Green Bay diocesan clergy take to the interwebs

GREEN BAY — Like it or not, social media is here to stay. And according to Bishop David Ricken, if you want to be relevant to the current generation, you have to be in those places. That’s exactly what some priests in the Green Bay Diocese (and Bishop Ricken) are doing.

“There were enough people who had seen my homilies on my personal Facebook page, and they seemed to like to be able to read them, so I thought that would be a good thing to do with my daily homilies,” Fr. Wideman said.Fr. Brian Wideman, 39, parochial vicar of Sacred Heart Parish, Appleton, was ordained in 2014. He admits to not being much of a social media user before. Now he posts his daily and Sunday homilies on his Facebook page under the name Fr. Brian Wideman and his blog, fromtheambo.blogspot.com.

He said other people use social media more as an evangelizing tool, but it is not a substitute for interpersonal communication.

“Social media can be helpful, but it doesn’t ever replace the personal encounter that we have with Christ and others,” Fr. Wideman said. “So many people have their faces buried and their hands busy on their phones, so it’s almost like you have to put that out there because that’s where they are.

continue at The Compass

Bp. Ricken is a good follow.  Out of the Illinois bishops, Bp. Jenky is a good follow as well.  The entire Diocese of La Crosse doesn't even have a Facebook or Twitter account, so there's many that are still behind the curve.

Video: Msgr. Paul Tighe keynote at SQPM conference

This is good:

After attending the #CNMC this weekend I was overwhelmed by the wisdom and kindness I encountered in the broader Catholic blogging world. As a relative newcomer into the Catholic Church I was humbled by how quickly these great folks embraced me as one of their own. If you haven't connected with SQPN and all their associated broadcasts, I encourage you to do so. They are a remarkable bunch of people. The intellectual highlight of the conference for many of us was the Keynote address presented by Msgr. Paul Tighe (the current secretary of the Pontifical Council for Social Communications). It was chalked full of wisdom, and thanks to the Archdiocese of Boston, is available for free right here! Take a look:

HT Josh Mercer

Digital Church Conference Coming to Diocese of Winona October 4th

Note: I may try to attend if I can get off of work

Digital Church Conference

Event Name: Diocese of Winona (Minnesota)

Location: Mayo Civic Center Auditorium (Rochester, Minnesota)

Date: October 4, 2013

Time: 8:30 AM - 4:00 PM (optional Mass 7:30am at Saint John the Evangelist Church)

Hosted by the Diocese of Winona, parishioners, organization leaders, parish and school leaders will have an opportunity to attend a one day comprehensive nationally conference on the essential tools and skills needed to harness the power of new media for the new evangelization.

This is an excellent opportunity for parish and school webmasters, social network administrators and all ministry leaders or anyone who would like to use new media to enhance and strengthen their ministry and evangelization efforts. Please forward this to anyone who could benefit from attending this exciting and timely conference.

Three nationally recognized speakers will provide dynamic presentations and inspire you and teach you how to use new media such as websites, social media and e-marketing to promote the Gospel values that are critically needed in our culture.

Tweeting and whatnot

On Twitter this week, Catholic Drinkie mentioned to me that she met Bp. Ricken and he was looking at getting setup on Twitter.  I say the more bishops the better.... which I'm sure also happens to be someone's famous last words.  The Diocese of Green Bay is the diocese I get the least information about(yes, even less than Superior).  Conspiracy?  I think so!  I get the most input from Madison and Milwaukee areas which I greatly enjoy.  If you have a solid parish or project you want to help promote, let me know.  I'm excited to visit St. Anthony's in Milwaukee next time I'm in town. 

If you missed it, Madison Diocese is putting together lots of good stuff for the Year of Faith.  Also Bp. Hying in Milwaukee has a video series, and they are running a C4: Ignite Your Catholic Faith series. 

Bp. Sample has been praised for his use of social media.  They've got a lot of good stuff going on up there in the U.P.

Speaking of Tweeting bishops, look at how much fun this is!

NO MEAT FRIDAY!Who is with me?
— Bishop Daniel Jenky(@Bishop_Jenky) November 16, 2012

This lead me to wonder how any modern person could be canonized, not because of their sanctity but because everything a person ever wrote has be be reviewed as part of the investigation of their cause. Does that mean every tweet and email?

I'm reading The Rhine Flows into the Tiber, and it's telling that Inter Mirifica(VII Social Communication doc) was one of the least supported documents of the council, really because bishops didn't feel they had the expertise to address communications.  *sigh*  Well, I think the new round of bishops are willing to gain or find someone with the expertise to Bring It To The People. 

Social media for Wisconsin Catholics

With the USCCB Fall Assembly going on and several bishop actively participating with social media, I thought I'd try to put together a list for Wisconsin.  Please update me if I missed anyone.

None of the bishops of the state are on Twitter

Dioceses on Twitter:
Archdiocese of Milwaukee
Diocese of Madison
Diocese of Green Bay

Bishops on Facebook:
Bishop Robert Morlino
Bishop Donald Hying

Dioceses on Facebook:
Archdiocese of Milwaukee
Diocese of Madison
Diocese of Green Bay

Via the USCCB:

A report commissioned by the USCCB Communications Department, with funding by Catholic Communication Campaign, shows great opportunities for the Church to engage users of digital information, especially young people. To be effective, however, the report suggests that "drawing more to Catholic content may require some unconventional blending of information and entertainment."

The full report, by the Center for Applied Research in the Apostolate, is available here.

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