For every priest who abandons Peter's boat in the midst of the storm, there are others who—like on the Titanic—sing and dance, perfectly comfortable with the current situation. The role of social media in fueling narcissism; and that of the Church, whose focus today is “boomer” and imprudent.
It is already a constant drip: after don Minutella and Father Giorgio Maria Farè, don Leonardo Maria Pompei has also been severely sanctioned by the Catholic Church for his reactions to the pontificate of Pope Francis and, in general, to the direction the Church has taken without hesitation in recent decades, considered by the legitimate authorities incompatible with ecclesial belonging. True, these are different positions, more or less understandable and justifiable; but the fact is that the first has been excommunicated—which decrees the rupture of communion with the Church—and moreover dismissed from the clerical state; Father Farè received an extrajudicial excommunication from the Superior of the Carmelites, currently suspended due to appeal; the last is suspended a divinis. In any case, the three have disoriented a not insignificant number of the faithful, creating fractures and divisions in the Mystical Body of Christ.
This attitude, which leaves one stunned, recalls reflections already shared with the kind readers of the Bussola. Peter's boat is at the mercy of the storm and the temptation to abandon it is strong; a cry rises: «Master, do you not care that we perish?». And the Master responds: «Men of little faith». Yes, because this is a problem of faith. Can the omniscient God ignore what is happening to his Church? Is it possible that something occurs that He has not permitted? Does Divine Providence not exist, then? And what if all this were for «a more certain and greater joy», as Manzoni wrote? And what if we had begun the descent toward the definitive «fullness of times», prelude to the second coming of Christ?
However, it seems that for every priest who comes into conflict with Peter's boat in the storm, there are others who—like on the Titanic—sing and dance, perfectly comfortable with the current situation. I think of some priests who are protagonists of the «Jubilee of Catholic influencers and digital missionaries», some of whom have posted reels (short videos on social media) doing ball tricks in the presbytery: «It's not the boys who have to go to church, it's the Church that must go to the boys». The Church «outgoing», precisely; which leaves the Most Holy Sacrament alone.
Not to mention the DJ priests or the quite questionable postures of the most famous youtuber priest. In this case, the focus seems to be on animation, on enthusiasm, to «involve young people». To what end? Or is animation, enthusiasm itself, the end? Someone more advanced in years should explain to these young priests full of vigor that little songs and animation are no novelty; it is a pastoral approach that the Church adopted decades ago. And the results do not seem so overwhelming.
But perhaps these are two sides of the same coin: the exposure of the sacred on social media.
Today everyone seems to realize the horrendous damages caused by digital media; as an example, I cite a document from the Senate of the Republic: «There are the physical damages: myopia, obesity, hypertension, musculoskeletal disorders, diabetes. And there are the psychological damages: addiction, alienation, depression, irritability, aggressiveness, insomnia, dissatisfaction, decrease in empathy. But what is most worrying is the progressive loss of essential mental faculties, the faculties that for millennia have represented what we summarily call intelligence: the capacity for concentration, memory, critical spirit, adaptability, dialectical capacity… These are the effects that the use—which in most cases can only degenerate into abuse—of smartphones and video games produces in the youngest. Nothing different from cocaine. The same, identical, chemical, neurological, biological, and psychological implications».
The Minister of Education and Merit has become aware of this, who has arranged for the extension of the ban on the use of smartphones also to secondary education, effective from the new school year 2025/26.
The Church has not become aware, which continues to have, toward digital tools, a boomer attitude, of enthusiasm for the «happy fortunes and progressives» that social networks would offer to evangelization; or perhaps for the sounds and colorful lights that come from the screens. No warning, no prudence, regarding them. And if the priestly abandonments on one side and the «sensationalist exaggerations» on the other were an effect of these tools? The fact that likes and followers create phenomena of narcissism, inflate a bubble of omnipotence, make one forget common sense… do these things only apply to boys? Or can self-celebration and the search for external validation also be effects that priests who use these instruments carelessly can incur?
We hope—not in vain—for a word of wisdom from the Church on digital technological tools and their dangers. Late with respect to the world, as always happens to those who go in tow.
Article published in La Nuova Bussola, translated by InfoVaticana.
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