ST. CLOUD, Minn. —If you haven't yet heard of blogging, you soon will. The latest Internet trend in personal journalism, it is currently undergoing an explosion among Catholics, connecting lay Catholics, priests and seminarians across the country.

Blog —short for Web log —is a cross between a traditional Web site and an online diary. Web logs allow individuals or groups of users to post news, links and commentary on an hourly or even minute-by-minute basis —free-of-charge and without the need to understand complex HTML language. The ease of the technology makes it possible for almost anyone to publish.

“It's impossible to keep up with them all, but we estimate that there are more than 500,000 Web logs,” said Evan Williams, CEO of Pyra Labs, the San Francisco-based company that designed the Blogger Web-based software in the fall of 1999. “There are approximately 1,000 new Web logs created every day,” he noted.

In the beginning of the year, a couple dozen self-identified Catholic blog sites existed. That number quickly escalated following a news story on Vatican Radio. The Catholic Blog for Lovers lists three times the number that existed a month ago —blogs with appropriate Catholic names such as Nota Bene, Annunciations and Gregorian Rant.

Why the recent upsurge? In addition to the attention from Vatican Radio, many think the clergy sex abuse scandal is a primary factor contributing to the increase in Catholic blogs and has contributed to the majority of the Catholic blog chatter.

“People are feeling a lot of strong emotion about the clerical sexual abuse scandal and people want to speak up,” said Catholic blogger Peter Nixon of Concord, Calif. He oversees the Catholic blog site Sursum Corda.

Kathy Shaidle of Toronto is one of the pioneer Catholic bloggers. She started her site, Relapsed Catholic, in 2000. She said she has seen a 30% increase in the number of visitors to her site since the clergy sexual abuse stories broke. “I've been told that I've inspired others to take up blogging, to express their thoughts on the scandal,” Shaidle said.

Beyond the scandal, however, individuals are finding distinct ways to use their blogs. Some use them to advance their work. Kathryn Lively of Come On, Get Lively uses her blog to highlight publishing projects of her FrancisIsidore Electronic Press. Amy Welborn uses her blog to work out ideas for her writing. Pete Vere, a defender of the bond for a diocesan marriage tribunal in Florida, uses it to address readers' canonical concerns on his site, Clog.

“In a time when the Church is experiencing a shortage of canon-ists, blogging allows me to interact with average Catholics and address their concerns pertaining to canon law. It allows me to clarify certain rights Catholics have within the Church, correct misconceptions and show the faithful they have nothing to fear from canon law,” Vere said.

Others, such as Tom Kreitzberg of Silver Spring, Md., use their blogs to offer political or social commentary. Kreitzberg quoted P.G. Wodehouse by saying that “people become authors when their hopes of getting letters to the editor published are frustrated.” This explains the motivation behind his own blog, Praying the Post.

“There are people who blog to promote themselves professionally, there are people who blog to promote themselves personally, there are people who blog to promote their ideas or perspectives,” Kreitzberg said.

While Catholic blogs might not be receiving the sort of numbers advertisers notice, the statistics are still impressive. Emily Stimpson of Fool's Folly receives as many as 500 hits per day; Mark Shea receives upwards of 800 visits per day.

In spite of the trend, not everyone is enamored with blogging. “There seems to be a lot of narcissism,” explained blog reader Tara Conway, a communications consultant in Washington, D.C. “Some of the posts are so mundane that a reader is left with a ‘Who cares?’ reaction.” Other bloggers are so prolific, she said, she wonders when they get their day-to-day chores done.

Yet they cannot be ignored. Mainstream media have even begun quoting blogs. “I check what they are saying before I check the Washington Post,” admitted Rod Dreher, a senior writer with National Review Online. “I trust their insights more than I trust the insights found in most secular newspapers.”

Still others think blogging is building a virtual Christian community —one that Catholic bloggers themselves have taken to calling “St. Blog's parish.”

“What a blessing and inspiration Catholic blogging has been,” said Jeanine Webb, a 70-year-old grandmother from Eugene, Ore. “Eugene is the capital of alternative-lifestyle types, so it's been reassuring to be able to read and communicate with faith-filled, active, intelligent people of my faith. It's helped me to be more active too,” said Webb, who after reading a suggestion from a Web log decided to call her local parish to schedule a prayer vigil in mid-June.

Conway conceded that reading others' blogs has helped her to feel as though she “knows” them. “I can foresee the day when bloggers might well hold mini-conferences just to get together to meet one another and talk in person,” she said.

Said Kreitzberg: “Catholics always have something to say to the world —and lately about what the world is saying about Catholics —and there is a great deal of what Catholics have to say being said in the Catholic blogging community.”

Tim Drake writes from St. Cloud, Minnesota.