Some Catholic Blogs Bother Bishops - A Lot

Catholics are blogging. There's good news, and there's bad news.

First, the good news: from my point of view. During the years since that day in 1997 when I launched my first website, many Catholics and Catholic organizations have learned about the Internet and are learning how to use it.

Now, the bad news: again from my point of view. Not all Catholics know how to behave themselves.

I've written about what Bishop Gabino Zavala had to say about bloggers before. (June 4, 2010) Actually, I started out writing about the bishop's remarks - and ended up discussing an elephant and journalists. What can I say? That's the way my mind works. My brain, anyway - which is another topic.

"Very Troubled" - Not What a Catholic Wants to Hear a Bishop Say

I'm a practicing Catholic. And, to the best of my ability, an informed one. I understand the hierarchical structure of the Church well enough to know that when someone who is in authority speaks, I'd do well to listen.

So when the posts of folks who do my kind of work make a bishop "very troubled" - I get concerned.

The USCCB Media Blog posted the complete text of Bishop Gabino Zavala's remarks on June 4, 2010. If you're a Catholic and blogger, or are involved in some sort of Catholic media: I recommend reading what the bishop said. I think he's got some really good thoughts on "faithful Catholic media:" what it's not, and what it is.

I've read "What Does it Mean to be a Faithful Catholic Media Organization in the 21st Century?" And I intend to do so again - probably on Sunday. Odds are pretty good that I missed something before.

At least a Few Bloggers are Paying Attention

I'm not the only blogger who's noticed what Bishop Gabino Zavala said. Matthew Warner (National Catholic Register) probably had the bishop's remarks in mind when he a video and commentary yesterday. (Which I used as the core of a post.)

Mr. Warner was back today, with quite a bit more to say on the subject:

"Bishops Very Troubled by Some Catholic Blogs"
Matthew Warner blog, National Catholic Register (June 17, 2010)

"Bishop Gabino Zavala, auxiliary bishop of Los Angeles and Chairman of the U.S. Bishops' Communications Committee, recently spoke at the annual Catholic Media Association convention. He had a lot of really good things to say, particularly about what it means to be faithful Catholics in the media and what we can teach the secular media in the process. But he also had a message for Catholic blogs:

" 'There was consistent agreement [among brother bishops] that one aspect that is most alarming to us about media is when it becomes unchristian and hurtful to individuals. For example, we are particularly concerned about blogs that engage in attacks and hurtful, judgmental language. We are very troubled by blogs and other elements of media that assume the role of Magisterium and judge others in the Church. Such actions shatter the communion of the Church that we hold so precious.'

"I think this was an especially important point and I'm glad he made it. I have probably spoken as if I was a little too like the Magisterium and judged others a bit too harshly in blog posts in the past, myself. One of the reasons I named my personal blog Fallible Blogma was to try and make it clear from the very title that everything that originates from me is the opposite of infallible and carries the serious and full authority of some guy with a blog - despite me occasionally forgetting that...."

As "some guy with a blog," I need to be - careful.

'You Have the Right to be a Nitwit'

As an American citizen, I've got the right to write and publish a remarkably wide range of crazy, foolish ideas. As a Catholic, there are things I must do. It boils down to the old 'love God, love your neighbor' thing. But, like anything involving human beings - it gets complicated. I think the Catechism of the Catholic Church's discussions of truth and love fit in here:

• "The Eighth Commandment"
  • "You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor."
    (Exodus 20:16)
• "You Shall Love Your Neighbor as Yourself"
  • Check out Mark 12:29-31

Love, Catholic Style

I sometimes feel like I'm in a bind: I must love my neighbor - and regard everybody as my neighbor; but some ideas are loose in Western civilization - including America - that are dangerous, and some of my neighbor-Americans don't seem aware of that. Discussing these ideas and their consequences will probably seem "hateful." I've gone over this before. ("The Manhattan Declaration: Hateful? - Who Knew?" (November 21, 2009))

Back to an excerpt from what Bishop Gabino Zavala said:

"...As I [writes Bishop Zavala] talked with brother bishops in preparation for this presentation, there was consistent agreement that one aspect that is most alarming to us about media is when it becomes unchristian and hurtful to individuals. For example, we are particularly concerned about blogs that engage in attacks and hurtful, judgmental language. We are very troubled by blogs and other elements of media that assume the role of Magisterium and judge others in the Church. Such actions shatter the communion of the Church that we hold so precious...."
("What Does it Mean to be a Faithful Catholic Media Organization in the 21st Century?"
Bishop Gabino Zavala (June 3, 2010) (quoted in USCCB Media Blog (June 4, 2010))
[emphasis mine]

What the bishop said about blogs and other elements of media usurping the Magisterium's role is important too, which is why I have so many citations in some of my posts - but that's yet another topic. ("Magisterium?" I've written about that before.)

The "hurtful to individuals" remark is important, too, I think. Like I wrote yesterday: nobody's going to understand what another person says if they don't listen. And very few of us listen to someone who attacks us with words.

Which means that I'd better be careful about what I write. I've got an obligation to be truthful: but I've also got an obligation to not be "hurtful." Well, nobody said this would be easy. Actually, someone did - and that is yet again another topic.

Related posts:

• "Compromise, No: Communicate, Yes"
  (June 16, 2010)
• "From Bishop Zavala on Catholic Media, to Blind Men and an Elephant"
  (June 4, 2010)
• " 'Those Immigrants,' Assumptions, and the Catholic Church"
  (May 18, 2010)
• "Those Heretics May Not Like being Called Heretics"
  (May 16, 2010)
• " 'Towelhead,' 'Retard,' and Talking Sense in a Global Society"
  Another War-on-Terror Blog (February 24, 2009)
  Particularly
  • An American Patriot Who's Okay With Turbans, NASCAR, and the Smithsonian American Art Museum

More:

• "Bishop Zavala on Catholic Media"
  USCCB Media Blog (June 4, 2010)
  Includes full text of
  • "What Does it Mean to be a Faithful Catholic Media Organization in the 21st Century?"
    Bishop Gabino Zavala (June 3, 2010)