FATHER FRANK’S LOG: 18th – 25th FEBRUARY 2024
Father Frank’s Log is about the height of my ability, interest, and association with social media. I have a smart phone okay, but I just use it to make calls and send texts, and to Google football results. Apart from that I have, what I consider, is a healthy suspicion and fear of social media, while also acknowledging that, in the right hands, it can accomplish a lot of good. I am especially afraid of fake news, and with good reason, I think, as recent events have shown. You probably heard that on Ash Wednesday, a supposed message from Pope Francis to Catholics about the tried and tested practice of fasting during Lent began to spread like wildfire on social media. It was claimed that he said we should eat whatever we want during Lent, because the sacrifice is not in the stomach, but in the heart. He then, according to this supposed message, criticised certain anonymous people who refrain from eating meat, but don’t talk to their siblings or relatives, don’t visit their parents, or bother to attend to them. Pope Francis then supposedly went on to say it is less important to follow dietary restrictions than to seek a deeper relationship with God through better treatment of others. He also supposedly said that a good beef stew won’t make you a bad person, just as eating fish won’t make you a saint. All of this was nonsense, of course, Pope Francis never said any of it, it was fake news, but parts of it were jumped on delightedly by his critics to vilify him yet again. For many years now, Pope Francis has called out the dangers of fake news. If we want to know and trust what his message truly was for Lent, we should go to the Vatican website.
Of course, fake news is not something new, even Jesus experienced it at his mock trial. Back in early 2007, when I was rector and parish priest of Mount Argus in Dublin, and it was announced that Father Charles of Mount Argus was to be canonized later that year, I began to brush up on his story, so as to be able to answer questions that would come to me from the media and elsewhere as interest in him would surely grow. One of the things that stayed with me occurred less than 10 years after Father Charles came to Dublin in 1857, just at the time his reputation was spreading far and wide, and people were coming in their droves every night and day to be prayed with, and blessed by this saintly Passionist. It involved fake news.
Father Charles always tried to be available, but it took a toll on his health. His Superiors were considering moving him to another house, but then the matter was taken out of their hands. It seems that amongst the sick, lame, blind, deaf and so on who came to Mount Argus, were some enterprising scam artists, who filled up bottles and jars with Holy Water, innocently blessed by Father Charles, and then sold it to people in Dublin, and in other places throughout the country. When this came to the ears of Archbishop Cullen, he advised that Father Charles be moved elsewhere to put a stop to what he considered a scandalous act of simony. There had also been another bit of adverse publicity when a newspaper called Saunder’s Newsletter, well known for being virulently anti-Catholic, published a letter that implied Father Charles was discouraging people from seeking proper medical attention, which was far from the truth. So, despite being innocent, Father Charles was sent back to England, initially to the Passionist Retreat at Broadway in the Cotswolds, where it was hoped he would get the rest he needed, and then, after his health had improved a bit, he was transferred to the much more active Retreat at Sutton, in St. Helen’s, near Liverpool, and then later, to St. Joseph’s Retreat at Highgate, in London. Father Charles left Dublin in 1866, nine years after his arrival, and returned in 1874, 150 years ago, to resume his ministry of healing, hope and reconciliation. So, as I say, fake news is nothing new. I know that I am just an old fuddy duddy, but we do need to be careful of the information we digest from such platforms, and the way in which it may form our opinions. Seek only truth. Having said that, I wish that some of the football results I have Googled recently were fake news, unfortunately they were all true. Ah well…
As ever, protect yourself, your loved ones and others, and protect Christ in your lives.
Father Frank’s Log is about the height of my ability, interest, and association with social media. I have a smart phone okay, but I just use it to make calls and send texts, and to Google football results. Apart from that I have, what I consider, is a healthy suspicion and fear of social media, while also acknowledging that, in the right hands, it can accomplish a lot of good. I am especially afraid of fake news, and with good reason, I think, as recent events have shown. You probably heard that on Ash Wednesday, a supposed message from Pope Francis to Catholics about the tried and tested practice of fasting during Lent began to spread like wildfire on social media. It was claimed that he said we should eat whatever we want during Lent, because the sacrifice is not in the stomach, but in the heart. He then, according to this supposed message, criticised certain anonymous people who refrain from eating meat, but don’t talk to their siblings or relatives, don’t visit their parents, or bother to attend to them. Pope Francis then supposedly went on to say it is less important to follow dietary restrictions than to seek a deeper relationship with God through better treatment of others. He also supposedly said that a good beef stew won’t make you a bad person, just as eating fish won’t make you a saint. All of this was nonsense, of course, Pope Francis never said any of it, it was fake news, but parts of it were jumped on delightedly by his critics to vilify him yet again. For many years now, Pope Francis has called out the dangers of fake news. If we want to know and trust what his message truly was for Lent, we should go to the Vatican website.
Of course, fake news is not something new, even Jesus experienced it at his mock trial. Back in early 2007, when I was rector and parish priest of Mount Argus in Dublin, and it was announced that Father Charles of Mount Argus was to be canonized later that year, I began to brush up on his story, so as to be able to answer questions that would come to me from the media and elsewhere as interest in him would surely grow. One of the things that stayed with me occurred less than 10 years after Father Charles came to Dublin in 1857, just at the time his reputation was spreading far and wide, and people were coming in their droves every night and day to be prayed with, and blessed by this saintly Passionist. It involved fake news.
Father Charles always tried to be available, but it took a toll on his health. His Superiors were considering moving him to another house, but then the matter was taken out of their hands. It seems that amongst the sick, lame, blind, deaf and so on who came to Mount Argus, were some enterprising scam artists, who filled up bottles and jars with Holy Water, innocently blessed by Father Charles, and then sold it to people in Dublin, and in other places throughout the country. When this came to the ears of Archbishop Cullen, he advised that Father Charles be moved elsewhere to put a stop to what he considered a scandalous act of simony. There had also been another bit of adverse publicity when a newspaper called Saunder’s Newsletter, well known for being virulently anti-Catholic, published a letter that implied Father Charles was discouraging people from seeking proper medical attention, which was far from the truth. So, despite being innocent, Father Charles was sent back to England, initially to the Passionist Retreat at Broadway in the Cotswolds, where it was hoped he would get the rest he needed, and then, after his health had improved a bit, he was transferred to the much more active Retreat at Sutton, in St. Helen’s, near Liverpool, and then later, to St. Joseph’s Retreat at Highgate, in London. Father Charles left Dublin in 1866, nine years after his arrival, and returned in 1874, 150 years ago, to resume his ministry of healing, hope and reconciliation. So, as I say, fake news is nothing new. I know that I am just an old fuddy duddy, but we do need to be careful of the information we digest from such platforms, and the way in which it may form our opinions. Seek only truth. Having said that, I wish that some of the football results I have Googled recently were fake news, unfortunately they were all true. Ah well…
As ever, protect yourself, your loved ones and others, and protect Christ in your lives.
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