Mediatization of pastoral care in the russian orthodox church: Reasons behind "ask the priest" websites

Abstract

Drawing upon a few "ask the priest" websites, this article studies the mediatization of pastoral care in the Russian Orthodox Church. The study is based upon the theory of mediatized worlds in the framework of social constructivism. Various forms of communication between the priest and the audience are analyzed, as well as the reasons why both sides choose the online communication. The analysis leads to the conclusion that the mediatization of the pastoral care is due to a combination of two types of motivations: Developing new forms of comfortable communication within the parish or overcoming crises that may occur in the parish. Overall, there is a certain general crisis of communication in the Russian Orthodox Church, and the actors are looking for new forms to cope with it. The use of new media is one of such strategies.