The Pontifical Council for Social Communications published a press release explaining this choice as clearly having been “determined by the Celebration of the Extraordinary Jubilee of Mercy”.

The theme for World Communications Day 2016 stresses the close link between communication and mercy. It reminds us that "good communication has the capacity to open up a space for dialogue, mutual understanding and reconciliation, thereby allowing fruitful human encounters to flourish”.
The theme, chosen by the Pope, "highlights the capacity of good communication to overcome misunderstandings, to heal memories, and to build peace and harmony”.

Once again, Pope Francis reminds us "that, in its essence, communication is a profoundly human achievement”.  Good communication is never merely “the product of the latest or most developed technology”, but is above all “a deep interpersonal relationship".

Even though the Pope “refers to the language” of the Church, “in this context, all men and women in their own communications, in their reaching out to meet others, ought to be motivated by a deep expression of welcome, availability and forgiveness.”

World Communications Day, called for by the Second Vatican Council in 1963, is celebrated in most countries on the Sunday before Pentecost (in 2016, May 8th). The Holy Father's message for World Communications Day is traditionally published on January 24th, in conjunction with the Memorial of St. Francis de Sales, patron of writers.

Translated from an article by Marina Droujinina
Rome, September 29, 2015 (ZENIT.org)