Pope encourages his priests to keep up with technology

On Saturday he urged the priests to make use of every multimedia tool that is accessible to them so as to be able to speak to the maximum number of people when they preach the Gospel. Also, they could use the web as a means of communication to reach out to people of other religions and cultures.

"The spread of multimedia communications and its rich 'menu of options' might make us think it sufficient simply to be present on the Web,” said the pope.

“Priests are thus challenged to proclaim the Gospel by employing the latest generation of audiovisual resources--images, videos, animated features, blogs, websites--which, alongside traditional means, can open up broad new vistas for dialogue, evangelization and catechesis,” he added.

Preach the Gospel via Twitter
Given the popularity of social networking sites like Twitter, which is used by almost the entire entertainment industry and even business big-wigs like Bill Gates, it is not surprising to see the pope suddenly keen to use these sites as a medium for his cause.

However, he has himself not even signed on to Twitter yet, though there is fake account managed by “a fan just doing his part to spread the word.”

Internet has, without a doubt, brought about a great revolution in our communication system. Only a few years into the history and the world was struggling to keep its telephone bills under control. Then, we discovered the email, instant messaging and most recently social networking.

Now the pope insists that Catholics should not lag behind the rest of the world when it comes to the use of technology. So they must take to the convenient and more effective ways of spreading their messages to the people.

No media-savvy distinction for priests
However, he made it clear that priests jumping on to the Internet bandwagon does not mean that they can have the liberty to indulge in it like the rest of us do.

“Priests present in the world of digital communications should be less notable for their media savvy than for their priestly heart, their closeness to Christ,” he said.

The Vatican has sincerely tried to catch up with the technical advancements of the world, and according to Benedict these advancements in communication methods are a "gift to humanity".

The pope declared this admiration for technology in his message that was released Jan. 23 at the Vatican. It was titled ‘The priest and pastoral ministry in a digital world: new media at the service of the Word’.

Benedict’s recommendation of signing up on the Internet “doesn't mean that (every priest) must open a blog or a Web site. It means that the church and the faithful must engage in this ministry in a digital world," said Monsignor Claudio Maria Celli, who heads the Vatican's social communications office.