La « cathosphère », montée en puissance de nouvelles autorités religieuses ?

Abstract

The "cathosphere", rise of new religious authorities? – What kind of authority arise from digital media and their networks? The religious field seems to be a relevant place to observe this matter. This article questions the positionning of Catholic lay bloggers as new religious “authorities”, de facto vs. de jure - beyond the classical ways of religious legitimization. Based on an analysis of the relational structure of the French “cathosphere” (regarding its social cohesion and coherence), the text highlights how this recognition arises from neither each blogger’s individual charisma nor from an ecclesial media coverage. A new field is emerging, where competition, denunciation of “false prophets”, and above all alliances and reciprocal quotations help validate individual and collective claims to legitimate incarnation of Catholicism on the Internet.

Keywords

• religion
• Catholicism
• authority
• Internet
• blog
• gay marriage