USCCB on social media

Here’s an interesting document — a set of guidelines for the use of social media put out by the US Conference of Catholic Bishops. One of my favorite quotes from the document: “The Church can use social media to encourage respect, dialogue, and honest relationships—in other words, “true friendship” (43rd World Communications Day message [2009]).”

It's sometimes an extraordinary puzzle, to be part of a church whose leadership on the one hand can come up with useful statements such as this one, but on the other is so completely oblivious to the world it lives in that it releases documents that can be read to equate child sexual abuse and women's ordination. Granted, the USCCB is a far cry from the Vatican, but you have to wonder if they ever listen to each other!