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Pope Urges Priests To Go Forth and Blog
Hugh Pickens writes "Pope Benedict XV, whose own presence on the Web has grown in recent years, is urging priests to use all multimedia tools at their disposal to preach the Gospel and to engage in dialogue with people of other religions and cultures. 'The spread of multimedia communications and its rich "menu of options" might make us think it sufficient simply to be present on the Web,' but priests are 'challenged to proclaim the Gospel by employing the latest generation of audiovisual resources,' says the Pope. The message from the Pope, prepared for the World Day of Communications, suggests such possibilities as images, videos, animated features, blogs, and Web sites and adds that young priests should become familiar with new media while still in seminary, though the Pope stresses that the use of new technologies must reflect theological and spiritual principles. Many priests and top prelates already interact with the faithful online, and one of Benedict's advisers has his own Facebook profile. So does the archbishop of Los Angeles. The Pope adds, 'I renew the invitation to make astute use of the unique possibilities offered by modern communications. May the Lord make all of you enthusiastic heralds of the Gospel in the new "agorà" which the current media are opening up.'"
I don't know. I'm not Catholic, but I read Fr. Z's blog at wdtprs.com fairly frequently. It's not spam by any stretch. It's interesting to peep into another world.
You guys mean Pope Benedict XVI, right?
-- Old Man Kensey
I thought that there had been an effort to keep sex offenders away from social networking technology...
That's a real problem. Catholic priests should be monitored to make sure they're not communicating with minors. The Catholic Church, after all, is the only organization to have a slush fund to pay off victims of their pedophiles.
If the Pope was serious about using new communication technology, he should make the entire Vatican Secret Archives searchable on the Internet.
That's not a bad idea, but people need to realize that "Secret" doesn't mean what they think it does in this case. From the same Wikipedia link:
"The word "secret" in the title "Vatican Secret Archives" does not have the modern meaning: it indicates instead that the archives are the Pope's own, not those of a department of the Roman Curia. The word "secret" was used in this sense also in phrases such as "secret servants", "secret cupbearer", "secret carver""
The article also notes that the archive has been open to scholars since 1881, and about a thousand a year access it for study. So let's nip any DaVinci Code-ish conspiracy theories about the archive in the bud here.
Life is hard, and the world is cruel
Roughly a BILLION dollars in pedo payoffs worldwide make that post a candidate for Funny, not Flamebait.
From rescuing Nazis (not to mention largely ignoring the Holocaust, if THAT wasn't worthy of excommunication what is?) in Operation Ratline after WWII to playing hide-the-pedo across international borders, the Vatican has forfeited any respect except by its own brainwashed flock.
Enjoy!
http://www.bishop-accountability.org/
Justice, courtesy of another inmate:
http://www.boston.com/news/specials/geoghan/
Some fangirl support:
http://www.boston.com/news/local/massachusetts/articles/2009/11/23/coakley_details_her_role_in_1995_probation_deal_for_geoghan/?page=3
"This post is an artistic work of fiction and falsehood. Only a fool would take anything posted here as fact."
Currently, the *contents* of sermons and services are not available for that same scrutiny. If religious indoctrination and propaganda starts to move online, that is a huge win for skeptics.
That's somewhat changing, too...in my country (90+ % Catholic officially) there were cases of, simply put, embarrassing sermons which were recorded. Of course those willing to record sermons and make a big deal out of ridiculous ones aren't very happy to force themselves regularly through mass.
Net, as we pointed out, changes this.
One that hath name thou can not otter
Wow - this Benedict XV must have been an amazing visionary to tell priests to blog, given that he died in 1922!
Proud member of the Ferengi Socialist Party.
http://www.masstimes.org/
The society for a thought-free internet welcomes you.
The article also notes that the archive has been open to scholars since 1881, and about a thousand a year access it for study. So let's nip any DaVinci Code-ish conspiracy theories about the archive in the bud here.
That's fine, but the wikipedia page says that "[t]here is no generic browsing, and researchers must ask for the precise document they wish to see, identifying it either by consulting the indices or from some other source."
So if you want to find outwhat the Vatican knows about, say, UFOs, Bigfoot, and Nessie, and none of the documents in the secret archive are referenced in the indices or any outside material, you are SOL.
Computers are useless. They can only give you answers.
-- Pablo Picasso
Did you know the rate of child molestation among priests is at least more than 400% of that of the overall population? Even the Church's own Archbishop Tomasi puts the rate of sexual abusers among priests at 5% "over the past 50 years" although he does assure us that "this figure was comparable with that of other groups and denominations". Remember, Tomasi represents a group that worked to cover up this abuse for half a century and does so still today. The highest rate ever alleged by the overall population (according to civilian statistics, not the church's) is about 0.4%. Most researchers put the overall number at closer to 0.2%. Most lay researchers put the rate of abuse among priests at closer to 7.5% which would be more than 10 times the overall rate.
You can call it trolling or flamebaiting all you want, but it doesn't change the fact that priests bugger children a lot more than the rest of us.
You are welcome on my lawn.
Most research libraries and archives won't let you browse through the stacks. You browse through a catalog and ask for what you want, they bring it to you, you work on it and then give it back.
Well, unless you're that Ohio State art professor who was removing priceless drawings from the holdings of the world's great libraries. He didn't give _all_ the stuff back, which is the sort of thing that happens every once in a while. Some archivists therefore tend to give researchers the hairy eyeball and get snotty about giving them pencils.
The advantage of "closed stacks" is not just security, but less space needing to be wasted on broad aisles or always-on lights. The old Vatican Library stacks were so stuffed they were a fire hazard, and probably still are, by all accounts. You could also get lost very easily, since the building layouts were not designed to be a library annex.
The word 'secret' in these terms is related to the word 'secretary' - it means they are private, that's all.
John Thayer Jensen "Anonymous Coward Who Can't Be Bothered Creating An Account"