The Catholic Church and Media: Promoting the Church’s Presence in Social Media

Abstract

Christ’s mandate to go and make disciples of all nations requires new ways of evangelization that use the cyberspace, including social media as the most recent technology with an increasing number of users. Spreading the Gospel on social media is clearly different from the ways of the past when preachers had to travel hundreds or thousands of miles, sometimes taking months, to reach their audience. Just as there have been people promoting the importance of social media to the growth and benefit of the Church, however, there have also been those doomsaying about the dangers of social media and the damage that it can inflict on the society’s stance towards religion as well as the negative influence that it can have on individuals: making people physically antisocial and destroying the traditions and basic institutions of the Church. Examples of such dangers include not attending Mass to hear the word of God since the Bible and sermons are readily available in the virtual sphere. But the fact is that digital media, including social media, are happening, and it will be to the Church’s disadvantage if she chooses to be in denial and not use them for the greater good, thus risking being left behind in a constantly and rapidly modernizing world.