PROMOTING JUSTICE, PEACE AND INTEGRITY OF CREATION THROUGH SOCIAL MEDIA (taken from JPIC NEWSBRIEF January 2020, Vol. 15)

People all over the world are becoming more interconnected. It has become possible to encounter others—not only those we know and related to us but also those we have never met. We can share what we see, what we are thinking and how we feel with each other instantly anywhere in the world. We can operate beyond the confines and boundaries of our homes, offices, village, cities and countries. What is personal and local can become global. A small act or thought can go viral. One person can make a lot of difference. A small voice can be magnified. We can influence the minds and hearts of people even if we do not have face to face contact with them. We can even create networks, virtual communities and movements. All these are made possible through technology, the internet and social media. We are now living in a digital world which can be accessed not just through desktop and laptop computers, but also mostly through smartphones.

We work and operate in cyberspace. For instance, there are 2.5 billion people who have Facebook accounts and 1.7 billion of those communicate through their smartphones. This is where we connect with our family, friends, colleagues. This is where we get our news and even become sources of news—and this can be done in real time. We can carry out our struggle and promote our advocacies, conduct business and maintain relationships wherever we are. There are various ways of engagement in social media. For many it is simply a way of connecting with family and friends. It is strictly personal and interpersonal.

We cannot ignore the digital world or social media, unless we want to live under the grid, keep our privacy and live in isolation. It is of vital importance for the Church, in general, and those actively involved in ministry and mission, in particular, to be aware of this development and make use of it. This is not only the wave of the future. This is the reality we now find ourselves in. Social media is a powerful tool for fulfilling the mission of promoting justice, peace and integrity of creation. Of course, there are times when we have to go out from the cyberspace and act in the real world, get our hands dirty and interact with people face-to-face. But let us not forget that no matter how weak our voices are, how insignificant our acts are, or how few we are, or even if we are alone—all these can be magnified and widened, beyond the boundaries of space and time, through social media.

It is through social media that we can extend our influence and contacts. We can create networks and experience solidarity. We can transform hearts and minds and indeed become one heart and mind. How can we promote 6 justice, peace and integrity of creation through social media? This is what we will be discussing in the forthcoming Webinars beginning on February 20, 2020. Meanwhile, we encourage JPIC promoters who do not yet have a social media account , especially Facebook, to please sign up and add us as virtual friends (amado picardal cssr) and like our page—JPIC Roma— for news and updates. You can also start sharing your stories with us that we can post in our Facebook page and share with other JPIC promoters. Let us create a virtual community and movement of JPIC promoters through social media.