Friday, March 16, 2012

Vatican goes increasingly digital

French is no longer just the preferred language of papal diplomacy. 

This tongue, which has been the traditional language of prestigious Holy See ambassadors has also now become an instrument for web communication. 

The Holy See's official news website www.news.va now has a French version as well. 

In addition to the existing Italian, English and Spanish versions, the portal which publishes news from all the Vatican's various media channels now offers a section in the language spoken by Abbé Pierre and Georges Bernanos. 

But French is not just the diplomatic language of the Holy See; the European Union's diplomatic service has two main working languages: English and French. It is not true therefore that French is declining as a diplomatic language.

The Vatican news website, which was launched over a year ago, is now available in four languages. 

The website receives between 8000 and 10.000 viewings each day, with peaks of 16.000. Viewing time is usually two minutes, which indicates that those who log on to the website do not do so by chance; they stay logged on, read and carry our searches. 

People from about 180 countries across the world visit the portal, mostly from the U.S. (27%), followed by Italy, Germany, Spain, Canada and Brazil. 53% of visitors are new while the remaining 47% are regulars.

The vast majority of www.news.va contacts come from social networks: 65% from Facebook and around 30% from Twitter. 

“Search engines and social networks have become the starting point of communication for many people who are seeking advice, ideas, information and answers,” the Pope had highlighted in his message for the 46th World Day of Social Communications. 

“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.”

“Amid the complexity and diversity of the world of communications,” the Pope pointed out, “many people find themselves confronted with the ultimate questions of human existence: Who am I? What can I know? What ought I to do? What may I hope?"

It is important to affirm those who ask these questions, and to open up the possibility of a profound dialogue, by means of words and interchange, but also through the call to silent reflection, something that is often more eloquent than a hasty answer and permits seekers to reach into the depths of their being and open themselves to the path towards knowledge that God has inscribed in human hearts.”

Facebook and chat applications should not be scorned, as they “can help people today to find time for reflection and authentic questioning, as well as making space for silence and occasions for prayer, meditation or sharing of the word of God.” 

So social networks are good, Benedict XVI said, but people should refrain from creating fake profiles. 

The Pope blessed the social revolution sparked by the Internet, but sent a word of warning to youngsters not to limit themselves to virtual means of communication and not to live in a “parallel world.” 

Whilst participating in “social networks” and searching for a ever growing number of “friends”, one must stay “faithful to oneself” and never give into tricks or “illusions” such as the creation of a false identity through one's own profile. 

“Social networks,” which an increasing number of people, particularly youngsters, are joining, offer “new opportunities for sharing, dialogue, exchange, solidarity and for the formation of positive relationships.” 

But people must “steer clear of the dangers,” that is “seeking refuge in a sort of parallel world or excessive exposure in the virtual world.”

Webcams should also be made the most of. 

Up until 2009, the Shrine of Fatima was the only missing link; since then, all sacred ceremonies and events are shown on “live-cam”. 

The electronic eye which was installed three years ago in the Portuguese shrine, completed the world's “web-coverage” of the areas where the Virgin Mary is worshipped. 

Meanwhile, the “holy cam” unites Franciscan sites, from Assisi to the recent display of Fr. Pio's body and the Vatican offers internet surfers “non stop” coverage of its most interesting observation points. 

A virtual pilgrimage across the five continents (from the World Youth Day in Sydney to the papal procession in Lourdes); an internet mapping system blessed by the Holy See. The Church is able to respond to the requests of faithful through the immediate language of web cams. 

A reality strategy that spreads out like a spider's web across the globe, from Lourdes to the Sacred Mount of Europa, from the Swiss shrine dedicated to Our Lady of the Hermits at Einsielden Abbey to Benedict XVI's beloved “Marienkirch” in Berlin, from Bavaria's Altötting shrine to the Notre Dame in Indiana,from the Virgen de la Fuensanta in Murcia, to St. Mary's Basilica in Krakow and from Paris' Cathedral to the chapel of the Nativity in Oberndorf, where “Silent Night” was composed.
 
From Germany's Lübeck Cathedral to Santa Maria del Fiore in Florence, from the sanctuary of the Madonna di San Luca in Bologna, from the Duomo Cathedral in Milan to the Shrine of Mariazell, from the Virgin Square in Valencia to the Basilica of Superga in Turin. 

A live cam evangelisation began in June 2001 and the pioneers of the “religious webcam” were the Capuchin Friars of San Giovanni Rotondo, who installed a number of “electronic eyes” that offered 24/7 coverage of Fr. Pius' crypt and all masses celebrated.  

A sort of “home-made world vision” that was intensified by the display of St. Pius' corpse which the Pope attended on 21 June 2009. 

In September 2008, on occasion of the Pope's visit, the Sanctuary of Our Lady of Lourdes installed a web cam system to provide live coverage of events taking place in front of the Grotto of Massabielle, the Basilica of the Rosary and the flat ground where processions take place. 

To celebrate the feast of the Immaculate Conception, on 8 December 2009 the monks of the Sacred Convent of Assisi inaugurated their own web cam system with live coverage of the solemn mass in the Lower Basilica.

Every evening Franciscans hold a web chat with faithful via the website www.sanfrancescopatronoditalia.it

The Vatican has also installed a web cam that provides live coverage of the garders of the Pontifical Villas of Catsel Gandolfo.  

Other webcams cover St. Peter's Square, John Paul II's tomb, St. Peter's dome and the Vatican Governorate and Basilica. In spring 2010 a webcam was installed in Turin's Dome, displaying the Holy Shroud

In the sanctuary of Medjugorje there are three webcams up and running (one of which has been fixed onto the sanctuary's altar) which give live coverage of mass celebrations inside the sanctuary and the processions which take place outside.