MANILA (LiCAS News): During the opening Mass of the Asian Catholic Digital Missionary Assembly [ACDMA] 2026 on 10 September in Manila, the Philippines, Divine Word Father Felmar Castrodes Fiel, general manager of Radio Veritas Asia, urged digital missionaries to move beyond self-focused “influencer” culture and use online platforms to bridge divisions across the region.Nearly 100 digital missionaries from across Asia gathered for the first-ever Asian assembly that will run from September 10 to 13.
“We are called to be bridges and bridge builders,” Father Fiel said, adding that the image was especially relevant in Asia, where communities are divided by language, culture, history, politics, religious traditions, and different experiences of the Church.
“If we apply it to Asia, there are many things that divide us. We have different languages, cultures, histories, political realities, religious traditions, and different experiences of being Church,” he said.“Sometimes even within the same country, there are many differences between communities, and yet we are here—people from different countries, languages, cultures, different brands of influencers, but one mission: we are witnesses of Christ,” he added.
Father Fiel said the image of “bridges and bridge builders” also emerged during the Federation of Asian Bishops’ Conferences plenary assembly in Indonesia in July, where the Radio Veritas Asia team served as the official media team documenting and communicating the gathering.
He linked the theme to the week’s readings from St. Paul, saying the early Christian communities also faced differences involving morality, relationships, culture, religious practices, food, mission and community.
…perhaps that is precisely what we need in the digital mission today. We belong to one another. We belong to Christ. We belong to one humanity. We need bridges and bridge builders
Father Fiel
“The early Christians had problems. They had differences, different levels of understanding. They had questions with morality, relationships, culture, religious practices, food, mission, and community,” he said.
“But Paul keeps bringing them back to one thing: you belong to Christ. You belong to one another because you belong to Christ.”
Father Fiel said digital mission should respond to similar divisions by reaching people beyond the Church’s physical spaces.
“And perhaps that is precisely what we need in the digital mission today. We belong to one another. We belong to Christ. We belong to one humanity. We need bridges and bridge builders,” he said.
“Perhaps your post will be the bridge through which someone encounters Christ,” Father Fiel added.
He also pointed to live streaming as a way of connecting people unable to participate physically in Church gatherings.
“Perhaps our live streaming today will become the bridge connecting an elderly person who cannot attend Mass with the Eucharistic community,” he said.
Father Fiel closed by using the Filipino practice of pointing with the lips as an image for digital communication. “We point directions with our lips, but as digital missionaries, we are also called to point,” he said.
“With our posts, where are we pointing our followers, our subscribers, and even our lurkers? With our posts, to whom do we point them?” he added.
He said the difference between online influence and Christian witness lies in where digital communicators direct attention.
“If we point only to ourselves, we remain influencers. But if our lives, our stories, our creativity in digital platforms point people towards Jesus, then we become witnesses,” Father Fiel said.
