At the same time we must recognize that some of the voices claiming to be Catholic and which give the impression of speaking for the church are, in fact, not so. The question is even more complex due to the fact that in this time of information revolution, i.e., the electronic age, there are many who have the means to shape public opinion on matters of Catholic faith and life but lack the competence to do so. In the life of the church there are many who have access to highly effective means of communication and give the appearance of speaking for the church. They may do this by including the word Catholic in the name of their organization or their Web site or by advertising their unwavering obedience to the Holy Father and the magisterium or by creating a 'Catholic' mood or environment in their programming. We live in an age of images, images that convey great power.
Images sometimes speak louder than words.
Many of our Catholic people and others as well often assume that a Catholic who has access to public media is ipso facto competent to speak on all matters Catholic. In some instances, those who have access to the public media but have little or no competence in Catholic theology or church doctrine assault the legitimate authority of the church. It is a great irony that much of this is thought to be in service of the one, holy, catholic and apostolic church, the 'true' Church. There have always been differing voices in the church. The open exchange of ideas, commitment to dialogue and freedom of expression characteristic of our age are gains to be celebrated even in the face of some notable abuses.