If Father Merton were alive today, he undoubtedly would have something to say about fake news, too, because Higgins said the monk had "little stomach for the master manipulators of the language."

The keynote speaker, who is the official biographer of Father Merton and Father Henri Nouwen, said a major part of Father Nouwen's appeal was that he was authentic, something that people immediately can detect, he said, because they are "hungering for a voice that can speak to them."

Catholic Media Conference participants were urged to take this same approach to their work in the modern world, even with deadlines and demands for hits on social media.

"We all work under pressure," Higgins said during a question-and-answer period, noting that daily demands shouldn't eclipse careful attention to words, which he said should be nurtured.

"Your craft is your integrity; it's all tied into spiritual integrity," he added.

Higgins emphasized that communicators should not just use language carefully, but they also should pay attention to how they consume it, especially in an age of so much polarization when people tend to read or watch what reaffirms their own beliefs.

For example, he said he tries to read a diverse spectrum of Catholic and secular news.

The danger is "when we protect ourselves and only watch what we like," he said, which leads people to "form caricatures of other voices" equating them to strangers, foreigners and eventually enemies.

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Follow Zimmermann on Twitter: @carolmaczim.