New Media Savvy American Bishops Attending the Synod

The 25th Synod of Bishops began on Sunday, October 7. It is dedicated to “The New Evangelization for the Transmission of the Christian Faith.” I did a little research to see if any of our attending bishops will be communicating with us over the Internet or on social media during the nearly month-long gathering. It seems that they indeed will be using the new media to share their experiences.

Here is what I found:

Updates from Archbishop Garcia-Siller of San Antonio will be posted on a special website and on the Archdiocesan Facebook page.

Archbishop Joseph Kurtz of Louisville, KY explained the Synod as part of his October Conversations video.

Bishop Gerald Kicanas of Tucson, Arizona (standing in for Cardinal Francis George of Chicago while he undergoes chemotherapy) explained the Synod in his Monday Memo  and plans to blog for Catholic News Service.

Cardinal Donald Wuerl who is the General Relator for the Synod will be posting updates on his blog.

Archbishop Jose Gomez from Los Angeles will be posting on his Facebook page  and on Twitter @ArchbishopGomez

Cardinal Timothy Dolan, Archbishop of New York and President of the USCCB, writes a blog , is on Twitter @CardinalDolan and Facebook. We most likely will find his updates on all three.

Some of the American representatives at the Synod who are serving as experts or auditors may also be using social media. You can find a list of their names in this article by John Allen who will also be posting regular reports on the Synod at this same site.

If you know of others who will be covering the Synod with online postings please share the links in the comments below.

Yes, times have changed. It used to be that we read From the Synod letters by the bishops in weekly diocesan papers—news that was one or more weeks old. Now we will have real time comments and reports available perhaps daily—straight from the bishops. Amazing, isn’t it?