"Digital Dunces" is a column meant to hold church leaders, prominent Catholics and Christian communicators accountable for what they say online. This column will expose poor online behavior, fact-check dubious digital claims and shed light on lesser known social media stories.
Paul Kim, a Catholic speaker and social media influencer has endured the unimaginable — the loss of his 5-year-old son to complications from the flu. Social media users reacted to his ordeal by spewing some of the most horrific vitriol imaginable.
The pontiff had barely stepped onto the loggia wearing the mozzetta and papal stole before social media was ablaze with traditionalists claiming, "We're so back."
After participating in "Good Morning America" co-anchor Gio Benitez's confirmation Mass, some conservative Catholics unleashed a barrage of online attacks on Jesuit Fr. James Martin. Martin's crime? Being present at the Mass.
As political tensions reach their boiling point in the United States, progressives have anointed Pope Leo XIV as their foil to President Donald Trump. The problem? Leo doesn't see himself that way.
"Here am I, send me," from Isaiah, is the caption on a DHS promotional video, which also used a clip from the movie "Fury." The message is clear: It is glorifying Trump's military intervention at the southern border.
Despite the firestorm surrounding his "Pope Trump" post, President Donald Trump claimed that the outrage was not from the millions of Catholics offended by his actions, but instead engineered by the "fake news media."
The proliferation of social media use since the last conclave has plunged us into uncharted territory — as conservatives campaign online for one cardinal and smear another.
Bishop Robert Barron was "delighted" to attend President Donald Trump's joint address to Congress and celebrate a private Mass for lawmakers, he said on a lengthy social media video about his "thrilling" trip.
When confronted with a perceived slight to his brand of Catholicism, Bishop Robert Barron is quick to post on social media. But when it comes to those on the margins, his alleged prophetic voice is conspicuously silent.
