In his opening remarks, the Vatican’s top spokesman, the Rev. Federico Lombardi, conceded that he himself was not a blogger but that his life has “changed” since he started receiving an “informal” digest of Catholic blogs every morning.
Lombardi said the Vatican will launch a multimedia news portal (www.news.va) in the coming months to harness the potential of expanding social networks. Catholic bloggers, he added, are influential because they give voice to “the public opinion in the Church.”
Vatican correspondent and blogger Paolo Rodari wrote that an “important Vatican personality” told him during the meeting that “some bloggers’ views” have a great impact on the appointment of bishops.
Read more: http://blog.beliefnet.com/news/2011/05/vatican-praises-bloggers-as-churchs-public-opinion.php#ixzz1LxJQKOJz
I was proud of the Vatican's awareness of the impact of the Catholic blogosphere and desire to engage in a conversation. I will confess, I have been struggling with the fact that I am not considered important enough to join the conversation, but have been praying the Litany of Humility to deal with my hurt feelings. It was only my pride reacting. I had neither the funds nor the time to attend such a gathering, heck I don't even have the funds to get a passport at this time.Maybe at a later date when my children are older and I am making money as a writer there will be another opportunity.
However, that didn't stop my heart from beating wildly when I received, by accident an email invitation in Italian to cover the beatification in Spanish for Twitter. The Vatican official who mistakenly told me to meet someone in the Circus Maximus and the equipment being made available for my use realized his error within a few hours and politely asked pardon. It was a fun few hours. No I didn't start packing!
I have been watching those whom I had the pleasure of meeting last summer, Lisa Hendey, Pat Gohn, Tom Wehner, Kathy Schiffer, Fr Roderick, Elizabeth Scalia, and reading their reactions to the events. I was dismayed when I read that there was a minor scuffle between users of Blogger and Wordpress platforms(children REALLY!), which was resolved by an actual NOT virtual tug-of-war. I was heartened to learn that the dialogue will continue. I hope to join it.
I submitted the comment below after reading the Beliefnet article where complaints are made about the tone of some Catholic bloggers.
Forgive us, we Catholic bloggers have spent decades being told to be quiet and when our voices are finally released, they can be a bit harsh. Look at what we are saying, not how we say it.
When Jesus was harsh in the Temple, He was chastising religious leaders who were more interested in position and power than the souls of their flock. We follow His example by defending Church teaching, often against Church leaders, causing them pain.
Maybe those in power could stand to take some of our ranting to heart. Painful as it is, examination of conscience is the first step to repentance. When the Catholic establishment sponsor events such as featuring pro-abortion speakers at Catholic institutions (Obama at Notre Dame) and arrest good Catholics who protest, we will make a stir. Loudly.
We were heard, and those arrested have had the charges dropped.
The Catholic blogosphere has done the Church a favor.
Read the entire Beliefnet article here.
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