Deacon Digest

Throughout his pontificate, Pope Benedict XVI has viewed the internet as a mixed blessing. On the one hand, he sees the potential that is present in the new technologies to spread the good news. On the other hand, he sees many of the dangers inherent in the dynamic of the new social media. For example, in November 2010, Benedict addressed the Plenary Assembly of the Pontifical Council of Culture on “Culture of Communication and New Languages.” He stated: “In a world that makes communication the winning strategy, the Church, recipient of the mission to communicate to all the nations the Gospel of salvation, does not remain indifferent and foreign; she tries, on the contrary, to avail herself with renewed creative effort, but also with critical sense and attentive discernment of the new languages and new modalities of communication.”

The Holy Father does not view the new technologies and media as something to be avoided. The Church is to “avail” itself of all of this for the purpose of evangelization. But, Benedict also warns about the pitfalls of the internet: “Today not a few young people, deafened by the infinite possibilities offered by information networks or other technologies, maintain forms of communication that do not contribute to maturation in humanity, but rather threaten to increase the sense of solitude and forlornness.”

It seems that the Church, especially in the work of the priest and the deacon, is to not only evangelize through the internet but also evangelize the internet and social media, itself. This means to take what is good in the new technologies and media and Christianize it by bringing the message and attitude of Christ into it and then evangelizing or bringing others to the Church through it.

It’s a brave new world out there when it comes to the internet and the Church. We have been pretty much in the mainstream when it comes to things like webpages. Most parishes have their own website. Some of them are good, some of them are awful. Most fall in the middle. A lot of parishes and clergy link to other sites, blogs, and groups of interest. There is a wealth of information out there about parishes and the Catholic faith just for the taking. But this is limited because the sharing of information is for the most part onesided and somewhat passive. The website is there. People have to come to it. They may post a query in the appropriate box or send an email looking for more information. They may sign up for any number of parish groups or activities, register online, or even make a donation to the parish or website… but the person has to come to us. If they do not choose to click on to our website, then we do not engage them. True, once we get people on the website, we can then begin to have some kind of communication with them. But at the initial stage, we are not really going out to them. The outward dynamic of evangelization is being stifled at its onset.

Then there is social media. Some clergy and lay ministers, including myself, have taken things a bit further than just a webpage by posting on blogs (or “web log”) where one can post commentary, descriptions of events, “podcasts,” music, videos, etc. Technically speaking, all of this is social media but it’s still not all that conversational. Like a website, people come to or subscribe to the blog or podcast. But, it’s one step further along the road of conversation because you can open up your blog or podcast page to “comments.” This is where you allow your readers, listeners, or viewers to post a comment or opinion about your post on your webpage. Now remember, it’s your blog. You can set the rules. You can choose not to allow commentary. You can choose to “moderate” your commentary, where you first read all comments and then decide if you want to allow them to be posted or not. You can also allow comments to be freely posted. Even then, you have some control because you can delete offensive posts. Once a comment is posted, you can choose to respond to the comment or not. You control the level of dialogue, but note the important thing here. You are talking to people. There is dialogue. If the idea is to “seek out” or “go out” to spread the good news, this is a good step. Many “comment sections” on blogs are very active, very engaging, and very chaotic. But, there is a conversation going on. And that’s a good thing.

It is not difficult to set up a blog. There are any number of free hosting sites out there to help you. I use Google, but that’s just me. Once you get started, you can then decide what you want to say and how often you want to do so. You can post your homilies, meditations, link to interesting websites or postings, prayers, music, videos, excerpts from others writings, etc.—anything you want. My one suggestion is that you be yourself. Be funny. Be prayerful. Be human. Remember, if we want to engage people, we have to attract them. But always remember to be a man of the Church.

Now, if you’re really brave, you can go even further into the dynamic of dialogue. As I said, the idea behind social media is to use web-based and mobile technologies in dialogue with others. First, there are media called microblogs like Twitter, where one can post in little bursts or small messages (Twitter allows no more than 140 characters per post). Microblogs tend to be even more dynamic than straight blogs because they are a kind of mix between blogging and texting or instant messaging. These microblogs can be linked to mobile devices like cellphones, BlackBerrys, and iPads. In a microblog, people can link to or “follow” each other. So, for example, I post (“tweet”) a message to my Twitter account. It goes out to the computers, phones, tablets, and laptops of my followers. If they are set to receive my posts live, they get the message right away. If not, they can read it right away. They can then read and respond to my tweet if they want to. They can also “retweet” (forward) my “tweet” to their followers, so my message can spread incrementally. At this point, I can be as dialogic as I want. I can engage in an instant conversation with my followers by responding to their replies and comments, or I may not.

A further development in using the internet to evangelize is social networking sites like Facebook, Google+, and LinkedIn, to name the largest players. There is a lot more to be said about all of this than this column allows. You can, for example, link your Facebook account to Twitter so that anything you post on Facebook will automatically be posted on Twitter as well. While I am limited by space here to take you through all of this, know there are plenty of people in your parishes who can help you. But as you can see, there are numerous opportunities to evangelize through the internet. I would offer further reading for you on all of this in the excellent book by Brandon Vogt, The Church and New Media: Blogging Converts, Online Activists, and Bishops Who Tweet. Finally, I return to the idea of evangelizing the internet itself. I think the best way for us as clergy to do this is by our Christian attitude and presence in all that we do. Our motto could be, “Always take the high road, the high road of charity.” I would offer the teaching of St. Thérèse of Lisieux and her “little way” as a model for this. She wrote: “Love proves itself by deeds, so how am I to show my love? Great deeds are forbidden me. The only way I can prove my love is by scattering flowers and these flowers are every little sacrifice, every glance and word, and the doing of the least actions for love.”

So, when we interact with others on the internet, when we text or blog or podcast or tweet, we do so with the idea that we are “scattering flowers,” small actions of Christian charity and encouragement, little by little planting seeds that will bear fruit a hundred or a thousand times over. What better way to bring forth the good news.

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You may visit Bishop Coyne’s blog at http://thoughtsofacatholicbishop.blogspotcom/