Pope Benedict the next YouTube star?

The Vatican--which recently endorsed an iPhone prayer app and gave its blessing to gadget evangelism--is displaying further receptivity to technology with Saturday's announcement that Pope Benedict XVI will get his own YouTube channel.

According to the Associated Press, the Vatican TV Center and Vatican Radio are collaborating with Google on the project, and texts and video of the Pope's speeches, as well as news about the pontiff, will be posted directly to the channel. More details on the project will be released next week, the Vatican press office said.

Given past tech-friendly moves by the Vatican, the YouTube announcement is not all that surprising.

Catholic Church officials have said that consumer electronics are necessary for distributing the Bible in today's world.

Besides printed text, "the voice of the divine word must also resonate over the radio, Internet channels with virtual online distribution, CDs, DVDs, iPods, and on television and cinema screens," read an official statement released during a gathering of Catholic bishops in October.

That includes iBreviary, the iPhone app that got a nod from church officials. Created by the Rev. Paolo Padrini and Web designer Dimitri Giani, it allows users to load the Breviary prayer book, prayers for saying a Catholic Mass, and other prayers.

The with-it Pope even got a 2GB white iPod Nano as a gift and uses acronyms in his text messages. He famously signed a mobile text sent to gatherers at last year's Catholic youth day rally in Sydney, Australia with "BXVI."

[shootthecops]

remind me how the catholic church has relevance?

Because it's one of the largest religious entities in the world, the oldest continuous government, diplomatic service, and bureaucracy; and many people, including technophiles like myself, believe it teaches the real reason to live life.

[shootthecops]

yes, but why should people who DON'T support this child molestation agency care?

[sheathe]

shootthecops wrote "yes, but why should people who DON'T support this child molestation agency care?'

Coming from someone who chooses a user name such as "shootthecops", seemingly implying that he/she feels that all cops should be shot, it is not exactly surprising that he/she would find it justifiable to label thousands of innocent and very good priests (let alone the entire Church and its followers) with the crimes of a few. There are vastly more school teachers, parents, aunts and uncles who abuse children per capita than in the Catholic Church. Yes, those who are guilty of child molestation, or of protecting those who do so, should absolutely be dealt with appropriately by the law. But people who make irresponsible and harmful generalizations should also realize they are not helping anyone.

[sanenazok]

@shooter: Hey if it doesn't to you...more power to you! I guess a billion people disagree, but don't let that stop you. I think it's a good idea that all religions use technology, whether it be the one I subscribe to or not. Open ended exchange and having the message out there is the only way to ensure cross-cultural understanding.

[shootthecops]

yea, except the vatican did almost as much harm as the molesters, by trying to cover everything up. they are still denying that homosexuality is natural, despite it being observed almost every species of mammal on the earth, as well as some insect species. yet their priests rape little boys and they cover that up and continue to bark about other people's issues. the vatican is a circus and the pope is their king fool.

[sanenazok]

@shooter: I think you may be laboring under some 19th century anti-popish view of the Vatican where the Pope mind-controls all Catholics and acts an an octopus controlling every single matter with in the worldwide church. The Vatican's budget is equivalent to that of a mid-size archdiocese like Minneapolis/St. Paul. For someone to say that the Vatican is going to be actively covering up misdeeds of several of hundreds of thousands of loosely affiliated members (clergy) is just unrealistic. Of course there were failures on various levels, but that's the case in every organization, religious or otherwise.

Finally, while this is completely unrelated, the church does not condemn homosexuality, but rather homosexual acts. Regarding the "unnatural" aspect of your argument, there are countless behaviors within the mammalian / insectoid communities that are considered immoral for humans to do.

[terminalblue]

oh lawd...dont tell the amazing athiest

[sanenazok]

Oh yes all shall quake due to the amazing power of what I presume to be some sort of a video blogger. Jeebus help me...someone just video babbled about something!

[factsarestubbornthings]

sheathe et al,
The real child abuse here is that this gang of cross-dressers has, for centuries, poisoned the minds of children (and adults) with their irrational nonsense. Wonder why the world is such a mess? Religion has more than a little to do with it. You can't make rational decisions based on a bunch of ******** from a "holy book". Grow up, set up aside your belief in magic and start dealing with the universe as it is. There are no gods kiddies.

[ranpha]

Prove that God don't exist and I will listen to you. Citations/references from established scientific journals is a good start!

[Wookiee-1138]

If the comments [i]here[/i] are inflammatory, the youtube comments will be closed within an hour.

[sanenazok]

Who said they were inflammatory? Plus, why must commentary be turned on for everything. Does it actually matter what some anonymous web poster thinks about things? If the comments turn into a distraction then turn them off by all means. Show me one commentary exchange that actually resolves disputes. It's usually just meaningless back-and-forth. Take my comments above, for example. The reason why I respond is not to convince anyone, but rather to point out that the opposing side's arguments have clear counter-arguments, lest someone thinks they've come up with something original. Of course, nobody ever does, especially not in regards to religion.

[factsarestubbornthings]

Ranpha,
Would you like me to also prove to you that unicorns, Santa Claus and Zeus are fictional characters? Read some science. Here is how it works in a nutshell. If you "believe" something (definition = "to have confidence in the truth, the existence, or the reliability of something, although without absolute proof that one is right in doing so") it is YOUR responsibility to offer evidence for your belief. Then it is YOUR responsibility, and ours if we so choose, to try to poke holes in your theory and prove you wrong. That's how science works. That's how we establish confidence in our scientific facts. Try it, you'll like it. It is much more satisfying than basing your life on some ramblings handed down from random Bronze Age men.
PS - all scientific attempts to test for the existence of gods have failed. Duh.