By Lissy Maruthanakuzhy
New Delhi, May 18, 2026: Delhi Archdiocese celebrated the 60th World Communications Day on the feast of the Ascension, with Auxiliary Bishop Deepak Valerian Tauro reminding the faithful that “each of us is called to be humanly communicative persons.”
Speaking at Sacred Heart Cathedral in New Delhi on May 17, Bishop Tauro linked the mission of communication directly to the Gospel mandate.
“The Lord has commanded us ‘Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit,’” he said. “That means the Lord is telling us to communicate. The very fact God sent his son to earth, was a communication.”
Pope Paul VI established World Communications Day in 1967 as an annual celebration to encourage reflection on the opportunities and challenges modern forms of communication present to the Church in proclaiming the Gospel “to all the ends of the earth.”
Since then, the Church observes World Communications Day, now known as the World Day of Social Communications, on the Sunday before Pentecost Sunday.
Pope’s message on communication
Bishop Tauro summarized the message of Pope Leo XIV, who chose the theme “Preserving our Voices and Faces” for this year’s observance.
“Our faces and our voices are unique to each of the people. God created us in his image and likeness and gave us a unique face and voice,” the bishop said, citing Genesis 1:26 and John 1:1-3.
He warned that “the sacredness of our faces and voices is threatened today by digital technology. Systems like artificial intelligence interfere with information ecosystems, affect the deepest level of human communication, that is human relationships. The challenge here is not technological, but anthropological.”
Balancing technology and humanity
The bishop urged the faithful not to reject digital innovation but to guide it responsibly. “Let us embrace the opportunities offered by digital technology. Let us not discard digital technology, but embrace it in God-given intelligence, prudence, courage and imagination,” he said.
He cautioned against the dangers of diminished critical thinking and increased polarization. “The task laid before us is not to stop digital innovation, but rather guide it and make it a constructive tool for our development,” he explained.
According to Bishop Tauro, Pope Leo XIV emphasized three pillars for engaging with artificial intelligence: responsibility, cooperation, and education.
• Responsibility: “It is to practice with responsibility and ethical standards in creating and developing AI. For example, ChatGPT is diminishing the ability to think and make our own essays and writings. The legislators, the rulers must ensure respect for human dignity and prevent manipulative, misleading content and safeguard humanity.”
• Cooperation: “It is fulfilling our role in steering digital innovation and AI governance. It is to be involved in building up and nurturing a just, responsible digital citizenship.”
• Education: “It is increasing the person’s ability to think critically, evaluate prudently the AI responses and ensure that they are working not for us. It is enabling our families, our communities, our children, develop practically for a healthier and responsible communication.”
Communication in families and society
Bishop Tauro stressed that communication must be restored within families and extended to marginalized groups often excluded from technological advances.
“It’s important to educate ourselves too, and also others, maybe our friends, how to use artificial intelligence intentionally and protect our faces and voices from harmful content and behavior such as fraud, cyber bullying, deep fakes,” he said.
He called on Christians to promote critical thinking, freedom of speech, and the cherishing of communication as “the deepest truth of humanity, which all technological innovation should be promoting.”
(Auxiliary Bishop Deepak Valerian Tauro of Delhi. Photo by Lissy Maruthanakuzhy)