DIALOP contribution "Communication in times of war"
Workshop at World Youth Day August 1-3, 2023

134 participants – most of them under 30 – 93 from European countries and 41 from non-European countries, took part in the workshop held by DIALOP in Lisbon as part of the Catholic World Youth Day from 1 to 3 August 2023.

The theme and title were chosen by the preparatory group, made up of journalists and media experts from both the Focolare Movement and the European Left. Among others, Walter Baier, president of the European Left and José Manuel Pureza of the Portuguese Bloco de Esquerda wanted to participate in person, along with Angelina Giannopoulou of transform!europe and Claudia Krieglsteiner of the Austrian KPÖ, making strong contributions of realism and hope. On the Focolare side, Michele Zanzucchi, Maria Chiara De Lorenzo and Ana Clara Giovani were strongly committed, also because of their experience in university teaching and field work, in periodicals, social media, communication agencies and on various war fronts for Catholic media. The group was accompanied by Luisa Sello for the DIALOP coordination.

Common to all was the desire to truly enter into dialogue with young people through two themes: war and communication. Pope Francis warns us against information without wisdom. And it is he again who tells us that the truth lies in the dialogue. What unites everyone is the concern for humanity and for the earth. For the young people it was a question of seeking forms of protagonism in the midst of anonymity, of giving vent to question marks on the causes of many conflicts, not least the one in Ukraine, and giving voice to the question : What can we do? How can we be protagonists of real change? But more specifically: how can we learn critical thinking, get out of our own bubble, find hope?

During these days, the need to form critical action groups, to create communities that learn to react, has increasingly grown. The media are sensitive to consumer responses, so we should not lose opportunities to raise our voice. Furthermore, no one owns the truth, but listening and through dialogue, interaction can build spaces and give more collective and answers, which can be acknowledged. In the part dedicated to “information and reconciliation” there was then clear talk of overcoming collective faults, of leaving stereotypes, of accepting social conflict as a source of change, of operating on the concept of a “positive peace”.