Cyberweave - Mary Montgomery-Clifford

Those of you who have been following my column know that I am currently involved with a research project on Spirituality and the Internet. In the process of doing that research, I am reading a lot of very interesting and enlightening books. One of those books is Cybergrace: The Search for God in the Digital World by Jennifer Cobb. The book explores a larger view of spirituality that includes our technological creations, including the Internet and cyberspace.

I'll address that topic in a future column or columns. This month, though, I want to introduce you to a spiritual leader who uses the Internet to circumvent the church bureaucracy that is trying to silence him. I read about him in Cybergrace, visited his virtual diocese on line, and now I'd like to introduce him to you.

Virtual Bishop Thumbs His Nose at Traditional Church Politics

In early 1995, the French Bishop Jacques Gaillot became the first virtual bishop. It was not a matter of choice, but of necessity. In 1994, this soft-spoken bishop of the diocese of Evreux in Normandy came into conflict with the hierarchy of the Vatican over the fate of a group of squatters living in an abandoned building on Paris's chic Left Bank. Bishop Gaillot was appalled by the lack of concern displayed by French authorities for the fate of these people. His activism went beyond words, however. Soon, he was living with the squatters, drawing enormous media attention to their plight and to his own views. The Catholic Church was not amused.

First Rome asked Bishop Gaillot to resign. He refused. This put the hierarchy in a quandary since the rules of the Catholic Church forbade the Pope from demoting a bishop, and there weren't any grounds for excommunicating him. The bureaucrats thought they solved the problem, however, when they reassigned the good bishop to the Sea of Partenia, which is little more than a heap of sand dunes somewhere in the northern Sahara. In the old days this would have done the trick. The rogue bishop would have lost his voice and, therefore, his power to effect change and justice. This time, however, the church bureaucrats were foiled by a power they had not reckoned with--the power of the Internet.

When Leo Sheer, a French intellectual and the author of the book Virtual Democracy heard about the bishop's situation, he had a brainstorm. That brainstorm led to the creation of the virtual diocese of Partenia (www.partenia.org). Now, instead of overseeing a speck of sand in the desert, Bishop Gaillot heads up a virtual diocese that has the potential to encompass the entire earth. Needless to say, the Church's attempt to silence this bishop backfired. Since its inception, Partenia has continued to attract media attention in France and a worldwide following of participants from Australia to Africa and America.

The vision of Leo Sheer has become a reality. "The mind of God," he states, "is imitated by the virtual structure of the Internet, where the difference between the physical actuality and real existence has at last been breached."

The Sun Never Sets on Partenia

Armed with this information, I decided to pay a personal visit to the diocese of Partenia. I am happy to report that the diocese is alive and well in the year 2001. It is a fairly simple site with few bells and whistles. However, it's easy to use and informative--and that's what counts. Partenia, I discovered, is truly a "Diocese without borders."

The section called "History of Partenia" gives one a glimpse of Partenia's past--both recent and distant--as well as an in-depth look at Bishop Galliot's biography. About the distant past, it turns out that little is known. In the fourth century, Partenia was listed as existing in the region of Setif, on the high lands of present Algeria. After the invasion of Huneric the Vandal, king in 484 C.E., Partenia faded from history. Today, the actual physical location of Partenia exists only in the bureaucratic records of the Vatican. There is no way of telling where it is actually located and no way to actually go to the place. The Partenia Web site uses this fact to its advantage with this statement: "As Partenia does not exist anymore, it becomes the symbol of those who have the feeling of not existing anymore for the society of the Church. It is a vast diocese without boundaries on which the sun never sets."

It turns out that Partenia is an active diocese, one that is devoted to social activism and issues of justice. This becomes clear in the "Log-book," "Electronic catechism," and "Link" sections, as well as in the site's "Special Section" feature.

When I visited the site, the Special Edition was a "A Letter from Georges Vimard, priest at Gaza." In his message, Vimard takes a close look at the 1987 Intifada and the recent al Aqsa Intifada and concludes that "the two Intifada revolts have the same origin: humiliation, because nothing is worse."

The Log-book section appears to be a selection of journal entries by Bishop Gaillot as he conducts his diocese without boundaries ministry. For example, the entries for January 2001 include the following:

· A discussion with the Freemasons: "During the evening, listening to their questions, I was telling myself: what image of the Church do they have? Likely an image of a Church imposing its power on the people, making them suffer..."

· Breaking the daily fast of Ramadan at the Adda'Wa mosque: "The meeting presents an ecumenical character not only for the Jews, Christians, and Moslems who are attending... I chose to speak about those who have no access to citizenship..."

· A demonstration in front of the Santé jail in Paris: "143 prisoners from Basque, Brittany and Corsica are dispersed in 28 French jails. They are separated from each other and far from their families' On the upper floors, prisoners are watching us from behind bars. Through a loud speaker I speak... A strange kind of communication, but it has the advantage to tell them that they are not forgotten.

The Electronic Catechism section contains monthly letters from Bishop Gaillot from 1995 to the present. There is plenty of food for thought here--and you don't have to be Catholic to appreciate it. In fact, a lot of Bishop Gaillot's ideas are outside of the bounds of the traditional Catholic Church and within the realm of a more universal spirituality. For example:

· Homosexuality (May, 1998): The sign of the rainbow is rising up, as the symbol of homosexual assertion. Gays and lesbians are pleading for the recognition of their rights" If Christian communities do not wholly welcome those who feel excluded, they are refusing openness and a better understanding of the Gospel."

· Humanity and animality (January, 2001): "We are invited to recognize a unity in nature and a solidarity with all living beings. Animals are not objects, they belong to the cosmos like us, a cosmos in which all are related."

The Links section echoes the concerns of the Partenia site. The links are divided into the following categories: Exclusion -- AIDS; Religious -- Spirituality; Information; Humanitarian Organizations; and Miscellaneous. Many of the sites are in English--or have English equivalents. For some of the sites, however, a working knowledge of French is required.

I urge you to visit and bookmark www.partenia.org. You don't have to be Catholic or even Christian. Transforming the world into a more spiritual place should not be about trying to get everyone to believe the same thing or perform the same rituals. It should be about finding the unity or connectedness of every being within the diversity of a multitude of spiritual practices. In my opinion, the diocese of Partenia and Bishop Galliot are on the front lines of this transformative process.

Do you have a favorite spiritual or personal growth Web site that you'd like me to review? Please drop me an e-mail at Monty764@aol.com. And remember, I also want to hear your story about how the Internet and the World Wide Web have impacted your journey toward self-realization. Your contribution will help me complete my research project on Spirituality and the Internet.