Cardinal Tells Priests to Start Tweeting

During a recent talk, Cardinal Gianfranco Ravasi called for more exciting homilies and also encouraged priests to start using new media tools like Twitter.

According to the Cardinal, who heads the Pontifical Council for Culture, much of Catholic preaching has become formulaic and boring to the point that it risks becoming irrelevant in the internet age.

“The advent of televised and computerised information requires us to be compelling and trenchant, to cut to the heart of the matter, to resort to narratives and color,” said the Cardinal.

Too many priests employ theological language that is “grey, dull and flavourless” and instead should spice up their sermons with graphic stories contained in the Bible, which use much more forceful imagery.”

Cardinal Ravasi, himself a renowned blogger, also explained that the pulpit isn’t the only place to proclaim the Word. He sees the power of tools like Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, and blogs and recommends them to priests.

“We need to remember that communicating faith doesn’t just take place through sermons. It can be achieved through the 140 characters of a Twitter message.

Whether they like it or not, priests in the pulpit should be aware that their congregations are the children of television and the internet.”

Read the rest of the article here.

(HT: Dr. Tom Neal)