ROME – Is making out with your girlfriend a sin? Will remarried divorced Catholics ever be allowed to take Communion? Is the devil real?
These are typical questions a priest might hear at any time from his parishioners. But Father Gianfranco Falgari and a large group of associates are fielding these queries in a venue that’s more virtual than spiritual – the Internet.
Crossing theology with cyberspace, the Italian-language www.pretionline.it answers parishioners’ inquietudes with downloads of advice and Catholic guidance. The Web site appears to be quite popular: In an era of declining church attendance, the site’s traffic has nearly tripled since it was launched a few years ago, its managers say.
“We do not want to substitute personal contact,” Falgari said. “But this Web site does allow us to be available to those who have difficulty turning to a priest in the flesh. People may be able to say things that they would not dare say to a priest in person.”
The Roman Catholic Church, an institution sitting atop 2,000 years of history, has embraced modern-day technology. The late Pope John Paul II was known to use a laptop computer, and he had an e-mail address that was flooded with thousands of get-well messages during his final illness.
John Paul warned that misuse of the Internet – to spread hatred or pornography, for example – could do “untold harm,” but that the technology was also a valuable tool for spreading the Gospel.
Visitors to the site can post a message for all to read or send a message directly to one of more than 800 priests who have signed up to participate. There is no public chat room. Only the priests can respond and it’s always in private.
Nor does the Web site allow confessions, Falgari said, because the confession is considered a sacrament and must be conducted in person and in absolute confidentiality.
Otherwise, just about any topic is fair game.
Falgari was coy when asked what kind of advice and answers the priests usually offer.
“Listening, dialogue, and ‘walking together’ – I think these are the best rules for expanding the horizons of understanding of the church’s choices and other hot issues,” Falgari said.
Most of the priests who are registered on the site, as well as a few bishops, deacons and seminary students, are from Italy, but a few are from the United States and Latin America. They got involved while studying in Italy. They are listed on the Web site by region and alphabetically. The entry for each prelate includes basic background information, often a link to his diocesan Web site, and a green, yellow or red traffic-light symbol to indicate whether he is available.
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