'Is the Pope a Catholic?'
Long used as a colloquial expression to confirm that a statement is true, a Kilcullen woman has entitled her blog 'Is the Pope a Catholic?' to catch attention to her take on issues in her religion today.
Petra Conroy's blog is a serious and articulate attempt to address current issues from the perspective of 'a (reasonably!) rational woman'.
It is also an attempt to counter what she believes is an often unbalanced view presented in the media about Catholic religion matters.
"I think the media do a really essential job in our world," she says, "but I also think that you rarely get an accurate view of the Catholic world vision."
Petra finally decided that there was no future in 'shouting at the radio' and set up 'Is the Pope a Catholic?' in order to offer her own 'best shot at what the Catholic Church really says about just about everything'.
She's been getting a strong response. Even to having her blog mentioned on Pat Kenny's 'Frontline' during a recent programme about the Catholic Church in Ireland and the abuse issue.
Given the time in which Petra set up her website, it is probably inevitable that this particular matter has been the biggest category of posts so far, along with 'Bishops' and 'The Murphy Report'.
But Petra also writes about communication in terms of the organisation which represents her faith. She particularly went to great pains after the publication of Pope Benedict XVI's Pastoral Letter to provide ways for people to examine and evaluate its contents. This included producing a 'mindmap chart' of the letter, as a suggested method of working through it.
"Maybe if we listen to and act on the small, seemingly ordinary, suggestions the Pope makes in his Letter to the Catholics of Ireland we might get some unexpected results," she says.
Petra has characteristically direct views on the Church's apparent inability to directly get its message home, and in a timely manner. In a recent post she highlighted how successfully Hans Kung, the controversial theologian, does it.
"He had something to say. Something he felt was important. Guess what he did? He issued a statement to the media and followed it up with many live interviews on radio and television stations across Europe, and I’m sure, around the world. What a good idea! Thousands and thousands of people heard what he had to say … I wonder could the Church here learn anything from Fr Kung?"
She is very convinced that the Church needs some 'master storytellers', and not in the manner of spindoctors. "Where are the Christian master storytellers of today whose message is the truth that we Christians believe -- writers in the mode of Tolkien and, more overtly, C.S. Lewis? We can’t keep pointing to only those two -- we need writers who today craft powerful stories that convey something of the hope that is within us."
In a post about 'Losing Hope', Petra acknowledges that it is difficult to be a Catholic right now, on the one hand because of the stark reality that 'men we thought were representing Christ for us did unspeakable hurt to vulnerable children'. And also because, she believes, too many of the journalists we depend to convey the truth, to interpret reality for us, are not doing this.
"Reporting on the clerical child abuse issue is now too often full of clear bias, misleading storylines and simple untruths. It is hard to make sure we have learned the lessons of the past when what happened in the past is being twisted to suit a different agenda. An agenda that wants the Catholic Church and the values it still stands for in spite of the scandals, to just go away."
In her blog, Petra highlights what she sees as some of these biased reports and deals with them using thoughtful consideration rather than soundbite rhetoric. It is a refreshing and very honest narrative on matters that are still fundamental to how most Irish people want to live their lives.
Other subjects for 'Is the Pope a Catholic?' include Education, Faith & Reason, Science & Religion, Marriage, and Stem Cell Research.
The blog can be accessed at isthepopeacatholic.wordpress.com/
Brian Byrne.
(This article first appeared on the Kilcullen Page of the Kildare Nationalist.)
