Vatican launches communications offensive online.
VATICAN CITY (CNS) – The Vatican is launching iPhone and Facebook applications in an effort to help Catholics, especially younger generations, use new technologies to create a culture of dialogue, respect and friendship.
The new applications are part of a brand new Vatican website – www.pope2you.net – that was to go live on World Communications Day, which was celebrated on May 24 in most dioceses.
Sponsored by the Pontifical Council for Social Communications, the new site was created to help attract young people to and spread Pope Benedict XVI’s message for World Communications Day, the head of the council, Archbishop Claudio Celli, told reporters on May 18.
Pope Benedict XVI, meanwhile, urged everyone, especially young people, to use the new media “in a positive way and to realise the great potential of these means to build up bonds of friendship and solidarity that can contribute to a better world.”
During his weekly general audience in St Peter’s Square on May 20, he said new communications technology had brought about a fundamental shift in how information is spread and how people communicate and relate to one another.
He asked all those “who access cyberspace to be careful to maintain and promote a culture of respect, dialogue and authentic friendship where the values of truth, harmony and understanding can flourish.”
He also called on young people to “bear witness to your faith through the digital world.”
“Employ these new technologies to make the Gospel known, so that the good news of God’s infinite love for all people will resound in new ways across our increasingly technological world,” he said.