CENTER SECTION: CATHOLICS AND THE NEW MEDIA
Virtual Parishes and Ecclesial Communities
Chris Valka |  Fall 2009

During his papacy, the late Pope John Paul II declared that it is not enough to use the media for evangelization; we must also integrate that message into the “‘new culture' created by modern communications” (Encyclical Redemptoris missio).

It seems that when many of us think of the media, especially in the context of religious discussions, we quickly move toward the negative. Religion and the media often seem at odds, and there are good reasons for this. “The media” (usually meaning the media of mass communications) depend on what can be understood through the senses in a finite period of time, while the fruit of belief exists in an internal realm, moving slowly throughout a person’s life. The tenets of our faith and reasons for our belief are not easily summed up in a sound bite, and when the attempt is made, the result is often a misinterpretation or oversimplification.

Regardless of the medium, whether it be print, television, radio, or Internet-based— including podcasts, social networking sites, or blogs—the challenge is to acknowledge these tools, not simply as useful vehicles to convey information but, more important, as catalysts that can break through barriers with rapid ease to build ecclesial communities within and beyond the reach of any given community. Meeting this challenge requires that we use all forms of media as Jesus used parables to connect the mundane to the divine and to elicit more questions rather than simply to punctuate a statement.

HISTORY OF VATICAN COMMUNICATIONS

As the church understands it, the history of human communication is something like a long journey, bringing humanity “from the pride-driven project of Babel to Pentecost: a restoration of communication, centered on Jesus, through the action of the Holy Spirit” (The Church and the Internet, statement from the Pontifical Council for Social Communications).

Mass communication is at the very heart of the church and her mission. The Vatican means of communication have paralleled the historic development of media in the world: the newspaper L'Osservatore Romano, 1861; Vatican Radio, 1931; Vatican Television Center, 1983; the Internet office in the 1990s.

In its many statements on the media, the church highlights, with objectivity, the problems, risks, and ambiguities related to its use. Nevertheless, it cannot be denied that as a whole the statements reflect a positive—we can even say optimistic—point of view on the development of social communications and the possibilities they offer.

The documents' titles themselves sound attractive: "Miranda prorsus" (Remarkable Technical Inventions), "Inter mirifica" (Wonderful Technological Discoveries), "Communio et progressio" (Unity and Progress).

MEDIA AND THE STATE OF SOCIETY

While we hold up the benefits of the media with regard to their potential to bring the gospel “to the ends of the earth,” we also recognize that they can be a great detriment to a person’s spiritual development (though I am going to argue that they need not be).

Computers, iPods, televisions, and video games have systematically and empirically shortened our attention spans and our ability to listen. We have great difficulty sitting still, especially in silence. Our desire for entertainment has caused our senses to want a constant state of over-stimulation so that we no longer need to finish one thought before we move on to another. And now, with iPods filling in the formerly unplugged, quiet moments of mobility, silence is basically an endangered state.

The irony is that our constant state of connection has challenged our ability to relate to people in the flesh. How many times have we sat on a bus or subway “plugged in” with friends in another country, while failing to recognize the people sitting on either side of us? Or worse, when we sit at the table for a meal with friends while constantly texting with people elsewhere?

But what has been learned from this prolific use of the media is that people desperately want to belong to a community and to live integrated lives. How sad it is that we have used, or should I say been used by, media and technology to achieve exactly the opposite: lives that are isolated, segregated, and compartmentalized.

And so it seems to me the difference between the desired results and the consequences lies in one’s ability to be a steward of the media rather than a consumer. Stewards are the ones who take responsibility for those items entrusted to them, who manage for the sake of others. This is what it means to be a steward, and it is a far cry from the often hedonistic values of consumers.

TO USE, NOT BE USED, BY THE MEDIA

In a world that has seen a movement from deference to discernment and from obligation to gratification, one of the greatest challenges of the church today is how to keep the message of Sunday from becoming just another sip in the information cocktail of the week. If we are to be good stewards of the gospel, we must first understand that the gospel does not exist in a vacuum. While Christ’s message needs no amendments of any kind, we must ensure that we create enough space in our lives and in the world around us for that message to be seen and heard. As a favorite author of mine writes, “We cannot transform ourselves, but we must create space for that transformation to happen.”

In his message for World Communications Day in 1990, Pope John Paul II said,

Immediate access to information makes it possible for [the Church] to
deepen her dialogue with the contemporary world...The Church can
more readily inform the world of her beliefs and explain the reasons
for her stance on any given issue or event. She can hear more clearly
the voice of public opinion, and enter into a continuous discussion with
the world around her, thus involving herself more immediately in the
common search for solutions to humanity's many pressing problems.

Connecting in the Expanse

I can provide some concrete examples of “communication for the sake of communion.” In my own ministry at the Newman Center of New Mexico State University, I have found that students have a true desire to learn more about their faith, especially as it relates to the world around them. However, they’re busy, and when they have finished studying, the last thing they want to do is read more information. So I developed a blog called Al on Air (our parish is named for St. Albert). This blog features a podcast each week that is relevant to what is happening in the world around the students. Each week after the podcast is posted, I meet on campus with a group of them to hang out and discuss what they heard. The result has been small, but very potent.

The important difference in an ecclesial approach to technology is that the fruit never ends within the virtual realm. While the message begins with the medium, the social network that develops is tangible.

Humanist Approach

Too often we think that for media to do “God’s work,” they must be explicitly religious. But Catholicism has always embraced humanist values—literature, art, and even the mass communications media all have the capacity to lead us to God, even if that is not their creators’ intention. If we are to be good stewards of the media, we should look for opportunities to bring out the very best in what we see on TV and in the theater and what we hear on the charts.

For example, this past Christmas, Seven Pounds addressed the issues of retribution for our sins—how we go about it and the ethics involved. Even such seemingly simple films as Horton Hears a Who can be used to speak of human dignity issues. Music may also lead to such discussion. Just recently, Al on Air featured interviews with Tricia Brown on the hip-hop wars and Michael Franti, whose blend of reggae and hip-hop has given a voice to many spiritual and social justice issues around the world.

The truth is that those who use and respond to the media-message are longing to connect to a larger world—both as capital- and lower-case-C church. As people of faith, our role is to continually assist in re-orienting all things to God. During his address to Catholic universities in May 2008, Pope Benedict said,

The desire for connectedness and the instinct for communication that

are so obvious in contemporary culture are best understood as modern manifestations of the basic and enduring propensity of humans to reach

beyond themselves and to seek communion with others. In reality, when

we open ourselves to others, we are fulfilling our deepest need and

becoming more fully human.

Through Internet blogs and social networks, we have the ability to live out our call as storytellers—not just of Christ’s story but of our own. Even amid all the controversy over Facebook and MySpace, the church embraced the goodness of these tools and launched Xt3 (Christ in the Third Millennium) during World Youth Day 2008. Located at www.xt3.com, this site is the Catholic version of Facebook, allowing stories and resources to be shared across the world. Streaming Catholic media are available on the Web site of Salt + Light Television; EWTN; through the Vatican’s new YouTube Channel; H20 News; and through online radio programs such as Provoke Radio.

The Digital Divide

There are, of course, cautions that must be considered. The first is the “digital divide.” This gap does not concern only the rich and poor, since these days even many of the poor have access to the Internet and own their own cell phones. In an ecclesial sense, the digital divide also concerns the old and the young.

The risk of technological ecclesial communities is that the wisdom and perspective of an “unplugged” generation may be left out. Those who can should be encouraged to use the media to capture the stories and perspectives of community elders.

The Danger of Oversimplicity

The second and more subtle danger the media presents to our conversations is in its need for simplicity—the ever coveted “sound bite.” While he recognizes that the images and sounds of the media can be powerful, Pope Benedict offered the following caution in his 2006 message on World Communications Day

While the various instruments of social communication facilitate the exchange of information, ideas, and mutual understanding among groups,
they are also tainted by ambiguity. Alongside the provision of a "great
round table" for dialogue, certain tendencies within the media engender
a kind of monoculture that dims creative genius, deflates the subtlety of
complex thought and undervalues specific cultural practices and the
particularity of religious belief.

As good stewards of media resources, we must be careful not to oversimplify the subject—whether it be catechesis, matters of the spirit, or the stories of people’s lives. In my experience, media are best used to provoke, to ask questions, and to stir discussion.

Traditionally, when the media are asked to provide “answers” concerning issues and people of faith, they usually fall short. Provide more questions than statements—make people curious. Use the media in the same manner Christ used parables and symbols, as illustrations to relate the timeless message of the gospel to the world that surrounds us—as bridges to bring together ideas and people who desire nothing more than communication that leads to communion.

To conclude, it seems fitting to pull from Pope Benedict’s message for World Communications Day this year:

Brothers and Sisters, I ask you to introduce into the culture of this new environment of communications and information technology the values on which you have built your lives. Be sure to announce the gospel to your contemporaries with enthusiasm. You know their fears and their hopes, their aspirations and their disappointments: the greatest gift you can give to them is to share with them the "Good News" of a God who became man, who suffered, died and rose again to save all people. Human hearts are yearning for a world where love endures, where gifts are shared, where unity is built, where freedom finds meaning in truth, and where identity is found in respectful communion.

The Rev. Chris Valka, CSB is a newly ordained priest who recently served in campus ministry at New Mexico State University.