This is interesting. The pope is actually tackling the thorny subject of incivility in the Catholic blogosphere! He asked bloggers to adapt a “Christian-style presence” online, and said that “we must be aware that the truth which we long to share does not derive its worth from its ‘popularity’ or from the amount of attention it receives”. This is a message that all of us who blog need to take to heart.
The follow-up comments from Archbishop Claudio Celli, president of the Pontifical Council for Social Communications, are also noteworthy. He “said it was certainly correct to direct the pope’s exhortation to some conservative Catholic blogs, YouTube channels and sites which, with some vehemence, criticize bishops, public officials and policies they consider not Catholic enough”. This is uncharacteristically blunt, which tells you that the Vatican sees this online parallel magisterium as a growing problem. I’m not going to name names either, but I think we all know the blogs he is talking about!
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