The New Normal in Pastoral Care
The Enduring Legacy of Media Appropriation in the Post-Pandemic Roman Catholic Church
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 3564495 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Giulia Isetti (0000-0003-1546-9015, Eurac Research, corresponding author), Michael De Rachewiltz (0000-0001-9796-9472, Eurac Research), Harald Pechlaner (0000-0002-1030-3801, Eurac Research) |
| Year | 2025 |
| Volume | 16 |
| Issue | 1 |
| Pages | 90 |
| Publication date | 2025-01-17 |
| Peer Reviewed | Yes |
| Open Access | Yes |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | Religions (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 2077-1444 • E-ISSN: 2077-1444 |
| Publisher | MDPI AG (PUBLISHER • IT) |
| DOI | 10.3390/rel16010090 |
| OpenAlex | W4406668449 |
| Language | EN |
| Citations received | 1 |
| References cited | 33 |
By leveraging 20 semi-structured interviews conducted in 2020 and 2024 with parish priests and laypeople with an office in the Diocese of Bolzano-Bressanone (Italy), this paper explores the enduring legacy of the pandemic in terms of digital engagement in Roman Catholic pastoral activities. Additionally, it investigates the impact of ICT and AI on religious authority. A comparison of the two waves of interviews shows that in the new normal, there has been an acceleration of the adoption of ICT and AI, primarily for internal communication purposes. However, faithful engagement and interaction through new and old media have remained one-way, reinforcing current ecclesiastical power hierarchies. Despite some inherent theological limitations to a more participatory use of ICT, the presence of pockets of innovation in extra-sacramental activities points to future possibilities for empowering laypeople and engaging with the faithful without compromising Church doctrine
Appropriation · Art · Linguistics · Pandemic · Pastoral care · Political science · Sociology · History · Law · Media, Religion, Digital Communication · Medicine · Philosophy · Internal Medicine
How to research cross-media practices? Investigating media repertoires and media ensembles
Assessing changes in the study of religious communities in digital religion studies
The response of Roman Catholic priests to Covid-19
Contextualizing current digital religion research on emerging technologies
Religious Communication and Epistemic Authority of Leaders in Wired Faith Organizations
Pastoral Care at the Time of Lockdown
New Possibilities for Carrying out their Ministry to and for the Word of God’? The Roman Catholic Church as a Religious Organisation in Times of Deep Mediatisation
When the going gets tough, the tough get—Creative”
The vitality of new media and religion
Surveying theoretical approaches within digital religion studies
Who’s Got the Power? Religious Authority and the Internet
Online You Will Never Get the Same Experience, Never
Sacred Meets Synthetic
Pastoral Ministry in Unsettled Times
Spiritual Communion in a Digital Age
Forced' Online Religion
The Absence of Presence and the Presence of Absence
Catholic Church's Communication in the Era of Bergoglio
Mediatized Catholicism-Minority Voices and Religious Authority in the Digital Sphere
| Unique citing works | 1 |
|---|---|
| Citations per year | 1 |
| Citation span | 2025 - 2025 (1) |
| Citation velocity | recent |
| Highly cited | No |
| Citation types | Neutral: 1 |