The Catholic Church in Thailand marked World Communications Day by urging communicators to speak with truth and gentleness, confronting growing misuse of artificial intelligence (AI) and digital disinformation.
Bishop Silvio Siripong Charatsri led the celebration at the Nativity of Our Lady Cathedral in Ratchaburi. Clergy, religious, media professionals, and lay communicators from across the country joined the Eucharistic Mass and a forum on ethical communication in the digital age.
“World Communications Day is normally celebrated on the Sunday before Pentecost, as established by Pope Paul VI in 1967 following the Second Vatican Council,” Bishop Silvio said in his homily.
“But for local pastoral reasons, the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of Thailand (CBCT) observes it annually on the first Sunday of August,” the prelate added.
Pope Francis, before his death earlier this year, chose this year’s theme: “Speak with the heart: Veritatem facientes in caritate – Sharing the truth in love.” The CBCT paraphrased it locally as “Share with gentleness the hope that is in your hearts.”
A panel discussion after the Mass highlighted the urgency of the theme, focusing on the spread of AI-generated misinformation and fake news, especially amid tensions along the Thailand-Cambodia border.
“False images and fabricated news reports are being generated using AI tools and circulated widely to stir emotions and discredit Thailand,” a communications panelist from the CBCT Office of Social Communication told attendees. “When falsehoods are blended with elements of truth, it becomes harder to distinguish fact from fiction. This erodes public trust and encourages hostile reactions online.”
Panelists showed examples of digitally altered photos, manipulated videos, and fabricated headlines shared on social media platforms. They traced some of these materials to sources outside Thailand and warned that such content represents a new form of digital propaganda that threatens peace and truth.
Fr. Joseph Anucha Chaiyadej, Executive Director of the CBCT’s Episcopal Commission for Social Communications, said, “Pope Francis was deeply concerned about how aggressive and violent communication leads to social fragmentation and emotional manipulation. He constantly reminded us that gentleness is not weakness, but strength under control.”
In a message prepared before his passing, Pope Francis urged communicators to resist hostility and build bridges of understanding. His successor, Pope Leo XIV, reaffirmed that vision in his first address to journalists on May 12, days after his election.
“We must say ‘no’ to the war of words and images; we must reject the paradigm of war,” Pope Leo XIV told global media representatives. “Let us disarm communication of prejudice, resentment, and hatred. Let us disarm words, and we will help disarm the world.”
He also called on media professionals to cultivate a new kind of communication rooted in truth, humility, and compassion:
“Communication is not merely the transmission of information. It creates culture and forms both human and digital environments. These must become spaces for dialogue and truth-seeking, not arenas of division.”
The celebration concluded with a concert featuring popular Thai Christian artists who performed Gospel-themed songs to inspire peace, hope, and reflection.
“When we share with gentleness through music and songs the hope that lives in our hearts, we reveal Christ to the world,” Fr. Joseph Anucha said in an interview with LiCAS News. “These songs remind us to hold onto hope in Jesus—and to share that hope in love and truth.”
