Church Communication through Websites of Bishops’ Conferences

Abstract

This study investigates the role of conferences of bishops’ websites in facilitating communication within the Catholic Church, focusing on selected countries. The aim is to assess how these websites align with the Church’s mission and engage diverse audiences in the digital age. Analysis of websites from Slovakia, Poland, and the Czech Republic reveals variations in content emphasis, multilingual accessibility, multimedia utilization, and social media integration. These differences reflect cultural and ecclesiastical distinctions, shedding light on how these websites serve as digital gateways to the Catholic Church and public-facing portals for their respective conferences. This research employs the website communication model (WCM) to assess the selected websites. It examines content elements, multilingual support, multimedia incorporation, and social media presence. This study underscores the potential for enhanced utilization of digital platforms in advancing the Church’s mission and expanding its outreach. It highlights the importance of aligning website goals with organizational objectives and engaging diverse audiences effectively. Ultimately, these websites serve as crucial tools for communication, evangelization, and pastoral care within the Catholic Church.

1. Introduction

The Catholic Church has never distanced herself from the use of media of social communication. Quite the contrary, the Church recognizes that through executing informational and educational functions, media contribute to the spread and support of the Kingdom of God (Inter Mirifica 1963). The Catholic Church is not a media institution, yet communication is placed in her very center, as it is closely related to one part of the Church’s mission, i.e., proclaiming the gospel. The Church sees media as “gifts of God which, in accordance with His providential design, unite men in brotherhood and so help them to cooperate with His plan for their salvation” (Communio et Progressio 1971). Thus, the clergy should encourage and master the inventions which affect communication (Pius XII 1957), and “it is the duty of Pastors to instruct and guide the faithful so that they, with the help of media, may further the salvation and perfection of themselves and of the entire human family” (Inter Mirifica 1963).

Virtual reality, though offering a space for numerous religious activities, cannot substitute a real interpersonal community, “the incarnational reality of the sacraments and the liturgy, or the immediate and direct proclamation of the gospel” (The Church and Internet 2002); it can only supplement them and enrich religious lives, as the Internet serves as an extension of one’s senses—i.e., sight and hearing (McLuhan 1964)—and through the Internet, a person can experience something he or she could not experience in person because of some economic, environmental, physical, or other restraint. The Internet provides the Church with a means for approaching various groups of people—the young, the elderly, those living in remote areas or any other groups—while approaching them in a way that suits them most. “The revolution taking place in communications media and in information technologies represents a great and thrilling challenge” and Catholics should respond to it with enthusiasm while sharing with others the beauty of God (Francis 2014). What makes the communication situation even more challenging is that it is shaped within postmodern society, where, according to Manning (1992), symbols are shared and mediated through media; authenticity, authority, the sacred coalescence, and moral codes and boundaries are constantly relativized; and moral categories are individualized. To this it may be added, as Hjarvard (2008) argues, that religion is mediatized; that is, its content is influenced by media environments and a media logic, upon which it gradually becomes more dependent. The Internet is a tool for further promoting religious beliefs, or for affirming religious life and/or the religious identities of specific groups (Campbell and Rule 2016).

Church leaders should understand the media and apply this understanding into pastoral care, but they are also obliged to use “the full potential of the computer age... and employ this remarkable technology in many different aspects of the Church’s mission” (The Church and Internet 2002). Pope Francis considers the Internet as a digital highway, a virtual street used by people who are often hurting but looking for salvation and hope. By means of the Internet, the Christian message can reach these people. “Keeping the doors of our churches open also means keeping them open in the digital environment” (Francis 2014). A more recent document develops the metaphor of the digital highway and explores the role of social media in the lives of contemporary people. Among other things, the authors address how Catholics should use social media functionally and responsibly so that they do not drift away from an authentic experience of faith, and do not remain behind the screens of their devices, but are able to step out, witness, and build real community (Towards Full Presence 2023).

1.1. Organizational Communication in the Church through Websites of Conferences of Bishops

From an organizational perspective, communication as an exchange of information refers to the collective representations of ideas. “Any sign can communicate: any gesture, posture, word, material object, or arrangement of material objects can communicate to someone about something.” (Manning 1992). External communication of an organization refers to the exchange of messages between n organization’s members and its environment. Definitions of organizational communication may vary but different perspectives may have a few strands in common: (1) organizational communication takes place within a complex system which is influenced by and influences its environment; (2) it involves transmission of messages; and (3) there are always people as agents of the communication (Goldgaber 1979). The arrival of the Internet was a breakthrough for organizations’ communication. In her publication, Campbell presents examples of religious organizations that were already reaching for new ways of communication in the early days of the Internet (Campbell 2010). In addition to many other uses, websites enabled organizations to stay in touch with their target group and offer up-to date information and news. Another potential of websites is that they facilitate networking within the relevant community, and they have become an effective tool for public relations activities. The Internet as a medium and websites as content structures have become the most popular source of information and the most preferred choice for news (Reuters 2009). One of the pivotal features of the Internet is that it facilitates 24/7 access to information.

Hodgson (2006) understands an organization as a specific institution with its boundaries and members; sovereignty concerning who is in charge; and the delineation of responsibilities within the organization. The hierarchical structure of the Church and clearly delineated responsibilities make the Church, to some extent, similar to other organizations. In this paper, however, the Church will be considered as an organization only in relation to its communication style.

The Church, as any other organization, interacts with her environment and must respond to environmental changes such as scientific development, community issues, cultural differences, or any other sociopolitical or cultural factors (Goldgaber 1979). One way in which the Church responded to environmental changes is that she has made use of the Internet as a new communication channel. Various entities in the Church may use the Internet in different ways but still with more or less one overlaying purpose which is in line with the main mission of the Church. In addition to spreading her spiritual message, the Church aims at presenting common good in society. In order to do so, the Church’s communications must reflect and correspond with her teaching (Arasa 2008).

Taking the hierarchical structure of the Church into consideration, a conference of bishops represents a special entity within the Church. It is an official organization of the Catholic hierarchy—“a permanent institution, a group of bishops of some nation or certain territory who jointly exercise certain pastoral functions for the Christian faithful of their territory” (Code of Canon Law n.d., Can. 447). A conference of bishops is the voice of the Catholic Church in a certain territory, whether a message is addressed to all the faithful within the Church or to the society, be it the public in general, state representative, state, public, or private organizations. A conference of bishops may use different official means of communicating its message. The websites of conferences of bishops have the potential to become, and logically are to be perceived as, the primary source of information about the Catholic Church and Catholic religion in a certain territory. The question arises as to how the mission of the Church is being put in practice through these official websites; what, and in what form do they offer; how the content is organized; and whether the potential of the Internet is utilized.

1.2. Research on Church Communication in Media

Research on religion and media is lively and varied, reflecting a plethora of areas ranging from more specific to more abstract ones. Analyzing church communication falls under the so-called meso-level analysis of institutions and their practices (Hoover and Lundby 1997). The presence of religious communities, ministries, and churches on the Internet has grown significantly over the years, and religious content on the Internet can meet the needs of a large group of believers (Laney 2005). The use of web-based technologies to share sermons and other teaching content with an online audience has exploded in recent decades (Thumma and Travis 2007). Research from Poland has shown that the third most preferred source of information about current affairs in church was the parish website (Chmielewski and Kuca 2013). Even though there might be differences in the way various stakeholders (e.g., archdioceses) utilize online communication instruments, overall, the Catholic Church has adapted to new technologies, and especially websites, as communication channels (Sanmartin Cancelo et al. 2015). As for the conference of bishops’ communication, Spanish research shows that social media websites are effective platforms for reaching out to Catholics (Baraybar-Fernández et al. 2020). As for the communication of the Catholic Church in/via media in the Slovak environment, Terézia Rončáková has long been addressing the topic of the intersection of religious and media language (Rončáková 2009a, 2009b, 2010).

2. Research Methodology

2.1. The Problem and the Research Goal

The aim of the paper is to examine how conferences of bishops in selected countries communicate via their official websites.

2.2. Methodology

In the following lines, websites of several conferences of bishops will be viewed through the prism of the Church’s mission and theory of organizational communication while using the website communication model (WCM), which was proposed by Arasa (2008) when his team analyzed diocesan websites in the Catholic Church. The WCM is a comprehensive framework for analyzing website communication and consists of four elements: (1) contents and services; (2) technical instruments or functionalities; (3) website managers; and (4) visitors (Arasa 2008). In this paper, only the first two will be used. The reason for this is that the two elements can be assessed by means of qualitative content analysis, which is more convenient than administering questionnaires to website managers and diversified audience. The sample for analysis consists of three websites of bishop conferences from Slovakia, Poland, and the Czech Republic. The rationale behind the selection is that the selected countries represent post-Communist countries of Slavic nations with significant changes related to the role of Catholic Church and/or religion in society. In the case of Slovakia (59.7%)1 and Poland (92%)2, most of the population is still affiliated with the Catholic Church (including Greek Catholic Church). However, in the 21st century, the religious and ecclesiastical situation in Polish society has begun to change towards secularization—especially in youth circles (Mariański 2023). Although the Church in Poland spreads the idea of Polishness as inextricably linked with the Catholic Church (Żuk and Żuk 2019), and for a large proportion of Catholics in Poland, religious practices are important, a significant group relativizes the obligations set by Church teaching (Arnold 2012). On the other hand, in the Czech Republic, it is only 10% of population who identify themselves as being Catholics3. The websites were analyzed in June 2023. Although the paper focuses on official bishops’ conference websites, in the case of the Czech Republic, the conference stands behind several websites united under the domain www.cirkev.cz: a website focused on news, a website on spiritual care, the official website of the conference, an e-shop, and a Catholic weekly (accessed on 3 September 2023). For the purpose of this paper, in addition to conference’s website, a website on spiritual care is included in the analysis. The research will also include a qualitative approach, where for identified common themes, both linguistic and non-linguistic means of expression, such as color, keywords, and intertextuality, will be analyzed, and these will then be intrepreted.

3. Analysis

3.1. Contents and Services

3.1.1. News and Information

Given that a conference of bishops is an official representative body of the Church in certain territory, the providing of accurate and up-to-date information on its website is one of the most needed and important issues. Strictly speaking, anything posted on a website can be considered a piece of information, whether textual or non-textual. There can be numerous types of information on a conference website, yet for the purpose of this analysis, only several categories are considered: (1) news as up-to-date information about events in the territorial or global Church; (2) official information of a descriptive nature about the Catholic Church in general or about the Church in a chosen country; and (3) information about the conference of bishops. The third category encompasses information in a form of a reference about collaborating or partnership organizations that are not part of the Church’s hierarchical structure, e.g., charity, Catholic media, lay organization.

All the websites analyzed include a section with news and present the most recent news on their home page, where one can locate a main menu link to a page with press releases or a page of the Catholic press agency. The website of the bishop’s conference in Slovakia offers “current events” on the main page; however, these are mainly the Pope’s recent messages, exhortation, latest church decrees, and a piece of news of high significance like the bishops’ conference plenary assembly and the bishops’ conference official statements.

Not all the information is of equal prominence, and there are different tools that can be used on websites in order to either attract someone’s attention or underscore the relevance of the information. One of the most frequent ways of doing that is to use graphics. A slider is a feature in which hyperlinked images change automatically, or one can change their order through, for example, next/previous buttons. Another option is to use graphics so that certain information comes up and is clearly distinguishable from other information. By emphasizing some information, a conference of bishops can draw attention to important news and/or to significant activities, events, and programmes organized by the Church. It can be assumed that the emphasized information is likely to reflect issues that the Church in a certain territory cares about and/or considers important.

Table 1. Home page slider contents and presence of graphically underscored news.

Country and Website	Issues Displayed in a Slider (Visible)	graphically Underscored News (Yes/No; Image/Audio/Video)
Slovakia—www.kbs.sk	Activities of bishops, Catholic press overview (video), current Church events	Yes, no image
The Czech Republic—www.cbk.cirkev.cz www.duchovnipece.cirkev.cz	Photographs of bishops’ gatherings	Yes, image
Poland—www.episkopat.pl	No slider	Yes, image

shows the contents of sliders on websites.

There are fundamental differences in the websites’ design. The Polish website does not have a slider, but on the main page, it offers a section with a range of domestic or foreign Church news accompanied by an image. Another section, designed as a wide column on the right side of both websites, includes content imported from the institution’s Twitter account with the latest tweets. This applies also to the Polish website.

An important type of information is that about the Catholic Church in general or about the Church in a chosen country and information about the conference of bishops. All websites include both types of information, which are accessible through their home pages. From the perspective of organizational communication, it seems appropriate that a bishops’ conference should include reference to other bishops’ conferences and relevant official bodies of the Catholic Church. All the analyzed websites offer reference to the Holy See and the Council of European Bishops’ Conferences, of which each national conference is a member.

Another important type of information for anyone interested in the Church’s activities is information about planned events. As journalists very often use the Internet as a primary source of general information about organizations, websites of bishops’ conferences should include information about their planned activities or activities organized with some relation to the Church. For journalists covering Church’s activities, this would represent an invaluable source of information. All the analyzed websites include information about planned events (

Table 2. Promotion of planned events.

Country and Website	Planned Events on Website	Location and Form of Promotion
	Yes/No
Slovakia—www.kbs.sk	Partly yes	Selection from a programme of some bishops is accessible through a link (activities of bishops) to an external website—Press Agency of Slovak Bishops’ Conference.
The Czech Republic—www.cbk.cirkev.cz www.duchovnipece.cirkev.cz	Yes	Special section labeled as “Calendar” as well as at the bottom of the page as “Activities and invitations”.
Poland—www.episkopat.pl	Yes	Special section on the right side of the home page labeled as “Calendar”

). The Czech website even offers special subsections with information for journalists.

The Catholic Church is often referred to as a community or community of communities. This is something which goes beyond the hierarchical structure of the Church; it is more about relationships and collaboration on a common mission of the Church, which can be fulfilled by a variety of organizations that may not necessarily need to be part of the organizational structure of the Church. As for the Slovak site, links can be found only through other pages of the website, primarily via the section “religious orders and communities”. The official website of The Bishops’ Conference in the Czech Republic includes a link to other Church organizations and movements via a scroll-down menu on the top of the site. Besides links to Vatican radio and an institutional informational portal of Europe’s bishops’ conferences, the Polish website includes several other active logos4 at the bottom of the page through which other websites are accessible. However, it must be said that in the case that a logo does not offer a description of the website which it stands for, it can be difficult for someone to figure out what content the website offers without visiting it.

3.1.2. Church’s Initiatives

Every organization wants to make clear what its latest activities are, what is going on in terms of fulfilling its mission, and what new initiatives or projects it has launched. Moreover, in order to build their image and to show they are an active part of their communities, corporations often become engaged in various projects and programmes benefiting the communities, and they promote these activities on their websites. The Catholic Church also responds to the challenges of modern times and tries to fulfil her mission with respect to sociocultural and economical changes in the society. When this analysis was conducted, Europe was tackling the ongoing refugee’s crisis and war in Ukraine. The Church also responds to intrinsic challenges within her body; among which, the sexual abuse of minors has been an issue for years and has been addressed by the Vatican globally and on national level as well. Some initiatives are aimed at and shared throughout the whole Church, yet some initiatives may take place only on a national level. From the perspective of corporate communication, it can be assumed that the websites of the conferences of bishops will, on one hand, inform the initiatives of the universal Church and keep the public informed about the initiatives taking place in their territory on another.

Table 3. Presentation of the Church’s initiatives and issues.

Country and Website	Promoted Initiatives, Their Form and Location on a Website
The Holy See W2.vatican.va	- Abuse of minors—the Church’s response (main page—link to a page devoted to the issue). - Peter’s Pence (financial support for the needs of the Universal Church and people in need). - Synod 2021–2024 for a Synodal Church.
Slovakia www.kbs.sk	- Synod 2021–2024 for a Synodal Church. - Refugees (fund-raising campaign). - Sexual abuse of minors.
The Czech Republic www.cbk.cirkev.cz www.duchovnipece.cirkev.cz	- Synod 2021–2024 For a Synodal Church. - Protection of minors in the Church. - Young people in Church.
Poland www.episkopat.pl	- Synod 2021–2024 for a Synodal Church. - Protection of minors in the Church. - Pastoral programme for the Church in Poland for the years 2022–2023. - Church for Ukraine.

shows the content of the websites’ main pages in relation to promoting ongoing programmes, initiatives, projects, etc. Graphically highlighted links are considered, whereas news information about initiatives is excluded. The official Vatican website is included to offer a picture of universal Church’s initiatives (Table 3).

The data in the Table 3 illustrate how the conferences of bishops do not significantly differ in promoting the Church’s initiatives in their territory. In October 2021, Pope Francis opened a preparatory synodal process entitled “For a Synodal Church: Communion, Participation, and Mission”, which led to celebration of the XVI Ordinary General Assembly of the Synod of Bishops in October 2023. This process takes place in every particular Church, so it is no surprise that the analyzed websites included a reference to the synod.

A main page reference to church initiatives is presented also on the Polish website, including protection of minors in the Church, a pastoral programme for the Church in Poland, and a link to the Church initiative related to support of Ukraine. The Slovak website offers reference to the Synod of Bishops, a fund-raising campaign for refugees, and the official Church website focused on reporting cases of sexual abuse of minors. To find other initiatives, one has to go to the Catholic press agency, accessible via the main page.

3.1.3. Church’s Mission

Another perspective on the content of bishops’ conferences websites is to what extent they reflect and fulfil the Church’s mission, that is, to proclaim and establish the Kingdom of Christ and of God (Catechism of the Catholic Church 768). Simply put, this proclaiming can be undertaken either by addressing those who do not belong to the Church or those who do. Taking care of people in the latter group may fall under the Church’s activity known as pastoral care. Approaching the former group of people has often been called evangelization. To draw a line between the two is not an easy task, if it is possible at all, as the two activities overlap in many areas. What is more, Pope Paul VI introduced a term “new evangelization” in his encyclical Evangelii Nuntiandi (Paul VI 1975), and Popes John Paul II, Benedict XVI, and Francis use this term in relation to attention given to those who were baptized but who have lost a living sense of the faith or no longer consider themselves members of the Church (John Paul II 1990a; Benedict XVI 2010; Francis 2013). In this paper, pastoral care is understood in a rather broad sense as a ministry that seeks to help believers to grow spiritually (Francis 2013). Pastoral care on a website may take a form of liturgical readings throughout the year, documents on Church doctrine, papal documents, catechesis, homilies, and prayers. The websites may also include visible references to various issues of life from the Church’s perspective, e.g., ethical issues and politics. Besides providing people with documents on Church doctrine, an explanation and interpretation is various forms is possible too. All these represent a direct activity. However, the website may also include a link to an external website with specific pastoral content.

Table 4. Pastoral care on bishops’ conference websites.

Country and Website	Liturgical Readings	Church and Papal Documents	Homilies, Meditations	Basic Prayers	Texts Explaining: Church’s Teaching, Sacraments, Christian Life	Other
	Yes/No
Slovakia—www.kbs.sk	Yes—on the website	Yes	No	No	Only pastoral letters and messages of the pope	Catechism of Catholic Church, Liturgy of the Hours, Bible
The Czech Republic—www.cbk.cirkev.cz www.duchovnipece.cirkev.cz	No	Yes	No	Yes	Sacraments, pastoral letters and messages of the pope (the latter are included in Church documents)	A tool for searching for time and place where holy mass is served
Poland—www.epikopat.pl	Yes —via link to an external site	Yes	Special section under Conference’ secretariat, Selected homilies on the website as news items;	No	Pastoral letters, catecheses—within publications, pastoral programme for 2019–2022 with catecheses

shows how the websites of bishops’ conferences reflect the Church’s pastoral mission in that selected categories can be accessed on the website or via redirection to another website.

3.2. Qualitative Aspects of Presentation of Selected Church Initiatives

The analysis of the web portals leads us to the identification of two themes, for which we can find a link to on the home pages of the bishops’ conferences and the Holy See. The Synod 2021–2024 and the protection of children and minors from sexual molestation reflect, in the first case, a timely topic for the gathering of ecclesiastical dignitaries, and in the second case in particular, a topic still relevant from a social and moral point of view.

The communication of the various episcopal conferences in the area of sexual abuse is more specific and more diverse. It is for this reason that we are subjecting it to analysis using elements of a semiotic approach to the text. However, a full, comprehensive interpretation appears so extensive that it would require a further research approach supplemented, for example, by qualitative analysis of interviews with church analysts. Our analytical contribution is based on the observation of the text as a sign; denotative meanings appear to be highly legible; the determination of connotative meanings is determined by the extent of knowledge of the cultural contexts and the functioning of individual churches.

It is noteworthy that the three web communication channels (https://episkopat.pl/; https://www.cirkev.cz/; https://www.vatican.va/content/vatican/en.html) (accessed on 3 September 2023) approach the topic of proven sexual abuse in church circles rather restrainedly, opting for a rather notional and neutral linguistic representation, although the Czech website is dominated by the language of journalism. In all the cases mentioned, these are subpages of the homepage; in one case (the communication of the Czech Episcopal Conference) it is possible to click through from the subpage to a separate page devoted to the issue (https://www.ochrananezletilych.cz/cs) (accessed on 3 September 2023). The Slovak Bishops’ Conference (KBS) allows access to a thematically separate page (https://nahlaseniezneuzivania.kbs.sk/) (accessed on 3 September 2023) immediately from the homepage of its official communication source via an icon in purple colors. At the same time, it is a unique example of design differentiation of the thematic page from the home page. The latter is usually in red and white, but the depiction of the theme of sexual abuse is dominated by the purple color. This color contrast also draws the recipient’s attention to an icon, which, when clicked, takes the recipient to content discussing the failings of some church leaders.

The use of the purple color is perceived as intentional and can be seen as an interpretation of repentance, of the need to do purifying deeds. The page itself is one of these acts, as it takes the form of a support page through which it is possible to ask for help, report a case of abuse, and learn about the process of resolving a complaint (verbal links at the top of the page). The page, which can be described as a help page, also duplicates the information mentioned above in its visual design, with a megaphone icon at the bottom indicating how to report a case and a FAQ icon and a path icon indicating the sequence of how to deal with a report. At first glance, the subpage is relatively informationally under-saturated, containing, apart from an introductory word spread over two short paragraphs, a video from which it is possible to obtain information on how the Church responds to abuse. In reality, however, it is clear and favors the functionality of links over information overload. The Introduction also works with form; boldface indicates sections of text that, apart from the standard typeface, form meaningful units (in humility, we strive for exemplary moral personal lives in our personal presence and in our safe environment; we invite you to join us in creating an environment safe from abuse of any kind). From these messages, the key words are also clearly readable: security, humility, and morality. Of these, safety is particularly emphasized; the very design of the page gives the impression of a safe space in which to seek help.

A distinctive feature of the KBS website is the perceivable harmony between content and form; it is the only information channel monitored that also has a distinctive logo linked to the topic: the symbol of a disconnected purple heart representing a journey, while the effort to connect is indicated by the hands that are only a piece short of intertwining, which can be seen as a reference to the need for believers and church leaders to come together in the fight against sexual harassment. The journey itself is a symbol of mutual search and connection in the Slovak cultural context.

In general, we can conclude that the KBS website appears to be transparent, clearly naming the wrongdoing (sexual abuse) and the good, which is fulfilled by humility and exemplary moral living. The language conveys the need to communicate clearly; the imagery present is comprehensible and does not interfere with the primary communicative function of the text.

There is a certain uniqueness to the subject under discussion on the official website of the Holy See. Four icons are placed in a rather prominent place next to the portrait of Pope Francis, which take us to thematically homogeneous subpages. After the link to praying the rosary, there is a link to the Synod, followed by the option to click through to a page on sexual abuse and a link to a support network for people with disabilities. However, the icons themselves are rather small and bland, only catching the eye by being placed in the top right corner of the page.

In terms of content, this sub-page is not different from a similar sub-page of Polish provenance; it mainly contains a collection of official documents dealing with sexual harassment. Directives, press statements, videos, norms for dealing with offences, etc., comprise the content of the links sorted into the sections Pontifical documents, Pontifical Commission for the Protection of Minors (some links are not functional, however), etc. The color scheme is uniform with the homepage, so any interpretation would be questionable (the color seems to imitate gold, which is a symbol of dignity and solemnity, which is rather speaking for the portal as a whole). What makes the sub-page interesting in relation to this sensitive topic in the Church is the symbol of the cross at the foot of the mountain at the head of the page with the text “Abuse of minors”. In this case, the cross is a significant representation of the pain and suffering of those who have been or are victims of sexual abuse, and redemption as well. The text (in collaboration with the non-verbal component described) evokes a sincere concern to address pedophilia in the Church’s ranks. The problem—the abuse of minors—is clearly named, and the sincerity of the Church to respond to those harmed is communicated. The syntactic construction of the sentences corresponds to this message; they are two one-part sentences, which, in their mutual context, evoke the dynamism, i.e., the speed of the Church’s response; the recipient no longer seems to need to wait for a response; the second sentence has action in it, a message of solving the problem (cf., the Church responds to the abuse of minors; notional, factual information evoking in the recipient the expectation of a response). Apart from the above, however, the other content of the page has a neutral informational tone, evoking only the Church’s obligation to respond to the accusations.

A factual and informative tone, almost on the level of official information, is noticeably present in the case of the official Polish communication channel. First, however, it should be mentioned that a visitor to the homepage of the Polish Conference’s website may take some time to find the link to the pedophilia page: a formally bland grey rectangle with the text “Protection of children and young people”. The recipient is forced to scroll down the page and, unless he or she is consciously looking for a similar link, it is likely that he or she may not reach the relevant sub-page at all. It is very simple in design, with the purple color present but not dominant; this color is also encountered on the homepage of the conference, so it is not significant to interpret it in relation to the topic of sexual harassment.

In descriptive language, the page presents the activities of the Polish Church directed towards the protection of minors (guidelines on the subject, training of delegates for the protection of children and youth in each diocese, national penitential liturgy for victims...). The sub-page can be imagined primarily as a collection of documents related to the subject matter; it exhibits an administrative style. The main message is the official position of the Church in Poland: zero tolerance towards pedophilia. However, the content appears to be primarily a message of prevention, not of help (as, for example, the Czech and Slovak Internet links accentuate). The identified keywords—prevention, protection system, trainings—also correspond to this. Indeed, the need to train professionals prepared to prevent sexual violence is particularly prominent. The link to the help center is the last link on the page; it is necessary to scroll down the page to it, and it is not clearly formally distinguished, despite the bold font it disappears in the list of links to documents and other links.

The uniqueness of the Czech Episcopal Conference’s information is perhaps the fact that the link to key documents and official statements is available through special links (Documents, Official statements); the recipient is confronted primarily with the journalistic treatment of the issue, i.e., with news that is simultaneously available on another subpage, usually in the Main News section. The lower degree of officialness and the preference for a journalistic style over an administrative one is congruent with the stereotype of the Czechs as a secular/atheist nation; i.e., it may be functional to approach the topic in popular rather than official religious language style. Another link directs the recipient to a separate subpage: www.ochrananezletilych.cz. The link is preceded by a quote from Pope Francis: “The pain of the victims and their families is also our pain, and therefore we need to re-emphasize our determination to ensure the protection of minors and adults in situations of danger.” Despite the strength of the message of the Church’s supreme leader, the content of his statement is not particularly formalized. It may take a moment for the recipient to realize that this is a quote, with the link to a separate sub-page being missed on initial retrieval. The page itself is similar to the Slovak website analyzed in terms of its function. It is defined as a project that lends a hand to victims of sexual violence. Here, the Pope’s quote is repeated again, but this time it is clearly visible and supported by a photograph of Francis’ profile as if in shadow, which can be interpreted as a realization that the topic in question casts a shadow over the whole Church. The clear layout of the page guides the user to make a complaint or to find contacts that can help them in dealing with a particular situation. The keywords—protection, help, care, expertise—also correspond to this. These have an almost exclusively factual meaning, which in this case, however, can be seen as a functional reassurance to the recipient that he or she has found a way to get help. Problematic, however, is the fact that a potential victim needs to undertake several steps to click through from the conference’s main page to the page for support.

Focusing primarily on the functionality of the (sub)pages, it can be concluded that each of those analyzed fulfils an information need, raises a sensitive topic, and responds to it. However, the Czech and Slovak (sub)pages are clearly offering a helping hand; both of them also function as separate pages with autonomous web addresses. Given the seriousness of the topic and its sensitivity in relation to the victims and their relatives, it is probably reasonable to expect that those affected will find easy access to help also in the online environment. This expectation is only partially fulfilled by some of the communication channels analyzed.

3.3. Website Technical Instruments

In this section, a form of the website will be addressed with a focus on selected features. When a website is analyzed, its form can be approached from two perspectives: (1) how the website is designed (structure, layout, functionality etc.); (2) what form its content takes. In the following paragraphs, both perspectives will be applied, but from the web design perspective, only functionality in terms of accessibility of content will be addressed.

Multimedia

The Internet is a medium in which other media converge; thus, one can find different forms of media content on the Internet. This offers bishops’ conferences an option to rely not only on the textual form of information but on non-textual information as well. Pictures, audio, and video files as multimedia elements are becoming a common feature of any website as they contribute to making it more dynamic and attractive. All the analyzed websites contain some multimedia formats. Photo galleries are a common feature of the websites, and the main pages always include some pictures. As for audio and video files, the Holy See’s website provides a link to its news service with many examples of audio and video content. The Slovak website offers them through its press agency. The Czech website provides video files and podcasts. The Polish website offers some video and audio files on the main page and on a sub-page about media. The video files are transmitted through the conference’s YouTube channel.

3.4. Accessibility of the Content

It is obvious that the language of an organization’s website should reflect the language of the audience that it targets. However, for organizations operating on a global scale and those aspiring to be at least visible globally, it is important to offer some content in a foreign language that is widely accepted and understood. Whether someone likes it or not, English is today’s lingua franca. From the websites analyzed, only the bishops’ conference in Poland offers the content of its website in different languages: English, German, Italian, French, Spanish, and Arabic. At the same time, it should be noted that not all the content is translated. Taking into consideration the situation of ethnic minorities, one would expect that bishops’ conferences to publish at least some content of the website in the language of the largest minority. However, all the websites failed to do so.

Not having some website content in the language of a minority cannot be considered a grave flaw as minorities are usually required to have knowledge of an official language. Nevertheless, there might be groups of disadvantaged people who have difficulty accessing website content. One example of such a group is the blind or partially sighted people. To use the Internet, blind people need to use a special software tool that transforms written text into speech. Partially sighted people do not necessarily need special software; for them, bigger font size might be of a great help, especially when they use a desktop computer or laptop. None of the analyzed websites offer a function of increasing the font size.

Nowadays, many people are fond of having up-to-date information from reliable sources. Press agencies and various online media provide their target audience with up-to-date information via the RSS (Rich Site Summary) service, delivering regularly changing web content. The RSS format allows people to easily stay informed by retrieving the latest content from the sites they are interested in. All the websites included in the analysis offer the RSS function.

In addition to having automatic up-dates of information, many people still need to search for specific information on a website. It is in the interest of an organization to have such a website which enables searching within the site. This function is very common, and all the analyzed websites have it, too. Another way to help site visitors to locate specific content is to provide a site map which represents the website structure, i.e., a list of pages giving an overview of a web. The analysis showed that only the website of the Slovak Bishops’ Conference does not provide a site map.

The arrival of social network sites has brought ample opportunities for sharing and promoting online content and getting it closer to young people, who are the most frequent users of social media. Organizations try to make use of numerous media, including social media, so that they increase their chance of being seen and heard. Pope Benedict XVI started using Twitter, and Pope Francis continues to do so. The Vatican has its own YouTube channel that offers news coverage of the main activities of the Holy Father. The Church shows that she is interested in being present in these new media, too. When the websites of bishops’ conferences were studied, it was found that both the Polish and Czech bishops’ conferences have a Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube account. The Polish conference also makes use of Flickr, and the Czech conference utilizes Instagram. In Slovakia, it is only the Press Agency of the Slovak Bishops’ Conference that uses Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook, but the conference does not make use of any other social media.

4. Conclusions

As the document Communio et Progressio (1971) states, the means of social communication inter alia help to sustain a dialogue within the Church, as well as a dialogue between the Church and the World. However, media should not be approached and understood by the Church as tools only, but rather as a part of an unfolding culture (John Paul II 1990b). In addition, the uses of the Internet go beyond evangelization and “remarkable technology should be employed in many different aspects of the Church’s mission” like education, information, apologetics, governance and administration, pastoral counseling, and spiritual direction (The Church and Internet 2002).

In this age, the web permeates nearly all aspects of society, and it is hard to imagine that organizations would underestimate the importance of their websites. Naturally, there will be differences among organizations in terms of how much they care about their websites, what design their websites have, and what content they offer. Despite these differences, a crucial feature seems to be that organizational goals and website goals are aligned. This means that major initiatives and overall goals should be communicated clearly through a website (Schneider 2007).

Although the analysis does not offer a complex assessment of the selected websites, it sheds some light into how different bishops’ conferences approach the Internet as a communication platform. The main page of the website is the front door to an organization and, although the bishops’ conference cannot be viewed as an organization only, its website should state its mission clearly and enable users to locate relevant information easily.

The analysis shows there exist differences between the websites, whether in terms information published on the main page or the emphasis placed on individual topics and areas of interest. An area characterized by significant differences was pastoral care. The least “pastoral” was the Slovak website, with resources limited only to pastoral letters, liturgical readings, and church and papal documents. The other websites included more information or resources related to pastoral care, such as prayers, homilies, and texts explaining Church’s teaching, sacraments, and Christian life. Being more pastoral means having more interest in helping people to advance in their faith and the spiritual life through the Internet also.

Differences were also identified in the communication of the topic of the abuse of minors and their protection. As this is a serious matter, it would be expected that the conferences of bishops and the Holy See would present the issue more simply and with more emphasis in terms of form, as in the case of the Slovak website.

Using the Internet effectively means using as much of its potential as possible. In this area, there is still a lot of work to do. In order to get information to people of different ages, it is important to make the information visible to them, which means, for example, having accounts on social networking sites like Twitter and Facebook and having a YouTube channel. Another way to tap into the Internet’s potential is to make the content more dynamic through images, videos, and hypertextuality.

The differences in websites may result from sociocultural differences between countries, as well as from the different position of the Catholic Church in each country. Conferences of bishops may differ in approaching their websites: some may consider the website as a door to the Catholic Church, while the others see it as a public door to their conference; some may focus on those who already are Catholics, while others curate website content so that it targets a wider audience.