As per tradition, Pope Benedict released his message for the upcoming 44th World Communications Day on the eve of the Feast of Saint Francis de Sales. Building on his message from the previous year where he encouraged communications leaders to promote a culture of respect in the digital world, the Holy Father is now urging the clergy, in particular, to discover new possibilities for carrying out their ministry to and for the Word of God in the digital world. In other words, “go forth and blog” as headlines so aptly summarized.
Coinciding with the Year for Priests, the theme of this year’s World Communications Day is The Priest and Pastoral Ministry in a Digital World: New Media at the Service of the Word. Focusing on the urgency and challenge of making known the person and message of Jesus Christ amid today’s cultural shifts, the Holy Father stressed that this mission of the priest “necessarily involves using new communications technologies.” He adds:
Priests stand at the threshold of a new era: as new technologies create deeper forms of relationship across greater distances, they are called to respond pastorally … by employing the latest generation of audiovisual resources (images, videos, animated features, blogs, websites) which, alongside traditional means, can open up broad new vistas for dialogue, evangelization and catechesis.
Priests present in the world of digital communications should be less notable for their media savvy than for their priestly heart, their closeness to Christ. This will not only enliven their pastoral outreach, but also will give a “soul” to the fabric of communications that makes up the “Web”… God’s loving care for all people in Christ must be expressed in the digital world not simply as an artifact from the past, or a learned theory, but as something concrete, present and engaging. Our pastoral presence in that world must thus serve to show our contemporaries, especially the many people in our day who experience uncertainty and confusion, that God is near; that in Christ we all belong to one another.
Having already come across a number of multimedia projects , blogs and podcast launched by internet savvy priests in the last few years, it’s exciting to think of an explosion of ‘priestly online presence’ that could incur from the pope’s call to cyber action. Among the notable church prelates who have already begun to ‘lead the digital way’ is Cardinal Seán Patrick O’Malley OFM, Archbishop of Boston who was one of the first Cardinal’s to enter the blogosphere in order to reach the young church. In a 2007 episode of Catholic Focus (appropriately available in webcast format), Cardinal O’Malley explained that his Cardinal Seán’s Blog began with a trip he took to Rome during the feast of Padre Pio, an occasion for which his staff suggested he log his trip online for all to see. Once he learned that there were so many people tuning into the blog from the archdiocese and far beyond, he decided that it was important to keep it going:
So many young people are on the internet and it’s the way that they communicate. Going around to the different schools and universities, everywhere I go students come up to me and say: “I read your blog, I like the blog” … I’m often touched by the faith of the people who communicate to us through the internet, through the blog. Many of them are truly searching for God. Reflections on the life of the church have at times been helpful to people to reconnect with the church community so I’m very grateful for that opportunity.
Cardinal Francis Arinze of Nigeria is another prelate whose made himself accessible to the world via his podcast Arinze – Podcasting with a Vatican Official facilitated by the Disciples with Microphones network. He takes advantage of this tool (along with youtube webcasts) to teach the social doctrine of the church in small palatable doses. From breaking down the teachings of Papal encyclicals to helping us understand God’s will for our lives, Cardinal Arinze has captured audiences worldwide.
Sacred Space, a production of the Irish Jesuits that offers its readers daily spiritual reflections, receives around 500,000 worldwide visits a day and remains one of the most visited websites in Ireland. Many priests have followed suit and begun using a similar medium to convey their Sunday homilies or the latest news from their dioceses. Among the most popular are Word on Fire with Father Robert Barron of Chicago, which offers a 20 minute webcast reflection on the Sunday readings, Witness, also a webcast where Father Thomas Rosica, CSB of Toronto hosts a series of in-depth interviews with distinguished Church leaders (in addition to providing weekly scripture teachings on the Salt+Light Blog) and of course Busted Halo, an initiative of the Paulist brothers aimed at youth who are searching.
In the realm of radio podcasts with a wider reach, NPR is among those that offer a place of dialogue for people from all walks of life. On its This I Believe site, individuals are invited to share with listeners the personal philosophies and core values that guide their daily lives. In a similar way, Provoke Radio, by the Jesuits of Baltimore, invites ecumenical discussions on issues of social justice.
As the Pope’s invitation will begin to inspire the imaginations of many more of our pastors in the faith, there’s no reason to doubt that we’ll be tapping into more and more podcasts, blogs, webcasts and even tweets in order to find daily moments of prayer, spiritual insights and catholic perspectives on the contemporary issues and challenges of our time. After all, as Cardinal O’Malley once said: “I’m sure that if Saint Paul were alive today, he too would have a blog.”
Michèle Nuzzo-Naglieri
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