communications

[Note: Please read through the comments at the end of this post for some great insights about this situation.]

Time and time again, I'm seeing media reports that portray something that happens in the Church with either incorrect, or easily-misconstrued wording, and it continually paints the Church in a strange—if not bad—light.

The latest example: a new app called 'Confession' on the iPhone App Store.

From BBC's article on the app:

It also allows them to examine their conscience based on personalised factors such as age, sex and marital status - but it is not intended to replace traditional confession entirely.

Instead, it encourages users to understand their actions and then visit their priest for absolution.

It would be nice if we could be a little more clear in this wording—this app in no way whatsoever replaces any part of the Sacrament of Reconciliation. It is merely a tool/checklist to help penitents with their Examination of Conscience.

Since the article also points out that the Catholic Church has given its Imprimatur to this app, this surely means Catholics no longer need to visit the confessional to be absolved, correct? Nope. But that's the inference that will be drawn by almost every non-Catholic who knows anything about the Sacrament, and likely most Catholics as well (who goes to Reconciliation anymore, anyways? Isn't it some optional practice? </sarcasm>).

For example, from Geekologie: Catholic Church Approves Confession App

$1.99 to have your sins forgiven, not a bad deal! That's right folks, the Catholic Church has officially approved an iPhone app that guides worshipers through the process of confession. 

I've been monitoring many different aspects of the Church's communications over the past few years, and, as most of the readers of this post already know, it is easy to find many more examples of positive Catholic news gone awry—mostly because it was not communicated clearly, cohesively, immediately, and accessibly, to the media and to the public.

It is my goal (and I hope it is yours as well) to help make this happen less frequently.

[Update:] It was pointed out that an anchor on CNN's Newsroom also said of the app:

PHILLIPS: I'm a woman of the cloth, OK? All right. Here's the deal. For $1.99 you can now get this app, all right? And it's for sinners. And I'm not -- and the Catholic Church is actually saying -- endorsing this. So you don't have to go to church. You don't have to go see the priest. All you do is you go on to this app, OK, you log in.

(Source). [Emphasis mine]

I long for the day when I and others can spend more time communicating the truth, and new messages of hope and love, rather than clarifying that which others have said/introduced about the faith.

The Pope delivered his message on the 45th World Day of Communications. Very apropos:

It is an ever more commonly held opinion that, just as the Industrial Revolution in its day brought about a profound transformation in society by the modifications it introduced into the cycles of production and the lives of workers, so today the radical changes taking place in communications are guiding significant cultural and social developments. The new technologies are not only changing the way we communicate, but communication itself, so much so that it could be said that we are living through a period of vast cultural transformation. This means of spreading information and knowledge is giving birth to a new way of learning and thinking, with unprecedented opportunities for establishing relationships and building fellowship.

The Pope has dealt with the Internet, social networking, and mass communications many times in the past. He is always quick to highlight the transformational power new technologies offer—in this case, he compares our communications revolution to the Industrial Revolution.

He is, as always, quick to warn of the dangers involved in this technology's misuse, and reminds us that, as with every tool humanity uses, this tool must, too, be placed at the service of good, rather than evil... and it is up to you and I to do this!

As with every other fruit of human ingenuity, the new communications technologies must be placed at the service of the integral good of the individual and of the whole of humanity. If used wisely, they can contribute to the satisfaction of the desire for meaning, truth and unity which remain the most profound aspirations of each human being.

The Pope warns that online communication, particularly, I think, in the form of status-posting and blogging, "can become a form of self-indulgence." He also warns of the dangers of a digital lifestyle, including "enclosing oneself in a sort of parallel existence," "excessive exposure to the virtual world," and "constructing an artificial public profile for oneself."

The pope continues to remind us that "virtual contact cannot and must not take the place of direct human contact with people at every level of our lives."

The whole message is incredibly succinct and important for anyone working online to read. Please read it in full—and post your thoughts here!

Further Reading for Thought/Discussion:

• I'm Obsessed with the Obsession
• New Book on "The Church and New Media" 
• Social networking sites are a 'modern form of madness'
• Getting Intimate on Facebook
• Pope Benedict's 43rd World Communications Day Message (2009)
• The Shallows: What the Internet Is Doing to Our Brains
• How the Internet Gets Inside Us
• Children are happier with their virtual lives and not the real world
• Chris Bowler: "I struggle greatly to focus on one task for any length."

I will be posting more about the themes the Pope highlights in this message in the coming months. I think these issues have been on many people's minds (mine included), with much more frequency, now that social media has begun to truly pervade people's entire lives.

Well, this is refreshing news!

Apparently, the Catholics Come Home initiative in the Diocese of Green Bay has been a great success, and has encouraged a 7.4% increase in Mass attendance. This initiative has been centered around inviting back former Catholics, and increasing the faith and understanding of currently-active Catholics.

Eight months ago, the Diocese of Green Bay began airing television commercials for six weeks that invited Catholics to Come Home. This month, the diocese released survey findings that show Mass attendance increased an average of 7.4 percent after the commercials began to air.

In addition, more than 95 percent of parish leaders and parishioners reported that CCH had a positive influence on their lives.

For any program like this, two very important factors must be considered: 1. The welcoming attitude must saturate both diocesan and parish-based programs. 2. Truth/morals/teachings must never be compromised in welcoming new and former members into the Church—otherwise, those returning/joining will quickly see that we are duplicitous.

The program in Green Bay also had a very nice, accessible website, which most definitely helped those Catholics who were seeking more information! The website even seems to have been designed competently for SEO and cross-browser compatibility... go figure!

Congratulations to the Diocese of Green Bay! Hopefully, we can see a bit more of this in other dioceses, especially in the U.S.!

From the CNS:

Pope Benedict XVI unveiled a new Vatican agency to promote "new evangelization" and assigned it the task of combating the "de-Christianization" of countries that were first evangelized centuries ago.

...and of special interest to Open Source Catholic readers, it looks like this agency will work especially through the means of modern communications media, such as social networking:

The archbishop said the council would work closely with modern communications media -- an explicit request of the pope -- and that the council's staff would operate in several languages.

The Pope's apostolic letter went on to speak of the importance of religious values and family in society, and mourns the loss of community and the fact that many live in an "interior desert" as a result of relativism and modernism.

Very poignant; we'll see what comes of this!

From an article posted to Today's Parish, from @jongivens:

A few years ago, it would have been considered “cutting edge” for a parish to be using social media, but now everyone is doing it. So the question isn’t should parishes be using social media, but how can they use it with intentionality to support their ministry goals. Before a minister or parish committee member even sets up a Twitter account, Facebook page, or blog for the parish, they need to discern what it is they are trying to accomplish with these new media tools.

In “The Priest and Pastoral Ministry in a Digital World: New Media at the Service of the Word,” Pope Benedict XVI outlined the importance of social media and the need for priests and lay people to adapt to this cultural shift. Using excerpts from the pope’s letter as a framework, this article lays out three basic steps for creating a social media strategy for a parish or ministry organization:

• Define your goals
• Meet your audience
• Build your content

Nothing we haven't heard before, but a good consideration for every parish and Catholic organization: what is your strategy for online communications (even more broad than simply social media use... you should also consider traditional email marketing, and website content management)?

Of course, I must contest the point that 'everybody's doing it' when it comes to parishes and social media... fully 66% of churches don't use social media—and that's all Christians. Catholic churches, I'm sure, would see a smaller minority using social media.

I think the battle still needs to be fought over whether or not a parish should be using social media... not how they should use it (just yet ;-). Many priests and parish councils simply see no need for it at this point.

Something I posted on the Archdiocese of St. Louis' Development Website earlier today:

As technology has progressed in the past hundred years, the amount of information that is immediately accessible has increased at an exponential rate. As time goes on, people are more and more used to the idea of immediate gratification when it comes to images, text, and stories from events.

There is a new term phrased to wrap up this near-instantaneous stream of live information produced around the world: the 'real-time web.'

But what exactly is the real-time web? Wikipedia can help us here:

"The real-time web is a set of technologies and practices which enable users to receive information as soon as it is published by its authors, rather than requiring that they or their software check a source periodically for updates."

Basically, there are many new technologies available today that weren't even heard of just ten or fifteen years ago, including "RSS", "XML" and other ways of exchanging information.

What does this mean for you? Well, for your organization to stay at the fore online, and to reach the broadest range of people, you need to be able to participate in this real-time web.

Continue reading this post on the Archdiocese of St. Louis' Development Website: The Real-Time Web and Archdiocesan Websites.

Seen on the Catholic News Service wire, and mentioned on Whispers:

VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- Communications technology keeps changing, but the need to deliver a message with truth and charity is never obsolete, said Italian Archbishop Claudio Maria Celli.

As president of the Pontifical Council for Social Communications, Archbishop Celli presided over a four-day meeting of cardinals, bishops and Catholic media professionals to discuss -- mainly in small groups -- new pastoral guidelines for church communications.

A recurring theme during the meeting Oct. 26-29 was what constitutes Catholic communications and what, if anything, can be done about those who use the word Catholic to describe themselves while using all sorts of nasty adjectives to describe anyone who doesn't agree with them.

Archbishop Celli said he didn't think a Catholic bloggers' "code of conduct" would accomplish much, especially when what is really needed is a reflection on what it means to communicate.

Upright, ethical communication is a natural result of a sincere desire to share the truth about God, about faith and about the dignity of the human person, he said.

The archbishop said that what Pope Benedict XVI has said about solidarity and development aid goes for communications as well: "Charity needs truth and truth needs charity."

"Anyone speaking publicly as a Catholic has to have those ethical values that are part of a serious, honest form of communication," Archbishop Celli said.

"In the past, the church's educational efforts included helping people decide what they should or should not watch. Now it must also help them decide what they should or should not produce" and put on the Internet, he said.

What I think they're trying to say is that we should not use false or inflammatory... or uncharitable kinds of rhetoric and language in what we produce online. I know of many Catholic bloggers and online personality who have struggled with the task of not only tempering their own uncharitable thoughts and words, but also often having to deal with the uncharitable (and often scathing) words of commenters and social media friends/followers.

How are we spreading the Gospel through our work? And are we doing it for Christ, or for our own good/needs/desires/wants?