The Digital Nun - The Sunday Edition CBC Radio One

Sister Catherine Wybourne is a nun, a cloistered Benedictine nun. Which makes it all the more remarkable that she has conquered the internet. Sister Catherine blogs, she tweets and from her tiny monastery - composed of two nuns and a dog - she has an enormous global digital reach. In fact, she is widely known as the Digital Nun.

Called to the faith more than 30 years ago, she was quick to spot the potential of the internet for religion. A former banker, and "jill of all trades" - including poultry keeper, cook and printmaker - she tackled digital language with the same spirit with which she learned Hebrew.

 

She developed the website for her monastery, offering a virtual five minute retreat, among other services. To her the internet is a sacred space.Now traditional religions of every "brand" are hoping to grow virtual communities, as real attendance declines in bricks and mortar places of worship. But the internet is a consumer supermarket, where the real thing and the fakes can be difficult to separate. These are concerns for Sister Catherine, and naturally, she blogs about it.

Laura Lynch spoke to Sister Catherine Wybourne, prioress of the Holy Trinity Monastery in Howton Grove, Herefordshire, England.

 

You can listen to the interview HERE.