Every priest should have self-censorship and think "20 times" before posting something on the Internet and social networks on his behalf, because his words can provoke a negative attitude towards the church and discredit the holy order. Patriarch Kirill of Moscow and All Russia issued such a warning, and his answers to the questions of the clergy of the Moscow Metropolia are published on the website of the Russian Church.
"Before you publish something, think twenty times, because publishing on behalf of a priest on any topic already causes a certain attitude of readers. The words of the priest, published online, bear the seal of his dignity. <...> If you specify the rank, then you either serve the church, or you bring temptation into the ranks of the flock and provoke a negative attitude towards the church from those who do not belong to it," the patriarch said.
He admitted that the advent of the Internet and social networks "has greatly lowered the bar of self-control," while everything that appears in this space actually becomes a public performance "for the whole world." According to the patriarch, the author must necessarily think about how his performance will be perceived by the audience, and have a "very high level of self-criticism."
Archpriest Dimitri Kulupaev from the Sergiev Posad diocese, who asked the patriarch a question, also drew attention to the fact that today not only priests, but often their wives create groups on social networks. At the same time, in blogs with names like "Notes of the mother", "Online mother" or "Conversation with the mother", according to Kulupaev, it is not about something spiritual: there is "solid business".