The three-day celebration of the Jubilee of the World of Communications was celebrated in Myanmar from January 24 to 26.

The Jubilee of the World of Communications was celebrated at St. Mary’s Cathedral on January 26, at St. Joseph’s Catholic Major Seminary on January 25, and at the Novitiate of St. Francis Xavier Sister’s Congregation, Mayangchaung, Pathein, on January 24.

National Director of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of Myanmar Office of Social Communication (CBCM OSC) and Director of Yangon Archdiocesan OSC, Fr. Paulinus Myat Kyaing, and the Coordinator of RVA Sgaw Karen Service, Fr. Saw Hubert, jointly organized the celebration of the Jubilee of the World of Communications.

Archbishop of Yangon Archdiocese, His Eminence Charles Cardinal Bo, and the bishops, priests, religious, and faithful gathered before the Jubilee Door before the Jubilee Mass at 8 AM in St. Mary’s Cathedral, Yangon, on January 26.

After reciting the Jubilee prayer, entered the Jubilee Door and started the Jubilee Mass.

Cardinal Bo presided over the Jubilee Mass at 8 AM, in St. Mary’s Cathedral, on January 26.

The motto of the Jubilee year 2025 is “Pilgrims of Hope.”

Bishop Maurice Nyunt Wai, the former Chair Bishop of CBCM OSC, delivered the homily on hope.

Quoting Nehemiah 8:1-10, Bishop Maurice said, “By reading the Torah, Ezra expressed tears of hope on the ashes as his hope from his heart. By hearing the Torah, the Israel shed tears with full of hope. This is the tears of Joy. We called these tears, ‘the tears of hope on the ashes.’ This hope rebuilds the city from the ashes.”

Reflecting on Luke 1:1-4, 4:14-21, the bishop said that Jesus read the Prophet Isiah’s prophesy about the Messiah and said the fulfillment of that prophesy on that day. To fulfill his hope, Jesus was brought like the lamb to be slaughtered and died gently on the cross.

Bishop Maurice emphasized St. Paul’s theology of the body (cf. 1 Cor 12:12-30) as communication.

He highlighted, “The parts of the human body harmoniously communicated with each other. This is the symbol of our ideal communication. We communicate with the others for the common good and the good of each and everyone.”

Recalling Pope Francis’ message for the 59th World Day of Social Communications, Bishop Maurice echoed the pope’s words: “Too often today, communication generates not hope but fear and despair, prejudice and resentment, fanaticism, and even hatred.”

Msgr. Andrea Ferrante, Chargé d’ Affaires, said, “Communication plays a very important role in building social relationships and understanding past, present and future history.”

Msgr. Andrea encouraged that the Jubilee offers an opportunity to start reflecting on our life again to understand where we are going and our role as communicators. This means setting out, on a pilgrimage to the Holy Door, a symbol of the encounter with the Lord Jesus who said, “I am the door: if anyone enters through me, he will be saved.”

“The Jubilee pilgrimage helps us understand and remember that we are not alone, that we were created to walk together! Through your work you can help develop the creativity to communicate hope, to create ways to know and spread it,” Msgr. Andrea continued.

Msgr. Andrea retold the message of Pope Francis on 59^th Social Communications Day, amid the disinformation and polarization of this age, “In this Jubilee year, a year of grace in a difficult age, I invite you to be ‘communicators of hope,’ beginning with a renewal of your work and mission in the spirit of the Gospel.”

Together with the junior St. Francis Xavier sisters, CBCM OSC celebrated the Jubilee of the World of Communications with the Jubilee Mass, seminars on “Ethics in Communication” by Bishop Maurice Nyunt Wai, on “Digital Content Production” by Mr. Jonnie Aung Phyo Mon at the novitiate of St. Francis Xavier Sisters in Mayanchaung, Pathein on January 24.

On January 25, with the same schedule and resource persons as in Pathein, CBCM OSC celebrated the Jubilee of the World of Communications with the seminarians at St. Joseph’s Catholic Major Seminary in Yangon.