Pope Francis’s Legacy of Authentic Communication
Ecstatic crowds greet Pope Francis at the Cathedral of Our Lady of the Assumption, Jakarta, Indonesia, September 4, 2024 (Photos LiCAS News)
By Helen Osman, President of SIGNIS April 21, 2025
The death of Pope Francis marks the end of a papacy characterized by a revolutionary communication style that transformed the relationship between the Catholic Church and the world. From his historic request for blessing to the people after his election in 2013, Francis redefined how the Holy See communicates with the faithful and global society.
Francis, born Jorge Mario Bergoglio, will be remembered as a pontiff who broke communication barriers established for centuries. Unlike his predecessors, he opted for direct, accessible, and frequently colloquial language. His memorable phrases, such as “Who am I to judge?” or his description of the Church as a “field hospital,” resonated globally for their clarity and profound meaning.
Several distinctive elements characterized Pope Francis’s communication:
His authenticity, reflected in spontaneous gestures and decisions such as residing in Santa Marta instead of the Apostolic Palace, conveyed a more powerful message than many formal speeches.
He enthusiastically embraced social media. His @Pontifex account, which was translated into multiple languages, reached millions of followers, delivering concise messages of faith to diverse audiences.
He prioritized direct encounters, embracing the sick, dialoging with prisoners, and reaching out to geographical and existential peripheries, communicating with actions more than words.
His open interviews with journalists broke traditional protocol, showing a willingness to address controversial topics without institutional filters.
As a communication theologian, Francis emphasized that accurate ecclesial communication must be deep listening, synodal, and relational, not merely informative. In his 2023 World Communications Day message, he highlighted that it is not enough to use the Internet as a simple ‘amplifier’; it is necessary to inhabit the network by creating community.
Francis’s communicative legacy also included significant innovations in the Vatican media structure, such as creating the Dicastery for Communication, which unified various departments into an integrated communication strategy.
This approach allowed his message to reach people far from the Church, fulfilling his vision of a Church going forth.
Pope Francis demonstrated that effective communication does not depend upon sophisticated resources, but on authenticity, a cohesiveness between message and messenger, and a focus on the relationship with those receiving the message. His communicative legacy will endure as a model of how religious institutions can maintain their fundamental principles while adapting their communication methods to the digital and global era.
As we mourn with the entire world, which saw in Pope Francis a spiritual inspiration, a great caretaker of our Common Home, and a communicator based on simplicity and authenticity, may we strive to remember him by being authentic, compassionate and dialogic communicators.
Helen Osman
President of SIGNIS
First published in: https://www.signis.world/headline/21-04-2025/pope-franciss-legacy-of-authentic-communication/