Posted on 04/11/2011 7:33:25 AM PDT by marshmallow
Hundreds of bloggers have already made enquires about attending a special meeting being arranged by the Pontifical Councils for Culture and Social Communications on May 2nd, just after the beatification of Pope John Paul II. Officials say the meeting was proposed to establish a dialogue between the Church and the new media of blogging.
“If we look today where culture is strongly formed and shaped, it’s the blogosphere. Bloggers have an enormous influence, ties an important community, its an important category, so its right that there to be a meeting of bloggers within the Church in order for the Church to take account of this reality, to dialogue with it, to listen to it, to listen to it, to be aware of it,” says Dr. Richard Rouse, an official at the Pontifical Council for Culture.
He told Vatican Radio “it is not a meeting which intends to propose writing rules for bloggers, its not a meeting in which we are going to tell people how to blog properly, it’s just a very simple encounter, a first step along a road of dialogue in which we seek to know each other better.”
On aspect of the meeting which might be surprising is that it is an invitation to all bloggers, not just Catholic bloggers.
“One of the things we are a little bit aware of is that sometimes the Catholic blogosphere can become a bit of a ghetto…rather than engaging in the world outside,” he said.
When asked if he thought there are risks associated with such an initiative, Dr. Rouse said he knew the meeting could be different than others hosted at the Vatican.
“Certainly we are aware that a blog meeting can sometimes be a blog-fest and sometimes it can be a blog-fight,” he said. “We are aware of that, but our intention here…is to start to engage in a first step with Catholic bloggers. Further on down the line, I’m sure we will be able to articulate a more fulsome pastoral response to the reality, but first steps at a time.”
Enlighten us!
The blogosphere is fraught with marauders.
I wonder what Jesus—(who always communicated face-to-face)—would think.
Probably not suitable for the Religion forum. ;-)
*snicker*
In many ways, the “blogosphere” is like one’s worst school years ... people talking about one another behind their backs, throwing fits in the bathroom, pretending they know much more about things than they really do ...
I wonder how the demographics shake out ... are there a lot of young and middle-aged women with time on their hands? Maybe it’s better that they’re blogging than wreaking havoc in their churches. However, I am disappointed when priests participate in gossip and scandal-mongering.
The occasional blog posts I enjoy are reports of people’s travels to places I don’t get to go. I’m sure there will be some interesting ones from Pope John Paul’s beatification. How I wish Anoreth and I could be there, but she’s at sea, and I have a nursing baby. Maybe we’ll make his Canonization!
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