Catholic presence online enhances faith

In fact, there's so much Church-related information in cyberspace that some Catholic organizations are working to make it more accessible for the Catholic user and to aid in the building a stronger faith community.

"Catholic Kiosk" is the brainchild of Michael S. Rose and his wife, Barbara, founders Aquinas MultiMedia Design Studio. Catholic Kiosk, created in conjunction with the Cincinnati Archdiocese, provides links to many Catholic Web sites and various Catholic information, such as the British version of the "Catechism of the Catholic Church" and a calendar of the saints.

'Marketplace'

Other dioceses -- and individual parishes -- both in the United States and abroad have already created pages on the Web, listing Mass schedules, public programs and other Church-oriented services.

David Higbee, director of adult and religious education at St. Thomas the Apostle Parish in Irondequoit, N.Y., said his parish has used such online services as the Catholic Resource Network to retrieve papal speeches and documents.

"This is a marketplace of ideas," Higbee said of the Web. "All the parishes in the next few years will begin dabbling in this."

Burgeoning

Jeffrey Mirius, of Trinity Communications, which created Catholic Resource Network, agreed. He noted that most U.S. dioceses and parishes will not only cruise the Internet, but soon will become information providers themselves through the creation of Web pages. A number of Catholic newspapers are joining the growing array of choices available by computer.

Tom Fox, editor of National Catholic Reporter, based in Kansas City, Mo., noted that his newspaper has been available to America Online subscribers since February 1996.

BY posting its pages in cyberspace, NCR can reach a far wider audience than its current 50,000 readers, he said. He added that the newspaper now gets dozens of e-mail letters to the editor every day.

"I think it's healthy that there's a greater Catholic presence in cyberspace," he said. "The Internet, like many other modern developments, is a tool for evangelization. It can bring the basic Christian message to many people who otherwise might not hear it."

Universal Church

That's precisely what motivates Michael Galloway, president of Catholic Online in Bakersfield, Calif. "Our mission is very clear -- to make this available to all the people of God," Galloway said of the thousands of online files available through CompuServe and on Catholic Online's Web site.

"We are truly a universal Church," Galloway said. "By networking with this form of communication, it allows us to network to a greater depth than we ever have in the history of the Church."

Agreement comes from Owen Phelps, of Catholic Connect! That's an online service for professional Catholic ministers that can be customized for use by state Catholic conferences, dioceses and individual Catholic groups, agreed.

News briefs, Vatican commentary, book reviews, prayer intentions are among the many types of information pieces available through Catholic Connect!

Father Maury Voity, editor in chief of the West Texas Angelus, newspaper of the San Angelo Diocese, noted his monthly paper has been available on a diocesan Web site since September 1995.

"The purpose of newspapers is to disseminate information to the greatest audience possible," he said. "With the popularity of the Web, it's good to be there."

(07-18-96) [[In-content Ad]]