Priests learn safe, effective ‘digital evangelization’

by Macie Capote

By Macie Capote
Clarion Herald

Priests of the Archdiocese of New Orleans gathered at the Cenacle on the Lake Oct. 17 for a workshop on how to use social media safely and effectively in their parishes.

The workshop aimed to equip priests with the tools, tips and tricks they would need to successfully have a social media presence within their parish and beyond.

Father Steven Bruno, pastor of St. Rita in Harahan, put the workshop together because he believes social media is an opportunity to make the Catholic Church’s presence more known.

“Social media is where everybody is,” he said. “We have to be there to at least have a voice.”

One of the main tools social media can offer to the Catholic Church is “digital evangelization,” according to Maegan Martin, the director of communications for the Diocese of Houma-Thibodaux.

While social media won’t lead to an encounter with God, Martin said it’s a great way for priests, deacons and religious alike to lead others to experience an encounter with God.

“I’m not here to tell you that social media is absolutely necessary for mission, but I do think it’s a great tool for us,” Martin said. “Everything in this world can be used as a tool for the evangelization of souls; the tools aren’t created good or evil, it’s how we use them that defines their goodness.”

Martin said she believes the church has a responsibility to respond to the increasing rise of social media use, with a total of 4.8 billion social media users worldwide.

“That’s 59.9% of the world’s population, and that’s a number that will just continue to grow and grow,” she said. “Whether we’re against it or for it, social media isn’t going away, so it’s up to us to decide how we’ll respond to this call.”

The staggering statistic that people spend an average of 2.5 hours a day on social media stems from an underlying desire for connection and relationships, according to Martin.

“We often forget why social media was created in the first place, which was to connect with others,” she said.

Martin quoted an excerpt from Pope John Paul II’s letter, “The Rapid Development,” to emphasize the importance of social media in today’s world.

“... the Church is not only called upon to use the mass media to spread the Gospel but, today more than ever, to integrate the message of salvation into the ‘new culture’ that these powerful means of communication create and amplify,” wrote Pope John Paul II. “It tells us that the use of the techniques and the technologies of contemporary communications is an integral part of its mission in the third millennium.”

Archbishop Gregory Aymond, who also attended the workshop, agreed with the sentiment that the world of technology and communications can aid in evangelization and recalled a time when he was in Rome and Pope John Paul II gave a talk on spreading the Gospel through technology.

Sarah McDonald, director of communications for the Archdiocese of New Orleans, said that from her time in the archdiocese before Hurricane Katrina, she has seen a lot of change in the way technology is being used.

“There has been so much growth and evolution in the world of communications,” McDonald said. “Communications in terms of different social media platforms and how we use them in our ministry has changed significantly over the last 20 years.”

McDonald said social media has challenged the church to find its role as ministers and children of God who share their faith in every way possible, including virtually.

“There is such an anti-Catholic, evil message that’s out there in the world of social media,” she said. “But we have the opportunity to push back against that with our own online presence, and be the face, hands and feet of Christ with our online behavior.”

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