Five Ways Pope Francis is Changing the Catholic Blogosphere

By Stephen Ryan

1. “Write about poor people?  But that’s so ’70s”.

2. “Get out of ourselves?”   Pope Francis says:

“Go to the “outskirts where there is suffering, bloodshed, blindness that longs for sight, and prisoners in thrall to many evil masters. It is not in soul-searching or constant introspection that we encounter the Lord: self-help courses can be useful in life, but to live by going from one course to another, from one method to another, leads us to become Pelagians and to minimize the power of grace, which comes alive and flourishes to the extent that we, in faith, go out and give ourselves and the Gospel to others, giving what little ointment we have to those who have nothing, nothing at all.

Catholic bloggers won’t come right out and say it but you know they are thinking it. “But it is really nice sitting on the couch with ESPN in the background writing important stuff in my pajamas that reaches thousands of people across the internet .

3. Pope Francis scolds many self-righteous Catholics  for “Theological Narcissism”. Was he thinking about Catholic Bloggers? – We may never know, but Catholic Bloggers have already responded to Pope Francis’s shot across the bow.  Blogging theological narcissists have started to beat the war drums warning its readers to circle the wagons, keep the faith, and wait for a new pair of “Red Shoes”.  “The Pope has but one lung” one person writes.   That gem was found on one fearless blogger’s website known for censoring comboxes.

4. On New Evagelization –  Cardinal Dolan, the media savvy darling of the Catholic Blogging world, alas is not Pope.  Cardinal Dolan was absolute eye-candy for the Catholic Blogging world. But I can’t help but think Cardinal Dolen’s worldliness, and his penchant for TV cameras, microphones, and keeping company with the high and mighty does not sit well with the new direction of the Church.  I don’t think Dolan’s style  is what the Pope has in mind when it comes  “ New Evangelization”. I have to believe Pope Francis would like to see Cardinal Dolan show up at a soup kitchen, unannounced, and in a disguise.    Pope Francis is a total party-pooper for many Catholic media celebrities who thought New Evangelization was all about them saving the faith with their social media swagger.

5. For many Catholic Bloggers “ecumenism” is the red headed step-child of Vatican II.  Watching Pope Francis reach out to Muslims is doing penance for some outraged Catholic bloggers.