The question of clerical bloggers
The
Catholic blogosphere sometimes reminds me of the early Church – all sorts of
people are saying all sorts of things, some are right, some are almost right,
and some are way wrong. The internet is an environment with very little control,
hence there is almost no on-line oversight from the Church’s pastors (i.e. the
bishops). What is more, the internet culture is often looked down upon by the
Hierarchy – both by bishops and by many of the priests. I notice that older
priests are especially quick to discredit Catholic blogs (whether this is
because the Catholic blogosphere is quite conservative or whether it is just a
simple matter of “hiding one’s head in the sand”, I do not know).
There
are legitimate questions raised occasionally, especially when it comes to
priests (and, I suppose, bishops) who contribute to blogs: Is the blogosphere
really a dignified place for a preist? Does a priest have time to write for a
blog? And, finally, If a priest does have a blog, what should it look like?
In
this little article, I would like to provide something of an answer to these
questions. In the course of my response, I hope as well to give people a little
insight into how a priest might fit “blogging” into his busy schedule.
