By Matters India Reporter
MANILA, September 14, 2026: Catholic digital missionaries and communicators from across Asia are gathering at Radio Veritas Asia in Fairview Park, Quezon City, for the first Asian Catholic Digital Missionary Assembly.
The assembly, a four-day event focused on strengthening collaboration, learning and digital evangelization across the region held from September 10 to 13 and 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.
Carrying the theme, “Influencers to Witnesses: Synodal Way for Digital Mission in Asia,” the gathering emphasizes 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 Father Ritchie Vincent of the Archdiocese of Madras and Mylapore in India, who said his interest in the assembly was inspired by his experience attending an international digital missionary gathering at the Vatican.
Father Vincent recalled noticing that only a small number of Asian representatives attended the Vatican event, prompting him to reflect on the presence of digital missionaries across the continent.
“That was a burning desire within me,” he said.
He described the Manila assembly as an opportunity for Asian digital missionaries to meet, collaborate and learn from one another.
Father Vincent currently works with a digital missionary community in India that includes Catholic influencers undergoing formation and digital missionaries engaged in deeper Catholic studies.
He said he is eager to learn new techniques and technologies that could strengthen his ministry and outreach efforts.
For Philippine delegate Gie Rhea Jadulco, the gathering offers a chance to better understand how social media and social communication are being used by Catholics 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.
Jadulco also expressed enthusiasm about meeting participants from different countries and building friendships during the event.
Another Filipino participant, Mika Ellah L. Tabada, said she is looking forward to the discussions and exchanges with fellow digital missionaries from around the region.
Tabada noted that while participants represent different cultures, platforms and communication practices, the assembly can serve as a venue for collaboration and mutual learning.
“Even if we are all Asians, we have different cultures, we have different platforms, we have different practices,” she said.
She added that Filipino delegates can share qualities such as hospitality and creativity with participants from other countries.
Jennifer Odelia Meredith of Indonesia said she hopes the gathering will help participants explore new approaches to media and content creation while strengthening digital mission efforts in their respective countries. She also stressed the importance of prayer and mutual support among missionaries.
Participants are expected to take part in discussions, formation sessions and exchanges on digital evangelization, communication practices and collaboration throughout the four-day assembly.
The event opened with a Holy Mass attended by delegates dressed in their traditional cultural attire, highlighting the diversity and unity of the Catholic Church across Asia.
(Photo supplied)