Priests as Social Media Influencers? A Study on the Lived Experiences of Select Bulacan Clergy’s Engagement in Social Media
Article
A good number of priests from the Diocese of Malolos have joined the fray of so-called “Catholic influencers” who utilize social media to preach and evangelize. This study explores the lived experiences of select priests with significant social media followings. Utilizing the indigenous Filipino method of pagtatanong-tanong, the priests’ motivations, strategies, and challenges they face as digital content creators were probed. Findings show priests on social media craft their authenticity through a blend of personal identity and religious authority, positioning them as hybrid social media personalities. This allows them to conduct a mediated ministry and reach a larger audience. The content they produce contributes positively to the mediatization of religion, enabling Church teachings to be more accessible to a younger, more tech-savvy audience. The priests’ social media presence expands their spiritual outreach and reshapes how religion is perceived in the digital space.
The Catholic Church in the modern age and the works of Marshall McLuhan: An investigation into the dialogue between the church teachings on social communication and secular communication and media studies
Article
The Second Vatican Council is generally considered as the Church’s serious effort to engage the modern world, which at the turn of the twentieth century confronted the crisis brought by the two world wars, the Cold War, the increasing secularization of culture, and the challenges posed by the late industrial age and the new information society.
One of the documents of Vatican II, the Decree on Social Communication, laid down the principles and means by which the Church will utilize the mass media in its work and in guiding the laity in its proper use. Behind the scenes, Marshall McLuhan, a Catholic communication and media theorist, was seen to have a huge influence on the shaping of the details of Inter Mirifica and subsequent documents on social media. This paper is an investigation into the interaction between the Vatican and McLuhan, and how the Church sought his ideas in subsequent development of the decree on social communication, and how McLuhan represented, interpreted and invoked the Catholic faith in his various writings.
