Catholic communications professional: Livestreams won’t prevent Catholics from returning to Mass post-pandemic

Catholic communications professionals in many parishes in the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis had been exploring the possibilities of adding video content to their social media arsenal but hadn’t quite made the jump — until the COVID-19 pandemic gave them a hefty push.

Now many parishes are providing quality video, especially of their Masses and other liturgies, and sharing it via social media, Julie Craven said on a recent episode of the “Practicing Catholic” show on Relevant Radio.

“A year ago March 11th, we were scrambling. And I remember thinking it was almost as though, you know, God had jumped in and said, ‘You know, the video that you were talking about doing someday. How about now?’” she said in an interview with Patrick Conley for the show that aired April 2-4.

The director of communications and strategic initiatives at Our Lady of Lourdes in Minneapolis, Craven spoke with Conley about Catholic content on social media and the role of technology in Catholics’ lives, especially during the pandemic.

Conley said some people have expressed concern that with quality video of weekend Masses available from many parishes, Catholics who otherwise would return to church after the pandemic will instead continue to watch Mass from the comfort of their living rooms. Craven, who said she and her husband didn’t attend Mass in person until they were vaccinated, doesn’t expect that to be an issue. She described it as being as different as seeing a commercial for Disney World and going there in person.

And not just because they can receive the sacraments, she noted, but so they can connect socially, too. “We all are looking forward to when we’re all back there and we can linger over a cup of coffee and a donut after Mass, and we can admire somebody’s new baby, and we can hear about a struggle somebody had and they’re asking for prayers this week,” she said. “There’s just no replacing that.”

What the explosion of Catholic content on social media has allowed, she said, is for Catholics to feel less of a separation between their Sundays and their weekdays, when scrolling Facebook or Instagram includes posts from their parishes as well as their friends. And, she said, livestreamed Masses have opened a door for some Catholics who felt detached from the Church to take a virtual step back inside.

“I think it’s an incredible evangelization tool,” she said. “We’ve heard reports from folks saying, ‘You know, my brother-in-law was away from the faith for a while. There was, you know, an issue with a divorce. There was something else. He’s been watching the livestreams.’ I think the opportunity for folks to have that available is huge.”

In the 16-minute interview, Craven praised the work of the Catholic Communicators, a group of communications professionals who work for parishes and other Church-related institutions, mostly in the archdiocese.

Being a member has been “just a terrific way to quickly, you know, climb the learning curve, get new people up to speed, help out some of the parishes that haven’t done a lot with communications,” she said.

But consuming social media is like consuming food, she said – people have to make good decisions about what goes into them.

“You wouldn’t want to eat something that isn’t necessarily good and healthy,” she said. She noted that she’s personally quit following some blogs and social media accounts that weren’t having a positive influence in her life.

“There’s an opportunity to be selective,” she said. “I think we need to certainly be open to different points of view. I think it’s sure troubling if we get too narrow in what we’re looking at. But when people are concerned about social media or Facebook and there’s stuff out there that’s not great … what you do is you basically set that aside. You find quality content, you find the content that really does speak to what you’re trying to do and growing your faith and follow along with that.”

And for Catholics, sharing inspiring Catholic content is one way to evangelize others, she noted.

“If there’s something about it that touches your heart, engage, share it, comment on it, like it,” she said. “The algorithms, particularly with Facebook, the more engagement there is, the more likely that post is going to be seen by more people. It’s a great, low-key way to talk about your faith. … I feel it makes me more authentic when I put something out there with my friends who are Catholic — or not Catholic — and they see what’s speaking to me and what’s making a difference in my life.”