A digital strategy for American Catholic dioceses

Friday, August 5th, 2011

For a variety of reasons, coherent approaches to life in the digital age remain elusive, especially for major, culturally significant institutions.

And among America’s great institutions, the Catholic Church looms large as another arena for the reconciling of our physical and digital experiences. The American Catholic Church represents nearly a quarter of the population; some 68 million people across 18,000 parish churches within 195 dioceses in 50 states.

Catholics under 30, who embody the future of the Church, are true digital natives. They experience life in both the physical and digital space, with real world experiences like the Mass amplified across online profiles and communities, sparking curiosity and conversation among people who expect to be able to find answers (at least, orthodox clarity of information) as simply as they search for an address or pay a bill.

The digital life, in other words, impacts lines of thinking and personal formation. This leads to an inescapable conclusion: the Catholic Church is missing a tremendous opportunity.

The dioceses, and especially the major Archdioceses in cities like Philadelphia and Los Angeles — the organs of the Church’s unique central management — have a chance to take a cue from New York City’s hiring of Ms. Sterne to recruit “Directors of Digital Strategy” of their own.

Pope Benedict XVI has made the new evangelization a cornerstone of his papacy. This is the challenge of carrying the Gospel message with a new zeal and urgency to all people, everywhere. What simpler way to begin answering this call than to make the local Church relevant in the digital space — the lives — of her people?

So what of this New Evangelisation and a Digital Strategy for American Catholic Dioceses

Source: