Is the Internet “saving” the Church? The “explosive growth of spirituality” seems to corroborate it
Yeah; The Catholic Church is going through difficult moments worldwide: the lack of Vocations (at least, in the most developed countries); the cases of pederasty –Reales–, amplified – also – by various media and ideological groups; the doctrinal confusion which has been generated among the faithful – and among the clergy – and the Religious intolerance which makes Christianity the most persecuted creed on the planet, according to various reports.
However, together with these Red flagsother surprising data appears – and, surely, unexpected – that suppose A fresh current for the churchmaking that phrase attributed to Santa Teresa de Jesús: “When God closes a door, open a window.” The London Catholic Herald –This newspaper founded in 1888 and of which GK Chesterton He said he was the only one he was looking for – he ventured a few days ago that “the Internet is saving the Catholic Church of self -destruction». A daring assertion but that tested with concrete data observed in the United States (and, therefore, will be replicated in the rest of the planet).
«One of the most extraordinary phenomena of the last ten years has been Explosive growth of Catholic spirituality on the Internet in the form of podcasts and other transmissions ”, does not hesitate to underline the analyst Gavin Ashenden in it Herald. Another author of the same medium, Thomas Casemorereferred to the “amazing growth of religious podcasts in general and of Catholics in particular”, ensuring that “Christian podcasts are gaining popularity” and that “2025 It could be your most successful year».
One million in four days
«Most people are not aware of the extraordinary success that the father had Mike Schmidt When, in 2021, he offered the opportunity to read The Bible in a year Through its application Ascension. Since then, it has been downloaded more than 700 million times. Its complementary application, the Rosario in a yearreached a million downloads In the next four days To its launch on January 1, 2025, ”added Ashenden. Father Schmidt has become In podcast number 1 On the Almighty Apple platform.
According to analysts, the Catholic on foot, tired that the conventional media offer a uniformed vision of reality, seeks on the Internet answers, alternatives and explanations that come out of that political correction that seems to permeate everything. «Authors like Tom Holland They have supported and argued the thesis that the Catholic faith provides the basis of the values of our civilization, “says Ashenden, and” act as a kind of antidote against the most noisy and energetic atheists. “
“The new atheism,” Casemore said, “relegated Christianity In the intellectual shadow for decades; became a taboo subject in many areas of life, seen with superstition and mockery. But here it is, again, in the foreground and in the centerwith the help of podcasts, but also of other media events and public personalities that make Christianity more common and acceptable ».
Matt Fraddan Australian who moved to the US Pints with aquinas (some reeds with Aquino), and reaches a audience of 644,000 people. The bishop Barron It has more than 500,000 people registered to receive their daily reflections by email, while the Dr. Taylor Marshalla former episcopalist clergy converted to Catholicism, adds a audience of 1.2 million.
