WYD Panama: Australian pilgrims on key messages and key-rings
By Francesca Merlo and Seán-Patrick Lovett
Adrian, who does not live âjust around the cornerâ, explains why rather than take advantage of the screens that come with the social media he works with, he decided to travel the 14,000 km from Parramatta, Australia.
âThese moments,â explains Adrian, âenable us to experience cultures in a way in which weâve never experienced them beforeâ.
No screen can offer a hug
Adrian tells Seán-Patrick Lovett about why he believes ĐÓMAP”Œșœ Francis chose the theme for the 2019 Communications Day to be âOnline communities to human communitiesâ.
It is precisely this WYD âunique experienceâ, he says, that creates the connections that social media is reducing. Though social media creates âa certain form of connectionâ, it is increasingly doing the opposite: disconnecting people.
âYou see fights break out onlineâ, says Adrian. The human interactions like those experienced here in Panama help you to âunderstand what the person really means⊠the nuancesâ, which he says are so often lost.
This âinterpersonal communicationâ is something that âsocial media just doesnât offerâ. Perhaps this is what Adrian is referring to when he says that coming to Panama âgives you the ability to put our arms around each otherâ.
Happy and hoppy
Accompanying Adrian is a group of young people, and as the pilgrim tradition states, they too brought gifts from their hometown to exchange with other pilgrims.
For one member of the group, their gift has already created unforgettable memories. He talks about "a man standing outside the Church, saying âskippyâ and 'hoppy'."
Itâs the joy that the local man got from receiving the 5 cm kangaroo keyring - (âSkippy.. otherwise known as Kangarooâ) and the way in which âhis eyes lit up, and he began to hopâ - that this young Australian will never forget.
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