From the pulpit in the church to the cyberpulpit in the media

Sławomir Pawiński

Faculty of Theology of the University of Opole

Abstract

The phenomenon of Domincan Father Adam Szustak lies in
the fact, that he speaks to people, especially the young ones. He uses their language figuratively and lively, although the topics are serious. He can link the sacred and profane like no one else, drawing richly from the everyday world and translating it into spiritual matters. When we add to it his ability to speak about the most difficult matters in a very simple, witty and understandable language, it is not surprising where his popularity among young people comes from. Szustak’s Cyberpulpit on YouTube is unrivalled by others in terms of usage by Polish internet users. The increasing number of hits on his channels in the virtual world, as well as the crowds attending his meetings in the real world show that a sense of new community and communication with people’s own religious language and the place of this communication, which is the internet, is born. Assessing the current activity of Father Szustak, we can say that we are dealing here with a broad understanding of pre-evangelization, which may or may not lead to evangelization and to entering into a living and real community of the Church. New media is an opportunity for interactivity and integration of people of faith, but whether it happens depends on the participants of this communication.

Keywords:

language of religiuos communications, social media, preaching in Internet, Cyber-continent, Evangelisation, Adam Szustak OP