Somehow I think the concept is getting overstated.
I smell another committee and or department jam-packed with regulations and guidelines soon to be added to the burgeoning bureaucracy of the USCCB.
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"The world of social media might seem like a fad, but it's not going away. In fact, it's a "digital continent," with natives, immigrants -- and in need of missionaries." - Read the rest if you want at Zenit.
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"Bishop Herzog commented: "One of the greatest challenges of this culture to the Catholic Church is its egalitarianism. Anyone can create a blog; everyone’s opinion is valid. And if a question or contradiction is posted, the digital natives expect a response and something resembling a conversation. We can choose not to enter into that cultural mindset, but we do so at great peril to the Church’s credibility and approachability in the minds of the natives, those who are growing up in this new culture. This is a new form of pastoral ministry. It may not be the platform we were seeking, but it is an opportunity of such magnitude that we should consider carefully the consequences of disregarding it."
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We digital immigrants need lessons on the digital culture, just as we expect missionaries to learn the cultures of the people they are evangelizing," Bishop Herzog affirmed. "We have to be enculturated. It’s more than just learning how to create a Facebook account. It’s learning how to think, live and embrace life on the digital continent." - Zenit
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But hey! Fr. Z needs a job!
And millions need correct answers to their questions. They have not been receiving those answers from the Church for the past 40 years.
ReplyDeleteThey are many who have stepped up, but many of them don't know what they are talking about.
It's a little bit like Wikipedia. You have to keep monitoring everything to correct errors and promulgate the Truth.
I'm sorry to sound so critical but it seems to me they haven't exactly been in the frontlines of media - considering EWTN was founded by a cloistered nun who said she'd rather blow up the network than let it fall into the hands of the USCCB.
ReplyDeleteAmen Terry! Haven't they already tried and failed in this sphere? They should do nothing more than take up a collection for EWTN and forward it with abundant thanks to that holy, cloistered nun.
ReplyDeleteOverstating it...yes I think. It's good to have; the internets should not be ignored. We can even overturn a few money-changer tables and provoke the elite in the manner of revealing truth, but we're fools if we think it's going to convert "the natives".
ReplyDeleteThat simply doesn't happen over electronics, but in flesh and blood and real presence. Always has, always will.
Fr. Z needs a job!
ReplyDeleteMust be. He was asking for donations for ale the other night. "You can, if you wish, contribute to buying a pint by clicking the flag!"
Michael - I know.
ReplyDeleteThink they'd accept my offer to volunteer to help them out?
ReplyDelete"O)