In addition, we are not able to "propose to our society the reasons for believing what we believe" when we are stuck in a defensive mode, he said. And those who are naive and fail to "understand the frames that our society puts on the Church" will not be able to step outside the frame and offer a new perspective, delivering a message that needs to be heard in an understandable way.
Ivereigh also shared helpful principles in defending the faith, such as being positive and compassionate, focusing on witnessing rather than winning a debate, speaking from experience, telling stories and seeking to shed light, not heat.
Bermudez then offered tips to apply these principles to the world of social media.
"The principles that are very successful when we deal with media are also very useful when we deal with our families" and other parties or gatherings, he said. However there are additional dimensions - such as space limits and anonymity - that we must take into account when we are dealing with the internet and social media.
One critical challenge in the world of social media is determining when to engage in a discussion and when to avoid it, Bermudez explained.
He noted that Ivereigh's guidelines for dialogue assume "a desire of some kind to engage in a conversation, even if the starting point is aggressive."
But online, people "who are usually isolated in their hatred of the Catholic Church" become "like packs" of wolves, acting as internet "trolls" who pick fights and upset people with insulting comments.
Sometimes, he suggested, these internet trolls should be engaged, as a means to address the wider audience that is reading the posts. But many times, they should simply be ignored.
"Without that basic minimum interest, any discussion is just a waste of time" and should be avoided, he said.
Bermudez urged Catholics not to be intimated by trolls who seem to dominate social media discussions.
In reality, he said, they do not dominate, but appear to do so because they are very intense. Fortunately, there are ways of getting past their distractions, and most people following an online debate can see right through them.
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Encouraging the faithful to apply Ivereigh's principles of charity and evangelization, Bermudez also offered other tips, such as using pictures as resources on Facebook or Twitter.
"Remember that we have a very iconic faith," he said.
He also emphasized the importance of understanding the limits of the media forms that you are using. Twitter users, for example, must recognize that they only have 140 characters to make their point and will not be able to delve into deep philosophical explanations.
Still, Bermudez said, these forms of media can work if we take care in shaping our message, use links and make every word count.
"Brevity requires thinking," he stressed.
Michelle La Rosa is deputy editor-in-chief of Catholic News Agency. She has worked for CNA since 2011. She studied political philosophy and journalism at the University of Dallas.