Social Media and the Catholic Church

The digital world of social media offers great potential for those hoping to spread the Gospel message, but comes with the occasional hazard of opposition.  Pope Benedict XVI approves of social media and it's vast potential.  With the click of a button Christians can reach millions of believers and non-believers alike with the message of the Gospel and the call to follow the Lord.

Shop Timeless Catholic Gifts

WASHINGTON, DC (Catholic Online) - Social media is an important tool for reaching millions of people on a daily basis.  Its value is revolutionary and should not be trivialized by Christians.  I cannot even count how many active church members have told me something like, "I'm just not sure that social media is useful or going to stick around" or "social media is difficult to learn and I just don't have the time for it."  As someone who uses social media to advance a ministry, I have seen its fruits and its limitations.  As my father once told me, "you can't tighten a bolt with a hammer." 

The Catholic Church should embrace social media -or at the very least accept it- not as the solution to outreach difficulties, but as a means to starting a conversation, resourcing, and reaching people where they are.  The message of true freedom and new life in Jesus Christ - and the call to live that new life within the Church - is too valuable to not use every available means to communicate it to a world hungering for its liberating invitation . 

Papal intweetability

Social media was on the mind of Pope Benedict XVI during last month's World Day of Communication-and it should remain on ours.  "Church communities have always used the modern media for fostering communication, engagement with society, and, increasingly, for encouraging dialogue at a wider level.  Yet the recent, explosive growth and greater social impact of these media make them all the more important for a fruitful priestly ministry," Pope Benedict said in his January message for the 44th World Day of Communications. 

Pope Benedict XVI is a social media advocate and is the first pope to have his own YouTube and Facebook accounts.  Despite the indication in my catchy paragraph heading, he has no Twitter account.  He advocates for the use of social media to communicate the Gospel message to a younger audience and those that are increasingly tech-savvy.  This medium is a strong tool for the clergy as well.  "Priests are thus challenged to proclaim the Gospel 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," said Pope Benedict.

New opportunity brings new challenges

While the explosive growth and impact of social media is incredible, the digital world offers different challenges than communication streams of the past.  In 2007, the radical animal rights group People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA), ended the primary revenue stream of a South Carolina Trappist Monastery, Mepkin Abbey, in the old-school, traditional manner. 

I called the Abbey back in 2007, just after the heat of the battle, and spoke with a monk there.  He said they were bombarded with constant phone calls, emails, and protests outside their gates in an attempt to divert the monks' limited resources from making a modest living from their egg business. 

PETA even filed a formal complaint with the South Carolina Department of Agriculture, the state Attorney General's Office, and the Federal Trade Commission alleging unfair trade practices and animal cruelty.  I had the opportunity to make a retreat with the monks roughly 2 years prior to the attack from PETA, and saw no evidence of such behavior.  The monks could not live peaceful monastic lives and did not have the resources or time to fight such an onslaught of abuse and false charges.  Shortly thereafter, they closed down their egg business and moved to other ventures. 

In the digital world you may not have protesters outside your gate and a barrage of phone calls, but debilitating negative feedback is possible none-the-less.  A couple months ago, for instance, Catholic Online was bombarded by a number of attacks on its Facebook account by dissenters that do not agree with the Catholic position on homosexual practice and did not want us to be able to report on it it or communicate it to others. The group labeled posts as ordinary as daily mass readings as "spam" and defaced the account.  After freezing the account for several hours, it was finally restored.

While Mepkin Abbey was attacked on a more personal level, the impersonal nature of the internet and social media raise concern about its use and effectiveness in communication. 

The actions of these aggressive detractors beg the question: Where are Christians safe to spread their message without fear of attack?  Is the internet, and social media outlets specifically, the appropriate medium for communicating the Gospel message, especially when radicals thousands of miles away can impede your efforts? 

Social media is the new public square and raises concerns for Christians when this virtual public square is stampeded by the opposition.

Social Media as a Means to an End

Marketers refer to places where people congregate as a "watering hole."  Providing a delivery tool for those looking to not just connect with friends and family, but to also share articles, videos, and links to good information is what Facebook does best for Christians.  This "watering hole" should serve as a good resource, but not as a place where we educate ourselves.  Watering holes merely refresh, while the water does the real work.  Likewise, when we go to Facebook or Twitter to see what all the buzz is, we should not stay put.  We should go and read the articles being linked and referred to, talk to the person behind the profile, and share our own experiences in life and ministry.  Staying put in social media is like expecting a college course catalogue to teach us about Shakespeare or biology. 

As Christians, we are not called to just invite people into the Church; but also to bring the Church to the people.  By bringing the Gospel to social media sites, we are improving people's lives by giving them easy access to Christian resources in a place where they already are.  But at the same time, we need to remember that the best communication is interpersonal; not through a website. 

Pressing forward with effective tools

Facebook is the right medium delivering the right message for groups like Catholic Online.  Though attacks will come, we must understand that attacks come for a reason.  These attacks are an indication that we are speaking to the most contentious issues plaguing our culture.
 
I was once told of a Marine Captain who was leading men into battle when they suddenly came under an intense attack.  They pressed forward but the gun fire and grenade attacks only got heavier.  Some men were shot and wounded.  As they pressed forward, some men began to grow weary as they continued forward, instead of retreating. 

After moving along a bit farther, there was a moment where the men gathered themselves, reloaded, and prepared for the next move forward.  Before moving, one of the soldiers spoke up: "Captain, this is crazy!  We're getting fired upon at every angle, and I doubt we'll be able to get out of here if we continue.  I urge you to reconsider another press forward.  Why are we doing this?" 

The Captain turned to his fellow soldier and said, "Each time we move forward their offense gets heavier, which makes me surer that they're protecting something. Let's go find out what it is." 

Rather than retreat when we meet resistance in the virtual public square, we should see attacks as a reason to press forward with even greater zeal and vigilance.  Are we not blessed when persecuted for the sake of righteousness?

Voices of authority vs. the loudest voices

In college, a professor told me that too much information can lead to too little education.  I was confused because it seems like the more information you have access to the more you learn.  But she explained that when you don't know where to find credible resources amongst a mountain of information, you are no more served than if you have no information at all.  She's right, and this is one of the most discouraging aspects of social media.

When millions blog and even more use Facebook and Twitter the real voices of authority may get diluted.  It will be important in the coming years for Catholics to emphasize that the most popular blogger is not necessarily the most authoritative Christian voice.  Keeping in accord with the Catholic tradition, Mother Church will be refreshing when opinions are abundant but truth appears fuzzy.  The bedrock of the Catholic faith lies not in social media but in Christ who uses the Catholic Church to disseminate His eternal Truth.  After all, social media is merely a means to an end-one that has powerful potential for the Kingdom.

Onward, Upward, and Online

Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, and the vast array of other social media sites may become burdensome for those who are spreading the Christian message, especially when the opposition tries to silence your efforts.  The nature of blogging, Twitter-ing, and Facebook-ing implies a certain level of back-and-forth discussion.  Commenting features provide users with the ability to respond to writers, which opens the opportunity for both feedback and outreach. 

These features get people thinking deeply about important issues and connect those who might otherwise never get connected.  In speaking about properly orienting our use of social media, Pope Benedict said, ".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."  I believe the Pope would agree that this is the case for the laity as well.

With this closeness to Christ, Christians should resist complacent defeat in the virtual world when the opposition lashes out with negative feedback.  This is inevitable.  Social media is a phenomenal tool if used as a means to deliver resources and make initial contact between people.  We have a duty to get the right message into the hands of those who need it-a vital duty of the Church. 

Some want us to lurk in the shadows, rather than preach from the rooftops.  Social media can be your own personal rooftop, so stand firm and keep preaching.

-----

Billy Atwell is a contributer to Catholic Online and BreakPoint, and is a blogger for The Point. From the perspective of a two-time cancer survivor he encourages those afflicted with pain and struggling with faith. You can find all of his writings at his blog For the Greater Glory.

---

'Help Give every Student and Teacher FREE resources for a world-class Moral Catholic Education'