Bishop Joseph Naffah A bishop from Lebanon shared at the Synod of Bishops how his online catechesis program in Arabic has helped him unite young Catholics across the Middle East.
“Thanks to the web I am able to connect many young people from the Middle East. We’ve also had conversions of young people who have recognised Jesus through our social presence,” Bishop Joseph Naffah said at a Vatican press conference.
Synod fathers from Africa, South America, and the Middle East spoke Friday about their hopes for the future of evangelisation and catechesis in a digital age.
Bishop Naffah is the auxiliary bishop of the Maronite Catholic eparchy of Joubbé, Sarba, and Jounieh in Lebanon.
For five years Dr Naffah has been running an online catechetical program that connects over 500 Arabic-speaking Catholic students in conversations about the faith.
Students in the online programme include youth in prison, as well as young people with disabilities.
Potential
While positive about the potential of online catechesis, the Maronite bishop also expressed concern that there are websites that contain false Catholic teaching.
Dr Naffah said he sees a need for a mechanism for Vatican approval of catechesis and teaching shared online, such as a special office to monitor Catholic webpages and then certify sites that accurately reflect the teachings of the Catholic Church.
Bishop Kofi Fianu of Ho, Ghana, said he has also found success connecting with young people in Africa through the daily online Bible reflections that he shares with them.
“From this apostolate of digital reflections I have been in contact with many of the youth,” said Bishop Fianu. “They interact with me. They ask questions about what I have written in the reflection.”