Catholic priests, under a lot of pressure already due to decades of scandal associated with the Catholic Church, received word from their holiest of holies, Pope Benedict XVI, that part of their new job description should be taking The Word to the internet using social media and blogging. In fact, the Pope urged priests to use all of the media tools at their disposal to preach the Gospel, seeking to engage in conversations with people of alternate religions.

This latest  ”commandment” from Vatican City comes after years of the Catholic Church’s growing web presence, culminating, perhaps, in the Vatican’s online site, The Holy See.  The site offers the latest sermon from the Pope, information on the Vatican City State, and other nuggets of inside info for all people, whether religious, agnostic, or…backslidden. In case you missed something from the Pope, feel free to check out the Vatican’s YouTube Channel (yes, that’s what I said). Plus, Pope Benedict has his own portal, Pope2You.net, that broadcasts news on Benedict’s travels, his messages, and also includes a Facebook app to allows users to create “Pope postcards” to send to their friends.

The Pope urges Priests to use “cutting-edge technologies to express themselves and lead their communities” according to a Vatican message. Read the rest of this entry »