7 April 2005
The sad passing of Pope John Paul II highlighted the growing power of technology and the Internet to reach people all over the world.
Recognising the potential of the Internet to reach his flock of over one billion Roman Catholics worldwide the Vatican has for ten years been using the Internet as a medium for mass communication.
Indeed the Pope issued a statement highlighting the importance of the Internet just weeks before his death, urging the Catholic Church to take advantage.
'Do not be afraid of new technologies! These rank 'among the marvellous things' - inter mirifica - which God has placed at our disposal," he wrote.
Taking the papal advice the cardinal of Vienna, Christoph Schoenborn, has been using the Internet and his personal website to keep those back in Austria up to date with his trip to Rome and the Pope's funeral.
According to the BBC the Vatican is investigating candidates for the Patron Saint of the Internet and the 7th Century Archbishop Isidore of Seville, author of the "Etymologiae," the world's first Christian encyclopaedia, is a top contender.© DeHavilland Information Services plc
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