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Pope Benedict XVI is bringing a segment of his daily papal message to Twitter, beginning Ash Wednesday, Feb. 22, according to a Vatican Radio blog post.

The reason? In its post, the Vatican says that while some Catholics view Lent as a time to volunteer, give something up or study the Bible, others have abandoned the season:

“In our increasingly secular societies, many young people no longer keep the Lenten season in any special way – that’s why the Pontifical Council for Social Communications has come up with a new idea to focus hearts and minds on the challenges contained in Pope Benedict’s Lenten message for 2012.

‘Starting on Ash Wednesday, themes from that papal message will be posted on Twitter each day during Lent and over the coming months other papal speeches and documents are likely to be tweeted in a similar way, hoping to attract the media-savvy generation and entice them to find out more.’”

In other words, the Pope is hoping the Vatican’s Twitter presence can attract those who are not currently engaged with religion.

SEE ALSO: The Pope Sends His First Tweet, From an iPad

Msgr. Paul Tighe, secretary of the Pontifical Council for Social Communications, says Twitter is the ideal medium for religious messages because “many of the key Gospel ideas are readily rendered in 140 characters.”

The Pope’s relationship with social media has been mixed. The Vatican has launched a YouTube Channel, iPhone app and web portal during Benedict XVI’s papacy.

While he is on Twitter, and recently lit a Christmas tree using an Android tablet, the Pope also issued a statement asking social media to quiet down, in favor of listening.

Do you think social media is an appropriate forum for religion? Do you follow any religious figures or use any religious apps? Let us know in the comments.

Photo courtesy of Flickr, catholicism

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Pope Benedict XVI’s annual message for World Communications Day on Tuesday suggested a tried-and-true strategy for both social media and life in general: don’t just talk, also listen.

The theme of the message: balancing silence and words. “The process of communication nowadays is largely fuelled by questions in search of answers,” the pope said.

“Search engines and social networks have become the starting point of communication for many people who are seeking advice, ideas, information and answers.

“In our time, the Internet is becoming ever more a forum for questions and answers – indeed, people today are frequently bombarded with answers to questions they have never asked and to needs of which they were unaware.

“If we are to recognize and focus upon the truly important questions, then silence is a precious commodity that enables us to exercise proper discernment in the face of the surcharge of stimuli and data that we receive.”

The pope, however, is no Luddite. During his term, the Vatican has launched a YouTube Channel, iPhone app and web portal. He sent his first tweet from an iPad, and recently used an Android tablet to light a Christmas tree.

He made it clear in his message that he was not attacking technology.

“In concise phrases, often no longer than a verse from the Bible, profound thoughts can be communicated, as long as those taking part in the conversation do not neglect to cultivate their own inner lives,” he said, in an apparent nod to Twitter.

You can read the full text of the message here.

Photo courtesy of Flickr, catholicism

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Holy tweet! The Pope is on Twitter.

His Holiness used the Vatican’s news account to send his first tweet, which announced the launch of a news information portal (and, of course, praised Jesus).

Unlike other tweets sent from the account, the tweet from the Pope was sent using Twitter for iPad.

Does the Pope have an iPad? You bet! Or at least he used one to launch the new site.

We wouldn’t expect any less, technologically speaking, from the leader who has overseen the launch of the Vatican’s YouTube channel and “Pope2You” mobile and Facebook apps — and he encouraged priests to blog.

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Holy tweet! The Pope is on Twitter.

His Holiness used the Vatican’s news account to send his first tweet, which announced the launch of a news information portal (and, of course, praised Jesus).

Unlike other tweets sent from the account, the tweet from the Pope was sent using Twitter for iPad.

Does the Pope have an iPad? You bet! Or at least he used one to launch the new site.

We wouldn’t expect any less, technologically speaking, from the leader who has overseen the launch of the Vatican’s YouTube channel and “Pope2You” mobile and Facebook apps as well as encouraged priests to blog.

Photo courtesy of Flickr, catholicism

More About: catholic church, ipad, pope, trending, twitter

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The Catholic Church is planning to take another step into the Internet age. On Wednesday, it will launch a news information portal that aggregates the Vatican’s various media into a one-stop site for all things papal.

Pope Benedict XVI will launch the site with a click of a tablet device on June 28, the 60th anniversary of his ordination into the priesthood.

The pope has overseen a number of the Vatican’s new media efforts since he was elected in 2005, including the launch of a YouTube channel, the creation of “Pope2You” mobile and Facebook apps and encouraging priests to blog.

According to The New York Times, the new social-media equipped portal, will at first aggregate Vatican news in English and Italian with other languages to follow. It will also livestream papal events, play audio feeds from Vatican Radio, and give access to texts of papal homilies, statements and speeches.

While the rather-drab-by-comparison main Vatican site launched under Pope John Paul II in 1995 will remain active, Vatican officials are hopeful that the portal will help the Church better communicate with itself and the outside world alike.

“I think that we must educate the Roman Curia of what is the real meaning of communication,” Msgr. Claudio Maria Celli, who will maintain the portal, told The Times. “Little by little they will perceive that this is the real meaning to be present, to have a relevance.”

A “sneak preview” of the Vatican’s new web portal, to be launched on Wednesday.

The Vatican’s main website, launched in 1995.

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