Face Book and the Pope

"Vatican City, May 26, 2009 / 09:41 am (CNA).- On its first day online, the new website enabling young people from around the world to get to know Pope Benedict XVI, received almost half a million visits.

According to webmaster Father Paolo Padrini of Vatican Radio, the website sponsored by the Pontifical Council for the Laity is intended “to create a climate of belonging, of participating in the Church, through ever greater closeness with the Holy Father.”

The new site, which allows users to learn the teachings of Benedict XVI on Facebook, download tools for iPhones and have access to the Vatican on Youtube, sent out “almost ten thousand virtual postcards on its first day” and received almost “half a million visits.”

Father Padrini noted that what 'is on Facebook is not a profile, but rather a place to share, because the Pope obviously does not need a profile to introduce himself … Dialogue with him is dialogue based on our daily realities of school, work, and the parish. This is promoted by him and is later made concrete in the sharing of our friends on the internet.'"