Online evangelization in China has not developed much and even appears to be at a standstill. Not surprising, perhaps, in a country where internet access is severely curtailed thanks to its infamous Great Firewall.

Most netizens know there is a way to “scale the wall” but even so, if you are a webmaster of any mainland Catholic website, you are likely to have had your site being accidentally blocked or been invited to “have a cup of tea” with security officials.

There are hundreds of large and small Catholic websites in China but more than half of them are no longer active and sites that are unique with frequent updates are very few.

In our diocese, management does not attach any importance to online evangelization, there is no clear direction for future development, or there is a lack of professional webmasters.

A fellow webmaster once told me his bishop allowed them to run a website but never gave support and he was powerless. “We had no money and we did not know who to turn to. The website was often being shut down but no one responded in timely fashion.”

FULL POST

Net prophets struggle in China (ucanews.com/blogs)