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lizaanne
Guest
I just got this in an email from a friend and wondered if anyone has been to this site or has any comments about it.
~Liza
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Bostickcomm
Guest
NEW CATHOLIC WEB SITE EMPOWERS “PEWSITTERS”
TO REPORT THE NEWS!
Danboro, PA - March 28, 2007 – Pewsitter.com, a unique recently launched Catholic web site combines the concept of a news aggregator site, like DrudgeReport.com with that of a user-driven content site, like Yahoo’s You Witness News web site, to give the lay Catholic faithful a powerful, new voice within the Church.
Pewsitter represents a new paradigm within the Church. It provides a mouthpiece for faithful Catholics to report news of positive developments as well as abuses within their local parishes and communities. Once submitted and verified, Pewsitter will promulgate this information to the universal Church, with the objective of bringing about positive change within the Church and the culture at large
“The concept behind the site is to enlist an army of “pewsitters” to be the eyes and ears for this new site”, stated Pewsitter’s founder, James Todd. “For far too long, faithful Catholics have witnessed abuse after abuse within the Church and have been powerless to do anything about it. No more! By submitting newsworthy items to Pewsitter, the laity can help shape and influence the Church and be a powerful force for positive change.”
Pewsitter’s initial focus will be national and international news on its home page. The mid term objective is it to feature the Catholic news of the day within each of the 189 Catholic dioceses throughout the U.S. Interested volunteers should contact Pewsitter about assisting with this endeavor.
TO REPORT THE NEWS!
Danboro, PA - March 28, 2007 – Pewsitter.com, a unique recently launched Catholic web site combines the concept of a news aggregator site, like DrudgeReport.com with that of a user-driven content site, like Yahoo’s You Witness News web site, to give the lay Catholic faithful a powerful, new voice within the Church.
Pewsitter represents a new paradigm within the Church. It provides a mouthpiece for faithful Catholics to report news of positive developments as well as abuses within their local parishes and communities. Once submitted and verified, Pewsitter will promulgate this information to the universal Church, with the objective of bringing about positive change within the Church and the culture at large
“The concept behind the site is to enlist an army of “pewsitters” to be the eyes and ears for this new site”, stated Pewsitter’s founder, James Todd. “For far too long, faithful Catholics have witnessed abuse after abuse within the Church and have been powerless to do anything about it. No more! By submitting newsworthy items to Pewsitter, the laity can help shape and influence the Church and be a powerful force for positive change.”
Pewsitter’s initial focus will be national and international news on its home page. The mid term objective is it to feature the Catholic news of the day within each of the 189 Catholic dioceses throughout the U.S. Interested volunteers should contact Pewsitter about assisting with this endeavor.
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aimee
Guest
Sounds interesting
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m134e5
Guest
It could be helpful, but somehow I think the only ones who read this will be those that agree with them anyway. Hopefully people do not look for churches that don’t do things right, then take notes for their stories during the Mass. When a person goes to Mass, not to worship God, but to evaluate a performance, they are there for the wrong reasons and are no better than the priest who is messing with the liturgy.
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lizaanne
Guest
But if those of us who witness liturgical abuse just put up and shut up, what’s to stop things going from bad to worse?
~Liza
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Dale_M
Guest
My first thought is that is something which could be abused. CAF doesn’t allow us to post details of abuses we witness, I think for this very reason.
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Riley259
Guest
I’ll make sure I check it out.
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lizaanne
Guest
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aimee
Guest
I think what you say is very possible…I wouldn’t like that…although I do understand the frustration of those who don’t know which way to handle the issues they witness.
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toddason
Guest
Greetings:
First of all no one should go to Mass looking for problems… but if we see liturgical abuses while at Mass, we have a duty of fraternal correction, viz. to point out the issue in a chartible manner and try to get the issue resolved. I have dozens of letters on my computer that I have sent over the years attempting to get issues resolved. Some were responded to favorably, most were not. Most are simply ignored.
The Church used to speak with one unified voice. Then came the 60’s, the JFK presidency which mainstreamed Catholics and the false spirit of Vatican II - now the battle for the soul of the Church is within the Church… If you are a Catholic then follow the teachings of the Church… not your own interpretation. If people flaunt the teachings of the Church such as pro-aboriton politicians, or Catholic teachers who don’t teach what the Church teaches, or theologians, like the one at the Univeristy of Marquette that was sanctioned by the Bishops, then people need to be held accountable.
If you have brought an issue to someone of authority within the Church and it is simply being ignored, then if a few thousand people find out about it or tens of thousands of people, so it is no longer hidden - but public… then there will be a little more pressure to do the right thing.
As a faithful Catholic who loves the Church I am willing to fight for it… and I believe there are milions of other faithful Catholics willing to do the same.
That is why I founded Pewsitter…
First of all no one should go to Mass looking for problems… but if we see liturgical abuses while at Mass, we have a duty of fraternal correction, viz. to point out the issue in a chartible manner and try to get the issue resolved. I have dozens of letters on my computer that I have sent over the years attempting to get issues resolved. Some were responded to favorably, most were not. Most are simply ignored.
The Church used to speak with one unified voice. Then came the 60’s, the JFK presidency which mainstreamed Catholics and the false spirit of Vatican II - now the battle for the soul of the Church is within the Church… If you are a Catholic then follow the teachings of the Church… not your own interpretation. If people flaunt the teachings of the Church such as pro-aboriton politicians, or Catholic teachers who don’t teach what the Church teaches, or theologians, like the one at the Univeristy of Marquette that was sanctioned by the Bishops, then people need to be held accountable.
If you have brought an issue to someone of authority within the Church and it is simply being ignored, then if a few thousand people find out about it or tens of thousands of people, so it is no longer hidden - but public… then there will be a little more pressure to do the right thing.
As a faithful Catholic who loves the Church I am willing to fight for it… and I believe there are milions of other faithful Catholics willing to do the same.
That is why I founded Pewsitter…
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aimee
Guest
With all due respect, how do you know these things to be true…I think people could say say things …
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lizaanne
Guest
Welcome to CA, and thank you for joining so we might learn more about your site and why you founded it.
~Liza
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aimee
Guest
Yes of course. Welcome.Welcome to CA, and thank you for joining so we might learn more about your site and why you founded it.
~Liza
Perhaps there are safeguards in place? That would help with trolls etc…
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toddason
Guest
Thanks for the welcome…
There are several safeguards.
There are several safeguards.
- Anyone submitting a news item to the site must be registered with the site so we can contact them and verify their contact information.
- Any news item submitted will be reviewed and verified before being published.
- Certain items, for example allegations that constitute crimes, will be rejected, such items should be reported to law enforcment agencies.
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otjm
Guest
The most crucial issue is how you intend to review and verify an item. Perhaps you could be more detailed?
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toddason
Guest
I am pleased to be able to provide some more detail on how the review will be done.
The review of a submitted news item it is not a matter of one opinion against another. The singular question is what does the Church teach on the matter. If the information submitted is clearly not in conformance with the Church’s teaching, then the next step would be to verify the information.
If the information submitted is an audio or video tape, that information may be verification in itself. If the information submitted is a third party’s summary of something that occured, then we will attempt to contact other people that can verify the story-- and we will attempt to contact the person that has made the alleged statement.
The review of a submitted news item it is not a matter of one opinion against another. The singular question is what does the Church teach on the matter. If the information submitted is clearly not in conformance with the Church’s teaching, then the next step would be to verify the information.
If the information submitted is an audio or video tape, that information may be verification in itself. If the information submitted is a third party’s summary of something that occured, then we will attempt to contact other people that can verify the story-- and we will attempt to contact the person that has made the alleged statement.
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Sr_Sally
Guest
How is it that a normal, ordinary Catholic will be attending Mass with their audio/vidoe cameras to just happen to catch Fr Joe in an error?
Or are you expecting that people will attend a 2nd Mass each Sunday so that they can properly pay attention to validly receive communion at one of them?
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toddason
Guest
As mentioned before, no one should go to Mass looking for problems, but if you encounter situations - whether at Mass, at a Catholic school or at any other Catholic function or event - where the activity or statements are at odds with the teachings of the Church, we all have an obligation of fraternal correction.
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lizaanne
Guest
As I stated in this thread: forums.catholic-questions.org/showthread.php?t=138901 I experienced two separate yet identical instances of liturgical abuse. I wasn’t looking for it, I was not playing mass police, I was just there and it happened.
It’s not like I went there specifically to “catch” someone doing something wrong.
~Liza
It’s not like I went there specifically to “catch” someone doing something wrong.
~Liza
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aimee
Guest
I know what you mean…sometimes its right before your eyes. And when it happens time and time again its deliberate.
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