Catholic Internet Presence

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lazuli

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The presence of Catholicism on the internet is pretty dire. I’ve been looking into the faith for about four months now, and the amount of disinformation I have had to sift through is shocking. It seems like every time I search for something on the internet the first sites I come across are always anti-Catholic disinformation. I’ve come to know some of those sites now, and their tactics, but you must admit that for someone that is making those first few steps towards enquiring about the faith, seeing sites like those and perhaps not knowing enough to discern their agenda, one could come away with some extremely troubling thoughts that could result in the loss of a convert.

This site is a great resource, has been made to a great standard, and it has been of great help to me as I’ve come to learn more about the faith, but I’m afraid that this site seems to be the exception rather than the rule.

Passive evangelizing through the internet could do wonders for the faith, I think, but not if the Church allows disinformation to rank higher than them in searches, and not if the quality of Catholic sites is so poor and outdated as to turn away anyone that is used to a certain standard on the internet.

Also, have you noticed that whenever there is an article on Catholicism in a newspaper that the comments are almost always overrun with vicious atheists spreading misinformation and hatred? Those comments linger. Every time someone finds that article they will see those comments. Judaism has a thing called JDIF, the Jewish Internet Defense Force, and they tend to show up in comments a lot on articles or websites about Judaism. Something like that would be pretty useful for Catholicism. If well informed Catholics were able to get together to defend the faith on public websites where it is being disparaged, it could do a lot to counter some of the disinformation out there.

I realise that this is not a hugely pressing issue in this world, not at all, but that is not to say it has no importance. What might appear a trifle to some, could actually be the difference between a young person deciding to enquire more into the faith, or to stop reading almost immediately and turn somewhere else.

By the way, just to turn this something slightly more positive, if you have any favourite online Catholic resources, please share them.
 
I understand what you are saying. But, as someone getting older and hopefully wiser, I have to wonder why the Catholic Church is so consistently targeted and attacked, especially with such venom and hatred, in those online forums, news articles and in the media at large? One doesn’t aim at the small ant hill when it’s trying to take over the world; it aims at the mountain. But guess what? The mountain isn’t going anywhere.

The internet is largely unregulated, and it would be impossible for the Church to regulate what is out there related to Catholicism. Just look at this website; daily, there are accusations, misinformation, arguments, name calling and more; the administrators do their best, but the faithful are called to be firm, stand their ground and provide the correct information in a loving manner. Just as the Church cannot, and does not, regulate what I say to my neighbors or family or friends, She does not regulate what I post on the internet. I could say that the Papal Tower (if there is such a thing) was painted in purple stripes, and nothing would happen to me.

I don’t know what you are googling, but when I used the word ‘catholic’, after the ‘news’ that Google shoved in my face that was harsh on Catholicism (3 articles), catholic.com, catholic.org, catholic.net, New Advent, the Vatican…these were all on the first page, plus links to surrounding parishes. (UGH, and I just noticed 3 more articles at the bottom of the page…Rolling Stone, Slate and The Economist.)

As for me and my ‘passive’ evangelizing…I post on Facebook Catholic memes, quotes, Pope Francis, and other ‘warm thoughts’…and guess what? Someone I knew growing up saw that (and I haven’t seen her in 30+ years, at least), and took that as her ‘push’ to join the Church. Did I do that? Nope, the Holy Spirit did, but I am happy to have perhaps been His conduit. I also blog (see below) and contribute to catholic.org. I also had Vista Print cards made (free ones turned into $29…but worth it!), that I hand out or leave places. They have this website, my blog, the works of mercy and a few other references on them. On my blog, I have a special page for people just arriving there.

It isn’t my job to save everyone. But if I can make a difference to one person, if I help one person come to the Lord, even through the internet…God has graced me.

I will very rarely post on the news articles, but that isn’t my strength. I’ve gotten caught in those ‘flame wars’, and I can’t handle it very well. That’s just me. I have to do what I can, and do it to the best of my ability, and do what I believe I’m called to do.
 
You could visit “Vatican.va” its the Vatican website.

God Bless.
 
It depends on what you are looking for. Here are some sites you might like to explore:

Bible Studies: biblestudyforcatholics.com/about/
Free audio Catholic books: alleluiaaudiobooks.com/
Studies and other links: ascensionpress.com/
Catechism of the Catholic Church: usccb.org/beliefs-and-teachings/what-we-believe/catechism/catechism-of-the-catholic-church/epub/index.cfm
The Catholic Faith: catholicbible101.com/
Father Baron Sermons etc. wordonfire.org/WOF-Radio/Sermons.aspx
EWTN: ewtn.com/
The Holy See: vatican.va/phome_en.htm
3 Minute Retreats: loyolapress.com/
St Paul’s Centre for Biblical Theology: salvationhistory.com/
Roman Catholic Spiritual Direction: rcspiritualdirection.com/blog/
Catholic News Agency: catholicnewsagency.com/
Word on Fire: wordonfire.org/#

Welcome to CAF and may God bless you on your journey of faith.
 
PietroPaolo said:
You make some great points. Check out www.wordonfire.org
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Yes, I am familiar with that site and Father Barron. It’s an excellent site, and his tv show Catholicism is wonderful (although I know some disagree, but as a newcomer, it seems very good), and his presence on youtube especially, I feel, has had a very positive impact (I see his videos there get a lot of hits, and they get posted quite a lot around the web to elucidate certain points). He has certainly helped me, anyway.
ccmcmg said:
I understand what you are saying. But, as someone getting older and hopefully wiser, I have to wonder why the Catholic Church is so consistently targeted and attacked, especially with such venom and hatred, in those online forums, news articles and in the media at large? One doesn’t aim at the small ant hill when it’s trying to take over the world; it aims at the mountain. But guess what? The mountain isn’t going anywhere.
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I agree, it is a relatively small thing, I do not want to make too big a deal out of it. I simply thought I should make a post to point out this little detail that has caused me some trouble in the past, and that I worried might cause others looking into the faith trouble also. It can be discouraging to be doing a search and to be inundated by pages and pages of bile without a true source right near to them to counter them.

What actually motivated me to post was when I was looking for more recent webcasts from Cardinal Arinze (I discovered him this week on youtube, his talks are wonderful) and was inundated with results saying he had left the Church, that he had retired, that he had converted to Sedevacantism etc. I quickly figured out that was all nonsense largely stemming from the fictional article that had spread like wildfire about Pope Francis saying all atheists go to heaven and all religions are true, but the problem was, for me, there was nothing popping up in the first few pages of results to counter this, no credible source amongst all of those lies. I found it disconcerting (and I never did find out what Cardinal Arinze has been up to lately, I was hoping for more recent videos of his). Although, as you say, the internet is not regulated (something I am thankful for), but I just thought that in the future more could be done, perhaps, to raise the visibility and attractiveness of the true sources. With places like wordonfire.org, I see this is already happening.

And thank you, Avila123 and Celtic Maiden, I am not familiar with all of those sites so I am sure there is plenty of good in there for me to look over and learn from. Thank you.
 
A handful of Catholic apologists , likeJohn Martignoni (sp?) do a pretty good job reviewing and responding to some of the more popular sites. But I think the nature of the internet, as some posters have commented, is too vast and unchecked to respond to every crackpot with a keyboard and an internet connection. Nevertheless, I also think it might be a good idea to have an organization or apostolate dedicated to defending the faith on the internet in the manner you describe the Jewish group doing. As an individual with limited time, I do try to comment any time I see some of the more egregious offenders. So, I try to do some small part, and I suppose if every Catholic did that, the vile slime and just run of the mill ignorance could be dealt with. But, think it does a disservice to simply assume nothing can or should be done at all simply because the internet is so vast and unregulated. So, I tend to agree with your thought more than disagree and may give the idea of the Internets Catholic Truth Brigade some more thought. Thanks!
 
lazuli said:
I agree, it is a relatively small thing, I do not want to make too big a deal out of it. I simply thought I should make a post to point out this little detail that has caused me some trouble in the past, and that I worried might cause others looking into the faith trouble also. It can be discouraging to be doing a search and to be inundated by pages and pages of bile without a true source right near to them to counter them.
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Actually, I wasn’t saying it was a small thing; I was saying that the Church is being attacked because She is the Mountain, as opposed to the opposition attacking something that isn’t standing in their way. It’s because the Church is true that She is attacked. The more we are attacked, the more I wonder why… (not by you) They are threatened by the truth, by what is real.

When I do read articles or opposing viewpoints, so much of the opposition (usually atheists to be honest, although not all act like that) are so hateful, arrogant, vile to opposing views. Even in the threads on Facebook often by local news stations, about abortion, it’s the pro-life crowd that is loving and understanding, even though we believe it’s murder, and it’s the pro-life crowd that is hateful. 😦

As my parents tried to teach me growing up, I pick my battles. Some I win, some I lose, but as long as I remain true to God, He is what I need.
 
There are many orthodox Catholic blogs out there and I find them very educational. You can learn about the liturgy, about church history, about issues that the church faces today, or simply about what it is like to be Catholic and live the faith.

This is quite good: patheos.com/Catholic.html
These bloggers have links to other blogs they like, and I’m sure you will find something for yourself.
 
Re the mountain, yes. The enemies of Christ know that if they can break the Catholic Church, all the rest of Christianity will be a pushover.
 
I think the Church would benefit greatly from Catholic social networks in the form of message boards & forums. I see so many sites of this sort geared towards Protestants, but very few, and few active ones that are Catholic.

I think starting sites like this that get a large number of members could do amazing things, especially in the developing world where the spread of the faith could be aided by such sites in the native languages of the applicable countries. I think there is a demand for this sort of thing, especially for younger people like myself. I’m in my 20s now, but when I was a teen I would have really loved to have been a part of a very active forum or message board that was focused on young people.
 
Laxuli
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By the way, just to turn this something slightly more positive, if you have any favourite online Catholic resources, please share them.
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Here are some apologetic sites with all kinds of ideas.

www.theworkofgod.org/library/apologtc/r_haddad/course/contents.htm
www.info/apologeticsprotestantism/wbible.htm
www.biblechristiansociety.com/home.php
www.davidmacd.com/catholic/mary_in_the-bible.htm
www.chnetwork.org/journals/justification/justify_8.htm
//justingridveritasluxmea.blogspot.com/2011/04/why-i-am-catholic-and-not-orthodox.html
www.philvaz.com/apologetics/apolog.htm
//blackieschurchmilitant-apocalypsis.blogspot.com/
www.catholic-convert.com/category/apologetics/
www.catholicculture.org/culture/library/most/getwork.cfm?worknum=216
www.catholicapologetics.info/apologetics/protestantism/wbible.htm
www.catholicapologetics.org/
www.catholiceducation.org/articles/sexuality/se0217.htm
www.scripturecatholic.com/oral_tradition.html#tradition-I
www.ovrlnd.com/Apologetics/101contradictions.html
www.biblechristiansociety.com/apologetics/two_minute
www.twopaths.com/faq_OldTestamentLaw.htm
www.catholicculture.org/cultu…archid=1067554
www.catholic.com
//thecatholicvoyager.blogspot.com/2011/03/book-review-rite.html
www.sensustraditionis.org/multimedia.html
www.askacatholic.com/
 
=lazuli;11673312]The presence of Catholicism on the internet is pretty dire. I’ve been looking into the faith for about four months now, and the amount of disinformation I have had to sift through is shocking. It seems like every time I search for something on the internet the first sites I come across are always anti-Catholic disinformation. I’ve come to know some of those sites now, and their tactics, but you must admit that for someone that is making those first few steps towards enquiring about the faith, seeing sites like those and perhaps not knowing enough to discern their agenda, one could come away with some extremely troubling thoughts that could result in the loss of a convert.
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This site is a great resource, has been made to a great standard, and it has been of great help to me as I’ve come to learn more about the faith, but I’m afraid that this site seems to be the exception rather than the rule.
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Passive evangelizing through the internet could do wonders for the faith, I think, but not if the Church allows disinformation to rank higher than them in searches, and not if the quality of Catholic sites is so poor and outdated as to turn away anyone that is used to a certain standard on the internet.
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Also, have you noticed that whenever there is an article on Catholicism in a newspaper that the comments are almost always overrun with vicious atheists spreading misinformation and hatred? Those comments linger. Every time someone finds that article they will see those comments. Judaism has a thing called JDIF, the Jewish Internet Defense Force, and they tend to show up in comments a lot on articles or websites about Judaism. Something like that would be pretty useful for Catholicism. If well informed Catholics were able to get together to defend the faith on public websites where it is being disparaged, it could do a lot to counter some of the disinformation out there.
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I realise that this is not a hugely pressing issue in this world, not at all, but that is not to say it has no importance. What might appear a trifle to some, could actually be the difference between a young person deciding to enquire more into the faith, or to stop reading almost immediately and turn somewhere else.
Click to expand...
By the way, just to turn this something slightly more positive, if you have any favourite online Catholic resources, please share them.
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And WHY is this my friend🙂

Might it be that there is ONLY One true Faith that God founded and desires? The Catholic Faith intotal. BUT Thousands of competing faiths; each eager to try to prove their own self-worth’ and thereby attract more followers. :o

As a Catholic catechist, I use the net daily to find things. While much either incomplete; or not fully [and correctly] understood information is certainly present; I don’t find it a difficult task to find suitable Catholic information that is topic specific.

But you’re right; one MUST search for it.
 
Great topic - in Australia I like Cathnews, some people have also already mentioned Fr Robert Barron’s brilliant Youtube clips which are excellent for explaining the faith. If you want something a little lighter but still inspiring, try Fr Roderick Vonhogen’s podcasts. He has a show called The Break which you can find at his website, www.sqpn.com

And in a shameless (or shameful) plug - A few threads ago I mentioned that my sister and I have a podcast series which you can find at www.whatthefaith.net 🙂

My final suggestion of for everyday Catholics to get informed (read the catechism, read informed Catholic news, delve deeper into solid Bible commentaries) and start their own blogs, podcasts and online content. It’s easier when you network with a few people and try and do something together.

Best wishes to all 😉
 
I’m sorry to hear you’ve encountered misinformation, lazuli. It looks like you’ve been searching just about a month longer than I have. As far as I know, though, I’ve been blessed to not run into any blatantly misinformed, anti-Catholic sites.

I began with the archdiocese for my area. Through an Episcopalian source, I discovered BustedHalo,com, going there originally for their interactive Advent calendar, then poking around to find other things. 🙂 From there, I sought out the Busted Halo radio show on Sirius/XM satellite radio. This led me to other sources, etc., etc. Once I discovered EWTN–radio, television, and web site–I was really all over the place! 😃

I’m also slowly making my way through the Knights of Columbus’ Luke E. Hart Series–What Catholics Believe (kofc.org/en/cis/podcasts/hart/index.html), which is a free resource.
 
The Catholic Church is attacked because it must be attacked.

ccmcmg is spot on in his or her threat assessment. In a pitched battle one takes out the largest enemy first, and then sweeps up the rest.

I usually don’t delve into dramatics, but the slimy fingers of Satan are leaving prints with these attacks throughout history that are intensifying now.
 
To be frank, the comments you make about Catholicism on the internet could be made about any other subject as well. I think the Catholic faith is incredibly well represented in cyber space, and I have scores of bookmarks organized by topic that I regularly and happily visit.

In terms of preventing someone from accidentally learning something false on the internet about Catholicism, and thus being turned off, I’m not sure that this can (a) be prevented in any meaningful way or (b) much to be concerned about given the high likelihood that such a person will be able to find very solid materials. The Holy Spirit will guide those open to His promptings.

Doing a quick internet search for “Catholicism,” incidentally, reveals many, many, many wonderful pages in the initial results. “Convert Catholicism” yields similar results, as would other searches. I’ve been actively reading about the Catholic faith on the internet for 15 years, and I think potential Catholics are most certainly spoiled in the materials they can access.
 
I think it takes time to learn one’s way around the Catholic internet. I have a friend who routinely searched for information on questions and then would forward me links and questions. She always seemed to end up on the worst pages! I don’t know why the anti-Catholic sites come up first. (Do they pay to come first in search results? Is that possible?)

However, eventually you will be spoilt for choice. There are fantastic sites out there, of all sorts, and even excellent Face Book pages and groups.

Has this one been given? news.va/en
Also, have you noticed that whenever there is an article on Catholicism in a newspaper that the comments are almost always overrun with vicious atheists spreading misinformation and hatred? Those comments linger. Every time someone finds that article they will see those comments. Judaism has a thing called JDIF, the Jewish Internet Defense Force, and they tend to show up in comments a lot on articles or websites about Judaism. Something like that would be pretty useful for Catholicism. If well informed Catholics were able to get together to defend the faith on public websites where it is being disparaged, it could do a lot to counter some of the disinformation out there.
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I don’t think there is a Catholic equivalent, but we do have websites and organisations that seek to speak out on issues where the Church is being maligned.

The Catholic League is one.

protectthepope.com/

themediareport.com/
 
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