Of blogs and bishops
A while back I was at a conference and a discussion arose about blogs. A bishop who was in attendance warmed to the subject and was quick to denounce bloggers, stating that they need to look at the beam in their own eye before condemning the speck in others’ eyes. It was clear that this bishop found no value in the Catholic blogosphere and wished it would just go away.
I thought of this incident when I read this AP story:
Catholic bloggers aim to purge dissenters
Pressure is on to change the Roman Catholic Church in America, but it’s not coming from the usual liberal suspects. A new breed of theological conservatives has taken to blogs and YouTube to say the church isn’t Catholic enough.
Enraged by dissent that they believe has gone unchecked for decades, and unafraid to say so in the starkest language, these activists are naming names and unsettling the church…
John Allen, Vatican analyst for the National Catholic Reporter, has dubbed this trend “Taliban Catholicism.” But he says it’s not a strictly conservative phenomenon — liberals can fit the mindset, too, Allen says. Some left-leaning Catholics are outraged by any exercise of church authority.
Yet on the Internet and in the church, conservatives are having the bigger impact.
If I were a bishop I too would most likely be suspicious of Catholic bloggers, as often it is true that bishops get unfairly criticized – and it is frequently the case that the most negative bloggers – the “bishop bashers” – get the most attention. I can only imagine what my job would be like if every day I had a legion of bloggers following my every action to see whether I performed in a way they felt was satisfactory. I suspect I would wish they would go away as well.
Furthermore, too often bloggers can criticize bishops without basing their criticisms in love. They can assume a bishop has bad intentions and treat him as the “enemy” when often the bishop is just making a difficult prudential judgement in a particular case. I once wrote about the Three Credits of Love, and if anyone deserves the three credits, it is the successors to the apostles.
And yet I think there is a positive contribution that bloggers have made to the Church, even those which mostly focus on negative aspects of Church life. Blogs have re-energized the faith life of many Catholics, as orthodox faithful who have endured years of misery in a dissenting or dying parish have seen that there are other Catholics out there who care about their faith and love the Church unreservedly. Church bureaucrats who hid behind their bishop’s cloak have been exposed when they do something against the Catholic Faith. Bishops themselves now know that when they allow heresy to be proclaimed in their diocese that it will be made public (and be made known to the Vatican).
I am a strong proponent of the authority of bishops, yet I am not a fan of clericalism. Throughout Church history bishops have faltered and it was the laity who kept the Faith alive in the world. I am thankful that in our time there are a good number of very good bishops proclaiming the Faith in power and in love, but I am also thankful that many lay people take their faith seriously enough to defend it in the public square, even when they have to defend it against the bishops themselves.
Eric, I have read the AP article. It points out something that has bothered me for the few years I have either followed blogs or been a blogger myself. What bothers me is the negativity and even the virulence of some bloggers who call themselves Catholic, and orthodox, and faithful to the magisterium.
The best post that responds to the AP article that I’ve read so far is from Fr. James Martin at America Magazine. I agree with the points he made. The following are excerpts and I suggest those interested read the entire post here: http://www.americamagazine.org/blog/entry.cfm?blog_id=2&entry_id=3447. The 54 comments are also interesting, some supporting Fr. Jim, others opposing.
“This is a disastrous trend for the Catholic church, for several reasons. (And, by the way, what I say applies to both the left and the right. And the middle, for that matter.)
First of all, too many inquisitorial bloggers attack anonymously, which makes it next to impossible to hold them to any real accountability.
Second, many of these attack-bloggers betray little theological knowledge.
Third, the focus of their blogs is almost risibly narrow.
Fourth, anonymous attacks drummed up by these bloggers often make their way, slowly but surely, to the offices of church leaders, where they can do real damage to real people with real jobs in Catholic schools and universities, parishes and chanceries.
Fifth, there seems is little apparent desire on the part of some of these watchdogs to speak to their targets. Rarely are the targets of ad hominem attacks contacted for any comment or explanation.
Finally, many in the “Catholic Taliban,” as John Allen so bluntly puts it, seem devoid of any sense of Christian charity.”
Ruth Ann,
I too get distressed by the blogs that are clearly bishop-bashing and do not even practice the basics of Christian charity. But I don’t think that is the whole picture.
Specifically, I disagree with Fr. Martin that blogs which criticize bishops are a “disastrous trend”. It is easy to pick out the bad fruit among bloggers and then make yourself comfortable by ignoring all criticism coming from blogs. The truth is that many, many blogs are written by theologically-knowledgeable writers (just three off the top of my head – Jimmy Akin, Patrick Madrid and Thomas Peters) who write in charity and truth. Furthermore, even though some bloggers can be very uncharitable, sometimes they are right about the situation they expose.
We need to be careful to distinguish between uncharitable blogs and those that do a real service to the Church by highlighting harmful actions taken by those who work for the Church. Just because the former exists does not give us an excuse to ignore the latter.
While it seems that there are some conservative “bishop bashers” out there, there are others on the other end of the pew who fit the title in their dissent from the teaching of the more orthodox prelate.
We tend to forget that donning a miter does not automatically impart perfection, that bishops do not cease to be human beings. I am acquainted with a bishop who must be doing something right: he has vocal critics across the spectrum.
Eric, granted, bishop-bashing is not the whole picture. All sorts of people get censured when they are perceived, by those who have set themselves up as the arbiters of orthodoxy, as “dissenters.” My take on the phrase “who write in charity and truth” is that it is a code phrase or cover-up for generally mean-spiritedness. And that is dangerous.
Although I am not a follower of the three bloggers you cited, I have heard of each of them and have read a very few of their posts. I have never found Jimmy Akin’s material particularly appealing, even if he’s correct about what he says. It’s his tone I have found bothersome more than the content. I am less familiar with the other two.
I do not really believe that the Catholic bloggers do a real service to the Church when they perceive something to be harmful to it and then proceed to be critical so the whole Internet has access. I think people like St. Catherine of Sienna had a much better approach to righting wrongs. She dealt face-to-face or via letters with the popes and other leaders and let them know personally where they needed to make better choices.
Lots of Catholics in times past faced the wrong-doings of Church members with face to face meetings. That was true charity and truth.
Also, when a situation needs exposure, aren’t there better channels than the blog format?
I think guys like Fr Martin are upset because other people are gaining platforms. Magazines like America matter less and blogs matter more. Are the opinion expressed in blogs worse than those expressed in publications like America? I don’t see it. There is good and bad on both sides.
The truth is the church is getting more orthodox. I think that would happen whether the medium was changing or not. That is really what is upsetting people. Liberal bishops are being attacked the same way conservative bishops were attacked. Sometimes charitably and sometimes not. But the loudest voice is for orthodoxy. Many of those voices are former protestants. Many have gone to quite an extreme in embracing the ancient traditions. But for all it’s faults I think the movement is a great work of the Holy Spirit.
Randy, it’s true that blogs and bloggers are gaining platforms for expressing their opinions and observations as never before in history. Yet,how does that lead to the conclusion that they matter more than established Catholic publications? Kindly explain that to me, because I don’t see it.
Anyone can start a blog and say whatever they wish in our society in which speech is protected by the First Amendment in our Constitution. But not all the blogs and bloggers are professionals in journalism or even well-versed in Catholicism. Some just grab a copy of the Catechism of the Catholic Church and/or a Bible and start making pronouncements.
Why do you say the church is getting more orthodox? Hasn’t it always been fully orthodox? Some individuals have gone astray in the course of its history, but not the Church itself. Anyone can claim to be orthodox. No blogger needs a certificate from a bishop or the Vatican Office for the Doctrine of the Faith that says, “This blogger is orthodox.” As a result, lots are saying they are. But are they?
Yes, I agree many former Protestants, now Catholic, speak loudly and seem to have the habit of trying to be watchdogs with regard to orthodoxy. I chalk it up to their new found enthusiasm. Nothing wrong with being enthusiastic. No doubt the Holy Spirit is in the mix, but I trust the Holy Spirit is as much with people like Fr. James Martin, S.J. as with you, me or any other Catholic—blogger or not.
It seems that there is a broad assumption being made that those who ‘Bishop-bash’ on their blogs haven’t also followed other routes to address what they see as being wrong.
Ruth-Ann, blogging, certainly does NOT give any authority on its own. Any authority a blogger has, has to come from fidelity to Church teaching. As we both know, opinions are of limited, or even of no, value on many topics regarding the Church.
I have called our Bishop to task more than once; to his face, by letter and on my blog (although I do not name him specifically). For one issue, I enlisted the help of a Canon Lawyer. The bishop knows who I am. I do not know that other bloggers do the same when they criticise bishops, but they certainly might.
As I’ve said in other places, lack of charity may simply indicate fatigue, and perhaps not recognizing when it’s time to pull away from a fracas. It is really hard on some people to speak out when they are being lied about, misrepresented, shunned…I think snarkiness is a predictable, if not allowable, after-effect.
But no doubt, some hide behind the relative anonymity of the blog, and go off like loose cannons.
In general newspapers and magazines are losing ground. Not just in Catholic circles. You might not see it but it is a widely recognized phenomenon. So guys who had access to major media outlets are noticing that access matters less and less. It gives them less advantage over a regular citizen that it did 40 years ago.
This is the point. Having letters behind you name does not matter as much as it used to. You have to make arguments that stand up on their own. The reality is that many of the professional journalists and trained theologians abuse their place of privilege. They regularly use bad arguments and get facts wrong. Then they get upset because a blogger points it out. Write good stuff and you will be respected regardless of you professional status.
The faithfulness of the church to her own teachings does go up and down in history. The 70′s and 80′s were a down period. The publication of the Catechism and the failure of liberal Catholicism have started to bring more orthodoxy into the people. Yes, it is really more orthodox.
I go on a case by case basis. Many protestants have been to a place where liberal Catholic dream of going. Where every opinion is just as valid as the next. They know that is not heaven. It is hell. So they have that perspective. Do I trust Fr Martin? Not really. The Jesuits used to be faithful to the church. I wish it were still so. I trust him to defend Obama. I don’t trust him to defend the church. I hope he proves me wrong.
Randy,
Perhaps mainstream print media is on the wane, but they also utilize the Internet now and have blogs with numerous contributors. So a blogger like Eric, you, or me, while having access, is still a needle in a haystack, in a manner of speaking. I do like the idea, though, that I and other ordinary people can write an essay or opinion or poem and put it up for others to read, ponder, and/or perhaps enjoy.
It may be true that some, but few, Catholic journalists and theologians abuse their power or privileges. But, I would give the benefit of the doubt to most. I also have a hunch that the most excellent theologians don’t bother with the Internet or blogging, but do research, teach at institutions of higher learning, and publish in academic forums. Some, but few, publish for a general audience.
As for writing “good stuff” and then being respected, well, that depends. I am inclined to look at a person’s credentials if they are writing within a certain discipline. I want to know their reliability. If they are writing about their personal experiences that’s different. For some reason, perhaps not a rational one, I am extremely skeptical of “watchdog” types that are looking to point out everyone’s flaws and doing the “gotcha” approach.
Personally I have a high regard for persons with letters after their name, because the letters represent years of sweat, blood, and tears in academia. Years of work spent reading, researching, teaching, discussing, etc. with other learned people. Also, in the case of Catholics with degrees in theology or philosophy, the studies are usually intertwined with living the Catholic way of life, a life of prayer, and participation in some aspect of ministry. The letters mean something, and they do matter. It’s foolish for someone untrained to think they can be a match for such a person of learning.
Randy, I still say the Church is faithful, but some individuals can be unfaithful. Those are two different things. The Holy Spirit guides the Church and its leaders, the successors of the Apostles.
The Church has a huge history. The 60s and 70s are a blip by comparison. The Catechism to which you refer was written in the 90s. It’s just a summary of the faith. Check the footnotes. Have you read all the sources that go back to the early Church and up to the present times? How did we get all the saints who existed prior to the publication of the Catechism? Somehow they achieved holiness without the Catechism of the Catholic Church. Have you read the Vatican II Council documents? They are quite beautiful—not doctrinal, but pastoral. They are the result of the Holy Spirit working in the Church.
I don’t know why you wouldn’t trust Fr. Martin. What makes you say are no longer faithful? I’m positive that is untrue. Have you read the books Fr. Martin has written? I don’t think his main role is to defend the Church. His role is to live out his vows under the direction of his superiors and for the greater glory of God. I have heard him speak and I’ve read his writings. I find them inspirational.
I do agree that most of the issues we are talking about are a blip on the great expanse of church history. Still they are real. Changes are happening and not everyone likes it.
Do I read Fr Martin? No often. I don’t read America because it is liberal and I only see Fr Martin’s articles when some blogger gets outraged by something he said and posts on it. Would I find his writing inspirational? Maybe so. But I would find a lot of protestant writers inspirational. That has nothing to do with trusting someone to be faithful to the teachings of the church.
Try not to be so narrow, Randy. We will never understand other viewpoints if we don’t explore them and listen to their arguments. Then come to conclusions. Try to trust a little more. Catholics don’t have to live in a straight jacket. I assure you that I believe EVERYTHING the Catholic Church teaches and my faith is nourished by reading and pondering from many sources.