The key, he said, is authenticity — a point about social networks which Pope Benedict XVI raised in his message for the June 5 World Day of Communications.
“Believers who bear witness to their most profound convictions greatly help prevent the Web from becoming an instrument which depersonalizes people, attempts to manipulate them emotionally or allows those who are powerful to monopolize the opinions of others,” the pontiff wrote.
“On the contrary, believers encourage everyone to keep alive the eternal human questions which testify to our desire for transcendence and our longing for authentic forms of life, truly worthy of being lived,” he said.
This is what Brother Ignatius aims for.
Most of his Facebook friends are people he has encountered on the thousands of youth events and retreats he has either led or helped with in Europe and North America.
“They already know I’m a Christian, a Catholic,” Brother Ignatius explained. “But I also have a number of friends who are staunchly agnostic, and yet they are open to somebody who will give them a level of communication and dialogue that is open, authentic and searching for the truth.”
Dangers and opportunities
Pope Benedict XVI described social networks as “unprecedented opportunities,” which can address “the desire for meaning, truth and unity which remain the most profound aspirations of each human being.”
But there are dangers — like being less present to the people physically around us and becoming distracted in a world “other than the one in which we live,” the pope said.
Virtual contact, the Holy Father explained, “must not take the place of direct human contact” or turn into one-sided interactions and “self indulgence.”
These are all warnings that Brother Ignatius takes to heart.
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“I got into Facebook for ministry,” the outdoorsman monk said. “I’m not a computer person, and I don’t like spending a lot of time on the computer. It is not pleasant for me.”
He added: “What is pleasant is when real contact happens and there is a real question asked where you can commit yourself to a dialogue that bears fruit.”
On occasion, Brother Ignatius might spend an hour hammering out an online conversation with a young person.
But he also encourages Facebook friends to not waste time online, and he’s willing to call people to account.
“If I see something unhealthy, such as the quantity of messages, or the content being superficial or depressive, I can address quickly and directly the problem and I do,” he said.
Another challenge is to ensure that online interactions aren’t one-sided monologues or arguments.