Vatican Announces the Topic Chosen by Pope Leo XIV for His Annual Message on Communication

(ZENIT News / Vatican City, 09.29.2026).- The Holy See presented the theme chosen by Pope Leo XIV for World Communications Day 2027, titled “A New Gaze: Paying Attention in the Age of Clickbait”. Below is the statement issued by the Press Office:

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The attention economy, with its struggle for a few moments of interest amid the rapid and  endless flow of content, is transforming not only our cognitive abilities but also the depth of our  interpersonal communication.

We are called to a conversion of our gaze: to look again, with attention and with love. Only  in this way will we be able to see the world, others, and even ourselves, as Christ sees us: called by  name and loved. Our communication changes when our gaze chooses to encounter others rather  than judge them.

The lack of genuine attention, fueled by digital culture, has accustomed us to a routine of rapid  reactions, to superficial relationships, and to the ease with which we label and reject others. Yet  attention is a precious form of generosity: the word “attention” comes from ad-tendere — to reach  out toward the other and toward the truth. Christian communication can rediscover attention as both  a gift and a way of seeing — the gaze of Jesus, who saw and allowed himself to be touched.

Communicating is not about capturing attention, nor about selling it, but about safeguarding  it as a precious resource for relationships. To communicate in the age of “clickbait,” we are called  to “pay attention” and to rediscover a genuinely healthy attention (cf. MH 146). Communication is  not just about words, it involves the entire person and asks us to look, hear and feel again in order to  answer Christ’s call.

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