Pope to clergy: start blogging!

Image by: Rvin88

The Vatican has long had to deal with dwindling church attendance through much of the Western world, but it appears as though Pope Benedict XVI is about to embrace Web 2.0 technology, in order to reach out to internet-savvy youth. Moreover, he is enlisting the entire Catholic clergy. In a crucial address that the pontiff will give this spring, Benedict will outline his thoughts on how digital technology has changed the way that human relationships are both formed and maintained. According to a report in The Telegraph, Benedict will call upon priests and all levels of the clergy to start blogging, thus “putting the media ever more effectively at the service of the Word.” Blogging and social networking experts maintain that this may be the first time that a major, internationally-recognized religious leader has so explicitly called on the clergy to turn to blogs.

Vatican observers, however, were quick to point out to those who might have hoped that reading priestly blogs or joining church groups on social networking sites may replace mandatory church attendance on Sundays, or a trip to the confessional, to keep in mind that the internet is no substitute for actually participating in a faith community in the physical world. Benedict hopes that by getting priests to launch blogs,  local religious leaders will not only reach out to the youth, but also provide online communication technologies with both a “soul” and a human face.

Benedict’s call for more effective use of blogging on the part of the clergy marks perhaps the first time that the pope has stepped into the media-savvy shoes of his predecessor, the late John Paul II