With almost twenty million Twitter followers, Pope Francis is the first pontiff to capitalise on the potential of social media as a means of evangelisation, describing the internet ‘as a gift from God’. However, while extolling its potential as a force for good in the world, Francis has also spoken at length of the internet’s inherent dangers.

Pope Francis on Communications and the Digital World is a collection of Francis’ writings and addresses on the subject of social and online media. Here Francis ponders the ethical issues posed by the proliferation of digital technology, with a particular emphasis on the challenges it poses to children and young people who are susceptible to exploitation and cyberbullying. Elsewhere, he examines how ‘fake news’ is deployed to advance specific goals, serve vested economic interests and to target vulnerable groups who are easy prey for those who spread hate online.

He also cautions against becoming a society where online interactions replace real-world encounters and where we become desensitised to the suffering of others. The internet Francis envisages is one of empathy and concern, designed not to entrap, ‘but to liberate’ and ‘to protect a communion of people who are free’. Essential reading for parents, teachers and all those who use digital media to communicate the Word of God.