Blog 7

Since the turn of the 21st century, digital media has become increasingly influential. With every passing day people use their phones, computers and tablets to access online magazines, news papers and news podcasts. Indubitably, without the internet this transition into the current technologic era of mass media, would have not been possible. But how has the rise of the internet and digital media impacted religious groups like the Catholic church? Well, contradictory to what many may think based on the bad history relationship between the Catholic church and the media, today's relationship between both parties is actually very stable. The Catholic church sees media as a "blessing" or "gift." Multiple Catholic priests, and activists have openly said they use media as a way to reach out to both believers and non-believers. As a matter of fact, a lot of legions and movements within the Catholic church have their own websites, facebooks, and even instagram accounts. For example, the Legionaries of Christ have a website (regnumchristi.it) where they encourage Catholics and non-believers to enlarge their faith. This website frames the Catholic church in a very positive manner. It provides information about the Church, the legionary movement, and it even has a news section that allows the readers to keep up with the latest stories surrounding the Catholic church. Therefore, just like we learned in class lecture, Catholic engagement with the Internet does indeed help popularize their portrayal to the masses and their religion through out the world. It is no wonder why Catholics have achieved to remain as one of the most popular religions despite being negatively targeted by the media.