Tuesday, May 3, 2011

Charity the big challenge for bloggers

Today's National Catholic Register daily update reports on the May 2nd meeting for Catholic Bloggers hosted by the Vatican.

The report gives bloggers much cause for thought, reflection and examination.

Elizabeth Scalia, who writes The Anchoress, said that while the mainstream media tend to view blogs as “little more than a means of self-promotion,” the Catholic blogs generally are real sources of “Catholic clarity.”

But bloggers can’t claim to be purveyors of clarity unless they do so with charity, she said.

“Charity is one of the biggest challenges we face,” she said, because “freedom is both a gift and a source of temptation for our egos.”

Scalia said that the Catholic blogosphere is host to too much “us and them” based on views of the Church.

As Catholics, she said, “we have no business fostering enemies.”

“The Church needs us,” Scalia said. “It needs us for evangelization. It needs us to disseminate information and often to correct information.”

“The Church needs us to be where the sheep are grazing,” but at the same time, bloggers need the Church and its pastors to remind them that God’s mercy reaches out to all people and that Jesus wants his followers to be united, she said.

La Scalia's own reflections can be found at her blog.

1 comment:

  1. Yes Father, the issue of charity in blogging, especially Catholic blogging, is ad rem. Blogs tend to be free-for-alls and - given the anonymity of commenters - there is frequently little restraint in what people say. Catholic blogs could serve as an example of how things should be done. We can discuss, disagree, reprove and clarify - but in a charitable manner.

    Over and above the sometimes intemperateness of the commenters, the inter-blog rivalries are of more concern. When blog authors seek to score points off one another, are summarily dismissive or downright nasty, this is disappointing. We should be better than that. There is more than one way to witness to truth, but internecine squabbling isn’t the best example. Certainly we should correct errors and seek explanations when in doubt, but with charity and understanding.

    While Ms. Scalia admits to her own failings in this, I would have preferred that she didn’t use the opportunity to take a not-so-veiled shot at another ‘witness to truth’. It was a little too self-serving. Perhaps St. Francis’ words are apropos here: “We should always preach the Gospel – sometimes even using words”.

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