Cosa cambia con l’avvento dei social network nei messaggi papali per le Giornate Mondiali delle Comunicazioni Sociali?

World leaders, including Christian ones, have expanded their communicative presence in the digital space. In the Catholic context, there is talk of a “digital papacy” and a growing community of followers engaging with the pope on social media. This study examines how, in light of these changes, the language of the Holy See is evolving in media-related texts published annually on the occasion of World Communications Day. The research corpus consists of messages from the last three popes, spanning from 1995 – the year the vatican.va domain was created – to 2023. Through textual analysis, the study demonstrates that, beyond the expected terminological shifts typically accompanying the emergence of new technologies, there is a transformation in the approach of pontiffs, as ecclesiastical authorities, toward the community, as well as in the nature of the community to which these messages are addressed. The article focuses in particular on a phenomenon related to the use of personal pronouns. The change observed in this area appears to reflect the guidelines outlined in the agenda of the Vatican’s Dicastery for Communication. This shift may indicate not only a different attitude toward the community but also a broader paradigm shift in contemporary society and culture.