More analysis of the Chicago Tribune on "religious blog mania"

Dom points out this story in the Chicago Tribune entitled "Religious blogs test beliefs, power structure" which has a very odd (read: biased) take on the Catholic blogosphere. You can read Dom's comments (on certain quotes from the article) right here.

I'd like to take a look at the other three paragraphs that discuss "Catholic blogs" in this article:

"In light of blog mania, religious organizations are getting proactive to make the voices of their top authorities more accessible. Posting the actual words spoken by Pope Benedict XVI on any number of topics, for instance, has become a priority for church staffers in an age when people seem to value messages that come directly from "the horse's mouth."

Interestingly, the pope's official texts have been published in the Acta Sanctae Sedis from before the 1900s, and in the Acta Apostolicae Sedis up until the present day. The difference is that one can more easily and quickly access the texts now - but that's equally true of everything with the internet.

"People want to know, `What did he say? What did the pope actually say?'" said Mary Ann Walsh, spokeswoman for the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops. "This enables people to get material without it being filtered by the media."

Yes, exactly: "without being filtered [and neutered] by the media."

Meanwhile, reform-minded dissidents are finding the Internet enables them to bypass religious authorities altogether in a way that was virtually impossible, at least in terms of mass media, just 15 years ago.

... and maybe *gasp* also lets loyal Catholics voice their support for tradition and authority because the liberal elite have a stranglehold on the mass media? Hmm...

Finally, this could just be the path I tread, but I don't see that many dissident blogs really giving it a serious go... there seems to be a strange lack of liberal Catholic blogging enthusiasm out there - or again - is this just me?

Hey, send me some links ... I'd love to take a look at their comboxes.

Oh that's right. I bet they keep them closed.