Wednesday, January 30, 2019

Phipps was not persuaded.

It appears that I am cited in the 2006 book Faith in America: Changes, Challenges, New Directions, Volume 1 for some comments I made some years ago in opposition to the phenomenon of "online Eucharistic Adoration":
Not all Internet Catholics agree, however, and some have taken Savior.org's Webmaster to task for, among other things, encouraging an incipient idolatry among devout Catholics.  Objecting to the site on both theological and ecclesiastical grounds, Alan Phipps wrote to an online discussion forum that "online adoration is not at all the same as being physically present with Christ."  Also, he pointed out, "there is no mention at the site of any Bishop's approval."  Later, he added that he thought the Savior.org site was "misleading," that "Christ's presence is not transmitted via electronic media."  A few days later, Sam Damico, the Webmaster for Savior.org responded, comparing online adoration with using the telephone--not the same as being there, but infinitely better than no communication at all.  Not surprisingly, he cited the many testimonials he has received about the Web site.  Phipps was not persuaded.  "Certainly," he admitted, "Christ's power is not limited to being in His physical presence, and He can work in any way He sees fit, but I am merely suggesting that an electronic image of the Blessed Sacrament, in whatever format, is not suitable for adoration in any way whatsoever."  Rather than demonstrate the worth of a service like Savior.org, Phipps argued that testimonials on the site highlighted the theological confusion surrounding the issue.
Incidentally, the website is still up.  Around the time I made these comments, I had an offline chat with the webmaster, and he agreed to add some clarifying language on the website, but I still found the overall language confusing.

I have been waiting for more theologians to chime in on the question of "online adoration". I am not a theologian, but I think this phenomenon, while certainly sincere, is surrounded with theological concerns. The technology of video streaming is straightforward: what you are looking at is a series of reconstructed images.  And in case you weren't aware of this, the website does state that the "image is being broadcast from a webcam to our servers at a frequency of 12 frames per minute".

Personally, I've long believed in the power of Eucharistic Adoration and have actively promoted it for almost 20 years.  Presently I keep a weekly Holy Hour at our local perpetual adoration chapel, and I am grateful for the opportunity.  I'll be the first to admit that there is spiritual value to the use of images in prayer -- one need only look to the rich theology of icons to see that, but I think it's careful to draw careful distinctions.

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