• La Civiltà Cattolica
  • Newsletters
  • Podcast
  • Contact us
  • Login
  • Register
SUBSCRIBE
LA CIVILTÀ CATTOLICA
Advertisement
  • Home
  • Church Life
    • Faith
    • Mission
    • People
    • Pope Francis
    • Spirituality
  • Church Thought
    • Doctrine
    • Scripture
    • Theology
  • Culture
  • Politics
  • Editions
  • Authors
  • Donate

No products in the cart.

No Result
View All Result
  • Home
  • Church Life
    • Faith
    • Mission
    • People
    • Pope Francis
    • Spirituality
  • Church Thought
    • Doctrine
    • Scripture
    • Theology
  • Culture
  • Politics
  • Editions
  • Authors
  • Donate

No products in the cart.

No Result
View All Result
LA CIVILTÀ CATTOLICA
No Result
View All Result
     
Home 2006

Digital Celebrations

Nikolaas Sintobin, SJbyNikolaas Sintobin, SJ
May 27, 2020
in 2006, Church Life, Edition, Full Text Article, Mission, PANDEMIC AND FREEDOM OF RELIGION, People
0
Streaming a Catholic Mass
0
SHARES
38
VIEWS
Share on FacebookShare on Twitter

With the advent of Covid-19, Facebook and similar digital platforms seem to have become liturgical spaces. Every kind of celebration is transmitted through them: “home-made” liturgies are held, retreat houses offer online activities, spiritual assistance is offered through a computer screen and so on. The coronavirus crisis is reinforcing a trend that has been going on for years. In the lives of many Christians, the digital environment has become a stable presence. More and more people are praying while listening to podcasts such as Pray as you go on their smartphones or preparing for Christmas and Easter using digital retreats. This development is welcomed with enthusiasm, but at the same time it arouses objections and resistance.

Every day, together with a large group of professionals and volunteers, I produce digital religious material. During the coronavirus crisis we have been offering themed audio retreats on life in isolation, community prayers for Holy Week and Easter, and a series of videos on how to live your spirituality in times like these.

We reach people of all generations and from different Christian Churches and communities. Among our most faithful visitors we count many lonely, sick and elderly Christians. Often they are people who, through no fault of their own, no longer have physical access to a community of faith. There are also young people in north-western Europe who can no longer find a community of reference. Then there is the special phenomenon of monastic communities that are reduced in number and are often elderly. They struggle to find a pastor and for this reason use digital audio and video material for their retreats. In short, today many people have no other choice.

Sometimes people label everything “digital” as “virtual,” or they contrast the real world with the digital environment. But in people’s lives what is digital is real, even in terms of religious experience. Benedict XVI made this clear: “The digital environment is not a parallel or purely virtual world, but part of the daily reality of many people” (Message for the 47th World Communications Day, May 12, 2013). Those who surf the web can take advantage of the offer of “digital” faith, so to speak, wherever and whenever they wish. In addition, this offer is usually free of charge. This combination contributes to the fact that many people are deeply touched by it: this includes practicing Christians, but also people who do not have a defined religious affiliation.

Does this mean that physical churches as places of worship are destined to disappear? No. For Christians, the digital environment will not take the place of the physical environment. It is not desirable and it is not possible. In the digital offering it is necessary to build bridges with the physical environment and to seek to build local communities. But, at the same time, the ecclesial community is called on to fully come to terms with the place that the digital environment occupies today in our societies and cultures. More specifically, we should consider the digital environment above all as an opportunity that encourages us to think of and experience traditional practices in a different way.[1] 

* * *

In this regard, the exponential increase in streaming Eucharistic celebrations during the coronavirus crisis is an interesting case. It attracts both enthusiasm and criticism. In their home churches, the faithful are happy to see their priests celebrating the Eucharist. At the same time, the sight of a church reduced to a largely deserted building can increase the feeling of loneliness and isolation. The prescriptions of social distancing mean that in many celebrations streamed on Facebook or YouTube only the priest is seen. This brings a clerical dominance to a liturgy whose community character is essential.

You can choose different ways: I have presided over celebrations through Zoom. It is a software that allows the community to be audible and visible and makes it possible to carry out readings, songs and prayers in a practical and interactive way, which is impossible with the usual radio and television celebrations. Participating and celebrating together on a digital platform, rather than watching as strangers while the priest “says” the Mass broadcast alone, is certainly a better solution.

But even in the best of circumstances, streaming celebrations make many people uncomfortable. As a priest, I find the moment of communion in such celebrations unreal. We sing together, listen to the Word, engage from our different houses; we see and hear each other while we pray, bow and kneel before the consecration, and wish each other peace. At the moment of communion we say a prayer of spiritual communion. With it the faithful express their desire to receive the Lord, but at the same time they are invited to realize that they cannot receive Him sacramentally. It is clear that there is a limitation here.

Pope Francis, on April 17 last, in his homily at Mass in Santa Marta, recalled this deficiency and the fact that only spiritual communion can be achieved. He continued: “And this is not the Church: this is the Church in a difficult situation, which the Lord permits, but the ideal of the Church is always with the people and with the Sacraments. Always. The Church, the Sacraments, the People of God are concrete. It is true that in this moment we must provide this familiarity with God in this way, but so as to come out of the tunnel, not to stay inside it. And this is the familiarity of the apostles: not gnostic, not virtual, not selfish, for each one of us, but a concrete familiarity, amongst the people.”

The document The Church and the Internet (2002) issued by the Pontifical Council for Social Communications was very clear: “Virtual reality is no substitute for the Real Presence of Christ in the Eucharist, the sacramental reality of the other sacraments, and shared worship in a flesh-and-blood human community. There are no sacraments on the Internet.”

But it also affirmed that “religious experiences” on the web “are possible by the grace of God” (No. 9). The question that this coronavirus crisis is posing remains open: what does inculturation of the liturgy and the sacraments in the digital experience mean at a time when internet mediation is becoming increasingly important?


DOI: La Civiltà Cattolica, En. Ed. Vol. 4, no. 06 art. 6, 0620: 10.32009/22072446.0620.6

[1] 1. See A. Spadaro, Cyberteologia: Pensare il cristianesimo al tempo della rete, Milan, Vita e Pensiero, 2012

Previous Post

Erich Przywara: God ‘always greater and greater’

Next Post

The Option for the ‘Logos’ in the Pontificate of Francis

Nikolaas Sintobin, SJ

Nikolaas Sintobin, SJ

Related Posts

For a Theology of the Discernment of Spirits
Church Life

For a Theology of the Discernment of Spirits

byMiguel Ángel Fiorito, SJand1 others
February 1, 2023
Is a Climate Catastrophe Inevitable?
Church Thought

Is a Climate Catastrophe Inevitable?

byFernando de la Iglesia Viguiristi SJ
January 29, 2023
Jeremiah lamenting the destruction of Jerusalem. Rembrandt, 1630
Bible Studies

‘The Book of Revolutions’: The battles of priests, prophets and kings that birthed the Torah

byDavid Neuhaus, SJ
January 25, 2023
Religious Nationalism and Pope Francis’ ‘Culture of Encounter’
Church Life

Religious Nationalism and Pope Francis’ ‘Culture of Encounter’

byDavid Hollenbach, SJ
January 23, 2023
The Election of Lula and a Polarized Brazil
Church Life

The Election of Lula and a Polarized Brazil

byBruno Franguelli, SJ
January 20, 2023
Next Post
The Option for the ‘Logos’ in the Pontificate of Francis

The Option for the ‘Logos’ in the Pontificate of Francis

Premium Content

water bearers

Water Bearers by Atiq Rahimi

March 12, 2021
Protesters in Aden, Al Mansoora during the Arab Spring 2011 calling for the secession of South Yemen from the North. Photo: AlMahra via Wikimedia CC BY-SA 4.0 https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/legalcode

10 Years after the Arab Springs

July 7, 2021
Japan In The New Imperial Era ‘Reiwa’

Japan In The New Imperial Era ‘Reiwa’

November 21, 2019

Browse by Category

Subscription Offers

BEATUS POPULUS CUIUS DOMINUS DEUS EIUS

The most respected digital Catholic journal from Rome. A must-read on all the present issues alive in the Church. Discover top Church scholars interpreting the history, politics, culture, science and art in the light of the Christian faith.

Categories

  Editions
  Church Thought
  Authors
  Church 
 
  Culture
  Perspective Series
  Politics & Socitey

 

About Us

   Contact Us
   La Civiltà Cattolica  
   China Forum
   Feedback
   Terms & Conditions
   Privacy Policy
    Email : [email protected]
My IP Address : 162.55.86.59
Facebook Twitter Instagram

© Union of Catholic Asian News 2022 | All Rights Reserved.
Except for any fair dealing permitted under the Hong Kong Copyright Ordinance, no part of this publication may be reproduced by any means without prior permission.

No Result
View All Result
  • Home
  • Church Life
    • Faith
    • Mission
    • People
    • Pope Francis
    • Spirituality
  • Church Thought
    • Doctrine
    • Scripture
    • Theology
  • Culture
  • Politics
  • Editions
  • Authors
  • Donate
SUBSCRIBE

Welcome Back!

Login to your account below

Forgotten Password?
Sign Up

Create New Account!

Fill the forms bellow to register

All fields are required. Log In

Retrieve your password

Please enter your username or email address to reset your password.

Log In
  • Login
  • Sign Up
Forgot Password?
Lost your password? Please enter your username or email address. You will receive a link to create a new password via email.

laciviltacattolica.com uses cookies and similar technologies to optimize the user experience,  analyze site traffic and communicate with subscribers. To read more about how we use cookies and how you can control them click on settings, or click Accept to start browsing our site.

Are you sure want to unlock this post?
Unlock left : 0
Are you sure want to cancel subscription?
LA CIVILTÀ CATTOLICA
Powered by  GDPR Cookie Compliance
Privacy Overview

This website uses cookies so that we can provide you with the best user experience possible. Cookie information is stored in your browser and performs functions such as recognising you when you return to our website and helping our team to understand which sections of the website you find most interesting and useful.

Strictly Necessary Cookies

Strictly Necessary Cookie should be enabled at all times so that we can save your preferences for cookie settings.

If you disable this cookie, we will not be able to save your preferences. This means that every time you visit this website you will need to enable or disable cookies again.