DENHAM SPRINGS, La. (National Catholic Register) – First came the online network informally known as St. Blog’s. Then came the invasion of the Catholic podcasters. Now it’s “vodcasts.”
The latest innovation on the Internet is the rise of Catholic video podcasts, otherwise known as vodcasts. Through YouTube and other media, Catholics have been able to spread the faith, provide historical footage and draw attention to liturgical abuses.
Denham Springs, La., software developer William Eunice describes YouTube, the Internet video portal that allows users to post short videos online, as a “scratchpad for our culture.”
“The Catholic content gets to the heart of what my Catholic faith is about,” said Eunice, who writes for the Web site CatholicDaily.com. “It’s real information that helps me in my life as a Catholic.”
Such resources are utilizing both audio and video to show the richness of the Catholic community, says blogger Rocco Palmo. He has been impressed with how some dioceses are using online video. The Diocese of Salt Lake City, for example, makes liturgies at the cathedral available online.
“No diocese in the country has made that kind of commitment,” said Palmo, whose blog is called Whispers in the Loggia (WhispersintheLoggia.blogspot.com). “They have really been the pioneers.”
The Archdiocese of Philadelphia’s Cardinal Justin Rigali became the first church leader to make regular use of YouTube. Every week of Lent, Cardinal Rigali presented a weekly two- to four-minute video reflection on the gospels called “Living Lent.”
“Cardinal Rigali’s first video received 3,000 hits in 24 hours,” said Palmo, a Philadelphia resident. “It was one of the five most-watched videos on YouTube. The archdiocese was stunned by the response.”
Cardinal Rigali continued to use the medium for reflections during the Easter season.
“It’s been a really rewarding venture,” said Donna Farrell, director of communications for the archdiocese. “Right now we’re at over 30,000 [hits] for his viewings combined.”
To date, Cardinal Rigali has recorded a dozen videos.
“It’s an effort to communicate with the people on some important evangelical points,” Cardinal Rigali said. “We hope to keep it going as long as we can.”
“We want the message of the gospel, of Christ, and of the church to ‘speed forward and be glorified,’” he said, quoting St. Paul’s Second Letter to the Thessalonians. “We bless the providence of God that gives us these means to communicate.”
The cardinal admitted that he didn’t know much about YouTube when he started.
“I was struck by the recommendation that this was a means to generate interest among my own people,” he said. “I’m thrilled that we have a bigger audience.”
The size of that audience was demonstrated to the cardinal while in Italy a couple of weeks ago.
“More than one person came up to me who had seen me on YouTube,” said Cardinal Rigali, who added that such communication methods “bring to fruition the original vision of the Second Vatican Council’s decree on communications, Inter Mirifica.”
In addition to Archbishop Rigali, Bishop Robert Vasa of Baker, Ore., and Archbishop Raymond Burke of St. Louis have video content online.
When Archbishop Burke recorded a video response explaining his decision to resign from the foundation board of the city’s Catholic hospital because of its invitation to pro-abortion singer and pro-abortion activist Sheryl Crow to perform at its fundraiser, a user posted the archbishop’s response on YouTube, giving it a far wider audience.
How it’s being used
Catholics have discovered other uses for the technology, as well. Archdioceses such as Philadelphia and Boston have used streaming video to make certain events more accessible.
“Philadelphia and Boston’s Holy Week liturgies were streamed,” explained Palmo. “When a cathedral can only hold 1,000-2,000 people for a bishop’s installation, streaming video enables more people to experience it in real time.”
It can also be a way to bring about change.
When Corpus Christi Church in Aliso Viejo, Calif., held a Halloween Mass that included parishioners dressed in Halloween costumes and an extraordinary minister of Communion dressed as the devil, a user posted a video of the Mass for others to see and comment on. Members of the Orange County, Calif.-based group Restore the Sacred forwarded the contents of the video on to the apostolic nuncio and Cardinal Francis Arinze, prefect of Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments.
Members have placed historical footage online, as well, such as videos of Pope Pius XII, St. Padre Pio, and the ordination of Father – now Cardinal – Avery Dulles.
Other Web sites, such as GodTube (Godtube.com) and EJVideo (ejvideo-place.blogspot.com) have been created to provide specifically Christian or Catholic content to viewers.
In addition to audio sermons, Chicago priest Father Robert Barron uses online video on his website Word on Fire (wordonfire.org) to ...
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