Word made . . . digital

World Day of Social Communication

In his message for the Catholic Church's 2010 World Day for Social Communications, Pope Benedict XVI called on the ministry to use the latest technologies, such as Web sites and blogs, to preach the gospel and encourage a dialogue with their practitioners.

Scheduled for May 16, the theme of the World Day will be "The Priest and Pastoral Ministry in a Digital World: New Media at the Service of the Word." In his message for the world day of social communications, Pope Benedict told people that church communities have traditionally relied on modern media to open the lines of communication. And as the culture changes, the church needs to use the latest technologies, especially if it wants to reach younger people.

The Church itself has taken initiative to bring its message to the web; checkout these sites:

 www.youtube.com/vatican

 www.pope2you.net

 www.catholicscomehome.com

 www.rcdow.org.uk/evangelisation

Benedict entrusts world's priests to Mary

"May the Church be renewed by holy priests, transfigured by the grace of He who makes all things new."


FATIMA, Portugal — Pope Benedict XVI prayed at the site of Mary's apparitions at Fatima and as part of the “Year for Priests,” entrusted the world's priests to her, saying the church needs "holy priests, transfigured by grace."

The pope prayed that Mary keep priests from the temptations of evil and "restore calm after the tempest."

While he did not explicitly refer to the priestly sex abuse crisis, the pope's remarks in some ways echoed what he said on his flight to Portugal the previous day, when he called the scandal a "terrifying" example of sins committed by the church's own ministers and urged a process of penance and purification in the church.