Bishops peer into cyberspace
By JOHN L. ALLEN
JR. NCR Staff Denver
An unprecedented gathering of bishops from North and South America
and the Vatican, held here March 26-28, pulsed with enthusiasm for the Internet
and other new media technologies -- while also harboring deep reservations
about their ethical and cultural implications.
The bishops overriding interest was in the potential of the
digital media to contribute to what John Paul II has termed the New
Evangelization, a renewed push to proclaim the gospel in modern culture.
Speakers stressed that the Holy Father sees evangelization as the primary
mission of the church, a prerequisite to improving the social order or entering
into dialogue with other religions.
The problem of globalization is not just one of social
justice. It is also evangelical. In order to live in solidarity with others, we
must share who we are, said Belgian Cardinal Jan Schotte, general
secretary of the Synod of Bishops, in a keynote address.
In that light, several bishops argued that mastery of new
communications technologies must be a priority for the church. Its
essential that those who preach the gospel of Jesus Christ understand the
terrain they hope to evangelize. That includes understanding and being
thoroughly at home in the world of technology and media. This is the
environment in which people today live, said Archbishop Charles J. Chaput
of Denver, cohost of the event, in his concluding speech.
At the same time several speakers warned that the Internet,
direct-to-home satellite television, wireless telephones and other new
technologies can just as easily work to tear down faith and values as build
them up. Others argued that the Internet represents a threat to established
centers of power -- including the Catholic church itself. And a few voices even
suggested that the Internet would force the church to shift its emphasis from
proclamation to dialogue.
More than 50 bishops and archbishops, seven cardinals, and a slew
of technology experts came to Denver for three days of speeches, panel
discussions and high tech interactive presentations. Cohost with Chaput was
Archbishop John Foley, president of the Pontifical Council for Social
Communications. Funding came from an array of individuals, foundations and
Denver-area technology companies, some of which put up $10,000 each, as well as
a grant from the Our Sunday Visitor Institute.
First fruit of synod
By all accounts, the conference was unique in its international
scope as well as its lineup of leading figures from the worlds of media and
technology. Chaput described the meeting as a first fruit of the Synod
for America in its emphasis on North-South solidarity.
One of the more provocative moments came early on, when Esther
Dyson -- dubbed by the The New York Times Magazine as the most
powerful woman in the Net-erati -- suggested that the bishops may find
themselves on the receiving end of a broad cultural shift triggered by the
information revolution. Its going to shake up every established
authority in the world, including the Catholic church, said Dyson, who is
widely known for her views on the intersection of technology and culture.
Where the Catholic church is a missionary church, reaching
out to the peasants and the oppressed, the Internet is a very powerful tool to
manage the process of making that happen. It gives people access to information
and allows them to bypass local authorities. But where the church is
established, the Internet lets dissidents communicate. It erodes authority.
It will challenge you to be more open, more human, more
accountable, Dyson told the prelates. Almost everything will be
public, and that forces people to behave better. It will be more and more
difficult to discuss things in corridors and behind closed doors, she
said, tweaking the bishops in attendance for scheduling a closed-door session
on how to deal with the press.
In an interview with NCR, Neil Postman -- author of
numerous books of media criticism, including Amusing Ourselves to Death
-- said he agreed with Dyson on the anti-hierarchial character of the Internet.
If indeed it takes power away from the center and gives it to the
margins, Postman said, we can anticipate not tomorrow but in a
hundred years the Vatican will be far less important in determining proper
Catholic liturgy, theology and so on.
Foley, however, said he was unfazed by this aspect of the new
technology. While in one way it undermines hierarchies in that it
undermines absolute control, I think thats good, Foley told
NCR. [But] also you have to have ... an expression of some type of
authority to indicate what is authentic interpretation of Christian
doctrine, arguing that the bishops would increasingly play this role.
Dyson told NCR that she did not think the Internet lends
itself to evangelization, to the extent that this word means a
primarily one-way exchange. With all due respect, that concept
[evangelization] sounds like propaganda. If you want to evangelize, get on
television. If you want to actually communicate and win people, you have to
interact with them, Dyson said. The notion of saying maybe we
should change our policies on this [as part of dialogue] may sound kind
of crazy, but in some sense thats what the Internet is all about.
Its going to make the church very much more a living church.
Chaput told NCR that while Dyson may be right about the
two-way nature of the Internet, he believes it nevertheless provides
opportunities for proclamation. I think its a useful tool for
evangelizing. I know many people roam the Internet looking for truth, he
said. Its part of the spiritual journey of many people, and we have
to be present there.
Consensus, not fiat
Br. Mary Aquinas Woodworth, the monk best known for his design of
the Monastery of Christ in the Desert Web site, told NCR that he agreed
with analysts who believe the Internet promotes decision-making by consensus
rather than fiat. On the Internet, you have to persuade people, he
said. Arguments from authority carry a lot less weight. But Im
absolutely convinced the churchs teachings are true, and we can attract
people, he said.
For many speakers, it was less the impact on the church than the
moral implications of the new technologies that seemed most worrisome. Leo
Hindery, president of Tele-Communications International, a major international
media company, warned the bishops that the Internet could be stunningly
immoral. As an example, he pointed to the Jennicam Web site, which
features live images of the bedroom of Jenni Ringley, a 21 year-old in
Washington. The camera runs 24 hours a day, seven days a week, capturing
such private moments as Jennie dressing, sleeping, working, playing with her
cat and having sex, Hindery said.
[The Internet] has the power to corrupt absolutely, and your
congregations need your guidance on how to address the real world
risks associated with it, Hindery said. While arguing against
government-imposed censorship, Hindery counseled the bishops, Remind your
parishioners that they have the power and the moral responsibility to be the
censors for themselves and their families.
In this context, several figures at the conference argued that the
church might want to consider developing ratings systems for Web sites and
other Internet content. Given the kind of filtering technology that already
exists, the church -- or Catholic entrepreneurs -- could offer parents software
that blocks out content the church deems immoral and pulls in sites the church
approves. At least one Catholic technology firm is already marketing such
software, though without specific church approval.
Dyson identified another moral issue surrounding the Internet --
the capacity of users to send and receive anonymous messages. Anonymity
should be discouraged because its not socially healthy, she said.
But the world is not perfect, and in an imperfect world, sometimes
anonymity is necessary. If you dont allow anonymous postings, youre
driving away what maybe you ought to hear.
Chaput struck a different note. From my perspective,
anonymity is in some ways the worst aspect of the Internet, he told
NCR. People can lack the courage of their convictions. People can
do mean things. Im not in favor of establishing laws that limit
anonymity, but for human beings to be in real relationship, they have to know
each other.
Issues of justice, especially in an international context, were
never far from the surface in Denver. Several communications industry leaders
painted a rosy picture of a technological future for Latin America, suggesting
that as the cost of satellite transmission comes down, more and more people
will be able to afford access to high-speed data. One spoke glowingly of
favelas throughout the region dotted with satellite dishes, arguing that
telecommunications offers entertainment on a cost-effective basis. Other
entertainment options are often closed to the poor.
Many bishops, however, were less sanguine. Bishop Julio Teran
Dutari of Quito, Ecuador, said that the poor in his diocese have little
realistic hope of entering the new digital age. Chaput confronted the industry
leaders, saying, You are all wonderfully creative American
businesspeople, but globalization can often be negative for the South.
Theres a sense that American companies sometimes exploit the less
sophisticated.
His comments brought a swift response from Dr. Ray Nettleton of
Formus, a Denver high tech firm. We are not there to suck money out of a
country and impoverish it further. We want to see it grow, Nettleton
said. The economics will get better as time goes on. By the end of the
decade, everyone on earth will be able to access high-speed data.
In a videotaped address, Los Angeles Cardinal Roger Mahony raised
the issue of access. If the new information technologies are to serve the
truth and promote the common good rather than exploit the poor and vulnerable
to the benefit of a computer elite, then legislation and regulation to
guarantee access to these systems is a pressing demand, Mahony said.
As I see it, the issue of access is the overarching new justice
issue.
Products and pictures
French Cardinal Jean-Marie Lustiger argued that the seductive
nature of First World media images can actually impede efforts to build better
societies around the world. Among the poorest, in the most
underprivileged countries, the products and pictures of the rich nations are
substituted for the real objects that the material condition of men would
require. This means eating, taking care of ones own health, dealing
fairly with ones children, family and neighbors, Lustiger said.
The sad result of this fascination is that, in the
less-developed countries, people prefer to allocate their scant financial
resources to the purchase of useless gadgets or even harmful drugs, rather than
invest in the infrastructures that would allow [them] to improve their
difficult conditions of living.
Postman agreed that the information revolution would not be of
much help in solving social problems. If there are children starving in
the world, its not because of insufficient information, he
said.
Foley defended the churchs emphasis on expensive media
technology in the midst of global poverty. Technology provides much more
intellectual richness to all areas of the continent that otherwise would
not be able to afford it, Foley told NCR. So I dont think
its a distraction from building infrastructure. I think its a
presence of the church with a religious and spiritual message which is
essential in the midst of all the material distractions which they would
otherwise have from the media.
Franciscan Sister of the Eucharist Judith Zoebelein, who runs the
Vaticans Web site, pointed to another moral question mark about the
Internet -- community. Its an incredible poverty to me to see a
young person in a chat poring out their emotional intensity to an anonymous
presence ... going from electronic relationship to electronic relationship
without knowing anyone, she said in an address to the bishops.
Technology can be used in a contraceptive way that does not allow God to
create new life through it.
Such critical reflection notwithstanding, it was clear that the
bishops intend to move aggressively into the new media. The closest thing to a
plan came toward the end of the conference in an address delivered by Cardinal
Dario Castrillón Hoyos, a Colombian who serves as prefect for the
Vatican Congregation for the Clergy. After warning his brother bishops not to
underestimate the enormity of the cultural changes underway -- It is the
end of the world as we know it, he said -- Castrillón said the
church must push ahead. At the beginning, the fruits of our labor may be
meager, but now is the time for action, he said. The church must be
Christs digital lips and feet.
Castrillón recommended building Web sites, using online
documents to promote catechesis, staging teleconferences to teach about the
faith, using the Internet to engage in personal dialogues with
seekers and to offer them spiritual company, and finally to make
sure the networks and agencies of the church have a strong presence
in the digital media. It is critical, Castrillón said, for clerics
and catechists to be au courant with technology.
Castrillón also argued that the Internet and other
technologies should be employed inside the church to facilitate closer
communication between the pope and the various dioceses and parishes of the
world. Castrillón said that this communication should be centralized in
his Vatican congregation.
Other speakers argued that with the advent of satellite
transmission of broadcast signals, both radio and television represent growth
areas for the church. Greg Liptak of Jones Intercable, another Denver-area
communications firm, urged the bishops to consider becoming major content
providers. He argued that the growth in the number of radio stations, and the
coming increase in the number of TV channels because of digital cable, will
create a tremendous scramble for new programming in both areas.
Liptak said that rather than investing in radio and TV systems
themselves, the bishops should concentrate on producing programming that will
be attractive to media providers. A lot of these technologies are very
expensive, and its hard for me to envision that the church should invest
in infrastructure, he said. Thats where the real costs are --
in owning satellite networks and television stations and radio stations.
Jones said the question for the bishops ought to be, In the evolving
media environment, how does the mission of the church match the mission of the
provider?
National Catholic Reporter, April 17,
1998
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