ROME -- Changes in technology have fundamentally altered the human quest for spirituality and require Catholics to reevaluate how they approach society, a Jesuit known for interviewing Pope Francis told an international communications conference Tuesday. <\/p>\n
Saying the Internet has brought on a \"radical change in perception of the religious question itself,\" Jesuit Fr. Antonio Spadaro said the traditional Catholic vision of spirituality \"does not stand up today.\" <\/p>\n
Where humans would once ask, \"God, where are you?\", we now think of the spiritual almost in terms of a cellular network waiting for answers to arrive on our multitudes of devices, said Spadaro. In such a system, it is no longer important for the spiritual teacher to give answers because \"answers are everywhere.\" <\/p>\n
It is not the answers, but the questions which are important\" today, he said. We must learn to distinguish the true questions from the replies that are continually given.\" <\/p>\n
Spadaro, the editor-in-chief of the Italian Jesuit magazine La Civilt Cattolica, was speaking Wednesday at a global conference hosted by SIGNIS, an international association of Catholic media professionals. <\/p>\n
Spadaro wrote a book on cyber technology, released in 2012 titled Cyberteologia in Italian. He is best known for a wide-ranging interview with the pope that was released last September in multiple languages in 16 publications run by the Jesuit order around the world. <\/p>\n
Because of his apparent access to the pontiff Spadaro has also been mentioned by some as a possible next director of the Vatican press office, should current director Jesuit Fr. Federico Lombardi retire. <\/p>\n
Spadaro compared his vision of the new spiritual quest on Tuesday to thoughts Francis shared last November with a gathering of the leaders of male religious orders around the world. <\/p>\n
Spadaro, who was present for that closed-door meeting, said Francis was asked why most vocations to religious life come from areas of the world that are not traditionally considered Catholic, or even Christian. <\/p>\n
The pope responded: \"I don't know,\" Spadaro said, <\/p>\n
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Pope's interviewer tells Vatican congress to reevaluate spiritual quest<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" ROME -- Changes in technology have fundamentally altered the human quest for spirituality and require Catholics to reevaluate how they approach society, a Jesuit known for interviewing Pope Francis told an international communications conference Tuesday. Saying the Internet has brought on a \"radical change in perception of the religious question itself,\" Jesuit Fr Continue reading