 59th World Communications Day, in which Pope Francis invites us to “be gentle and never forget the face of others”, “to speak to the hearts of men and women”, “to always sow hope, even when it is difficult”; “to try to practice a communication that knows how to heal the wounds of our humanity.”
