Sunday, March 10, 2013

Benedict's Best...# 7

7) World Communications Day, January 24th, 2010

"Priests, Thou Shalt Blog!"


Pope Benedict issued a clear call for priests to start evangelizing the "digital continent" in his World Communications Day address in 2010.  Priests have answered his call in great numbers!

The Holy Father noted: "All priests have as their primary duty the proclamation of Jesus Christ, the incarnate Word of God, and the communication of his saving grace in the sacraments."  The Holy Father continues: "The world of digital communication, with its almost limitless expressive capacity, makes us appreciate all the more Saint Paul's exclamation: "Woe to me if I do not preach the Gospel"

"Priests are thus challenged to proclaim the Gospel by employing the latest generation of audiovisual resources (images, videos, animated features, blogs, websites) which, alongside traditional means, can open up broad new vistas for dialogue, evangelization and catechesis."

"Who better than a priest, as a man of God, can develop and put into practice, by his competence in current digital technology, a pastoral outreach capable of making God concretely present in today's world and presenting the religious wisdom of the past as a treasure which can inspire our efforts to live in the present with dignity while building a better future?"

"To priests in particular the new media offer ever new and far-reaching pastoral possibilities, encouraging them to embody the universality of the Church's mission, to build a vast and real fellowship, and to testify in today's world to the new life which comes from hearing the Gospel of Jesus, the eternal Son who came among us for our salvation."

"To my dear brother priests, then, 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 how a priest doesn't listen to this advice from the Holy Father.  This one speech got me from never considering blogging to doing it full force, and, several years after starting, only now do I fully realize how prophetic the Holy Father was.

If your priest doesn't blog and doesn't evangelize the digital continent, offer to help!

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