Pope Benedict XVI sent his first ever tweet on Wednesday, June the 29th to launch the Vatican’s news portal, www.news.va. He did so on a papal iPad. The day also marked the 84-year-old pontiff’s 60th anniversary of his ordination as a priest. He tweeted in English: "Dear Friends, I just launched News.va Praised be our Lord Jesus Christ! With my prayers and blessings, Benedictus XVI." The new portal is the latest effort by the Vatican to use technology and social networking sites to connect with a wider audience. It will gather together news from all of the Vatican’s departments and update this three times a day. The Vatican’s twitter account has over 50,000 followers but follows no one.
Pope Benedict understands the importance of using the latest technology. On World Communications Day, 2010, he encouraged workers in the Catholic Church to use it to communicate the Bible’s message to their followers. He said: “Priests stand at the threshold of a new era. As new technologies create deeper…relationships across greater distances, they are called to respond pastorally by putting the media…at the service of the Word.” Vatican official Thaddeus Jones said the Pope was "interested and impressed” with Twitter and the iPad. He told reporters that the Pope “was clearly in awe at the new technology”. He added: “It's a lighter moment but also an important one. It marks a new way of communicating.”
No comments:
Post a Comment