June 9, 2009
The Vatican has a new website called Pope2You.net The site has a link to a Facebook page where you can send a prayer for the sick, send a virtual postcard to others, download messages from the Pope, and sign up for future emails. Notably missing is the “wall” where visitors can write comments and interact with each other.
The site also offers links to send video and audio downloads of Vatican news to your iPhone or iPod Touch.
A link is also provided for the Vatican’s YouTube channel which was launched earlier.
Another link on the site offers an intriguing format. The link is for “WikiCath” which the site claims is an interactive way, using wiki-technology, to read the Pope’s message on the World Day of Communication. This section breaks up the message into parts and provides links to background information on key words and phrases. I am reminded of the North American Commentary to the Code of Canon Law which also provides background information to key parts of each canon. So often you learn much more from reading the commentary than just reading the Code alone.
WikiCath amazingly invites comments. Currently, when you click on the comment button, an email message appears indicating that your comments will be sent via email, and thus won’t be posted. The Italian bishops’ conference is helping the Vatican to work with this site.
I have to smile as I watch the Vatican start to use new technology for communication. I think it’s great! I smile because it is such a cautious, exploratory attempt. And I have to be honest in admitting that I am also a “newbie” in some of these technology areas and thus also tread cautiously when trying these technologies. Every step forward is definitely welcome. The challenge will come, in my opinion, in the missing step that so many young people around the world take so easily. That step is opening up one’s site so that visitors’ comments are visible to all, and thus encourage interaction.
Not everyone is ready for this step and I can’t blame them. I still don’t totally understand the allure for young people of posting their daily lives and friends’ comments on a site that is open to the public. Yet, it would definitely be intriguing to visit a Vatican site where the public could post comments and interact on any given topic. Maybe we’re not ready for that yet. But given these first steps using Facebook, YouTube, WikiCath, and the iPhone, one can only hope.
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May 21, 2009
This Sunday, May 24, 2009 has been designated by the Vatican as the 43rd World Day of Communications. Pope Benedict has issued his message to media & communications professionals titled, “New Technologies, New Relationships. Promoting a Culture of Respect, Dialogue and Friendship.”
The Pope jumps right in by focusing on digital communications and the amazing potential to promote human understanding and solidarity. He notes that people want to connect with each other and that this is “rooted in our very nature as human beings.” In fact, this innate desire mirrors God’s relationship with us.
Media tools can do much to help us connect with each other, to understand and to provide support for each other. “These networks can facilitate forms of co-operation between people from different geographical and cultural contexts that enable them to deepen their common humanity and their sense of shared responsibility for the good of all.”
The Pope concludes his message by asking young people, who take so naturally to the digital realm, to evangelize cyberspace by bringing their Christian values to this new area.
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May 1, 2009
Every month, the Pope prays for a specific intention. You are invited to join the Pope and Catholics from all over the world in praying for this intention.
For the month of May 2009, the prayer is “that the laity and the Christian communities may be responsible promoters of priestly and religious vocations.”
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April 1, 2009
Every month, the Pope prays for a specific intention. You are invited to join the Pope and Catholics from all over the world in praying for this intention.
For the month of April 2009, the prayer is “that the Lord may bless farmers’ work with an abundant harvest and sensitize the richer populations to the drama of hunger in the world.”
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March 25, 2009
Most people know that Galileo was condemned by the Catholic Church for his scientific views during his lifetime. As time progressed, Galileo’s theories became well known and accepted scientifically. Theologians and Church leaders alike came to realize that the fact that God created a world where the Earth revolves around the Sun is not a threat to our Christian faith.
More recently, the Church officially pardoned Galileo during Pope John Paul II’s papacy. Now during 2009, which has been designated by the United Nations as the International Year of Astronomy, the Catholic Church is contributing to the celebrations and discussions of Galileo and the impact of his life.
From May 27 to 30, the Vatican and other Catholic organizations are gathering in Florence, Italy for a world congress. “For the first time after 400 years, members of the Vatican Observatory, the Pontifical Council for Culture, The Sciences Academy and many other Institutions that were historically involved in the Galileo affair, are among the experts invited to the congress with a view to showing how ‘recent scientific and historical research’ might alleviate the ‘tension and conflict’ still clouding the relationship between the church and science.” The entire program can be downloaded here. This is one of several events being co-sponsored by organizations within the Vatican. Others include a special exhibit on Galileo at the Vatican Museums in October.
My father always used to say that the Church moved slowly. I would say that 400 years qualifies as a slow pace. But at least the Church does move. Let’s celebrate the progress and also celebrate Galileo’s life this year.
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March 23, 2009
Pope Benedict XVI has released his message to young people worldwide for the 24th World Youth Day (WYD) in 2009. The theme of the message is “We have set our hope on the living God” from 1Tim 4:10. Not surprisingly since 2009 is the year of St. Paul, the Pope speaks of St. Paul as a witness of hope.
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March 1, 2009
Every month, the Pope prays for a specific intention. You are invited to join the Pope and Catholics from all over the world in praying for this intention.
For the month of March 2009, the prayer is “that the role of women may be more appreciated and used to good advantage in every country in the world.”
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February 25, 2009
The Vatican has assembled a helpful webpage for Lent 2009. The site includes the Pope’s Lenten message, as well as the schedule of the Pope’s liturgical celebrations for Lent. It also includes Lenten hymns from the chorus of the Sistine Chapel and from the Pontifical Institute of Sacred Music. Both the text and audio are provided for the hymns. It is great to see the Vatican continue to expand its use of technology by posting musical podcasts.
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February 17, 2009
Most people have heard of YouTube by now, a free online website that allows users to both post and view short videos. In its ongoing journey to utilize modern technology, the Vatican has now started its own YouTube site at www.youtube.com/vatican
As of mid-February, the Vatican has posted 48 short videos, each about a minute long. Most of these are excerpts from press conferences, highlights of gatherings, or speeches by the Pope. A voice-over is provided in Italian, English, Spanish and Dutch.
Although the video clips are too short to provide extensive information, they do serve the wonderful purpose of letting people take a peek at life inside the Vatican. In general, Catholics have an image of the Vatican based on written statements that are published, and quotes that are picked up by the media. These video images provide a much fuller glimpse into the people, lives, events and processes that are responsible for our worldwide church. Currently, most images focus on the Pope or other Vatican official speaking while an audience listens. It will be interesting, as time passes, to see if the videos start to pick up more of the interactive dimension of life in the Vatican.
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February 1, 2009
Every month, the Pope prays for a specific intention. You are invited to join the Pope and Catholics from all over the world in praying for this intention.
For the month of February 2009, the prayer is “that the Pastors of the Church may always be docile to the action of the Holy Spirit in their teaching and in their service to God’s people.”
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January 9, 2009
Every month, the Pope prays for a specific intention. You are invited to join the Pope and Catholics from all over the world in praying for this intention.
For the month of January 2009, the prayer is “that the family may become more and more a place of training in charity, personal growth and transmission of the faith.”
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December 16, 2008
Although the worldwide gathering of youth called World Youth Day only occurs every two or three years, the day itself is celebrated in parishes across the world every year. The Vatican has just released the theme for each of the next three World Youth Days, including the 2011 gathering in Spain.
The theme for 2009′s World Youth Day is “We Have Set Our Hope on the Living God” (1 Tim 4:10.)
The theme for 2010′s World Youth Day is “Good Teacher, What Must I do to Inherit Eternal Life?” (Mk 10:17.)
The theme for 2011′s World Youth Day is “Rooted and Built Up in Jesus Christ, Firm in the Faith” (cf Col 2:7).
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