De zegeningen van internet voor de eenvoudige gelovige

Van het pittige Ierse blog Splintered Sunrise:

The internet – and how Catholics are using it to communicate with each other – [is playing] a huge part [...] Ten years ago, you would not often have a US archbishop criticising a wayward editorial in a British Catholic magazine. Nor would the laity have access to Vatican documents which they can print out to show to their local parish priest. The internet has changed all of this. Sure, the Catholic Church has always been about universals. But now Catholics have formed an online community they’re becoming a more coherent force, and they won’t be sidelined or misrepresented.
Leaving aside relations with the outside world, there’s an obviously revolutionary internal element to this. Modern communications tools make it much easier for stroppy laity or indeed stroppy priests to hold bishops to account, which is very much a good thing. Those further down the food chain have better access to information than ever before. [...] This is most advanced in America, with an extremely pugnacious Catholic blogosphere, which has forced the Catholic press to up its game, which in turn has an effect on the hierarchy.