The New Pulpits

There was a time when the only place where priests were wont to preach was the pulpit usually situated in the middle of the nave, affixed to the wall and usually way over the heads of the seated congregation. I don't need to state the evident when I say that times have much since then. By the 50's, priests began to conquer the airwaves (the controversial Fr. Coughlin and Msgr. Sheen are prime examples). When society entered the Swingin' Sixties, preachers took to the street corners (this happened for example in Milan during the Great Mission initiated by then Archbishop Montini...well that was included in the 50's also). When television came into vogue, priest were seen as well (again Archbishop Sheen). What's really true is that concerning its means of expression, the Church could never be accused of being outdated with regards to means at hand.

I've been browsing through Pope Benedict's message for today, the 44th World Communications Day, and in it one could see that the Pope is proposing a new paradigm for the priests of the new millennium. Not that it wasn't being done before he ever talked about it, but now that he did, more priests are poised to conquer the Web as well, not merely as preachers ( something which would never be lost on us), but this time as bloggers, most especially. Entitled "The Priest and Pastoral Ministry in the Digital World", it sure does widen the possibilities and perspectives in the pastoral ministry which the priest should exercise. Certainly Il Papa had kept the Year for Priests very much at heart.