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Cross-posted from Bold Faith Type

If you're the pope, every year you deliver a dizzying array of speeches that range in tone from densely theological to the surprisingly topical. In his annual message for the church's World Day of Social Communications earlier this week, Pope Benedict XVI ventured into the digital jungle of new media with a plea for Catholic bloggers and Facebook users to adopt a "Christian style presence" online. This call for greater civility is hardly big news, but in comments to the Associated Press, a Vatican official made things a bit more interesting. Here's the AP description:

Benedict didn't name names, but the head of the Vatican's social communications office, Archbishop Claudio Celli, said it was certainly correct to direct the pope's exhortation to some conservative Catholic blogs, YouTube channels and sites which, with some vehemence, criticize bishops, public officials and policies they consider not Catholic enough."The risk is there, there's no doubt," Celli said in response to a question.

This is noteworthy because Church officials usually save their finger wagging for progressive Catholics. Archbishop Charles Chaput of Denver, for example, just days before the 2008 presidential election said in a well covered public address that Catholics in Alliance for the Common Good and Catholics United "have done a disservice to the church, confused the natural priorities of Catholic social teaching, undermined the progress pro-lifers have made, and provided an excuse for some Catholics to abandon the abortion issue. (Tell us what you really think, archbishop!) 

But I sense a growing willingness among some in the Catholic hierarchy to push back against the aggressive tactics from the Catholic right. Consider the Archdiocese of Boston, where according to another AP story Catholic bloggers are digging through campaign finance records to expose staff of Catholic agencies who donate to pro-choice politicians, and the blog "Bryan Hehir Exposed" accuses a top adviser to Cardinal Sean O'Malley of being a Marxist sympathizer who undermines Catholic teaching on abortion and marriage. When Sen. Ted Kennedy died, the American Life League - a group that bills itself as a "Catholic pro-life education organization" - fired off an e-mail to supporters asking them to buy "Bury Obamacare with Kennedy" signs. Cardinal O'Malley was criticized so harshly by the Catholic right for participating in Sen. Kennedy's funeral that he took to his blog to urge Catholics not to let zeal and harsh judgments "impute the worst motives in one another."

Other examples of the More-Catholic-Than-Thou Industrial Complex? Deal Hudson, the former Catholic outreach coordinator for President George W. Bush, routinely lashes out on his InsideCatholic.com and other venues at "fake Catholics." RealCatholicTV.com, from a studio in suburban Detroit, is on the look out for "traitorous" Catholic nuns and priests. And on it goes.

Progressive Catholic bloggers and advocates are not exempt from reflecting on the pope's wise admonition. But it's nice to see the top brass of the church looking over their right shoulder for a change.

John is a Senior Writer at Faith in Public Life and was previously Communications Director at Catholics in Alliance for the Common Good.