Holy Father Launches New Catholic News and Information Site with a Tweet

With the Vatican pressing ahead with their news site, news.va, increasing active participation in social media, and a redesign of their website at www.vatican.va, the Church is signaling parishes and organizations that it is time to catch up with technology.

WASHINGTON, DC (Catholic Online) - With the touch of his finger to his iPad, on Tuesday Pope Benedict XVI sent out the first Papal tweet, launching a news service for the Holy Sea called The Vatican Today (www.news.va).

It read, "Dear Friends, I just launched News.va Praised be our Lord Jesus Christ! With my prayers and blessings, Benedictus XVI."

Vatican Radio stated, ".the new site uses some of the latest digital technology to offer audio and video streaming, plus high quality images and a twitter feed providing instant news headlines to smart phones and other mobile devices."

Throughout the decades the church has traditionally been described as at least ten years behind culture in the use of technology. In recent years, however, the Catholic church has not only caught up but is pushing the envelope when it comes to incorporating the new media for the Christ and His mission on earth.

Currently, the Roman Catholic Church has a website, YouTube channel, Facebook page, Twitter accounts and a flickr page. The newest launch, wwwnews.va, aggragates all the news and information from the Fides News Agency, L'Observatore Romano, Vatican Press Office, Vatican Information Service, Vatican Radio and The Vatican Television Center (CTV).

Since the advent of his papacy, Pope Benedict has been a strong proponent of technology, seeing the importance of harnessing the internet and social media for the work of evangelization.

In his message for World Communication Day, 2011, he wrote, "I would like then to invite Christians, confidently and with an informed and responsible creativity, to join the network of relationships which the digital era has made possible.

"The web is contributing to the development of new and more complex intellectual and spiritual horizons, new forms of shared awareness."

His predecessor, Pope John Paul II, was also a strong proponent of technology. For World Communication Day 2005, a few months before his death the Holy Father wrote, "Modern technology places at our disposal unprecedented possibilities for good, for spreading the truth of our salvation in Jesus Christ and for fostering harmony and reconciliation."

The new site, news.va, is a true digital multi-media portal. Currently available in English and Italian, you can read the latest news and postings from Rome, listen to Vatican Radio, watch videos and even view live feeds from the Holy See.

-----

Randy Sly is the Associate Editor of Catholic Online and the CEO/Associate Publisher for the Northern Virginia Local Edition of Catholic Online (http://virginia.catholic.org). He is a former Archbishop of the Charismatic Episcopal Church who laid aside that ministry to enter into the full communion of the Catholic Church.

Supporting FREE Catholic Education with Grass-fed Beef

---

'Help Give every Student and Teacher FREE resources for a world-class Moral Catholic Education'