WASHINGTON D.C., Nov. 7, 2012 (Zenit.org).- The changing world of social media and its implications will be the theme of discussion as U.S. Bishops address bloggers and social media users on November 11.
The meeting – entitled «An Encounter With Social Media: Bishops and Bloggers Dialogue» – will precede the annual Fall General Assembly of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB).
Bishop John Wester of Salt Lake City, chairman of the USCCB Committee on Communications and moderator of the event, said: «We hope this event yields fruitful discussion and a deeper understanding of how social media and the Church can enrich one another.»
The encounter will feature a new study by the Center for Applied Research in the Apostolate (CARA), «Catholic New Media Use in the United States, 2012,» and responses to the study by a panel.
Panelists include Bishop Christopher Coyne, auxiliary bishop and apostolic administrator of the Archdiocese of Indianapolis; Rocco Palmo, author of the blog Whispers in the Loggia; Mary DeTurris Poust, a Catholic journalist, author and blogger; and Terry Mattingly, author of the syndicated column On Religion and the blog Get Religion.
«Bishops and Bloggers» continues the discussion begun at the Vatican’s April 2011 conference for bloggers, sponsored by the Pontifical Council for Social Communications and the Pontifical Council for Culture. The USCCB Department of Communications and the Catholic Communication Campaign are sponsors of next week’s gathering.
