Welcome back to the Word on Fire show.

I'm Matthew Petrusick, senior director of the Word on Fire Institute, and the host of the

Word on Fire show.

Thank you for joining us.

In our last episode, Evangelization and Culture podcast host, Todd Warner, began a conversation

with Word on Fire founders about social media, in which they explored the art and means of

communication.

In this next segment, we'll continue that conversation,

now examining Catholic ministry and social media.

What, if anything, does social media have to do with St. Pope John Paul II?

How does it fit into Word on Fire's own principles?

How would one even define social media?

Here to discuss these topics with Todd Warner,

and Father Steve Grunow is Bishop Robert Barron.

In 1983, a 1983 speech in Port-Aprince, St. John Paul II encouraged everyone to, quote,

look to the future with commitment to a new evangelization, one that is new in its ardor,

new in its methods, and new in its expression, close quote.

So Bishop and Father, to be sure, social media is still relatively new in the life of Catholic evangelization when you look at the millennia of the church.

But let's begin with this fundamental question. What exactly is social media?

When we say the word social media, what does that mean?

Social media is a website, an app, or an application of technology which enables and assists people to create content and to share that

content to build digital-based relationships.

...