Blogger priests to be gagged?

Briefing and comment: this is just a rumour, but it is not surprising that the Bishops of England and Wales are considering this - these priestly blogs rarely advance the kind of liberal slush which we get from organs controlled by the Bishops - but a heavy-handed attempt at censorship is likely to be counter-productive. A light-handed attempt won't make any impact at all, except to make the bishops a laughing-stock.

Valle Adurni notes the control bishops are used to having over Catholic publications, a control which is in danger of becoming irrelevant. Even the more conservative ones (like the Catholic Herald) are careful to avoid too strident criticism, since parish churches are they main distribution channel. As it is the Catholic Herald is simply not to be found in the churches of less conservative priests - no surprise that the more liberal Universe vastly outsells it.

Hat-tip to Mulier Fortis.