OrenGolan and MicheleMartini: Sacred Cyberspaces: Catholicism, New Media, and the Religious Experience. Montreal: <scp>McGill‐Queen</scp>'s University Press, 2022; pp. 240.

Physical spaces are central to the Christian faith, particularly within the Catholic community, where cathedrals, churches and special holy sites not only foster community and facilitate spiritual encounters but also reinforce the Catholic Church's traditional message. As the faithful increasingly engage with online resources, digital platforms have become new sites for the Catholic Church's mission. Amid this shift, the Catholic Church confronts other serious challenges like declining participation, rising secularisation and the growth of digitally savvy evangelical Christianity. Sacred Cyberspaces: Catholicism, New Media, and the Religious Experience offers a compelling analysis of how Catholics are engaging with digital media to address these contemporary concerns. Further, the book delves into how this engagement serves as a strategic extension of Catholicism's authority and rituals into the online world. In Sacred Cyberspaces: Catholicism, New Media, and the Religious Experience, Oren Golan and Michele Martini, scholars from the University of Haifa and the University of Cambridge, provide an accessible yet rich exploration of the Catholic Church's adaptive strategies in the digital age. Particularly insightful is their in-depth focus on “webmasters” (mostly members of the laity) who play a crucial role in shaping online Catholic religious experiences. Golan and Martini use different methods, including semiotic analysis and in-depth interviews with key religious media figures, to study this emerging online dynamic. The result is an intriguing but modest exploration of how the Catholic Church is adapting to the digital world to maintain its relevance. Sacred Cyberspaces is a helpful resource for scholars interested in religious change and the intersection of technology and faith. The book's insights also provide a timely and valuable addition to the fast-growing field of digital religion scholarship. The book has three parts. (That said, the book's three-part structure appears somewhat arbitrary, with considerable overlap between sections.) The first part, “Digital Faith: Emerging Agents and Technologies for Devout Publics,” examines the Catholic Church's adoption of digital technologies to broaden its influence. Chapter 1 details the Church's strategic use of social media and websites to enhance its evangelistic activities. The authors explain how official Vatican websites and apps like the Pope's “Click to Pray” serve not just as tools for public engagement but also as platforms that reinforce the Church's authority and its doctrinal teachings — a traditional message for a new context. As Golan and Martini note of “Click to Pray,” “While eschewing brick-and-mortar houses of worship, it revisits several of the activities that are traditionally conducted in church” (p. 38). In the next four chapters, the authors shift their focus to the grassroots level, where digital media allow for diverse expressions of faith that sometimes challenge, but mostly seem to reinforce, the Vatican's established positions. Chapter 2 discusses the emergence of Catholic “webmasters,” a new category of religious “influencers” who manage content and engage with the faithful online without traditional clerical oversight. Golan and Martini explore how these figures are becoming pivotal in shaping modern aspects of Catholicism. Curiously, the analysis focuses on the work of “a Catholic webmaster in the Holy Land and two Jewish appmasters in the United States” (p. 44). The detailed examination of the latter two is peculiar, and the chapter's impact would be stronger with additional Catholic examples of this phenomenon, rather than a comparative analysis. The final two parts of the book are particularly focused on the implications of these digital strategies. In Part 2, titled “Holy Land YouTube Videos: The Visual Language of Religious Outreach,” the authors present case studies of two key groups (the Brazilian Canção Nova and the Christian Media Center) broadcasting religious activities from the Holy Land on YouTube. Drawing extensively on in-depth interviews with content producers, the authors examine the transformative potential of filming significant religious events and places. This change democratises access to religious spaces that were once geographically and economically restricted, making these sacred experiences more widely available. As the authors note: “The rise of … online devotional representation has created new opportunities for mass cultural transmission” (p. 158). Part 3, “Bolstering Religious Authority Through Visual Means,” further explores how digital technologies, particularly livestreaming (as opposed to more static YouTube content), foster engaging and “authentic” virtual experiences of prominent sacred sites and the impact of these representations. Chapter 5 argues these livestreamed “holy sites” enhance the visibility and influence of religious locales to serve traditional and conservative purposes. The authors note, “The Church is turning to livestream feeds and other digital means for the purposes of ratcheting up the veneration of Catholic-controlled biblical sites” (p. 160). The final chapter revisits the Catholic Church's highest earthly authority, the Pope, and his strategic use of Instagram to facilitate “the construction of his authority and shore up his religious clout” (p. 178). Here, like in other chapters, the authors offer observations and tentative conclusions instead of definitive statements about how digital media reinforces authority, builds community, and attracts new followers. While Sacred Cyberspaces provides excellent insights into the Catholic Church's use of digital media, especially video content, it primarily focuses on institutional actors and the role of Catholic webmasters, finding that these tend to reinforce traditional messages. However, it overlooks how digital media impacts the everyday spirituality of followers and how other, informal Catholic networks use digital tools in their daily expression of faith. These gaps leave room for further critical analysis of the transformative capacity of digital media on everyday faith. Sacred Cyberspaces nicely outlines the Catholic Church's ongoing digital adaptations, revealing both its potential and limitations. The authors correctly note: “In the study of Christian movements and the new media, there has been a bias as Protestant and Charismatic groups received more attention than their more ‘invisible’ Catholic counterparts” (p. 183). This book serves as a timely corrective to that oversight. It invites further exploration into the implications of this shift for everyday faith and community bonds. Essential reading for those engaged with the future of religious practice, Sacred Cyberspaces provides a critical understanding of how a traditional, global religion can perhaps thrive within the digital landscape.

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