The era of social media began almost 15 years ago with the
social networking sites MySpace and Hi5. Those two pioneers
are still around, but giants like Facebook, Twitter and
Instagram have taken many of their users.
Long embraced by athletes and other celebrities, religious
organizations and clergy now are using social media platforms
to reach the faithful.
The Catholic Herald has an active Facebook following of
nearly 4,300, with more than 10,000 Twitter followers.
Catholic Herald editorial staffers live-tweet from events,
sharing photos and videos.
The Arlington Diocese has a strong social media presence with
nearly 7,540 followers on Facebook and 9,270 on Twitter.
Arlington Bishop Paul S. Loverde has a Twitter account with
more than 2,200 followers and more than 340 tweets.
Several Arlington diocesan priests reach out to people on
social media to evangelize, to comfort and counsel, and to
draw people to the faith.
Father José E. Hoyos, director of the diocesan Spanish
Apostolate, may have one of the largest social media
followings in the diocese with about 21,000 followers on
Facebook and about 2,000 Twitter followers. He posts to each
daily.
Father Hoyos said answering his Facebook posts keeps him up
late at night.
“People want to hear about the Gospel,” he said, adding that
many people are depressed and ask, “Please Father, pray for
me.”
And while most of his followers are in the diocese, he has
followers from around the country and in other parts of the
world. His popularity on social media is built through word
of mouth.
Twitter’s restriction of 140 characters makes it difficult to
tweet about complex theological themes, he said, but he posts
a daily Gospel message.
Father Hoyos is an active user of YouTube, posting more than
800 videos of his homilies, and he uses Instagram, but
Facebook is hisprimary platform. One of his followers in
Colombia called him the “cyber-priest.”
Father Bjorn C. Lundberg, chaplain of Saint John Paul the
Great Catholic High School in Dumfries, uses Facebook to keep
in touch with friends and family. In the beginning, he would
just share posts from other sources.
“I was the Lundberg News Service,” he said.
For him, social media is a tool and a great way to
evangelize. He likes to think of it as an online homily.
“I’m not (Bishop) Fulton Sheen,” he laughed. “I have maybe 8,
10 or 15 minutes to reach someone (at Mass). It’s limited.”
But with Facebook, he can take his time to compose a post.
“I’m inspired by Pope Francis,” he said, citing the pontiff’s
2 million Facebook followers.
Social media platforms are nonthreatening and effective tools
for reaching people, he said, adding that he thinks more
parishes should take advantage of it.
Father Christopher J. Pollard, pastor of St. John the Beloved
Church in McLean, uses social media to publicize events at
his parish.
Facebook is more for his generation, he said, and Twitter
reaches a younger crowd.
He live-streams church events, such as a May 12 presentation
at the church by Father Douglas Al-Bazi, a Chaldean Catholic
priest in Iraq who was tortured for nine days in 2006. After
streaming his talk, “A Witness to Genocide,” it was archived
on the parish website, along with other videos produced by
the parish.
Father Pollard said Twitter has the potential to reach a
larger audience, and he tweeted Father Al-Bazi’s talk. He
also tweets invitations to events and includes photos.
In addition to Twitter and Facebook, the parish uses Evites
to announce events, and an email managing system called
MailChimp to send a newsletter to about 800 people.
Father James R. Searby, parochial vicar of St. Charles
Borromeo Church in Arlington, was profiled in a 2013 article
in the Catholic Herald as a veteran social media user.
Now involved in video production for the Arlington Diocese’s
YouTube channel, he helps make “2MinutesToVirtue” videos,
which are reflections on the Sunday readings.
Many of the numerous diocesan priests and religious using
social media see it as a modern means of evangelization. It’s
not a replacement for human interaction, but it can help
spread the good news one post or tweet at a time.
