In a context marked by digital polarization and the recent loss of Pope Francis, who died on April 21, 2025, the work of  José Luis Aguirre Alvis , director of the Radio and Television Training Service for Development (SECRAD) of the  Bolivian Catholic University “San Pablo” in La Paz , takes on special relevance .

In April 2025, Aguirre Alvis prepared the document “Keys to a Communication of Closeness,” a follow-up and synthesis of Pope Francis’s messages for the World Days of Social Communications. The text proposes a communication model centered on human closeness, authentic encounter, and social transformation, especially directed toward the marginalized and those “cut off from communication.”

The author, a communicator with a master’s degree in Communication for Development and recognized for his career in training alternative and indigenous communicators, starts from the apostolic exhortation Evangelii Gaudium to propose fundamental principles: going out to meet, opening doors, preparing the environment for dialogue, listening without judging and experiencing the joy of being with the other.

According to the analysis, Francis advocates for communication that neither homogenizes nor domesticates the other, but rather values ​​their diversity and difference. A key phrase from the Pope summarizes this vision: “It is not about recognizing the Other as my fellow human being, but about becoming like him.” Beyond traditional empathy, he proposes asking ourselves first if the other person “has feet” before attempting to put ourselves in their shoes.

The document emphasizes that communication is about becoming aware of our human condition: we exist because we are in contact with and dependent on others. Loneliness or solipsism leads to an existential “non-being.” Authentic communication generates the joy of encounter, which, in essence, is the joy of the Gospel, and reveals the presence of the Spirit in our midst.

A central theme is the reinterpretation of the Parable of the Good Samaritan in a communicative key: “ I go, I approach, I see, I listen, and I can speak from his perspective .” For Francis, the “discarded,” the invisible, and the marginalized are the “incommunicado” who have not received a word that calls to them. Listening must begin primarily with them.

Aguirre Alvis structures the model around three main keys drawn from papal messages:

• Go and see : step out of comfortable presumptions, approach people where they are and as they are, to tell the truth of life that becomes history (Message 2021).
• Listening with the heart : listening is a dimension of love and a condition for authentic dialogue. Human beings have an unlimited desire to be heard (Message 2022).
• Speaking from the heart : after listening with purity, one can dialogue in truth and love, tuning in to the heartbeat of the other and avoiding judgment, discord or misinformation (Message 2023).

The author concludes that communicators are called to be bold, creative, and committed to a “complete disarmament” of aggression, embracing their work as a mission. They have the best news to proclaim: the resurrection of Christ and the Gospel.

In a world that continues to face challenges of superficial connection and polarization, even after the death of Pope Francis, this model reminds us that true communication is not merely the transmission of information, but rather the building of closeness, the bridging of distances, and transformation through words and shared action. The work of Aguirre Alvis, born in Bolivia, invites today’s communicators to follow this path of closeness and humanity.

José Luis Aguirre Alvis

Keys to Close Communication – April 2025