Today’s religious communities should know that the internet allows Christ to walk the streets of the city and knock on each of our doors.
That was part of the message of the 44th World Communications Day, issued by Pope Benedict XVI Jan. 24.
“The world of digital communication, with its almost limitless expressive capacity,” the Holy Father said in his letter, “The Priest and Pastoral Ministry in a Digital World: New Media at the Service of the Word”, “makes us appreciate all the more Saint Paul’s exclamation: ‘Woe to me if I do not preach the Gospel.’ (1 Cor 9:16)
The letter was written with the Year for the Priest in mind, but the Pope mentioned all consecrated people as well:
Consecrated men and women working in the media have a special responsibility for opening the door to new forms of encounter, maintaining the quality of human interaction, and showing concern for individuals and their genuine spiritual needs. They can thus help the men and women of our digital age to sense the Lord’s presence, to grow in expectation and hope, and to draw near to the Word of God which offers salvation and fosters an integral human development.
One of the biggest changes for religious, in my mind, is that with a blog or website, the community’s message reaches out beyond those whom they meet in person, to a much wider audience - the whole world. In our Pro-Life SearchRank program, used by pregnancy centers, our news stories are read by people in Canada, Australia, the Philippines, Nigeria, India, and other places where English is spoken. When I look at the Google Analytics map of the world and see the countries lit up, showing web visits, it makes me proud that all of these people are being reached with the pro-life message. The same happens with religious communities, I’m sure.
The Pope, who now has a YouTube channel, said also in his letter,
In this way the Word can traverse the many crossroads created by the intersection of all the different “highways” that form “cyberspace”, and show that God has his rightful place in every age, including our own.
— Kevin J. Banet
President, TreeFrogClick web services
A major men’s community of priests and brothers has attracted three out of its four new vocations through their website. Not only that, but these new men are tech-savvy, which means their computer skills will aid the community greatly.